Bend artist Sarah B. Hansen will unveil her latest work on Friday, July 7,  at Tumalo Art Co. during the Old Mill District’s First Friday Gallery Walk from 4 to 8 p.m.

Friday’s event will kick off Hansen’s July solo show, “Nature Unplugged.”

“Open Thoughts” by Sarah B. Hansen

Looking to nature to escape modern distractions using watercolor, gouache, and collage in a semi-abstract manner, Hansen’s art conveys a sensation of peace and inner strength. Depth and texture in her mixed-media work of the Pacific Northwest illustrates a multi-layered process of connecting back to that central core of being.

“I tend to focus not on painting perfection, but instead on illustrating flaws, mars, scribbles, and textures of life,” Hansen says about her art. “Out of a chaotic surface, unique beauty emerges.”

Hansen has developed a technique of painting on re-purposed, recycled Plexiglas that involves creating texture by applying gesso and collaged items in addition to calligraphic marks, words or patterns onto the sheeting. As a result, the surface becomes an intriguingly unique base for her loose, textural watercolors.

“The textures and flaws of bumpy pasts, pain, and love become colors, patterns and marks layered and rich with meaning, ” she says. “Through my work, I hope to connect to each other and acknowledge that each of us is uniquely layered and beautiful, not in spite of our flaws, but because of them.”

Just back from teaching a painting workshop in Italy, Hansen has another travel/art adventure to Tuscany scheduled in May 2018, as well as a workshop in Costa Rica set for February 2019.

She also teaches art workshops locally.

The Old Mill District hosts First Friday Gallery Walks among our three galleries – Tumalo Art Co., Lubbesmeyer Studio & Gallery and DeWilde Art Glass