by Bella Erakko
Growing up in a northeast Missouri farming community for Linda Gower, meant she experienced nature on a daily, all-season, sunrise-to-sundown basis. “We didn’t have any art classes in school, so I was a late bloomer.” By her mid-thirties, however, she was immersing herself in workshops and college classes. From oil to acrylic, pastel to watercolor, pencil to print making, Linda absorbed artistic potential from every angle.
Initially she took up oils for their vibrancy, but health issues made her rethink her medium and just as she was considering acrylics, a friend moving to Florida gave her a suitcase full of them. “I’ve gotten used to them, they dry fast”—which is especially helpful when she paints outdoors. Moreover she admits, “I can see better when I do plein air—everything is so small when captured on a phone.” Like all artists, she has her favorite famous artists—from Renoir and Monet to Frida Kahlo and Thomas Hart Benton—and she sometimes reproduces one of their paintings to get a deeper feel for their approach and style. But Missouri landscapes always capture her eye, especially when going down memory lane. “I painted North Fabious River at the place where my ancestors built a ford because they owned land on the other side.”
While she typically works from a harmonious palette—cool colors for winter, warmer for summer—she has begun to put in a touch of surprise color, sometimes even neon. Coming from a talented grandmother who crocheted even when blind and a seamstress mother, Linda Gower found her own path to creative expression—through her paintbrush.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 10 from 4 until 7:00.
