1 minute read
Rebecca Kiser
REBECCA KISER IS A LONGTIME RESIDENT OF MCMINNVILLE, AND FOR MANY YEARS POURED HER CREATIVE ENERGY INTO RAISING FIVE CHILDREN AND CARING FOR HER WIDOWED MOTHER. On the side, she painted sets for high school and middle school plays, Gallery Theater, and murals for the annual Mayor’s Charity Ball. Now, with children grown and her mother’s passing, her attention has turned to fine art painting inspired by the beauty of Western Oregon. Her work has been shown at the Marilyn Affolter Fine Art Gallery, Land and Sea Gallery, the annual Yamhill County Art Harvest Studio Tour, and most recently in the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University. She is currently featured in a show, "The Heavens Declare His Glory", at the Narthex Gallery in Historic downtown McMinnville. The show runs through July 30.
Her paintings don’t attempt to replicate exactly what is seen, but the emotion felt in observing nature, especially light, clouds and trees. The intersection of atmosphere and earth intrigues her, and she sees deep spiritual symbolism in the way that the earth reaches for heaven through plants and trees, and heaven descends earthward in clouds and rain.
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Rebecca views her painting process as a metaphor for life. She may start with a plan, but it inevitably changes as design problems are created, confronted and solved. This resembles a life cycle as a painting begins like a “child”, full of life and promise, before entering the “teen years”, where the battles ensue. Eventually the painting reaches “maturity” and is comfortable with what it has become. She prefers painting with acrylics because they allow so much flexibility and can be manipulated quickly.
Her hope is that when people view her work, it prompts a feeling, a memory, or a connection they’ve had with this beautiful world. She’s excited to share her work and her painting process in a new studio designed by her architect son Daniel, and made possible by her generous and supportive husband. She hopes you will come visit her there at the Art Harvest Studio Tour in October.
