The Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford, Oregon, held a reception today for wildlife artist Olivia (“Livvy”) Schemanski. The Rogue Gallery is holding an exhibit she calls “Of Fur and Feathers.” The exhibit runs through October 10.
Livvy, an owner of Irelock Imaging (where I have my artwork scanned), has made it a mission in her life to paint wildlife and help support conservation efforts on behalf of wildlife. She supports in particular the work of Wildlife Images which does rescue, rehabilitation, and education.
I was very happy to find that three raptors joined the reception today: A bald eagle, a redtailed hawk, and a spotted owl – all permanent residents at Wildlife Images. Opal, the owl, was very sleepy as it was her normal time to rest; the other two were calm and seemed quite content to watch the milling crowds of people oohing and ahhing over the rich, incredibly realistic and wonderful paintings that lined the walls. A keeper from Wildlife Images was standing nearby to answer questions.
As I walked from painting to painting, I could tell each work is a labor of love. I learned a lot from the standpoint of technique by scrutinizing brush strokes and special effects. Livvy is a master at wildlife painting.
Most are large oil paintings; many of the smaller paintings are gouache on bristol and just as beautiful and lovingly rendered as the oils. They are amazing.
Livvy’s two daughters are also talented artists, and her little grandson Sean (seen in the photo at top) is showing signs of budding artistic talent. All three were represented by a few pieces of artwork. Whenever I bring my artwork to Irelock, there is a section in the back of the main room where all these artists work on current projects. It’s great fun to watch the progress of each painting from week to week, and a real inspiration to any artist stopping by.
Thank you, all you artists at Irelock. Keep up the fantastic work! You’ve given the gift of inspiration to keep doing what I love.
