Oregon Coast Waves - 2.1

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Veta shown with her childrens book 'The Traveling Bunk Bed.' The book and all the original art are on display at the COVE located at 831 NE Avery Newport, Or. (Photo by Jeremy Burke)
Artist making her mark in Toledo eta Bakhtina has travelled around the world and painted murals in many major cities, including Amsterdam, Rome, Budapest and in every place that she has lived. Now, she is ready to make her impact in Lincoln County. Last fall, Bakhtina settled in the little town of Toledo, where she is a resident artist at The Crow’s Nest Gallery, owned by Janet Runger. While some people may wonder how such a world traveler ended up in the rural town of Toledo, she had always dreamed of moving to the <strong>Oregon</strong> coast but didn’t think it would be possible. “It seemed strangely unattainable to move to the coast,” Bakhtina said. “I’m not sure why it seemed unreasonable.” But the coast came calling in the form of an old friend. Bakhtina was friends with Runger’s son when they all lived in Colorado in the late ’90s, and they all have remained friends ever since. Runger had recently moved her gallery to a larger building in downtown Toledo and invited Bakhtina to join. She jumped at the chance. “We’ve been told we are a good pair,” Bakhtina said of Runger. “We have a good connection, and we get inspiration from each other. There are a million benefits in working there.” Besides her work as a muralist, Bakhtina is a surrealist painter and children’s book illustrator. At first glance, Bakhtina’s paintings are dark, mysterious and dramatic. But a closer look reveals colorful details that are joyful and whimsical. Creating art has always been in her blood. Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, Bakhtina said her initial love for art came from reading a lot of children’s books. “I grew up in a literary family. My mother’s father was a writer and publisher of books,” she said. Her parents had friends who were interpreters and brought her children’s books from all over the world. “In Russia during that time — the ’80s — we didn’t have a lot of TV. I spent a lot of time reading, so my passion for illustration came from being exposed to so much creativity.” No one else in her family pursued art. Her mother is a doctor, and most of the other women in her family went into medicine. She felt a similar draw toward helping people. “I wanted to go into a humanitarian career — whether it was medicine or activism. I always had the need to help the woes of the world. I struggled for a really long time because I struggled to do something else,” she said. But Bakhtina was also inclined toward art. “In school, all the kids asked me to do illustrations for their projects,” she said. “I was always the artistic, creative one. In Russia there was a lot of art taught in school, and I did a lot of art at home.” Veta Bakhtina (above) continues work on her latest oil painting at The Crow’s Nest Gallery in Toledo. An illustration by Bakhtina, right, is next to a coordinating assemblage piece by Crow’s Nest Gallery owner Janet Runger. (Photo by Susan Schuytema) BY SUSAN SCHUYTEMA | PHOTOS JEREMY BURKE & SUSAN SCHUYTEMA CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 37
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