She’s redefining ‘garden art’

Published 8:00 pm Wednesday, August 17, 2005

What you grow, Elizabeth Moga can capture on canvas.

Mystery surrounds the art of oil painting. How does the artist envision the scene, layer the colors, convey a mood?

Visitors to the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery have the chance to watch a work in progress, and ask these questions of the artist herself.

“Painting is conversation,” Elizabeth Moga said. “I have a situation I want to express – color, relationships, a quality of light, an impression.”

Moga has been working on a colorful garden scene in the Gallery since her exhibit of 16 paintings went up in the space earlier this month. The BAC curatorial board presented the idea of painting in public to Moga, who thought it was a good idea for two reasons.

“It would help publicize BAC’s grants to schools, and also it’s great for people coming through the gallery and seeing how artists create a work,” Moga said.

The response has been positive.

“I like the fact that (working in public) takes some of the mystery out of it for people and they can see how it’s actually put together, how the process works, how the paint is applied,” she said.

Moga’s appearance has generated “a lot of buzz and interest,” said Victoria Josslin, BAC’s director of education and information. “We like to include an educational element to our exhibits and demonstrations are part of our art education.”

Last year, the nonprofit BAC awarded seven grants of $400 each to public school art teachers, Josslin said. The money was used for art materials.

The gallery is accepting bids on Moga’s painting of an actual Bainbridge garden, until 6 p.m. Aug. 30. All proceeds over the $2,200 reserve price will fund this year’s public school grants.

Moga is amazed by the types of questions visitors have asked her.

“They think (painting) is some secret process,” she said. “It’s just a natural act for me to do.”

Moga has enjoyed painting since she was a little girl. She holds a master’s of fine arts degree in painting and combined her love of art with teaching.

She moved to Bainbridge from Wisconsin four years ago to be with family and paint full time. She continues to teach art classes at, among other places, the Bainbridge and Poulsbo park departments and her home studio.

“Teaching helps inspire the painting, actually,” Moga said. “It forces me to articulate what it is I can design and bring it more into focus. I take that clarification to the painting.”

As she drives along island roads, Moga frequently stops at gardens she passes and asks their owners if she may take some photographs.

“I keep my digital camera in my car,” she said. “They’re always flattered. People spend so much time in their garden. To capture them (on canvas) and keep them all year round is really neat.”

Working and talking at the same time, Moga said, presents some challenges.

“Although I teach frequently and in teaching I do demonstrations, this is a little bit different,” she said. “It takes a certain amount of stopping and starting that does break the painter’s concentration.”

Because painting requires focus and “it’s a performance at the same time, it’s a little tricky,” Moga said. “I want to produce as good a work as I possibly can.”

Moga admits to looking over her strokes after the gallery is closed to gauge her progress and make adjustments.

“Painting is very much an archaeological expedition,” she said. “I lose my place and think, ‘Oh, man, where did I put that?’”

The site for her current painting, titled “PC’s Garden,” is located on the island, which furnishes the majority of inspiration for her work because “there’s so much to do here,” she said.

Other scenes are from Seattle, Port Townsend and Sequim.

Moga’s Garden Series at the Gallery showcases her signature vivid hues and serenity in such paintings as “Green Waterlilies,” “High School Road Poppies,” “Roses by the Bay” and “Daisies and Water.”

At the gallery, Moga paints to the sounds of assorted gurgling fountains created by artists Kari Bergstrom Mackenzie, Dorothy and Peter Bonneau, Lynn di Nino, Little and Lewis, Barry McAlister and Tom Torrens.

“I usually have pretty rowdy music going at home,” she said. “Working surrounded by fountains is pretty relaxing.”

Moga estimated her painting is 75 percent complete; she is at the “redefining, declassifying, redrawing” stage.

“Hopefully, this causes people to go home and do something creative,” she said. “It is fun, so they want to do that, too.”

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Going once

The public is invited to watch painter Elizabeth Moga work on “PC’s Garden” on Aug. 22, 25 and 29 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery. Bids on the painting, which is 75 percent finished, will be taken until 6 p.m. Aug. 30 at BAC. Proceeds above the reserve price of $2,200 will go to public school art teachers for supplies. Information: 842-3132.