Ukiah Corner Gallery’s Young Artist Wall features artwork of Tiby Owen and Marin Lake – The Ukiah Daily Journal

Marin Lake and Tiby Owen (Contributed)

Tiby Owen and Marin Lake, a couple of Ukiah High School’s most recent graduates, are planning to pair up to show their artwork on the Corner Gallery’s Young Artist wall for the months of July and August.

The longtime friends previously participated in Art Center Ukiah’s April “Dreams of Peace, Hopes for Our Future” group show for high school artists, but this time they are in the limelight on their own.

Tiby is enthusiastic. “It’s feeling really cool to show our work without the school being involved,” she says. “We have done art together for so long, it feels great to finally be able to put on this show together.” Marin chimes in, “This feels more individual – it’s something that’s just for us. I’m also super excited about my whole family coming to see it for the opening on First Friday.”

Both young women spent most of their childhood in the Ukiah area: Marin in Redwood Valley and Tiby in Talmage. And both were avid art explorers as youngsters. Marin explains, “I’ve always been creative/artsy. When you’re in preschool and kindergarten the teachers often encourage you to draw or color or finger paint. I always liked to draw and color but never understood why they wanted me to color inside the lines.” Tiby describes herself as a real stereotypical “head in the clouds” artistic kid.

“I’ve always had a love for art,” she says. “I’ve been drawing and painting my entire life. Before I could even spell I would be drawing the nature around my house, and that hasn’t changed.”

Another similarity that Tiby and Marin share is gratitude for the wide variety of art classes offered at Ukiahi. Both have taken most of what is offered there, with Marin becoming the Teacher’s Assistant in the art department. “It was such a freeing activity for me, and came extremely naturally,” she says happily. Tiby’s response is in the same vein. “At Ukiah High my love for painting was really developed when taking the art classes provided there,” she says.

One place where these good friends differ is in their inspiration to do their art. Marin describes her impetus to paint, “As far as influences go, my paintings are based on my thoughts which are often correlated to feelings or a reaction to a song that I like. When I listen to certain songs they conjure images in my mind in connection to the lyrics or the instruments. As far as style, I’m not particularly influenced by any artist. I just do what feels right.”

Tiby, on the other hand, says “My biggest inspiration is my Grandfather. He was an artist, and while he did woodworking and resin art, he also dabbled in painting. He would paint with me later on in life when I was living with him. It was a bonding experience with him and he inspired me to do whatever my heart wants in art. He always told me art was for the soul, so to feed it and let it grow. A little bit of myself is in every painting I make. Which is why I try to hang onto his work too, because he also put a little bit of himself into his works. He and I were just so engrossed in art when we were together.”

Both young women have a strong affinity for acrylic paint on canvas. Marin combines paint with some collage and sticker elements. She was inspired to use acrylic by Tiby, who says, “Acrylic paint is a very forgiving and freeing medium if you allow it to be. I really get lost in my canvas when in that special artistic groove. I could paint forever if it meant I never had to sleep or eat.”

Marin agrees, “I find acrylic to be more enjoyable as far as the painting process goes than watercolor, which I used for a while. But I would be interested in trying oil painting eventually when I reach a higher level of skill in realism. I’ve always been extremely impressed with the works of Renaissance painters who use oil paints and I wish I could paint like them someday.”