Photograph by Dai Sugano
Cyra, featured artist at the Saratoga Gallery, takes a minute to relax at her studio in her home.
Painting brings artist closer to nature
Once she painted at cousin's home she was hooked
By Shari Kaplan
An accidental artist, a self-taught realist, a creator of moods--these are some of the overlapping labels that fit San Jose artist Cyra Brown Cowan, known both professionally and among friends as simply Cyra. Through Sept. 30, Saratogans can also get to know Cyra (pronounced seer-uh) as the featured artist at Gallery Saratoga.
An Illinois native, Cyra has spent her entire adult life in the Bay Area and loves California as though it were her own--which may explain why many images gracing her canvasses have a Golden State flavor, even though some come not from photographs but from her own imagination. The elements of water and earth set up a contrast present in almost all of her works.
Many of her seascapes are reminiscent of Highway 1 locales, from the wilds of California's most northerly coasts, down to Santa Cruz, Monterey and Big Sur and further south. She often favors romantic vistas: spindrift blowing off restless seas and rocks, or luminescent waves rolling onto pristine beaches.
The landscapes--mainly of forests--are equally vivid, from the furrowed bark of tall redwoods to the dappled sunlight illuminating rocks and wildflowers along winding paths. Streams and waterfalls are also common in her woodlands.
"After many years, I realized I rarely do any painting without water in it of some kind," Cyra says. Even her still-life flower series include water as mist, dewdrops or in vases.
"I also love to create a feeling of depth in my paintings; I like to make it feel like they're inviting you in," she adds, explaining her use of light, color, perspective and object placement to create depth as well as mood.
Not bad for someone who studied biological sciences, considered being a nurse and then found herself the first female engineering technician for a Silicon Valley company. "I never thought I'd be doing that [high-tech job], but I did. You should never shut doors for yourself. Just like painting--I never thought I'd be an artist!" she says.
Some 29 years ago, Cyra arrived early for a family gathering at her artistic cousin's house and spontaneously said 'yes' when her cousin invited her to try some paints left on the table. "I didn't even stop for lunch after that! It was like a door opened in my life and I haven't stopped since," she recalls.
Although Cyra has taken some art classes over the years, most of her technique is innate and self-taught--a fact that still makes her smile with humility. Along with exhibiting and doing commissions, she also gives lessons to children and adults in her home studio.
"I think that's why I teach; I want to share [art] with others and show them they too can do things they think they can't," she says. "Art makes you start seeing everything differently--you're always noticing the color and shape and beauty of things."
Gallery Saratoga is at 14531 Big Basin Way, Unit 3. A reception for the artist takes place Sept. 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
