Living on the edge
‘Living Coastline’ opens in Lincoln City
There’s something fishy going on at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, and that’s a very good thing. “Living Coastline,” a new exhibition of paintings by award-winning artist Natasha Ramras, opens in the Chessman Gallery this Friday, Nov. 7.
A wine reception will be held from 5 to 7 pm on Friday, featuring light refreshments, hors d’oeuvres and an opportunity to meet the artist. The reception will also offer the chance to meet Serena Dressel, the new executive director of the cultural center.
In this evocative collection, Ramras captures the ever-changing moods and colors of Oregon’s beloved shoreline. The works showcase a variety of subjects, from serene ocean vistas and rugged beaches to the interplay of light on water and the vibrant hues of coastal vegetation. Through the use of soft brushwork and rich textures created by a palette knife, Ramras aims to evoke not only the physical characteristics of the landscape but also its emotional and atmospheric essence. Viewers can immerse themselves in scenes that balance realism with impressionistic energy, revealing the artist’s deep connection to place.
A Pacific Northwest–based contemporary artist whose work has garnered national recognition, Ramras grew up on the Crimean Peninsula, where she was drawn to the natural world from an early age and began her formal study of art as a teenager. Since relocating to the American Northwest, she has embraced the region’s rivers, beaches, forests and cliffs as primary inspiration for her impressionistic oil, watercolor and pastel paintings.
Ramras is particularly captivated by the way light dances on transparent bodies of water, often seeking to capture that glow and clarity within her canvases. Her stylistic evolution is marked by a willingness to experiment: while she remains rooted in landscape, she has also explored abstraction and “puzzle-like” imagery hidden within bold swatches of color, creating work that invites deeper viewer engagement.
Ramras is a juried member of several prominent art organizations, including the PNW Pastel Society, Northwest Watercolor Society and the American Pastel Society. Her work has been featured in national juried exhibitions like those of the American Impressionist Society. In 2021, she was named by Southwest Art Magazine as an “Artist to Watch.”
Critics and collectors praise her distinctive handling of light and texture, the way she layers paint, uses impasto and combines brushwork and palette-knife work to evoke not just what the landscape looks like, but how it feels.
“Living Coastline” will be on display through January 4 in the Chessman Gallery, located inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy 101, and open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.