Much of Osha Breez’s youth was spent outdoors, hunkered amongst the flowers observing nature. Before long, the island artist was sketching images of nature. Thus began her journey into the arts.

“Visual art has been a big part of my life since I was about four years old,” she said. Her inspiration stems from the ‘natural world,’” she wrote in a press release, “from the seasons, sky and water, plants and birds, and from a lifelong fascination with color.”

Her work is currently being displayed in the lobby of the San Juan Community Theatre, April 1–30, in the show titled Flow Through Time. Breez’s artwork is available for viewing when the lobby is open — 1–4 p.m. Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. on Saturdays, and during all performances throughout the month of April. There was a well-attended reception for the artist held on the evening of Sunday, April 14.

The exhibit consists of photography, drawing, and acrylic painting, including the experimental form known as pour painting. “One of my greatest pleasures in pour painting is the surprise that is inherent in the experimental nature of each piece. In this, it seems to mirror Life,” Breez wrote in a welcoming statement at the show.

This will be the second time Breez’s work was featured at the theatre. The first was in 1996, she said, when the building was only three years old and did not frequently feature artwork.

Osha and her husband Michael, have recently returned to the island after a 17-year absence. They originally came to San Juan Island in the early ‘90s, at which time they brought marimbas and the music of Zimbabwe. During that period they offered classes for all ages and directed the performance group, Musasa Marimba Ensemble. They currently play with a small group here on the Island and teach here and elsewhere around the Northwest.

According to Breez, the various art forms in her life, emerge in similar fashions, arising as feelings or ways of seeing that require focus, determination and refinement to find expression and communicate effectively to the audience.

It was returning to the island and being reexposed to its exquisite natural surroundings, Breez explained, and its constant shifting of light and color through the sky and surrounding waters, that led her to explore pour paintings.

“Life unfolds with movement and direction, parts of which are beyond our conscious control or design,” she said.

For more info, visit https://www.sjctheatre.org/.