Rogene Manas
Rogene is a mixed media artist living in Eugene, Oregon. After years of being a graphic designer/illustrator, owning her own international card company and painting landscapes on the side, she made an abrupt change and began making art from her her own thoughts, feelings, emotions and personal stories, rather than from the outside world.
Rogene was a student of fine arts at the University of Oregon. She later worked as an illustrator at advertising agencies and design firms, while developing her skills in a variety of disciplines including computer design and illustration; oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, and gouache painting; collage and assemblage work; ceramics, jewelry and printmaking. She loves the freedom of combining materials and methods under the umbrella of mixed media rather than conforming to any one discipline.
Our Lady of Not Taking it Anymore is part of the Everyday Saints series. Each image in this series is created from a personal experience. “If something is bothering me, I make a saint to bolster my spirit. If I am feeling weak, I create a saint of strength to light my way. If I am worried, I make a saint of courage. If I am ill, I make a saint for health and nurturing. If I feel gratitude, I make a saint to honor it. I use a variety of techniques and materials, sometimes painting their faces, sometimes using printed faces and hands. Recently I have taken to adding embellishments like beads, metal pieces and charms.”
Rogene is known for having developed and invented her own ways of making art using mixed media materials and assemblage techniques. One technique she has popularized, described in her book Artful Clay, incorporates an air-dried clay called "paper clay" to make textural paintings and bas-relief artwork. Rogene’s paper clay work was featured on Oregon Public Broadcasting in a segment of Oregon Art Beat.
Rogene's work is in collections across the United States, Canada and Mexico and can be found on her website, as well at Guardino Gallery in Portland, and at Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, CA.
