PENDLETON — The Betty Feves Memorial Gallery is full of color as Arlen Clark’s acrylic paintings are featured in the first exhibition of the 2024-25 school year. “It’s Just Paint” opened Oct. 10 and continues through Dec. 5 in Pioneer Hall at Blue Mountain Community College, 2411 NW Carden Ave.

A longtime Hermiston resident, the mostly self-taught artist’s signature style is filled with dynamic patterns and bold outlines. Clark’s paintings often depict friends, family and imaginative scenes from daily life. The paintings in this exhibit span 30 years, offering viewers a rich visual history of his evolving style.

Born in Salem, Clark was 3 when his family moved to Hermiston in 1949. At 17, he enlisted in the Army where he played baseball and served as a personnel specialist for three years.

Holding various jobs over the years — postal clerk, railroad laborer and federal guard — Clark said he never found a career that he truly loved. However, painting became his enduring passion, a pursuit he has followed for more than four decades.

Clark’s artistic journey was profoundly shaped during a BMCC class in 1979 with Sandra Jones Campbell. She encouraged him to explore painting without limits.

“She taught me that I could paint anything I wanted, any way I wanted,” he said.

This spark helped unlock Clark’s potential with permission to explore creatively. It unleashed his imagination and opened a new world artistically.

Clark also credits local artists, including Lori Baxter and Roberta Lavadour, with helping him find opportunities to exhibit, teach and share his work with the public.

“Painting relaxes me; it takes me someplace else for a while,” Clark said. “I don’t plan my paintings. I’ll look at a canvas for a few days, visualizing the colors and patterns I want to create.”

His use of vibrant hues and intricate patterns is shaped by childhood memories of watching his grandmother hand-sew quilts. Also, his influences include a childhood paint-by-numbers kit and a book of biblical stories set in Egypt with striking illustrations. The hieroglyphics and lush patterns seen in ancient Egyptian art have been a perennial inspiration.

A nonprofit exhibit space, the gallery’s namesake, Betty Feves, moved to Pendleton in 1945 and began exhibiting her work in 1952. She became an internationally known ceramic artist and helped mold the work of many artists.

Regular gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.bluecc.edu/feves-art-gallery or contact Nika Blasser, gallery director, at nblasser@bluecc.edu or 541-278-5952.