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[/media-credit]by Jan Cox
If you have toured the B and B Backroom Gallery at Books and Beyond in Old Town, Main St., Chester, you will have viewed the beautiful art work of Mary Jane Bagshaw.
Bagshaw began painting with oils in the late ’80’s and with pastels in the early 90’s. She loves both mediums because both are “forgiving”, meaning they can be changed after the oils or pastels are applied to the paper, canvas or Masonite. Using a pallet knife, she finds oils a very satisfying medium, one in which she is able to get pure colors and which feels very direct, a lot like sculpting. Pastels give both an intensity of color and a softness inherent to the medium.
Through her love of the land, Mary Jane learned to appreciate and connect with the changing patterns of light and color. And from her time spent traveling and hiking in the Western US, her landscapes reflect the beauty of that world. She captures the images with photographs and then uses these as a basis for her art without being too exact.
Like many artists in the Lake Almanor Basin, Bagshaw retired here from other parts of California. Graduating from Fresno State with a degree in Fine Art and Education, she chose to pursue a career in teaching and taught at the primary level in Vallejo for 35 years. She began exhibiting in galleries in the Bay Area and frequently displayed in juried shows such as “The Mustard Festival” in Napa, and “Salute to the Arts” in Sonoma.
Mary Jane and her husband Allyn (who photographs many of her scenes) moved to the Lake Almanor area in 2000. She is a member of Feather River Fine Arts Association, now affiliated with Plumas Arts. Her work may be seen in the Backroom Gallery Co-op in Chester and Art Around the Lake in July, and she is also exhibiting this month with Sylvia Smith at the Quincy Arts Council Building on Main Street, Quincy. You can contact her by calling (530) 259-5950.
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