July 19, 2006

TOP: “A Quiet Place by the Sea.” MIDDLE: “Eve In The Attic.” BOTTOM: “First Day Of Summer.”

By Claire Franell
For the Tidings

What kind of painting captures the eye of a 13-year-old aspiring artist?

When I was touring the art galleries in downtown Ashland with my friend and Tidings reporter Vickie Aldous, the paintings of Ken Grant caught my eye.

Grant’s oil paintings are simple, yet detailed. At first glance, some looked like photographs. Some, like his painting “Going Places,” look so realistic that I had to walk up to them and see the brushstrokes before I could believe that they were paintings.

Grant’s fascination with Craftsman-type architecture, simple chairs, and objects provide subject matter for the quiet drama he creates with the play of light and shadow on canvas, according to the owners of Hanson Howard Gallery, where the exhibit is up through July.

In previous exhibits, he used cooler colors, but there are much warmer colors in this exhibit. Here he uses the contrasts between the warm interiors of homes and the surrealism of the ocean to make his paintings stand out.

I recently had a chance to speak with the artist over the phone. He said that his early introduction to art and music inspired him. He has been painting for about 60 years. Grant was born in Klamath Falls in 1938, but grew up in Portland. Raised near the beach, he grew to love the ocean and incorporates it into many of his paintings. I saw two paintings in particular, “An Invitation” and “A Quiet Place by the Sea”, that demonstrate the contrast between the sharp detail of the architecture and the softer waves of the ocean.

From 1956 to 1962, Grant studied at the Advertising Art School in Portland, where he also taught drawing and anatomy. He attended the Museum Art School (now Pacific Northwest College of Art) from 1969 to 1970.

In 1958, he also began a long career in retail store window and interior display. In 1960, he and a friend opened an art gallery in Cannon Beach. In 1972, he moved back to Cannon Beach with his family and built a permanent home and studio there. Grant and several other local artists founded the Winter Gallery in Portland in 1975 to have an outlet for their work in the coast’s off-season.

Through the years, he has done numerous illustrations for books, magazines, greeting cards and advertisements. In 1982, he moved back to Portland, and by 1994, had become a full-time artist.

Grant told me that the intent of his paintings is to trigger a pleasant, soothing emotional response and, perhaps, to remind people of places they’ve been.

He gives this piece of advice to students such as I who are interested in art: “If you really love art, you should stick with it. It may take a long time, but stick to it.”

The Hanson Howard Gallery, located at 82 N. Main St., is open from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Claire Franell will be an eighth-grader this fall. Comments about this article can be sent to vlaldous@yahoo.com.