Toni Avery artwork in the Entryway Gallery

March 2 – April 13, 2015

Toni Avery is an artist that experiences life and records her place in those encounters. Her paintings “begin where memory and emotion merge.”

Avery grew up in the small Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park, exposed to a world of art, music, and surprisingly, back in the day, nature. She spent countless hours outside, climbing trees, bike riding and going on endless walks over the many staircases that wind through the hills of Echo Park and Elysian Park. These formative years brought deep connections to the outdoors.

As a young girl, she studied “the way the light played off of the leaves or how the rolling hills turned a deep gold, the way the wind would create waves in the tall grass and how the shadows faded to blue and purple in the late afternoon sun.”  

Avery paints to recapture those times. She continues to be “fascinated by the contrast and color there may be in a shadow or the defining opposition of a streak of light cutting through the cool darkness of the shade.” Toni treasures color, texture, shadow and light. She doesn’t focus on perfection, but rather on “the imperfections, limitations and nuances that bring meaning.”

In addition to the Lakewood Center gallery, you may find Toni Avery’s work at the Celebration of Creativity, an art show presented by the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, the first weekend in March. She also regularly exhibits at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. We will be seeing more of Avery’s work in the future due to a new studio and a full time focus on her craft.

 

Painting titles (from top down); Standing Water, acrylic triptych; Ridgeline, acrylic; and Fenceline, acrylic.