Column: Bev Jackson Cotter, Art Is…

I’ve been looking out of windows my entire life, and the funny thing is I don’t think I’ve ever thought about how important they are. Until today.

When I decided to do this column on “windows,” my first concern was, “What on earth am I going to say?” My second concern was, “There’s so many different aspects, I don’t know what direction to go.” I guess I’ll just ramble.

My earliest window memory is of looking out at a rain storm on a dark and dreary night. My older sister was holding me, comforting me and telling me that the rain and wind were coming from the west and the open window on the east side of the house was no cause for alarm. I was scared anyway.

On a Sunday afternoon in 1967 I was looking out the picture window and noticed that not a single leaf was moving on the white birch tree in the yard. Then the radio announcer said, “A tornado has been spotted…” and KATE went off the air. My husband hollered, “Get down the basement.” and I said, “I can’t. The pizza is almost ready to come out of the oven.” He responded, “To hell with the pizza. Get down the basement.” And this time we all flew down the steps, just in time to hear the freight train blow by. Thank Heaven, our home was not damaged, and we were all safe. There were many others in town that were not so fortunate.

Once on a flight to Oregon, I looked out the window of the plane to see a rainbow, not the arch in the sky that we normally see, but a perfect circle, a beautifully colored circle. It seemed an omen, “Everything is going to be all right,” and I felt at peace.

For more than 30 years now, I’ve enjoyed watching the mallards, Canada geese, herons, pelicans, cardinals, turtles, rabbits, raccoons, finches, chickadees, squirrels and a variety of other wild life from my windows that overlook Bancroft Bay. One winter, when there was consistent, heavy snowfalls from November through March, my neighbor put bales of hay out on the ice and at night the deer would come. I would turn the lights out and sit by the window and just watch.

Windows are for looking out of — noticing children playing ball or a neighbor tending her flower garden, enjoying the countryside as you drive along, looking for signs of spring, even noticing a neighbor’s tipped over garbage can — windows let us know what is happening.

I cannot imagine what it was like for the very earliest settlers on the Minnesota prairies who were living in dugouts until their cabins were built. Once inside that hole in the ground there was no connection with the outside world.

In my art library, I have a book by Thomas McKnight that I find fascinating reading. He is a silkscreen artist whose wonderful renderings of rooms with open doors and windows bring the outside in and invite you to step into his world.

All of this rambling is heading toward “Art as Seen Through Doors and Windows,” a unique art exhibit currently showing at the Albert Lea Art Center. In addition to the student art show on display at Northbridge Mall, this year ALAC is also presenting a special display in the Storrer and Herfindahl galleries in the downtown Art Center. It is a delightful combination of photographs, drawings, watercolors, air brushed scenes, real windows — an etched glass antique and others to be painted by local artists — and real doors with very artistic and practical designs. There is also a delightful piece called “The Duplex,” made from an old metal painter’s can embellished with found objects.

The exhibit is interesting and fun and creative. It includes scenes from home and from world travels, and promises to delight your eyes as well as tantalize your memories. You don’t want to miss this unusual show.

 

Bev Jackson Cotter is a member of the Albert Lea Art Center, sponsors of “Flying High,” art by Albert Lea elementary and secondary students showing at the Northbridge Mall from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and “Art as Seen Through Doors and Windows,” a creative look at an unusual subject, shown in the Herfindahl and Storrer galleries at the Art Center, 224 South Broadway, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Both shows will be on display through March 31.