Valley Art is dedicatedto supporting workingartists and encouragingbeginning artists, whilebringing out the artistwithin us all by exhibit-ing exceptional artworkand offering art classesfor the entire communityat affordable prices.

Valley Art generalmeetings are held

on the fourth Thursdayof the month at 6:30p.m. All Valley Artmembers who wouldlike to attend are invit-ed. We welcome yourinput and look forwardto your interaction.

CONTENTS:Current show . . . . . . . .1-4Chalk Art Festival . . . . .5First Wednesday . . . . . . .6Classes . . . . . . .See insertChildren’s Classes . . . . .7Annual Artist Event . . . .7Registration Form . . . . .8

GalleryFromValley Art Association—September/October 2007

the

A nonprofit organization promoting art in the community since 1966

Valley Art Association2022 Main St. — P.O. Box 333Forest Grove, OR 97116503.357.3703w w w. v a l l e y a r t . o r g

Gerald Sticka

Inspiredby Nature

Martha Denham~ BASKETS

Gerald Sticka~ WILDLIFE ART

Reception Wednesday,September 5, 2007

Martha Denham, a NorthPlains artist, believespine needle baskets are

similar to a clay coil pot.Like the clay pot, the basket is

made by building up rows of coilsinto a bowl shape. The pine nee-dles are made into a coil with eachrow of coils stitched to the previ-ous row. “I like working with pine

needles because they can be veryversatile,” Martha says. “Forheavy duty baskets, I make largercoils reinforced with fiber or wire.More delicate baskets are made byusing small coils. I’ve developedtechniques in basket weavingwhere I can create all sorts ofshapes by soaking the needlesuntil they are pliable.

Basket inspired by the forestby Martha Denham

Continued on page 2

Inspired by Nature Continued from page 1

North Fork Herd by Gerald Sticka

Baskets inspired by the garden, Martha Denham

2 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY

Continued on page 3

“In that state, I can turn the needlecoils into loops and curls. Using thistechnique I’ve developed a three dimen-sional rose, a head of wheat and shapesthat resemble sea plants. By adding afew organic beads made of stone, pearlor clay, I give my baskets an accent ofcolor.” As to design, Martha says, “Igave up years ago trying to make bas-kets that fit the mainstream idea of whatpine needle baskets should look like. Igot too bored.”

For Martha it was “more challenging”to create “shapes of items in my garden,or at the shore and in the mountains.”Hence her series of baskets: Tinker’sGarden, Ocean and Mountain.

Gerald E. Sticka, a nativeof Oregon, grew up ona farm in the rural com-

munity of Gaston. His love ofnature, and his desire to cap-ture her grandeur promptedhim to retire from a 30 yearcareer as press foreman for theOregonian PublishingCompany, and pursue his inter-est in art.

Gerald studied with Westernartist, Roberta St. Louis, and hisnew vocation blossomed.

He began sculpting in woodsix years ago, to give his worka three dimensional feeling.

Gerald spent 11 years on theOregon coast as part owner ofThe Westwind Gallery inPacific City and Natures TrailGallery in Tillamook. Duringthis time, he taught art throughNatures Trail and TillamookArt Association in Five Rivers

“Too many people only lookat what Mother Nature offers us;

they really do not see the delicate balanceor all the beauty she really holds.”

Gerald Sticka

Green Wing Tealby Gerald Sticka

Baskets inspired by the forest, Martha Denham

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY 3

Continued on page 4

Gallery. He has been a guestartist at some of the largest artshows in the Northwest. Themost recent was in the summerof 2006 at Westport, wherethere were 160 attending artists.

The most memorable art ven-ture he ever had was duringthe summer of 1991. Geraldand a group of artists traveledall over the state of Montanashowing their artwork in everycity. He missed only one showin Great Falls when he decidedto take a break and park histrailer on the edge of theYellowstone river and fish for10 days.

Gerald has also been a part ofThe Rocky Mountain ElkFoundation and DucksUnlimited with his artwork.

The most prestigious showshe has been involved in were“Celebration of Western Art” inOlympia, Washington, at theTyee, and “NorthwestTerritorial Art Show” in Blewit

Pass. The Bear Track Gallery is con-sidered to show the top 50 artists inthe Northwest. At first Gerald feltintimidated by all the big nameartists, but later he felt good whenthey believed he was at the samelevel.

His work is part of corporate andprivate collections throughout thePacific Northwest, and in Japan,Germany, Australia and Canada.

