![]() Wire would go on to achieve national recognition as a printmaker, producing 30 works in this medium, with 8 of his etchings and engravings being published by the Associated American Artists Gallery in New York, an organization which commissioned and published original prints by well-known American artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Gordon Grant, John Stuart Curry, and many others. Gilkey was studying printmaking at the University of Oregon with the fine etcher Eyler Brown, and suggested that Wire consider taking up printmaking as well. ![]() In 1935, while serving as pastor of the First Methodist Church in Albany, Wire met Gordon Gilkey, a fine artist in his own right, who later became curator of prints and drawings at the Portland Art Museum, and was a Monuments Man during World War II. ![]() Wire was also a member of the American Artists Professional League and a charter member and active participant in the Oregon Society of Artists, an organization still active today. He was a member of the Mutual Art Association in Portland, exhibiting with them in 19. In 1915, 3 of his paintings were selected for exhibit at the prestigious Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, California. Wire enjoyed a long and successful career as an artist. One thing which stands out about Wire, amongst other early artists working in Oregon, is that he painted throughout all parts of the state, perhaps a benefit of the widely scattered locations of the different Methodist parishes he served. He enjoyed the luxury of owning a car throughout his long painting career, allowing him access to remote spots in Eastern Oregon and other distant parts of the state, but just as often, Wire set out to explore the wilderness on horseback or on foot, in his search for interesting and beautiful scenery to paint. Although Wire was a minister by vocation, he was also a serious, practicing artist who made time to paint several hours each day. Over the course of his 61 year long career as a Methodist minister, Wire was to serve many different parishes, in all corners of the state, retiring in 1946. It wasn't long before he returned to Oregon, accepting a ministry in Lakeview, where he also met his wife of 47 years, Bessie. Wire left Oregon in 1899 to study for the ministry at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois, completing his studies in 1902 and accepting his first pastorate in Glenview, Illinois. Other important early teachers include Clyde Benton Cooke and Eva Ford Cline Smith. When Wire was 8, he began to study art at Willamette University, with Marie Craig LeGall, an association which continued until Wire was 16. His father was the pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Salem. Born in Austin, Macon County, Illinois in 1877, Wire moved to Oregon with his family in 1884.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |