ARTS

Red Chair Gallery Presents Sue Dougherty

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER

by JULIA KENNEDY COCHRAN — Red Chair Gallery

As a veterinarian, Sue Dougherty has a special empathy for animals. As a wildlife photographer, she extends this sensitivity to the wild creatures she captures on camera. “I’m always trying to create intimacy and connection with the animals,” she says.

Dougherty traveled extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic to places as diverse as Alaska and Rwanda to photograph their native species. The year 2020 “was a bust because of COVID,” she remembers. A number of trips Dougherty scheduled for 2020 were postponed to 2021. Last year, as a healthcare worker, she got her COVID vaccinations early and, armed with negative COVID tests taken just before leaving, and masking in all public situations, was able to travel when many other people would not.

The actual travel was complicated, she reports, since different trip leaders, airlines, states and countries had varying regulations regarding COVID-19. In order to travel she made sure that the guides were all serious about COVID safety. All trip participants were vaccinated, tested negative before departure and they formed a “pod” of travelers who interacted with each other but exercised caution with others. In Alaska, they never went out to eat, for example, eating only at the hotel, on the boat or ordering room service or take-out food. They spent most of their time outside photographing, so seldom had contact with others.

Dougherty traveled to Alaska to find bald eagles, Yellowstone National Park in the winter, Florida to shoot birds, Arizona for a workshop on photographing hummingbirds, the San Juan Islands for red foxes and British Columbia in

Photography by Sue Dougherty

the fall to snap bears. Trips abroad were to the Galapagos Islands, Kenya and Rwanda. Photographing such different creatures requires different skills. “It’s more difficult to photograph eagles flying versus a bear standing still,” Dougherty explains. “You never know what you’re going to get.”

In Rwanda, she was impressed by how vigorously the country has rebounded from its nefarious genocide in 1994 (when nearly one million people were killed). Rwanda has embraced eco-tourism for its gorilla population carefully, she says. In the Volcanoes National Park, where the endangered population of mountain gorillas live, a visiting group, accompanied by park rangers, is allowed to view the gorillas for just one hour. Everyone must wear a mask to eliminate the chance of infecting the primates with human diseases. Only one group of visitors is allowed per day. “You are carefully directed to never interfere with them,” she says.

One of Dougherty’s memorable encounters occurred on her Galapagos trip. While walking on a beach adjacent to sea turtle nests, she noticed a frigate bird flying low and carrying something in its beak, which it dropped on the sand. She hurried to see what it was: a baby turtle, still alive. The tiny creature was stunned at first from being dropped from a height but soon gathered its strength and raced to the ocean to begin its new life. The tiny turtle made a great subject for a few adorable pictures and a happy little video, but the main impact was in watching the little one follow its instinct to the ocean waves.

Offleashphotography.net • redchairgallerybend.com

Pioneers

Dave Dittman

& PERSEVERANCE

by NOAH NELSON — A&E Feature Writer

Central Oregon-based artist Dave Dittman is testament to the fact that it is never too late to pursue something that you love. A long career in political polling and some time in the military took Dittman’s attention away from art for nearly 50 years, but he’s taken up his brush again in retirement, this time focusing on oil paintings of historical people.

“I remember when I was young, my mom had a notepad by the phone for taking notes, and she would occasionally be annoyed to find tanks drawn on her once clean pages,” Dittman said. His art has always come from a place of genuine interest, which is reflected by his first drawings: Sherman tanks, fighter planes, B17 bombers and more military equipment that many young boys born at the beginning of WW2 are drawn to. He recalls receiving support from his parents and teachers, and those compliments pushed him to draw even more. “It created a positive-feedback loop in my mind,” he said. As a child he began sketching figures, and since then his work has focused on the human form in some way.

College took Dittman in another direction, as political polling was becoming more prevalent in society, and he was enamored by the study and application of huge statistics. He would attend Brigham Young University and graduate in 1966 with a bachelor of science degree in Statistics, Accounting, Economics and Art.

After college, Dittman joined the Army and was stationed in Alaska where he would eventually become the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Army Advanced Marksmanship Unit, and leader of the Army Mountain Rescue Team, summiting Mt. Denali along the way. In Alaska, Dittman met his wife, Terry (who he has been married to now for 54 years) and started having children. While he still wanted to pursue art and even got commissioned to paint family portraits of high-level military families, he knew Alaska just didn’t have a large enough population to create demand for his work.

Dittman spent the next 50 years running a political consulting and communications business, raising kids and growing with his family. Over that time, he won 11 Pollies, which were the political equivalent to an Emmy. In 2015, Dittman and his wife sold the business and moved to Sunriver to be closer to their grandkids. This is where Dittman’s life as an artist blossomed.

After the move, Dittman found interest in Pioneer-era figures and stories. Alaska and Oregon share a wild landscape, one that was explored by everyday

Cowboy Comfort

Pioneer in Repose

people who we know as pioneers, and Dittman now finds himself interested in the inner-workings of these people’s minds. His newest collection, Along The Oregon Trail, is a collection of 12 oil paintings that share a common theme. Other than Dittman’s use of sepia tones, his avoidance of color and his love of intense shadows and light, his paintings all tell a story about the thoughts and emotions of the fictional people he portrays.