Both Gerald and Martha are long-time Valley Art members.

4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY

Finely detailed bird by Gerald StickaThree baskets with varied shapes by Martha Denham

Inspired by Nature Continued from page 3

Valley Art welcomes new board members

Welcome to our newboard membersGinger Steele,

Amanda Houston, Jerry Frye,Betsy Foster, Margaret Hoerber,Nedra Hathaway and LutherSchrock. And congratulations toour association for electingthem.

Everyone on the board wel-comes their enthusiasm, knowl-

edge and experience. We aresure Valley Art will become bet-ter for having their help.

Running any organizationrequires a wide range of skills,and with an all volunteer“army” such as Valley Art has,the more help we have, the bet-ter.

Please join with us in wel-coming these valued membersof the Valley Art membership

who have decided to play amore involved role in theorganization.

Remember, we are alwayslooking for other volunteers togallery sit, help with receptionsor input data into the computer.

All you have to do is find acouple of hours a month or onehour every week to volunteerand you will help more thanyou can know.

At 5:30 pm., on Tuesday,Sept. 11, there will be a tableoutside Valley ArtAssociation, 2022 Main St.,Forest Grove, so you can cre-ate a “Living Leaf” to hang ona tree in Forest Grove as a per-sonal memorial or in remem-brance of 9/11.

The event originally beganin 2002 to remember two localmen, Rick Read and Bill Ward,who died in a Mt. Hoodclimbing accident. It was alsoa way to remember those whoperished on 9/11. The leaveshave served as a healing

process from the Iraq war, andfollowing the 2004 tsunami,Hurricane Katrina and othertragic world events.

You can construct your ownleaf, write a wish, poem orname on it, and bring it down-town to hang on the MainStreet trees. You may also usethe supplies available atValley Art. The leaves will addto the colorful appearance ofdowntown for the annualChalk Art Festival on Sept. 15.

Contact Jeanne Levy, 503-341-9701, for more informa-tion.

Living Leaves carry hopes and wishes

The artwork of Kristiann Lopez has been selected bythe Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival Committee to be theofficial poster of the festival this year. The poster is verycolorful and eye-catching and will be posted aroundtown in the weeks to come.

Kristiann is a student at Forest Grove High School andshe majors in art. She was a recipient of a Valley Artscholarship which is awarded topromising students who majored in art last year.

Because Kristiann's poster was selected, she will be afeatured artist at the Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival thisyear. Please stop by and congratulateher when you come to the festival.

Get out your kneepads! Saturday,September 15th,

marks the 17th anniver-sary of the SidewalkChalk Art Festival indowntown Forest Grove.

As in years past, peo-ple of all ages and talentswill create colorful mas-terpieces that borderMain Street. The festivaldraws hundreds ofparticipants and specta-tors to the heart of ForestGrove each year.

Along with chalkdrawings, the 2007 festi-val will include a BizarrtScarecrow Show (thetheme this year is“Balance”) and entertain-ment by Joe the BalloonGuy and Eartha the Ecological Clown.

Photographs from past events are available forview under the events section of the Valley Art

Association Web site —www.valleyart.org.

The Sidewalk ChalkArt Festival is funded bycommunity grants andcontributions from localindividuals and business-es. Come to Valley Art at9 a.m. on Saturday,September 15th, to regis-ter. Cost is $7 for ValleyArt members and $10 fornon-members. Thatamount of money willpurchase a largepiece of sidewalk (tem-porarily) along with acolorful tray of pastelchalk (yours permanent-ly).

Come out and have lotsof colorful fun.For more information,

please contact Roylene Read, Chair-SidewalkChalk Art Festival,503-352-2283 or 503-357-0311.

Sidewalk Chalk Art FestivalSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY 5

A 2006 participant begins her work of art.

High school student's posterselected for the 17th annualSidewalk Chalk Art Festival

Thank you,volunteers

Thanks to our Mailing Partywho worked on June 25, 2007:

Linda Wilke, David SaucyJr., Jeannette Saucy, Els Abma,Art Abma, Bev Walker, JohnWelch, Mary Welch, MaxFaulkner, Alec Faulkner, DickLane, Ruby Lane, Joan Bolen,Mary Ann Mellbye and PeteTruax.

We appreciate your help.

6 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY

Please join us on Wednesday,Sept. 5, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., forour artists’ reception at ValleyArt Gallery, 2022 Main St.,Forest Grove.

