Bend Fall Festival
Arts and Crafts
Karen Bandy Design Jeweler Artists Promenade

By John Martin For The Bulletin
Two of the many reasons to attend the Bank of the Cascades Bend Fall
Festival presented by The Bulletin and Norwalk-The Furniture Idea are the
Juried Artist Award presentation and the Karen Bandy Design Jeweler Artists
Promenade.

The Juried Artist Award, in the amount of $500, is given by C3 Productions
to the single artist whose submitted work was judged most compelling by a
selection panel. Artists who wished to be considered for the award had to
submit slides of their art for consideration. According to Susan Ludi, an
art teacher at Redmond High School and one of the judges, the jury looked
for quality of the slide submission and work that stood out from the crowd.
Ludi notes that many of those who participated in the judging are
accomplished artists with work on display at local galleries, and that the
number of worthy entries made selecting a single winner challenging.
Challenging perhaps, but not impossible. The judges gave this year¹s Juried
Artist Award to Don Zylius, a nationally known watercolor artist who lives
in Sisters.

Zylius came to Central Oregon in 1970 from Waukeegan, Ill., where he had
been a staff artist for a newspaper. He worked as a commercial artist in
Bend for several years; then, in 1974, he started doing fine art watercolor
painting on a full time basis.

Zylius paints mainly landscape and wildlife scenes, florals, and fly fishing
scenes. He uses a watercolor technique known as wet-on-wet in which the
paint is applied to wet paper. He feels that this method gives a depth to
the painting and helps evoke the mood he wants to present.
Another unusual technique he employs is pouring paint onto the paper.
Zylius then manipulates the paper to spread the paint where he wants it. As
much as half of the paint that he uses on any given piece might be applied
in this way. While this technique achieves an effect that Zylius likes, it¹s
also less controlled than applying the paint with a brush, more of a gamble.

But it¹s the aspect of risk that Zylius enjoys about watercolor painting in
general. He describes his process as, ³flying by the seat of your pants.
It¹s open ended. You¹re always reacting to what¹s happening on the paper.²
The choice of nature scenes for most of his work comes naturally to Zylius.
He¹s always spent as much time as possible outdoors hunting, fishing and
simply observing. ³If I see a beautiful sunset or mist on a stream or a
hummingbird hovering at a flower I¹ll either take a picture of it or make a
mental note of it,² he says. ³Then I¹ll end up using it in a painting.²
While he takes a lot of photos, he¹s careful to point out that he doesn¹t
paint directly from the photos but uses them as inspiration.
³I need to feel excited at the start of a painting,² Zylius says. ³If I¹m
not, that lack of excitement seems to show in the finished piece.² Each
painting generally takes him two to three days to complete. He¹s learned
that he can work for about six hours at a stretch before mental fatigue sets
in and he begins to make mistakes.

Zylius has his paintings on display at Lahaina Gallery in Bend on a regular
basis. At Soda Creek Gallery in Sisters and Wingbeat Gallery in Shasta,
Calif., he shows a few paintings and a number of gicleé prints of his work.
Zylius¹ paintings will be on display at the festival along with work by many
other artists, including those who were in the competition. According to
Ludi, it¹s not just the quality of the work, but its wide variety makes the
show a treat to see. ³There¹s some amazing work out there,² she says. Many
of the artists will be on hand as well during the festival.

The Karen Bandy Design Jeweler Artists Promenade will give everyone the
chance to stroll down the middle of Wall Street and feast their eyes on
original art at about 150 different booths. A wide variety of fine art will
be displayed and available for purchase. Ludi notes that all art in the
booths must be created by the artists displaying it. In many cases the
artists themselves will be in the booths to answer questions about their
work.

On Sunday, Oct. 5, C3 Productions will name the winners of two other $500
awards. These awards will be judged during the Festival and will be given to
artists for Best of Show and Best Booth Display.
Even if you don¹t know what art is, you¹re sure to see something you like at
the Bank of the Cascades Bend Fall Festival.

Artists Local 101 By John Martin € For The Bulletin
This year¹s Bank of the Cascades Bend Fall Festival will have a number of
activities and events sponsored by Artists Local 101. The theme running
through all of the group¹s activities at the festival is the powerful image
of the crow.

Various local artists have created pieces for The Crow Show that explore the
crow as a personal symbol. Their work will be displayed in different places
throughout the festival including the Artists Local 101 booth on Wall Street
in front of Goody¹s.

There will also be a crow costume competition open to anyone. At 5 p.m. on
Saturday a Costume Promenade will take place in front of the Artists Local
101 booth.

The festival¹s annual scarecrow competition, open to all, will be divided
into two categories this year, the ³artistic² category and the ³traditional²
category. Entries in the artistic category will be judged as figurative
artwork. The traditional category will welcome entries of traditional
scarecrows as well as spontaneous and whimsical creations. The scarecrows
will be on display throughout the festival.

Artists Local 101 describes itself as ³a hard-working band of art rebels
dedicated to instigating and promoting contemporary and outsider art in
Central Oregon, taking art out into the streets, and providing opportunities
for artists and the community to experience art in the everyday.²
That ambitious program translates into many different art events that the
group organizes throughout the year, including activities at the Bank of the
Cascades Bend Fall Festival. In spring it organizes the popular Trashformations event in which teams of
artists assemble outdoor sculptures from the trove of materials at Pakit
Liquidators. The sculptures are displayed the following weekend at Earth Day
festivities.

In November, the month-long Altered Stations event will celebrate Dia de los
Muertos. Artists will create personal shrines and altars at various
locations. The group will distribute maps so that the public can take self
guided tours of the works.

Last month, members of Artists Local 101 spent a weekend creating an
environmental sculpture at a site along Highway 97 north of Bend.
The nonprofit group was started four years ago by local artists Lloyd
McMullen and Louise Montgomery. It has grown to approximately 60 members
currently, with a board of directors and a newsletter. According to Beth
Yoe, who handles communications for Artists Local 101, it¹s a loose
organization that counts on

individual initiative from members.
While the group has no permanent gallery space, members often show their
work at Studio 550 which shares space with Inclimb Gym at 550 SW Industrial
Way in Bend. John Paul Designs, Cristina Acosta Studio, Blue Spruce Gallery,
Avenida Art and Frame, The Pinckney Gallery at Central Oregon Community
College and Karen Bandy Design Jeweler are other locations where members
occasionally exhibit their work.

For more information about Artists Local 101 you can write to P.O. Box 381,
Bend, OR 97709.