earthenware and glazes
by Denise Krueger
July’s featured show at Sidestreet Arts, “Zen Instead,” is a two-person show that runs Thursday, July 6-Sunday, July 30, with Portland artists Karrie Amiton and Denise Krueger. “Zen Instead” is the healing potion, the balm for cracked psyches. After the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a reset button, a chance to exhale.
Amiton paints on canvas using acrylic, inks, charcoal and oil pastel. She has also developed her own process of painting in reverse with acrylic on glass. This reverse painting technique includes scratching through layers, applying isopropyl alcohol in random ways and mark-making with garden sticks. The unique techniques create unusual results. The appeal of painting on glass for Amiton is the intense saturation that glass imparts to each piece and the unexpected results she achieves. (Her “Red Flowers” acrylic reverse painting on glass is pictured above.)
Krueger’s hand-built earthenware sculptures are magical, coastal-inspired ceramic pods adorned with bright colors that cheer her up. She’s inspired by natural and coastal forms, landscapes and the soft, delicious squish of moist clay. She says, “I find fascination in the way that nature replicates its designs and creates itself. The inside of an apple, the swirly flesh of a squash and lovely flower parts evoke our own creation.”
Visit Sidestreet Arts, 140 SE 28th Ave., Thursday-Sunday 12-5 pm or online anytime at sidestreetarts.com. Both artists will be in the gallery for the First Friday Artwalk, July 7, 5-7 pm.