Tribal Art sisters, Patricia Latimer andJo Anne Sayles, at First Wednesday.

Teresa Burgett and Marcella Gentzkow, twoof the founding members of Lunaria Gallery,both had their work in the latest showat Valley Art. Tom Allen and Lori Webb were two more

artists from Lunaria Gallery attending FirstWednesday in August.

First Wednesday…

Philis Schmidt, watercolor artist fromLunaria Gallery, chats with Donna House,Valley Art volunteer.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY 7

Children’s classes prove to be big hit

The second letter for the AnnualArtist Event has been mailed to theartists who responded to our firstsolicitation. We invited over 140artists to bring their work inOctober for the Tuesday,November 6, member's night eventand the annual artist “sell-ebra-tion” from November 7th throughDecember 24th.

This annual event is a time whenartists throughout our communitycan submit their work and have itdisplayed for sale at Valley Art.This year member's night will havethe grand title of “PREFACE” —Pretty Remarkable Event and Fine

Art Collection Extravaganza.We expect you will definitely

feel it's an extravaganza, since thegallery that night will be filled withnew and exciting work by our reg-ular artists and some new ones.

The gallery will be openTuesday, November 6, from 7-9p.m. for members only. There will bea 10 percent discount on your totalpurchase that evening only. Nowwould be a good time to check thelabel on your newsletter and makesure your dues of $15 are paid.Besides the Annual Artist Event,there is a discount on Chalk ArtFestival registration and on classes

you take at Valley Art. In addition,you will be helping sustain a total-ly volunteer nonprofit gallery thatcontributes so very much to ourcommunity.

Wednesday, Nov. 7, the eveningafter member’s night, is the FirstWednesday in downtown ForestGrove. The gallery will again beopen late, from 5:30-8 p.m. Therewill be food, drink and entertain-ment both nights — and the oppor-tunity to purchase real art at rea-sonable prices.

Remember the 10 percent discounton member's night.

We’ll see you there.

Dominique Sarafian, originally fromMontreal, has been teaching artfor 12 years. This summer she con-

ducted several “fantastical” art classes atValley Art.

Sarafian tries to keep the classes “ageappropriate.” She immerses the childrenin ideas by reading to them, showingthem books with illustrations related totheir subject and gives them not so muchinstruction, as inspiration. The childrenrely on their own imaginations and createfrom there.

Using this technique she keeps themmotivated and doesn’t let the process ofmaking art become intimidating.

The students in one of Sarafian’s class-es worked to create their own spaceships andthe spacesuits they would wear. Anotherclass worked on imagining their own mytho-logical creatures, another “magical animals”with their own landscape. One class studiedart and design while another was scheduledto do comic strip illustration.

Valley Art hopes to keep DominiqueSarafian busy with more classes for the fall.Be sure to check out the class schedule on theback of the reception flyer.

Dominique Sarafian

Annual Artist Event coming in November

8 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION — FROM THE GALLERY

VALLEY ART CLASS REGISTRATION FORMMAIL TO P.O. BOX 333 — FOREST GROVE, OR 97116

Please note: Pre-register in person at Valley Art no later than five (5) days before your class starts, or mailyour registration to arrive no later than five (5) working days before your class starts. This allows time forteachers to prepare for every class, knowing how many students are registered. If classes don't fill five (5)days before each class starts, teachers will notify registered students of class closures before the class date.PRINT CLEARLY____________ ________________________________________ ______________ Class number Class name Class begin dateSTUDENT NAME __________________________________________________

Adult Teen Child Age: _______________________________________________________________Signature of Parent of Minor Student

________________________________________________________________Mailing Address City, State, ZipHome Phone _______________________ Alternate phone ___________________E-mail address: ___________________________________________I learned of this class through: VAA Newsletter VAA Web page

Prior VAA class Hillsboro Argus Another person OtherPAYMENT DUE AT REGISTRATIONClass Tuition $________ Cash Visa Check Check No.Class Fee $________ Fee Description: ________________________Total: $________

September/October — Registration FormMail or drop off form at Valley Art Gallery

Valley Art Association2022 Main St.P.O. Box 333Forest Grove, OR 97116

Return Service Requested

Payment received by_____________________(print name)________________Date paidSend registration andcheck for tuition andclass fees toValley Art, P.O. Box 333Forest Grove, OR 97116.Visa payments must bemade at the Gallery,2022 Main St.in Forest Grove.

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U.S. POSTAGE PAIDFOREST GROVE, OR

PERMIT NO. 5