By Elisabeth Matthews
JANE FISHELbr>
Here in the Northwest, we are experts at getting outside, but when it comes to our creative endeavors, sometimes we need a little push to get it out there. "I always say you can't sell artwork from under your bed - since some of us store it there," says Jane Fishel.
She has taken this motto and used it to guide her showings, bringing her work to Parklane Gallery this month. Her works have been shown in Northwest Pastel Society shows and in libraries, convalescent homes and businesses. Bringing the outside to the inside, Jane's inspiration has come from the photos she has taken while traveling "out there" with her husband, Dale.
Her adventures have taken her throughout North America and Western Europe, but always to the rural side of life. "I find that I like to paint peaceful scenes and take pleasure in sharing these special places," Jane says after having painted for only 10 years.
CAREER CHANGE RECOMMENDED BY HUSBAND
Fishel is not your typical artist. Painting was not her lifelong hobby or even her dream. It was a suggestion from her husband. After working full-time for more than 30 years, she decided it was time to semi-retire; lest idle hands get her into trouble, she started seeking a hobby for her free time.
Her husband, Dale, had been telling her for years that he thought she would enjoy painting. In 1997, the bug bit and she enrolled in a watercolor class with Michele Cooper, a local watercolorist and art teacher. Soon after, chalk pastels entered Jane's life and she hasn't looked back.
PASTELS ARE FORGIVING
"I find working in pastel to be a very forgiving medium," she says. "I love the vibrancy of the color..." Indeed they are vibrant. While many of Jane's works are bright, sunny landscapes reminiscent of early summer, even her pictures with grey skies offer the spectacular contrast we know well in the Northwest. It is only under the grayest skies that the trees show us how they are truly green.
While Fishel has been fortunate to take a number of workshops with several well-known pastelists, she explains that painting "is like anything else you try, the more you work at it, the better you will become. It doesn't happen overnight."
For an artist with no formal art training and only a decade of practice, she has had to discover her medium, her technique and her inspiration. Since finding pastels, she is obviously at ease with her work and in showing them. And she doesn't have to wait for the paint to dry.
JESSE YOUNG
Jesse Young has been dabbling in photography since high school when he had his first course and his first self-doubts. "My father bought me a medium-format box camera at a time when sleek 35-mm cameras were all the rage. Characterizing this camera as "too old-fashioned, I barely passed the class," he remembers.
This first foray into photography didn't go as Young had planned, and years later when he stumbled upon a similar, beat-up camera, he realized how effective this type of camera could be and what he had missed. "This camera took incredible images!"
GOING AFTER ANSEL
With that positive experience fresh in his creative mind, Young immersed himself with in-depth studies of photography. Desiring to ride on the shoulders of giants, Young aspired to produce work similar to Ansel Adams and Francesco Scavullo, portrait/fashion photographer. This still-life interest was aided by his next endeavor.
In his 20s, Young took a turn to film and theater set design. "I think in many ways my theater studies influenced what I see as a photographer. There's a kind of staged, precise aspect to my images." Allowing this skill to add to his photography has been beneficial. "Rarely is anything in an image by chance. I carefully frame all of my subjects."
His staging skills have been aided by another twist in his career - the digital revolution. Jesse has finally been lured by the "immediacy of shooting an image and seeing it that same day." Although he admits missing the "familiar aromas of the darkroom," Young has been able to use the digital process to remove distracting objects from his pieces - like power lines - something not possible with traditional film.
Young admits that "real life sometimes got in the way, however, and there were periods where my photographic endeavors were put on the back burner, sometimes for a number of years.
Today, he shoots as many photos as he has time for, while making his living wages as a Web site designer, another interest he enjoys. His partner Doug has been very influential, supporting all of his artistic endeavors.
Life is full of twists and turns, and Young's broad interests, while sometimes not directly connected to photography, have served him well creatively. When life tossed him a bad experience, he turned and explored another interest, only to bring the experiences back to photography. "I've always been fascinated by line, shadow and the interplay of light. Sometimes I wonder what it is that I'm even seeing and question why I'm photographing something. But when I see the right image, it just calls to me."
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