Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
This Japanese maple collage by artist Linda Spencer is one of her works on exhibit through Oct. 31, at Gallery Saratoga.
Local artist inspires others through her distinctive art
By Shari Kaplan
Dr. Linda B. Spencer likes to inspire others. The Santa Cruz Mountain resident achieves this through a variety of means, not the least of which are her distinctive one-of-a-kind pieces of art, especially the mixed-media collages and greeting cards now on display at Gallery Saratoga, 14531 Big Basin Way, Unit 3, in the Saratoga Village.
Spencer is also a personal empowerment coach in private practice, as well as the author of Heal Abuse and Trauma Through Art: Increasing Self-Worth, Healing of Initial Wounds and Creating a Sense of Connectivity. Although the casual viewer wouldn't know this by looking at her exhibit, telltale signs are there for those who know where to look--such as her three racks of handmade greeting cards. Embellished with such tiny treasures as feathers, flowers, pressed leaves, bells, rings, charms and colored snips of paper, many of them also contain humorous, romantic or inspirational sayings and quotations.
Two of them that are quintessentially Spencer include "You are already enlightened. The question is, how long will it take to realize it?" and "There are those who believe they can do something and those who believe they can't. They're both right." Although her cards come ready-to-mail with envelopes, they lend themselves equally well to framing.
The can-do attitude in her card quotations comes through in Spencer's larger works, crafted from a crazy quilt of mediums that many artists wouldn't know what to do with. To create her collages, she first melts beeswax, pure pigments and resin on a heated metal palette--this is how encaustic paints are made. The resin adds hardness and luminosity. After pressing a Japanese shikishi board into the paint mixture and letting it dry, she buffs the board until it is glossy.
Following repeated applications of different encaustic colors and textures, Spencer then adds handmade papers imported from around the world, along with colorful pressed flowers and leaves, tree bark, newspaper clippings, woven straw matting and various cutouts.
Among these works is Philanthropy, which includes several of the above elements, among them two newspaper headlines reading: "Business and the Economy" and "Seeking To Do Good After Doing Well." The latter is an apt motto for those to whom the economy has been generous. Another interesting work is Texture of Life, which offers a good example of Spencer's technique of laying colors, textures and mediums. She also uses just a few sparingly placed bright colors to contrast the dominance of rich earth tones.
"I make art because I have to. It centers me and gives me peace," she reveals in her artist's statement. "I approach it as play and follow the process wherever it leads."
Spencer's show runs through Oct. 31. Gallery Saratoga hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 408.867.0458, or visit www.geocities.com/~artsite/saratoga on the Internet. Spencer's website is www.spencerarts.com.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
