Celebrating arts and culture in our community
Featured in the Springfield Beacon (October 10, 2007)
DeVon Tanton Nourishing the Inner Child
By Austin Berger
For the Beacon
Her work makes one think what would happen if Norman Rockwell moved out to Eastern Oregon during his prime; a plethora of cowboys, snuck kisses, curious kids, animals, and images of the Old West. Showcasing a Bull Elk at this years Mayor’s Art Show at the Emerald Art Center, DeVon Tanton of Jasper has honed her portraiture skills to precision with a near lackadaisical drive in the best way possible.
Inspiration to Begin
DeVon is the first to admit that her mind is the farthest thing from a business mindset. She’s won awards, but can’t really name any. She has mentors but has trouble remembering their names. Her answer to her art is simply this: “I love to draw.”
It’s reasonable to argue that DeVon's inclinations to art are encoded somewhere in her DNA; lying somewhere in the autonomous nervous system somewhere near the areas which tell her to breathe, and to keep a heartbeat, and all the things that our brain handles for us and never really give thought to.
DeVon's art skills came naturally as a child. No defining moment, no turning point; it simply was, and still simply is. Ever the conservationist, many of her earlier drawings as a child were done on ripped up brown paper bags from the grocery store. Many resulted from her anger because whenever she would do something good in her eyes she would later wish she had done it on appropriate drawing paper. For the Nevada native, it appears her art doesn’t require much conscious thought -- a practice that becomes so natural and constant to her as brushing teeth comes to others.Important Mentors
The similarities between the nostalgia showcased in her work and Rockwell is no coincidence. Coming out of the era that he depicted, DeVon always had an affinity for Norman. “He made stories out of his pictures and he depicted humans when things were simple.” She also notes his love of painting children, a favorite of hers as well.
Value of Art in life
DeVon's art is her therapy, a muse born out of dream world imagery that sometimes borders on the macabre. It is her core, her release, her treat and her pastime.
“I used to have these dreams…where I hid a tiny baby in a cigar box.” These dreams went on for years, where she would come back to the box to find the baby dead and shriveled. One day she told a doctor about this dream. “He told me that the child was my talent and that I was hiding my talent.” She then went “off the deep end” as she put it, into the realm of portraiture, and in doing so fully exposed her “child” and kept the dreams at bay, so long as she was doing art.
Her artist’s legacy
Even at 69 she still finds herself the student, seeking to perfect her skills as a portrait artist, wishing to leave her mark with them. “I want to learn to do portraits (of people) so well that people are waiting for them to come alive. I want to put their soul into them.” Everything from life’s joys to its hardships, are written on a face, according to DeVon. She intends to capture it all.
"Bull Elk" By DeVon Tanton
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About The Artist
Birthplace: Elko, Nevada
Arts Education: Fashion Design, Modeling, various classes at Emerald Art Center
Media of choice: Oils, China Paints, Pastels, Acrylics
Favorite place to do art: Her work station in her living room, which has a view of the Willamette River and the Pleasant Hill area.
Favorite subjects to paint: Portraits, especially children
Arts organizations: Emerald Art Center
Currently Showing: Mayors Art Show (October, 2007) at Emerald Art Center
