Embracing Brave | Howland Community OPEN participants

Photo of two 9 year olds holding artwork pieces in front of wall of artwork

Cady and Ellie

Their grandmother, artist Gipsy Finnan, was a longtime Howland Community OPEN participant who passed away in 2021. They wanted to honor her by showing artwork for the first time in this year’s Howland Community OPEN.

“Granny was a very creative artist. She asked me once to put a painting in the Howland Community OPEN. She was the best artist I ever saw.” – Ellie
Granny was a paint brush in a world full of pencils”. – Cady

They had so much fun creating these pieces, they are planning to submit works every year.

Artwork created on tortillas

Gipsy’s famous tortilla artworks from a few years back.

Logo of two two embracing word Brave to create heart shape

Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center Artists

Gratitude for first time participating artists who express themselves creatively through the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center’s (CDDC) Tuesday Art Days. Thanks to Marion Ballard at the CDDC and First United Methodist Women’s Shelter volunteers for support in sharing the creativity of these community artists.

Photo of person holding framed portrait of yellow lab sitting on picnic cloth

Stacy Mellem

I’ve been thinking about entering the Howland Community OPEN for a number of years. Well, this year I finally did it with a piece I collaborated on with my friend Julie Hansen. I took this photograph of my yellow lab Max and Julie surprised me by transferring the photo to fabric and quilting this wall hanging. What was really amazing is that the fabric she chose for the border is the exact same fabric that I had used for his kerchief. This piece is especially meaningful to my husband and me. Max passed away this past September and this piece reminds us of all the fun times we had with him.