Steve Terhune: My passion for the last 10 years has been in fused glass, then a year ago I brought in waterjet cutting technology to the shop.  With my mechanical engineering background, it was a beautiful fit to use the computer to design most of my art then translate them to machine code for the waterjet. 

How the waterjet works:  There is a pump box pressurizing water that is then directed to the main unit and expelled through a small orifice, where it accelerates to a very high velocity.  At this point on the cutting head a fine abrasive is introduced to create a slurry of water and abrasive.  The high-pressure stream performs the cutting and by controlling where the stream is ejected, the waterjet allows me to design with digital precision.  Your detail can become smaller and more intricate, to create something with more depth and feel. 

I have learned quite a bit about cutting techniques and best practices using a waterjet as apposed to standard glass cutting.  When fusing glass, you want the fit between each glass piece to be precise and this technology delivers.  You are only limited by your imagination.

Bill Thompson creates art in vinyl, layering thin colored vinyl sheets that have been cut, weeded (removal of unwanted areas) and carefully transferred, lightest to darkest, one layer upon another. 

He began using vinyl as an art material, purely by chance, about 8 years ago, originally cutting each sheet by hand but eventually moving to a 24″ vinyl cutter thereby enabling greater detail and shapes as small as one square mm to be cut.

The April featured wall display is based on the theme “A vinyl journey –  something old, something new and something recycled”. This display is a good representation of his work over the 8 years, from early sepia and gray-scale images to later ones using colored vinyl and yet others utilizing acrylic pours and alcohol ink to enhance the final image. 

Bill likens the vinyl creation process to those used in block printmaking but without the need for messy inking or a press. Accurate registration of each layer of vinyl (or block, in the case of printmaking) is key to a successful piece. He works from his own photographs or from royalty free downloaded images, manipulating, editing and/or combining them into a desired graphical image before reducing them to 4 or 5 colors from which each vinyl layer is cut. 

Working with vinyl is challenging, it’s an unforgiving medium but the possibilities are endless although they all demand patience and concentration. Experimentation, using smaller and smaller parts to create finer detail, can be as frustrating as it is rewarding when it finally comes together successfully. I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoy creating it. This current work is only part of a longer journey to expose the practicality, possibilities and beauty of vinyl as a contemporary fine art medium.

Art on the GO

Gift Registry and Gift Certificates

Remember that Gallery Calapooia has gift certificates if you don’t know exactly what to get for your friends or loved ones. We also have a gift registry for those of you who really know what you want from the gallery and would like to be able to stop dropping hints! When your significant other says to you, What do you want for Christmas, Hanukah, or….?; You can say you put it in the gift registry at Gallery Calapooia. In addition, we have a great selection of artist made cards and we can wrap your gift for you so you can relax and enjoy any celebration.

Artist Membership

Gallery Calapooia is currently looking for new artists to be a part of the gallery. All applications are juried by committee (see links below):

Artist Application form for membership in Gallery Calapooia
Membership and application information

Visit our Events Calendar to keep up with classes and events that will be
occurring at the gallery.