‘Colors of the West’ at Mindpower Gallery in Reedsport • Oregon ArtsWatch

REEDSPORT – You don’t all the time know the place life goes to take you. That adage held true for sisters Tamara and Tara Szalewski, co-owners of Mindpower Gallery, whose household sailed up the coast from California, stopped in Reedsport, Oregon and by no means left. It held true for Bob Keefer too, who late in life was taken by the thought of turning into an artist, and who’s exhibiting his work at Mindpower from August 22 to September 26.

Keefer earned a BA from Harvard University in History of Religion after which he started a profession as a reporter overlaying the crime beat in Los Angeles, the city the place he was raised. His exhibit, Colors of the West, is a group of 16 hand-colored black and white pictures of western landscapes. It will open on August twenty second with a reception and demonstration from the artist.

Keefer’s curiosity within the arts was sparked when interviewing an artist for The Register – Guard in Eugene, the place he labored as a journalist for almost 30 years. Impressed by the eagerness she had for her work, he started to hunt out extra tales about artists. After retiring from The Register – Guard, he took a job as arts editor at Eugene Weekly the place he labored for seven years and the place he’s nonetheless “Arts Editor Emeritus” and a freelance writer.

He took artwork and artwork historical past courses at Lane Community College too, which  had been “life changing” and the concept he may grow to be an artist labored on him. Then slowly however certainly, he modified the trail of his profession and now, a couple of 12 months and a half after retiring from Eugene Weekly, he works full-time on his artwork. He has now exhibited within the Karin Clarke Gallery in Eugene, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay, and at Oregon State University in Corvallis. 

Sisters Tamara and Tara Szalewski have had lives that revolve round artwork, but neither studied it or make it. Unless you rely Mindpower Gallery, which has been a piece in progress for the previous 36 years. The three-storefront gallery is on Fir Street in Reedsport, a city that sits between Coos Bay and Florence that’s maybe higher recognized for its dune-buggy-riding than an artwork scene. 

The sisters started their gallery as a spot for his or her mom Rose to indicate her work. She had lengthy aspired to be an artist. As infants, Tara and Tamara had ripped up their mom’s artwork. The charming origin story for the gallery is solely “We owed her.” They began in 1989 in a rented area inside one of many three shops Mindpower now owns. The shops are related inside which makes for a big and busy business area that not solely represents 50 artists, however features a therapeutic massage remedy enterprise, a wine bar and a forthcoming customized body store. 

Though neither sister was skilled as an artist, every was fast to reward the opposite’s inventive skills. Tara is a therapeutic massage therapist with “a good nose for wine” who oversees the wine bar, a considerable room with tables which have artwork books on them, in addition to a bar that represents 30 native wineries from Umpqua Valley. Tara’s remedy apply is in one other room. The two are totally separate from the gallery although positioned inside what can now be known as a compound. 

Tamara runs the artwork portion of the gallery. She put up a “maze of walls,” as she calls them, that enables for all of the artists to have show area. She put the flooring in too, that are manufactured from repurposed paper luggage. When you go, try her “blue-jean wall” which is constructed out of previous pairs of denims from her two sons. 

She is acquainted with development, she defined, as a result of her household constructed a schooner which they lived in for 5 years. Sailing up the coast from Bodega Bay, the place they had been whereas constructing the boat, they stopped at Reedsport and fell in love with all it needed to provide so far as water was involved: a river (the Umpqua), lakes, and naturally, the ocean.   

Tamara was launched to Keefer’s work final 12 months when he submitted it to be included within the gallery’s 35^th anniversary present. She appreciated that his artwork was distinctive, which is the one criterion she seems for in an artist. She appreciated the thriller in his photos, as effectively. 

“You just know there’s a story behind each one,” she mentioned. 

It’s straightforward to see what she means. Keefer has been a storyteller his entire profession. Though as a reporter he took pictures to accompany tales. Now they’re the primary attraction. 

Keefer’s aptitude for drama in artwork pertains to his use of foreshortened perspective, distinction between digital and hand-colored medium, and numerous dynamic composition. After the Ice Storm is an art work that depicts an intriguing swatch of forest from the almost 19 acres of land the place Keefer has been dwelling on along with his spouse and son for concerning the final 40 years. It provides a view from the bottom, so straight away we’re drawn in. It was taken after the final ice storm, because the title signifies, when Eugene and surrounding areas had been left strewn with felled timber for a very long time after, so these of us who lived right here couldn’t assist however be reminded of the harm finished.   

After the Ice Storm is a nonetheless shot reflecting a violent incidence. Somehow calm even with an intensely dynamic design. Fallen logs direct the attention diagonally by the web page and the timber that also stand. Beyond lies a layer of mist, unknowable however a part of the story.  

You get the sensation, Keefer’s artwork, and his Substack account—Bob Keefer’s Paint and Photography—that he doesn’t take the place he lives with no consideration, not even after almost 4 many years there. On July 15, 2025, he posted a black and white {photograph} of a doe, not painted, with the caption “The doe listens to noise from the woods.” The {photograph} accompanies an anecdote titled “A forest mystery, solved” the place he relates spending 20 minutes with a frightened doe on his property, listening to “something go bump in the trees” (it turned out to be a bobcat).

Keefer was first drawn to artwork after he interviewed an artist however experimenting with coloring a blac- and-white {photograph} was one other begin. He “messed around” by mixing coloured pencils with salad oil, which resulted in “something like paint.” Over the years, he’s messed round with different mediums for colour, too. He switched to digital images after his son Noah Strycker satisfied him to offer it a attempt. For the previous few years, he has used “open” acrylic paints that keep moist and workable longer, like oils. 

Some of his artworks elicit a nostalgic feeling, reminding us of a time when the one colour in photos was added in. Other of his items delve additional into portray, obstructing and abstracting background so the topic exists in an ambiguous area. 

Ambiguity is a kind of issues artists typically try for of their work. It’s a recent concept {that a} murals might be seen in a couple of means, however the concept individuals might be a couple of factor has all the time been true. The Szalewski sisters have stored an artwork gallery up and operating for the reason that eighties, and any gallerist will let you know that’s not a simple factor to do. In the in the meantime they’ve raised youngsters, grow to be professionals in different fields and proceed to develop. Keefer is an artist now however remains to be a journalist as effectively. Last month he wrote a story about a student artist on the University of Oregon that prompted fairly a stir, and he’s become a novelist, too. We by no means know what lies forward – the place we’re going to cease or who we’re going to satisfy – it’s all prospects.

---

Mindpower Gallery is positioned at 417 Fir Ave (Highway 38) in Reedsport, Oregon. The opening reception and artist demonstration for Keefer’s present Colors of the West shall be on August twenty second from 4-7 PM. The gallery’s common hours are Tuesdays by Saturdays from 10 AM – 5 PM.