by Bella Erakko
Art enhances memories. Let me give an example. Years ago, I owned a corgi, the breed Queen Elizabeth preferred. Brianna ate anything and everything. She gnawed through cardboard, picked tomatoes off the vine, and demolished any grocery bag forgotten on the floor. So one day I walked in the front door. My corgi lay sprawled on the chair, head lolling off, surrounded by Twine’s English teabags. Choking with laughter, I photographed her. It didn’t take long for me to want to preserve this moment. So I called Kim Shinn, the great portrait artist with a proclivity for capturing animals, wild and tame. She stared at the photo and admitted, “I can’t paint your dog upside down.” This was not an issue of skill but one of dignity. So we agreed that Brianna could SIT on the chair … looking guilty. I have loved—and laughed—at this picture every time I walk past it hanging above the very chair where the mishap occurred. One of the main purposes of art is to draw us back to scenes, people, places that make us fall in love again. They are our memories. As the Alliance Art Gallery celebrates its 20th year, we have invited prior member Kim Shinn to return as our 2nd Saturday featured guests.
Kim traces her love of art to her early childhood. “I lived on a farm in the boondocks. Drawing was my only entertainment … whatever I saw, I drew.” Though she does not currently do commissions, she is often told, “People see their lives in my paintings. It triggers a memory.” Some years back, she created an image of a homeless man. In every way, he seemed almost invisible. His gray ragged clothes matched the gray-worn building he peered out of—except for his piercing blue eyes. An older women saw Jesus in that man, and deeply moved, bought it. As Kim told me this story, I exclaimed, “I know that woman. Her name was Nan Merrill and she created a monthly newsletter of quotes about silence. She loved Kim’s image for the remainder of her life.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 8 from 4:00 until 7:00 pm.
