“Portraits of a Child” Display Adds to New Zone Gallery Collection

By Ian Valleau

EUGENE, ORE.— New Zone Gallery, an art gallery that shows off and sells local art, displayed its new exhibit on Tuesday. This exhibit, called “Portraits of a Child,” was created by local artist Deborah Taylor, and contains painted portraits of children to encapsulate the spirit and personality of her own grandchildren, but also children all around.

Members of the board at New Zone Gallery spoke about the art pieces and broke down the meanings and the artist herself. 

“Every month, we feature new artists, and today it was Deborah Taylor’s turn, and she has these beautiful oil paintings of her granddaughter. That is what means the most to her,” employee Kathleen Frazer said.

Despite her lifelike art being shown off at this popular gallery, this is the first show Taylor has ever done, and the first group of works she has ever painted. Unlike many in her profession, Taylor was 50 years old when she began painting, but that did not stop her. 

“The pursuit of technical mastery is my greatest motivation. I am all in when it comes to painting and I work on it throughout the day, every day,” Taylor said.

Other pieces were also shown at this event, like the collaborative portrait project. This project focuses on creativity, as local artists took photos of themselves, and then gave it to another artist to recreate however they wanted to. Some artists took a literal approach and recreated the photo with paints in a realistic way, while others took abstract approaches and changed the picture completely.

This idea was based off a book called “The Portrait Project,” and this is New Zone Gallery’s own spin on it.

“We started doing this for fun, and people started off rough, but they seemed to have enjoyed it enough to elevate their game. One day we will have a book to sell in the gallery,” board member Julie Williams said .

The people at New Zone Gallery see the art as more than painting on canvas. Every piece can mean something different to unique people.

“I think there is a lot to learn by seeing how other people interpret the same things. There is so much variety in a face, so it makes for a good portrait,” Williams said.

The other featured artists, Dean Jordan and Sheri Smith, collaborated to combine Jordan’s skills of woodworking and Smith’s skills of basket weaving to create an assortment vases and bowls. These pieces are a combination of different marbled woods and weaved together basket material as they highlight the strengths of both artists.

Some have sold, but most of the pieces for all exhibits are up for display and for sale, ranging in price, at New Zone Gallery at 110 E 11th Ave.