Looking at Life through 40 Paintings

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:49:12 PST

Art instructor Rick True shares his life memories through painting and essay in the Reflections/Recollections show in the Alexander Gallery at Clackamas Community College. The show opens in the Alexander Gallery on Monday, Sept. 20 and continues through Thursday, Oct. 21.

True, a longtime instructor at the college, spent the past several months on sabbatical writing and painting a book of graphic memoirs. The book has 40 paintings, each with an essay.

He explains that the pieces are stories and reflections about forces that have formed his life through memoirs, dreams, apologies, and confessions. The images are not illustrations, but contrivances and abstractions of the images that swirl in memories and dreams.

“These aren’t remarkable stories,” he says. “They’re a catalogue of my youth and maturity. You might have had similar experiences. Hopefully the image will be intriguing enough to entice reading the story.

“I’m mostly haunted by my darker moments, but I often find humor within most of them. It’s my hope that some stories and images will strike heart into the fear of man. I’m convinced the truly dangerous things in the world are hidden, secreted or clandestine. A threatening memory, activity or idea, once revealed, is weaker and more easily overcome.”

An artist’s reception will take place Thursday, Oct. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Alexander Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and during special events in the Niemeyer Center. For more information, please contact Rick True at 503-594-3038.