Kay O-Rourke - Artist
WHO:
Kay O’Rourke - artist
WHAT:
–23 new works - 11 oil paintings, 11 charcoal and pastel on paper drawings and 1 mixed media piece in collaboration with her sister Gina Freuen
WHERE:
The Art Spirit Gallery
415 Sherman Avenue
Coeur d’Alene, ID
83814
WHEN: January 13, 2012 – February 4, 2012
-Opening Reception with the artist on Friday, January 13th from 5:00-8:00
-Informal paintingdemonstration and talk by the artist on Saturday, January 14th starting at 1:00 in the gallery
EXHIBIT ON LINE: http://www.theartspiritgallery.com/html/exhibitions.asp
CONTACT: Steve Gibbs
208.765.6006
SPONSOR: The Fish Folks and Youngstone Art
HOURS: Open Tuesday-Saturday from 11:00-6:00
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About Kay and her recent work:
Kay O’Rourke has learned to get out of her own way and let the creative process
happen. “As I get older, my art is my happy place,” says O’Rourke, describing
not only her vibrantly-colored paintings, drawings and mixed-media
constructions, but also the process of creating art.
For more than forty years, this Spokane artist has been charming viewers with her
imagery inspired by family, literature, and even day-to-day events. The drama
of O’Rourke’s artwork--birds, humans, animals, flowers, fantastical creatures,
landscapes and assorted objects--plays out in large drawings and canvasses
generous with color and symbolism.
In the past 20 years, Kay’s focus has been concentrated throughout the northwest,
including Helena, Montana’s Holter Museum of Art, Seattle’s Seafirst Gallery,
Gonzaga University, and Spokane’s Museum of Arts and Culture.
Her work weaves together concurrent ideas, events, techniques and artistic
processes, creating a tapestry of images that is uniquely O’Rourke. “A Spin for
Joy,” for example, is typical of her still lifes. A gleaming dish of parfait
amidst the frenetic buzz of hummingbirds and spinning tops, it blends realism with
whimsy, permanence with a sense of movement and change.
In “The Summons,” a jester rides awkwardly atop a somber dog. The
exuberantly-colored jester contrasts sharply with the rest of the mostly
black-and-white image, creating both a nostalgic and dreamlike feeling in this
charcoal and pastel drawing.
The charcoal and pastel drawings are part of the artist’s self-directed process for
exploring new ideas. They give her a more immediate way of capturing
elements—dogs, birds, fish, toys, the jester—that she describes as just
“showing up” in her work. More gestural than her richly-colored paintings, the
drawings also give us a rare glimpse into what’s teeming beneath the surface of
every Kay O’Rourke piece.