“These people might be fictional, but real people did go through what they went through,” Dittman said, when referencing the scenes in his work, which include a pioneer woman mourning outside a fresh grave, a springboard logger catching some precarious sleep high in a Pacific forest canopy, and two kids taking a rest after becoming orphans on the Oregon Trail.

Each one of the paintings is accompanied by a short narrative that Dittman writes to help explain what each figure might be thinking, signified by the fact that each figure has closed eyes and an expression of deep thought. From undiagnosed mental health issues to a “I have nothing to lose” attitude that helped people press forward, Dittman’s work explores the humanity behind the historic figures that can often be viewed as stiff and distant. “These were real people just like you and me who risked everything for a new life. They must have been thinking ‘Am I really doing this?’ at some point along their journey,” Dittman said.

When asked about his motivations, Dittman provided a refreshing answer. “I don’t really have an artist’s statement in the same way many artists do. I don’t have any prolific or deep reason to be doing things, and I don’t think you need something like that to do what you love. Like ancient cave paintings and hand prints, sometimes humans just do things because it brings them and the people around them joy. I enjoy my art, I enjoy telling the stories I do, and I love to see the smiles on people’s faces when I gift them a piece of art. I always think, ‘Isn’t that all the motivation that should matter?’”

You can find Dittman’s art at various locations through the Sisters Art Association, as well as his website. davedittmanart.com

Firing

SYNERGY

by KRISTINE THOMAS — A&E Feature Writer

AJ Evansen, 29, took a pottery class to relieve stress from his other college classes. Sydney Dickson, 22, discovered her love for ceramics in high school. Their paths crossed in Dickson’s garage when they were “throwing clay.”

Eager to share their love of working with clay to create items with others, they decided to open Synergy Ceramics in June 2021. “Synergy Ceramics is a small yet comfortable community studio for people of all levels,” Evansen said. “It’s a safe space for people to express themselves in their work, enjoy the moments of working with clay and feel supported to try something new.”

Their business partnership celebrates their opposing strengths and knowledge with the goal to offer “something spectacular” to the growing art community in Bend. “I have known for a while that I wanted to start a business and would need a business partner,” Dickson said. “Since the eighth grade, I have loved the word ‘synergy’ and what it meant. I knew that’s what I wanted to name a business.”

Evansen specializes in crystalline glazes and beautiful vase forms. Dickson is drawn towards the more functional side of pottery — creating travel mugs, flower vases, dish sets and everything in between.

Synergy Ceramics offers five-week classes, memberships and date night workshops. “We both bring different skills AJ Evansen to the table and the studio allows us to bring our skills together to benefit our students,” Evansen said. “We allow our students to go whatever direction they want with learning how to work with and shape their clay.”

Dickson encourages people to try a new art form by learning how to work with clay. “Doing something for yourself can be extremely gratifying and healthy,” Dickson said. “The studio is a great place to meet people and be a part of the growing art community in Bend.”

Both Dickson and Evansen have learned their individual techniques from other ceramic artists. Dickson credits a great high school teacher who encouraged her love of ceramics by opening the classroom to allow her extra practice time. While earning her associate degree in business from Central Oregon Community College, she took “one last ceramics class” that led to her being hired as the kiln and fire technician for the COCC studio. She also assisted teaching classes at Pottery by Yvonne in Tumalo. When the pandemic caused things to close in the spring of 2020, she bought a kiln and pottery wheel and began teaching classes in her garage, where she met Evansen, who was eager to move to Bend from Portland. Working in a solo studio, Evansen Synergy Ceramics Encourages Creativity to Flourish Synergy Ceramics Encourages Creativity to Flourish felt his creativity being stifled. He enjoys bringing nature into his work, echoing the shapes and colors he discovers in his outdoor adventures. His work reflects the geometry found in life like the radial symmetry of sunflowers. While their individual artistic

styles differ, Evansen and Dickson share the philosophy of providing a safe and welcoming studio for people to let go of their daily struggles.

In separate interviews, they both said when working with clay, it’s hard to be caught in negative thought patterns or stress because the focus is on just how to work with the clay.

Dickson said the studio has been a “great community builder.” “We see people who take our classes become friends who meet for dinner before classes, plan hikes and do other activities together,” Dickson said. “I think people are looking for something stress-free to do that lets them unwind.”

Dickson and Evansen are grateful to witness the countless ‘aha’ moments when students understand how to guide and form the clay and to see their students enjoy playing with the clay. “A great deal of failure happens when people are throwing clay on the wheel,” Evansen said. “Failure is part of the process of learning and letting go to feel what is going to happen with the clay.”

Owning a business specializing in ceramics is a dream come true for both Evansen and Dickson. They are grateful to their students and members for their support. “We didn’t want to do pottery alone,” Dickson said. “We enjoy sharing the experience and knowledge with the community. Doing what we love just makes it easier to foster an inviting, inclusive workspace for everyone who steps in the door.” synergyceramicsbend.com

Synergy Ceramics

1900 NE Division Street Suite 108 in Bend Visit synergyceramicsbend.com to learn about classes, workshops, memberships and more. They will have a booth at the NW Crossing Farmers’ Market starting in June.