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-News Articles/Editorials/Letters to the Editor-
11/23/2001
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November 23, 2001
On a trip to New Mexico after her family relocated to Las
Vegas, Terrill Ozawa pondered how much she missed the Land
of Enchantment. She had painted its landscapes for years, and she wished she could just take it back to Nevada with her. Picking up a handful of dirt, she realized she could. By mixing soil, vegetation, water or anything else she could find from a place she paints, Ozawa, 57, realized she could create a "spiritual connection" between her work and its inspiration. "I love the places I paint, and I want them in my work," she said. More than a dozen pieces of her work, almost exclusively Nevada landscapes, are on display through the end of November at the Carson City Library. Nevada's history and landscape provide plentiful fodder for her paintings. Ozawa has had one art class in her life but has been painting since she was small. "I think art is in my genes," she said. "I couldn't keep pencils, pens or paintbrushes out of my hands. If I didn't have that, I would draw with a stick in the sand." She grew up in several states from California to Arkansas, the youngest of five children. While Ozawa loved art, she didn't take it up in her schooling, instead heeding the government's call to gain skills useful to fight the Cold War. She studied Russian and Japanese in Colorado, hoping for a position as a United Nations translator. She joined the Air Force instead, where she met her husband, Galen, during service in Colorado. Their son Ken, now an architect in Henderson, was born while they were serving in Japan. Ozawa left the service after Ken's birth and ended up working as a civilian graphic artist. Galen's career took the couple around the country and eventually to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas in 1977. The couple moved to Carson City in 1984 when Galen went to work for the state Division of Emergency Management. She works at Washoe Lake State Park during the summers, and is spending this winter focusing on art and her volunteer activities or the Silver Saddle Ranch and with Gardeners Reclaiming Our Waysides. The park, ranch and other places are all focuses of her artwork. "I just love Nevada," she said. "To me, Nevada is the West. I love the wide open spaces. I love the smell of the desert, especially after it rains." |
