Sisters

Artwork by Diane L. Farquhar Hallstrom

Featured Artists

Oct. 28 ~ Nov. 24

Hood Avenue Art

357 W Hood Ave. hoodavenueart.com • info@hoodavenueart.com • 541-719-1800

October is just around the corner with some spooky days ahead and time to get out to see our local Sisters gallery.

Featured artists for October 28-November 24 are Barbara Hudler Cella, Diane L. Farquhar Hallstrom and Annie Dyer. 2D artist Barbara Hudler Cella is a plein air painter in acrylics that captures the energy and richness of Central Oregon water and mountains. Barbara strives to highlight the unique beauty of our local wilderness.

Our other 2D artist, Diane L. Farquhar Hallstrom, is a native Oregonian that shows the love of her state with her diverse landscapes. She lets her wild side show with her random nonobjective abstracts. Annie Dyer is our ceramicist 3D artist that was trained in Japan. Annie’s work has a more Asian feel, leaving the raw clay to shine as well as her beautiful glazes — mixing nature and art to create unique functional pieces of art. We will have Mark Barringer playing music with appetizers and wine served on 4th Friday, October 28, 4-7pm. Come check out the over 40 local artists all month long.

Raven Makes Gallery

182 E Hood Ave. 541-719-1182 • ravenmakesgallery.com

Our gallery offers first market Native American and Indigenous artists’ works, spanning the Arctic to Northern Mexico. Contemporary, meaningful and diverse mediums, including fine jewelry. New works this month include pieces by award-winning Acoma potter, Sandra Vicotorino of New Mexico.

Stitchin’ Post Gallery

311 W Cascade Ave. 541-549-6061 • stitchinpost.com

Stitchin’ Post Gallery in Sisters will host a special exhibit of art quilts from the Central Oregon Chapter of the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) entitled A Slice of Orange, opening October 28 during the Sisters 4th Friday Artwalk from 4-6pm. Over 30 quilters from the local chapter were challenged to design an 18” x 40” art quilt with only one requirement: to include a small “slice” of orange color in their quilt which allowed the artists to let their imaginations fly on the themes and designs of their work. Orange can be a challenging color to work with but the broad concept was enthusiastically embraced and resulted in a wide array of styles and techniques ranging from landscape to collage to abstract quilts from hand-dyed fabrics.

Toriizaka Art

222 West Hood Ave. 541-595 8285 • toriizakaart.com

Featuring a diverse selection of curated work from accomplished artists. Exhibition includes landscape paintings by contemporary artists Vu Cong Dien, Lieu Nguyen and Dao Hai Phong as well as figurative works by Yuji Hiratsuka, Bui Thanh Tam and Nguyen Minh Phuoc.

Barbara Hudler Cella Diane L. Farquhar Hallstrom Annie Dyer

541.719.1800 | 357 W Hood Ave. Sisters | hoodavenueart.com

Photo courtesy of Stitchin’ Post Gallery

Photo courtesy of Toriizaka Art

Toriizaka Art

A New Gallery in Sisters

This August, Toriizaka Art (Tokyo, Japan 2005-2018; Portland, Oregon 2019 - 2020) opened its doors in Sisters. Located in the heart of the Sisters Arts District, Toriizaka Art resides in a completely renovated two-story building with Sisters Gallery and Frame. Other neighboring galleries include Clearwater Gallery, Hood Avenue Art, Raven Makes Gallery, Wildflower Studio, Beacham’s Clock Company, Metals Jewelry Studio and Dirk Godby Studio.

In late 2005, Karen Thomas, with the support of her husband Jack Bird, opened a salonstyle gallery in their Tokyo home featuring Vietnamese artists who were underrepresented in Japan. Karen’s first show was a sell-out and from there, Toriizaka Art was born (named for the Tokyo area in which they resided at the time). Karen started representing Japanese artists when she was asked to curate the exhibitions at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Tokyo, a responsibility she held for more than eight years. Their home gallery evolved into a fine art venue that hosted friend and fundraising events for various international charities including The Asian University for Women, Room-to-Read and Tokyo English Lifeline.

After Jack retired in 2018 from his consulting job in Tokyo, the couple moved to downtown Portland with the idea of re-creating their salon-style inhome gallery in the former residence of Earle Chiles atop KOIN Tower. Shortly after completing a major renovation and after hosting only a few events, COVID and Portland’s troubles intervened.

During COVID, Karen and Jack found themselves spending time at their Black Butte Ranch vacation home which they had purchased in 2008. “Black Butte and Sisters are very special places and we were embraced by the community. A lot of people have moved to Central Oregon after reconsidering their work/life balance; taking a step back, slowing down and enjoying life in a different way,” Karen observes. Traveling, hiking, biking, wine tasting and pickleball contribute to their active lifestyle and their relationships with their neighbors.

When a tired, but well-located commercial property on Hood Avenue came to market, the couple decided to buy the building, undertake a complete renovation and re-open Toriizaka Art in Sisters. The gallery space was designed by Karen and features purposefully built viewing areas with custom lighting and a renovated outdoor space which will allow for music and art gatherings.

The gallery features a diverse selection of curated work from accomplished artists. The opening exhibition includes landscape paintings by contemporary artists Vu Cong Dien, Lieu Nguyen and Dao Hai Phong as well as figurative works by Yuji Hiratsuka, Bui Thanh Tam and Nguyen Minh Phuoc.

“Art, like music and good food, nourishes and sustains us. Art that makes you think, stops you in your tracks to admire its vibrance or jumps out and grabs you in some form is worth considering. We look forward to sharing the collection with our visitors,” says Karen.

For more information stop by the gallery at 222 West Hood Ave. in Sisters. toriizakaart.com • info@toriizakaart.com