Local artists get ‘Unclad’ for annual show
March 9, 2009
By Jim Feehan
A Drawing from artists who contributed to the Eighth Annual Unclad Art Show include Gretchen Van Dyke. Contributed
Gretchen Van Dyke always enjoyed drawing animals and nature scenes growing up in rural Lewis County. She later discovered the artist within herself after a 15-year career detour as a graphic designer.
“I went back to school to get my hands dirty and to paint,” she said.
Three years ago, she graduated from the University of Washington School of Art with a degree in painting and drawing. She used her childhood memories of playing, wandering and working close to the earth on her parents’ Christmas tree farm near Chehalis as inspiration for her work.
The Issaquah artist’s work has appeared at the UpFront Gallery and Bellevue Community College. The work of Van Dyke and fellow Issaquah artists Ellen Borison and Lee Berry will be featured at the eighth annual Unclad Art Show.
The show features works by 105 artists, depicting the human nude. Visitors will find a range of styles and media from oils and pastels to charcoal, photography, bronze and wood sculpture. Van Dyke also teaches art to children at Eastside Enrichment, as well as offering art classes at the Issaquah Valley Senior Center.
She primarily works in charcoal and oils through still life, landscapes and the human form.
“I really enjoy working with colors and textures,” she said.
Her painting, “Out the Window,” of a woman gazing out a window is featured in the show. She also paints landscapes, still life and portraits.
“Nude is a small part of what I do,” she said.
She discovered Unclad through Borison, who has displayed her work at the Stanwood art show for the past four years.
“Ellen and I are among a small group of community artists who critique each other’s work,” Van Dyke said.
In addition, the two will sometimes split the cost for a figure model.
Borison began figure drawing in 1967. She continued drawing until 1976, when she took a job as a computer software developer. She resumed drawing in fall 2000.
“The process itself is enjoyable, putting an image on the page,” she said. “You get in a state of mind where you focus on what you’re doing and you tune out the rest of the world.”
Borison, a Pittsburgh transplant, has taught workshops at Painted Ladies Studio in Issaquah. She has also helped organize Issaquah’s Art Collective shows.
“I can’t think of anything more interesting to draw,” she said of nudes. “Clothing places the figure in time, and tells us how a person chooses to present themselves. It also obscures the beauty of the body in motion or at rest.”
This also will be Berry’s fourth consecutive showing at Unclad. Berry began drawing nudes when she was 18. She honed her drawing skills as a student at the University of Washington in the late 1950s. She graduated from the UW in 1959 with a degree in commercial art. She had a five-year stint as a graphic illustrator at The Boeing Co., but she returned to her first love: figure drawing.
The human body is the hardest subject to portray, she said.
“I try to capture the action of a pose or the gesture,” she said. “It’s like watching someone dance. I try to get that rhythm in line and color. I have painted both landscapes and still lifes, but found them to be so static with no movement. To me, once you learn to draw the figure, you can draw most anything else.”
Van Dyke said she has no plans to put down her paintbrush anytime soon. She has converted a detached garage into a studio. It also serves as a woodshop for the frames she makes.
“My son said to me, ‘Mom, we’re never going to park a car in here again, are we?’” she said.
If you go
Eighth annual Unclad Art Show
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. March 14-15 and 20-22
Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center
8700 N.W. 271st St., Stanwood
Free admission
www.uncladart.com
Reach Reporter Jim Feehan at 392-6434, ext. 239, or jfeehan@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.
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Speaking as Gretchen’s mother I was so thrilled to see your article about her and her artwork. She has worked very hard getting to this point. She was always interested in art growing up and we have encouraged her a long the way.
Gretchen said you worked for the Skagit Valley Herald. Perhaps you have met the Janicki’s while there (my brother’s family).