OFFERS ORIGINAL
ART AND FRAMING

By SUZANNE M. SCHMIDT

In a new exhibit at Horizon Line Gallery in Temple Terrace women are the focus.
The gallery is working with the Florida Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts for the Through a Woman’s Eyes exhibition.
The mission of the committee is to identify and promote current and historic woman artists. There are more than 2,000 members in Florida and 16 are featured in the show. It runs through March 10.
Jason Maranto, owner of the gallery, said he wanted to have a wide variety of work for the show.
“There are pastels, oils, watercolors, acrylics, relief construction paintings, quilts, fabric collages and silk paintings on display,” Maranto said.
He said the main purpose of the gallery show is to raise awareness of women artists.
“They don’t always get the fair shake from galleries,” Maranto said. “I started this gallery to help raise awareness of local artists. I know from experience it is not easy to get your work displayed in a gallery. When I was trying to find a place to show my work, I couldn’t so I started my own gallery.”
The gallery, 11005 N. 56th St., displays and sells all original works and offers framing.
Many artists from throughout Florida have their work on display in the gallery. Some artists are from as far at Citrus Springs while others are from as close as Temple Terrace.
Dori Klaaren has traveled with her husband and fellow artist, Terry. They’ve gone throughout Europe and the United States painting various places and people.
“We have traveled across the states and back again,” Dori Klaaren said. “We have our favorite spots we return to, but we always like going to new places to so we have something new to paint.”
The Klaaren duo paint plein air, which means she and her husband paint on site. She sets up her easel and starts creating an art piece from whatever she is looking at. She typically paints landscapes.
“Somehow when you paint plein air, people either respect you and leave you alone or they come and talk to you,” Klaaren said. “We have met so many great people that way.”
Dori Klaaren’s pieces in the show were inspired by a recent trip.
“In the gallery, I have four paintings of four consecutive sunsets at Anna Maria Island,” Dori Klaaren said. “The interplay between the clouds and the light changed from day to day.”
She said it is hard sometimes to complete a painting on site so she has to just establish the composition and the color pallet and complete it later.
“I don’t always finish the whole painting on site, sometimes I have to finish it later with a photograph,” Klaaren said. “I use aquaquill pens, which are watercolor markers, I get from AOE. I get to a place and use my student easel and just paint.”
Dori Klaaren has a unique view of her masterpieces. When she paints, she only uses one color at a time. This is a habit left over from when she embroidered.
“I would only have the one color on the needle at a time,” Dori Klaaren said. “I fill in all the places I think that one color should be and then I move on to the next color.”
Dori Klaaren believes there should be more galleries like the Horizon Gallery.
“He has all original paintings by local artists,” she said. “It would be great if more galleries were like that. Temple Terrace has a real hometown feel. It is nice to have its own gallery for original art.”
Mary Curran Bitner, a New Tampa artist, agreed.
“People just don’t buy original art,” Bitner said. “They would rather spend $500 on a print in a frame. Originals are not only more beautiful they are also a good financial investment. Art increases in value over the years.”
For information about the gallery, call 988-3424. For information about Bitner’s work visit http://www.marycurrantbitnerart.com and for information about Dori Klaaren’s art call 985-8200.