Artists will share space at On Sacred Grounds

Throughout the month of December, two artists will be sharing wall space at On Sacred Grounds, 12212 E. Palouse Highway, for a show called “Celebrating on the Palouse.”

Though both are quite different in style, they share the same sentiments regarding their desires to celebrate creativity and share it with others.

Beverly Barnett, 51, calls her work “little foofoo whimsies.” Using mostly watercolor, Barnett creates pieces that could put a smile on anyone’s face from her representational floral studies and landscapes to her illustrations of women in the throes of bliss.

The latter emanates from her pieces including “She’s Got Heart,” which shows a woman with one foot delicately raised and the other planted firmly on a buoyant heart. She wears a one-piece swimsuit and a unique hat. Her nails are painted red, and bangles hang from her wrist as the moon hangs behind her.

Another piece called “Motorcycle Mama” shows a woman in pink navigating a motorcycle and pulling a dog behind her. The dog wears a red helmet and sunglasses. The sun is big in the background and a half-moon is getting a good view of the woman’s bottom which is raised in its direction. “There’s a mooning thing going on there,” Barnett said.

Besides her happy characters, Barnett also does plein-air studies and just about everything else.

“I’ve got my hands into everything,” she said, “I can’t stop.”

Barnett has a bachelor’s degree in illustration and design from Brigham Young University. She has been making art her whole life, a practice that she said goes back five generations in her family.

“Art is everything to me. I see art in everything,” she said.

She moved to the area eight years ago when her husband, also an artist, was offered a job. Locally, Barnett shows at the Gallery of Thum downtown and the Journal Bookstore in Spokane Valley. She has shown where she has lived in the past and sold well.

Ruthie Renfro never consciously thought about being an artist until she was nearly 60. Before that, she ran businesses on East Sprague Avenue, including Renfro’s Garden. When she began spending summers in Yuma, Ariz., she started taking art classes for something to do.

She took to it with great gusto, painting constantly, and she hasn’t stopped. She showed her work in a gallery in Yuma, and her pieces sold well. Using oil paints, Renfro art exemplifies the beauty in nature. “Spring in Cannon Hill Park” shows a leaning tree in bloom, her painting of the falls at Mirabeau Park almost sounds like falling water, and her winter scenes glisten.

Renfro takes a lot of snapshots. “I focus on what I know I’ll eventually paint,” she said. Art is now her passion.

“It gives me the incentive to plan each day and a reason for getting up,” said Renfro, 94, who had open heart surgery 10 years ago and a mastectomy six years ago. “It’s slowed me up a bit, but I feel fine,” she said.

At “Celebrating on the Palouse,” Renfro will be showing her paintings of Palouse country and Barnett will be showing her pieces of characters celebrating life. Both artists are hoping that their work brings happiness.

“Paintings should give a happy feeling,” Renfro said and Barnett agreed.

“I want my creations to bring smiles and lighten hearts,” Barnett said.