Two landscapes enlarge Lake Oswego's collection

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Two landscapes, by artists who initially pursued design careers,have been added to Lake Oswego's public art collection.

A pastel, "Amidst the Blueberries," by Amanda Houston of Cornelius,and an oil, "George Rogers Park Trail," by Trudy Wolf Jacobs ofPortland, were purchased from this year's Lake Oswego Chronicle.More than 40 artists were invited for the exhibit depictingregional life, which was part of the recent Lake Oswego Festival ofthe Arts.

The Arts Council of Lake Oswego, previously the Lake OswegoFoundation for the Arts, supports the Chronicle and oversees thecity's permanent art collection of 136 works, plus 34 loanedoutdoor sculptures.

While the arts council raises money for some programs, the citybuys Chronicle art through a 1-percent-for-art fund, said JeanDavis, chairwoman of a Chronicle exhibition panel. One percent ofthe cost of public construction is set aside for art purchases.

The city will pay Houston $660 for her pastel. Jacobs will receive$720 for her oil.

Both works had higher price tags, but the Lakewood Center for theArts, where the Chronicle was displayed, doesn't take the usual 40percent commission on city purchases of Chronicle art, said CherylBrock, executive director of the Arts Council.

Houston, 42, began painting seriously about five years ago. Withtwo degrees in apparel design, she worked for L.L. Bean in Mainebefore joining Nike in Oregon about a decade ago.

After starting to work with the pastels she had loved as a child,Houston said, she knew she wanted to paint before her retirementyears. Lake Oswego's purchase of her brightly colored,impressionistic landscape is her first work to have permanentpublic display.

"It is an exciting event," she said.

Jacobs, 46, a home decor coordinator who resumed taking paintingclasses about 10 years ago, said she also was excited that her4-by-5-foot painting was selected.

"I'm happy because I think it will work well in a public area," shesaid. "It will be interesting to see what kind of response it has."

She discovered the trail depicted in her painting along OswegoCreek a few years ago. She returned to sketch it last spring as areference for the painting.

Davis said the oil, with its dark boulders against the greens ofthe surrounding trees, is reminiscent of Cezanne's work.