E.J. Baeza and his wife, Kathy McCarthy, moved from California to Oregon in June of 2006 in order to begin a new life and livelihood. Kathy became a jewelry designer and E.J. decided to pursue his creative passions for painting, photography, videography and music.

Kathy and E.J. decided to call their new art company Midlife Crisis Studios. In order to differentiate his fine art photography from other photographers' work, E.J. has developed a technique he calls "Renderization." He takes his conventional and digital photographic images and applies a unique combination of digital filters to create images that have a more rendered look than conventional photography. E.J. has exhibited his conventional and "renderized" images at Valley Art Gallery and in other gallery environments in the greater Portland area.

For the upcoming January/February show, E.J. will exhibit a mix of his renderized works with some of his latest black and white works. The digitally processed images reflect his love for nature's flora and the black and whites are a study of the regions "Out Buildings" surrounded by the beautiful agricultural fields. These black and white images feature the gentle contrast between the rigid lines of the buildings set against the fresh, crisp skies and landscapes of autumn in farm country.

Michel Hersen's photography of the West, Northwest, and Southwest is inspired by his knowledge of Hudson River School painting. His objective is to present the viewer with a tableau permeated by inner light, taking advantage of 21st century artistic vision. He uses a clear compositional framework, luminosity and coloration.

Hersen is a field contributor to Nature Photographer and a member of the North American Nature Photography Association.

He has work permanently on display at the Hallie Ford Museum in Salem and Pacific University in Forest Grove, and his landscape, nature and wildlife photographs have appeared in Shutterbug, Nature Photographer, Pacific Magazine, Camping Life, the Oregonian and many other publications. You may have seen his photo of the Portland Japanese Garden in autumn, which serves as the cover shot for a Providence Home Services brochure. It also hangs in Portland City Hall.

Most recently, Oregon Road Trippers chose his shot of the Santiam Pass in autumn as Photo of the Week (Sept. 19-15) and "First Snow on the Salmon River" was picked for Nov. 21-27.

A third-place winner in the Landscape Category for the 2011 "Catch the Color Wooden Shoe Tulip Photo Contest," examples of Hersen's work can be seen at Photographybymichel.net.

Resting snug along the rolling foothills of the Tillamook forest, Les Dougherty's workshop springs to life amongst the trees. Working with a gentle and metered pace, Les fires up his lathe, begins to shape a piece of maple slowly and methodically, grinding down and encouraging the form of a bowl from what had been a square block.

This process between maker and material is just one interaction the artist maintains between himself and his surroundings.

With his medium of choice just outside his front door, the process of working and shaping wood runs full circle at Northwoods Figured Woods. Les grew up with, and around, wood. Having weathered the downturn of the contracting business in 2008, he re-oriented and decided to focus on doing what he likes most: working with the enchanting and beautiful grain and figure of the Pacific Northwest hardwoods.

He is well known for his work with big leaf maples. Skilled in hollow-forms, bowls, end grain cutting boards, and flatware, Les likes to work with each piece on an individual basis, letting the wood "decide" what to become. Paying attention to the fine grain, figure, and spalt* of the pieces Les works with bring him joy – especially when they reveal their form upon the lathe.

Along with the lathe, he holds special regard for his saws, which are a favorite instrument in his toolkit. His attention to detail is what sets his work apart from others. His appreciation for wood was fostered and supported by his father, a fellow woodworker and cane enthusiast.

Les cares deeply about his medium, and is spiritually connected with his creations. This connectedness serves to inform, and educate his growth as an artist, and how he explores his relationship with the wood.

With around 300 art projects completed in a single day, The Elf Workshop on December 3rd during the Holiday in Grove event was a huge success. Participants quickly filled the room and worked on gifts for the holidays. Projects included ornaments, photo albums, calendars, trinket boxes, photo frames, puzzles and more. Parents and instructors helped kids of all ages, with most of the projects completed within the first few hours. Event organizers scrambled to find more supplies to keep the workshop running until the Holiday in the Grove Light Parade at 5:00.

Thank you to everyone involved, and we are happy to see such a great opportunity for the community and the kids during the holiday season.

Valley Art has lost a longtime artist and friend. Carlene Meedom passed away on August 3, 2011. She will be remembered for her wonderful paintings of cows and horses and scenes of eastern Oregon.

Carlene was among many local budding artists who took lessons from Sharon Engel in the 1980s. This group stayed together with Sharon for almost 10 years. At this point, many in the group went out and became "plein air" painters. They ventured out and painted the nearby countryside on a regular basis. Carlene also enjoyed yearly trips with friends to the Baker area and other points in central and eastern Oregon. These trips to paint stimulated much of the work she brought into Valley Art.

This painting group made up the nucleus of the artist group "Local Colour." The group is still together and meets every Thursday to paint. In earlier years Carlene was a doll maker. These dolls were beautiful and had great detail. She was meticulous with all of her projects. Carlene was fun-loving, kind and a dear friend. We will all miss her.

It still amazes me every time I stop and consider that Valley Art is completely volunteer operated. Each volunteer covering each task is there because of an appreciation for both art and public service. I think that's what makes the Annual Artist Event (AAE) truly amazing. The grand November event that welcomes and celebrates the members who are so important to Valley Art also celebrates the volunteers making it all happen.

This year, with a goal of reaching out across ages and interests in our community, the gallery held a variety of themed celebrations during the AAE. In addition, Valley Art got to show off its new art hanging system. Not only does the system provide a very professional gallery look, it will save countless hours in the task of hanging new artwork.

Whether you visited with us during the opening members' reception, during the ArtTWEET, community night, Chamber of Commerce mixer or on the delightful concluding Family Day, we're glad you came by and hope you're proud of what your modest membership fee contributes to make possible.

And to the host of volunteers lending a hand during the AAE--there were 42 of them!-- our sincere thanks. All of you are truly amazing and you've once again pulled together another wonderful, delightful, successful AAE. Thank you all!

- Brenda Somes, AAE chair

Thank You to our November mailing party of Linda Wilke, Jeannette Saucy, David Saucy Jr., Cliff Kennedy, Jack Howard, Pat Howard, Ruth Holznagel, Bob Holznagel, Nedra Hathaway, Jerry Rauscher, John Welch, Joan Bolen, Merrie French, Bob Oetke and Karen Oetke. Valley Art needs volunteers. Do you have a skill or time to share? Call 503-357-3703 for more information and a call back. E-mail office@valleyart.org. Thank you!