Dear readers, you're in for a very special treat. All you have to do is arrive at 10am at the Sisters Library any day from Tuesday through Saturday, during regular business hours.
As you walk up to the front entrance you can't help but notice the huge, circular stained-glass art above the doors. That was done by Ann Cavanaugh a few years back, gifted by one of the stalwart members of the Friends of the Sisters Library, Marianne Fettkether, as a memorial to her husband.
As you walk into the library hallway you'll see a pile of the Source Weekly newspapers on the right. In the Community Room you'll find the first of Linda Ziegenhagen's breathtaking art pieces in the current show: a composite of a nesting Great Blue Heron on the coast. Right next to it is a portrait of an adult heron.
You can't help but notice the exquisite feathers on the herons in Linda's photos. To the Native peoples, the feather is a powerful symbol that signifies honor and a connection between the owner, the Creator, and the bird itself. It symbolizes trust, honor, strength, wisdom, power and freedom.
Also included in the show is a portrait of a blue butterfly Ziegenhagen shot at the High Desert Museum south of Bend. It's mounted on an artistic framing creation she and her husband, Garth, put together.
“Up until then I was mainly shooting through just pure instinctive reaction to what/how I chose to photograph something. I just trusted my eye.”— Linda Ziegenhagen
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The two are very talented wood artists who have come upon the idea of transforming old wooden treasures from Garth's family's past into the many beautiful creations supporting Linda's magnificent photos.
Right next to the butterfly is a work of art that took over a month to finalize; a composite of the family life of mountain bluebirds. The eggs are there along with growing nestlings, their parents bringing in the insects that keep the young happy. The beautiful wooden framing that holds it all together is another of Linda and Garth's creations—one of a kind.
Linda got to where she is today after spending her career teaching at District 2J in Redmond. She was born in Ashland, and in 1967, moved to Central Oregon during her senior year at Southern Oregon College—the former name of Southern Oregon University—where she was enrolled in the off-campus student teacher program.
She met and married Garth while teaching, and in the following 32 years she and Garth raised their two kids. She slowly got into painting, which quickly turned into photography. The year 1999 was a good time to settle into learning about photographic techniques; the old film cameras were about gone and the present electronic age of photography was walking through the door.
Linda says, "I love the challenge of learning about cameras, basic art composition etc. My first serious pursuit of and perfecting of my passion for photography started with my joining the Sisters Area Photography Club in 2004.
"Up until then I was mainly shooting through just pure instinctive reaction to what/how I chose to photograph something. I just trusted my eye."
Linda said her first serious photographic focus was trying to capture the unique images being created by interactions between early morning sunlight and the pre-prohibition bottles in Garth's collection—the result being the bottle image shown on this page. "The early morning sun shining through the sliding glass doors did the rest," Linda said. "Amazing.... exciting!"
Linda says she follows the "KISS" principle when using her point-and-shoot camera, where KISS stands for "Keep It Simply Sensational."
Linda and Garth will be at the Sisters Library Community Room for a "Meet & Greet" from 3 to 6pm on Thursday, Sept. 26. There will be free cookies and plenty of time to soak up the talent of two of our local photographic/artistic woodworkers. Two of a kind...
