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Robert Tomlinson

The Arts Center Exhibit(s):

• '9th Around Oregon Annual Exhibition,' October, 2011- Recipient of Juror's Choice Award

Artist's Statement, '9th Around Oregon Annual Exhibition:'

The two pieces selected for this exhibition are from my “Basin” series, created in 2010 while on an artist’s residency at the Montana Artist Refuge in Basin, Mt.  They are consistent with the materials I have been using since the late 1980’s – oil stick, pastel, chalk, pencil and acrylic paint on paper, each measuring 44” x 30”.

I think many artists and writers would agree that where one works has an effect or influence on the work while it’s being made and that is certainly true for the “Basin” series and me.  Each of the 18 pieces that I created in this series are distinctly unique from each other, which I attribute, in part, to having the luxury of uninterrupted time and studio space in which to concentrate and work.  I also recognize that there is a quiet under current that binds the pieces together, which I attribute to the consistency of a solitary workday and the vast Montana sky (especially at night).

The “Basin” series also became the focal point of a larger ekphrasic exhibition, “Original Weather”, which marries the work with poems by nine Eugene poets (organized by Laura LeHew) and is traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest through 2012.  There is a full color catalog for the exhibit, published by Uttered Chaos press out of Eugene.

Biography:

Robert Tomlinson has been the executive director and curator for four art non-profit organizations:  the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Gallery One Visual Arts Center, Jupiter Arts Center and the Oregon Arts Alliance.  He also had his own contemporary art gallery in New Mexico for 4 years.  He was also the director and organizer for the first two annual citywide exhibitions for the city of Emeryville, selecting and installing works by 120 artists each year.  Collectively, he has curated and installed over 100 exhibitions.
 
Robert is also a professional artist, working in two different mediums; silver gelatin based photographs and mixed media drawings.  He has had 14 solo shows and his work has been selected for over 50 group exhibitions. In 2011 & 2012 he will have solo exhibitions in the following locations:  Carnegie Crossroads Art Center (Baker City, OR), Moses Lake Museum & Art Center (Moses Lake, WA), Newport Visual Arts Center (Newport, OR), Luke’s Frame Shop & Gallery (Portland, OR), Grants Pass Museum of Art (Grants Pass, OR) and Eastern Washington University (Cheney, WA).  Twelve photo-based pieces were recently selected for “Photon Extraordinary at the Springbox Gallery (Portland, OR) and two mixed media drawings were selected for the “Ninth Annual All Around Oregon” exhibition at the Art Center in Corvallis, OR.
 
He has also been an active teacher – designing and implementing an art & architecture curriculum for the first through sixth grades in San Francisco public schools, beginning drawing classes for high school aged students and a middle school art curriculum for the Thorp Unified School District.  He also set-up programs for people with developmental disabilities.  As executive director for the Oregon Arts Alliance he developed and taught a series of workshops based on best business practices for artists called, “The Art Of Doing Business”.