Russell Fine Arts Gallery
604 N. 12th Street, Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Hours - M-F, 9-5
For information call 870-230-5207
E-mail buysb@hsu.edu

Home Waters: Paddling to Beautiful

Photos by Beverly Buys

Opens Tuesday., April 2
Reception from 2 to 4 p.m.

Artist's Statement
The floodgate of Blakely Mountain Dam, which turned part of the Ouachita River into Lake Ouachita, was first closed in 1953 - the same year I was born. I have lived most of my life within ten miles of Lake Ouachita. Finally, after all these years, it has become the subject of my art. In March 2001 I began a great new adventure; I bought a recreational kayak. Within a couple of months I felt comfortable enough in my boat to bring along my camera and I began this body of work.

I feel that life is rushing at me when I paddle the shoreline of the lake. Ancient geological formations, a hundred species of wild flowers, screaming herons, turkey buzzards, dragon flies and butterflies, fish, frogs, and turtles, beavers slapping their tails and their kits crying for breakfast and even more, have all been a part of my experience. Add to that the wind, the fog, the sun, the rain, the atmosphere and you have endless variations on the theme of nature. The lake is never the same twice. Since May 2001 I have taken hundreds of photographs of my paddling trips and have found among them these twenty-eight images that reflect the beauty, the solitude, and my memories of some very good days on the water.

Sticks and Stones