Published: October 13, 2008 10:14 am         

Artist ready to show her work

Lambert’s watercolor prints on display at OSU Foundation until Jan. 23

Phyllis Lambert wants to give her paintings to her children.

Everyone else can buy a version of her art for their own enjoyment, though.

Lambert is displaying 25 prints of her watercolors in the Malinda Berry Fischer Gallery at the OSU Foundation until Jan. 23. There are an additional 46 prints available in a catalogue.

The opening reception for “Watercolor Memories” is Nov. 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The giclee prints are made by scanning the original paintings and then spraying ink onto watercolor paper. They can be printed up to 44 inches by 90 inches and the price varies based on the size.

Twenty percent of the proceeds will go to Friends of the OSU Library and the Clarence Lambert Scholarship Fund.

The scholarship is named for her father-in-law. That seems fitting considering her husband, David, is one of the main reasons she paints.

“I took that three-day (Stillwater Art Guild) workshop (in 1982),” Lambert said of the beginning of her hobby. “I lost my whole weekend. It was just wonderful. So I started taking classes in Tulsa.

“(David) encouraged me to do it. He cuts my mats. I would not have been able to put this gallery together without his help. He has been the biggest supporter I have.”

This is her first exhibition. It includes paintings of still lifes, scenes from photographs, fish, etc.

One of the prints is from a painting where she was given the assignment to throw paint onto the paper and see what she found.

“Everytime I did that, I always found flowers,” Lambert said.

Flowers are one of her common subjects. She avoids portraits.

“I can do a flower and if I can make one, I know God made it somewhere,” Lambert said. “To make a face, you really have to be more accurate. With watercolor, it pretty much does its own thing. It’s harder to control. It is a hard medium but it’s the best.”

She also has a painting done from a photograph of a man drinking wine in Orvieto, Italy. When her son went on his honeymoon in Italy, he stopped in Orvieto with a picture of the painting and asked locals to help him find the featured café.

“(They said,) ‘Oh yeah, it’s just over here,’” Lambert said. “It was recognizable.”

The reason she sells prints rather than the originals is she wants to leave the paintings to her six children and 10 grandchildren.

Lambert knows having an exhibition exposes her to both praise and criticism.

“You have to be open to criticism,” Lambert said. “I have a daughter that tells me the truth. She usually tells me what she likes.”

It is exciting to have her first exhibition, but she said the best part is the opportunity to help the Foundation raise money.

“I think it’s a good venue,” Lambert said.

     

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