Piecing together a life story
| Tuesday, Jun 16 2009 06:43 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jun 17 2009 05:02 PM
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Linda Brown: Collages
On display: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday through Sept. 4
Where: Kern Central Credit Union, 2100 H St.
Admission: Free
Details: 324-9000
Lynelle Echeverria: Landscapes
On display: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (CQ: 11 a.m.-7 p.m, Tuesday-Friday) through Aug 2.
Where: Gallery of Art, 3000 Mall View Road
Admission: Free
Details: 872-2806
Linda Brown: Collages
On display: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday through Sept. 4
Where: Kern Central Credit Union, 2100 H St.
Admission: Free
Details: 324-9000
Lynelle Echeverria: Landscapes
On display: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (CQ: 11 a.m.-7 p.m, Tuesday-Friday) through Aug 2.
Where: Gallery of Art, 3000 Mall View Road
Admission: Free
Details: 872-2806
Linda Brown: Collages
On display: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday through Sept. 4
Where: Kern Central Credit Union, 2100 H St.
Admission: Free
Details: 324-9000
Lynelle Echeverria: Landscapes
On display: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (CQ: 11 a.m.-7 p.m, Tuesday-Friday) through Aug 2.
Where: Gallery of Art, 3000 Mall View Road
Admission: Free
Details: 872-2806
Images:
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece entitled 'Fear' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon along with many other pieces from local artist Linda Brown.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A close up of a piece of local artist Linda Brown's mixed media work entitled 'The Gene Pool' in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece entitled 'Happy Birthday to You', top left, hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon along with many other pieces from local artist Linda Brown.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A close up of a piece of local artist Linda Brown's mixed media work entitled 'The Gene Pool' in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian An acrylic piece by local artist Linda Brown entitled 'Pismo Beach Garden' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece entitled 'Fear' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon along with many other pieces from local artist Linda Brown.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece entitled 'Happy Birthday to You', top left, hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon along with many other pieces from local artist Linda Brown.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece by local artist Linda Brown entitled 'Inherited Body Image' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A close up of a piece of local artist Linda Brown's mixed media work entitled 'The Gene Pool' in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece by local artist Linda Brown entitled 'Valley Memories' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian An acrylic piece by local artist Linda Brown entitled 'Pismo Beach Garden' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian A mixed media piece by local artist Linda Brown entitled 'The Warrior' hangs in the lobby at Kern Central Credit Union Monday afternoon.
Usually when we hear the word memoir, we think of a written document. Linda Brown has chosen a different route to tell important episodes and influences in her life by doing a series of highly detailed collages.
Although the pieces in her exhibit at Kern Central Credit Union have a distinctively personal touch, one in particular will resonate with local residents.
Titled, "My Mother," it has as its backdrop an irrigation canal brimming with water as it flows along towards infinity, with farmland on one side and a dusty road on the other. A smiling young woman is depicted in one corner, a gardenia in another, and in between, emerging from the water, is a portion of music score that appears to be part of a sacred song.
Another collage, "Inherited Body Images," conveys the artist's ideas of the way our ancestors influence one's personal values.
"It's about how we inherit our feelings from our mothers, our aunts, our grandmothers," said Brown, who teaches art at Liberty High School and has lived in Bakersfield for nine years.
One of those feelings, she said, has to do with ideal body size, which explains the pieces of measuring tape that are placed here and there on this highly detailed canvas that includes snapshots of various women in her family. The numerals "36" appear at opposite corners of the canvas.
On the base of the canvas, Brown has sketched a pair of what I would call glamour girl legs but these are barely visible because of the many layers of lace, pebbles, beads, individual snapshots and other media she's added. "I like to play with the surface," she explained.
Another painting, "The Gift," is a memory of what must have been an extremely scary episode in Brown's life: A major part of the canvas shows an ashen-faced woman.
"That's a self-portrait," the artist said.
"That's how I looked after I had surgery for a brain tumor. Many people would say major surgery is not a gift, but for me the gift was all of the love and affection I received from family and friends during that time."
Brown's exhibit, which is sponsored by the Arts Council of Kern, will be on display during the credit union's business hours through Sept. 4.
Echeverria landscapes
In many of her oil paintings now on display at the Bakersfield Art Association's gallery in East Hills Mall, Lynelle Echeverria has captured the majestic beauty of one of my all-time favorite places in Kern County, namely, Tejon Ranch.
I confess I would like to see the historic ranch stay exactly as it is now -- that is, the way the artist depicts it -- unchanged from generation to generation.
Echeverria, now a Bakersfield resident, was born in San Luis Obispo County. However she is thoroughly familiar with the Tejon, having spent most of her adult life there with her husband, Matt Echeverria, who formerly was a senior vice president and livestock manager.
"I lived there for 23 years and we still go up there all the time," she artist said, explaining that several years ago, she and her husband bought the ranch's cattle herd, which they now run on land leased from Tejon.
One of her landscapes, titled "White Wolf Oak," shows a majestic oak bordered in the foreground by an uneven strip of bristly golden stubble. A verdant meadow leading from the tree stretches toward purple-shaded mountains silhouetted against a pale blue sky studded with puffy white clouds.
Another impressive oil in the exhibit depicts a winter scene that is notable for Echeverria's skillful interpretation of shadows upon the snow. The painting portrays a lone cowboy standing on a rise as he raises a booted foot to step into the stirrup of his russet-colored horse. The artist said the scene is based on a photo she took of Tejon Lake after a severe snowstorm that closed I-5 at Lebec a few years ago. Her husband was not in the original photo, but he was the model for the painting she did later in her studio.
In addition to oil paintings, Echeverria also has on exhibit several high quality full-size giclee prints. Each is framed and matted. Her exhibit will be on display through Aug. 2.
