Each spring, the Expressions West show at the Coos Art Museum brings a flurry of excitement and anticipation. How will those independent-minded artists who work in the western United States reflect their lives? Which concerns have fueled their art? What new technique may appear? And which three pieces will be tapped for purchase by Southwestern Oregon Community College?

As usual, my picks didn’t make the cut.

Juror Gary Faigin reviewed 479 submissions for Expressions West 2008. He notes that landscapes were dominant, and thus represent more than half of the 64 paintings selected for the show. Of Faigin’s three cash prizes and 5 honorable mentions, however, only Willamette Winter (an acrylic by John T. Casey of McMinnville) might be considered a landscape, and even then, some might argue that chunky bands of green, purple and blue do not a field make.

Onward, then, to the traditional landscape: paintings which, in Faigin’s words, “fall into the category of the ‘picturesque,’ scenes that satisfy our sense of beauty and order.”

I was immediately smitten with “Morning in America,” an oil by Lloyd Kirkpatrick of Crescent City, Calif. This quirky cluster of eight mailboxes is viewed from the backside, a cosy grouping of aged boxes on wooden posts. It’s a landscape of comradery and hope, of tolerance and community, bathed in sunlight and grounded in humor.

A landscape familiar to CAM visitors is presented in the oil painting “Siuslaw North Fork” by Jodie Raborn of Salem. The coastal river has been beautifully rendered by the artist in a perfectly balanced composition. Pilings sunk in the river’s bed rise like sentinels from abandoned docks and roadways, and marsh grasses glow with a golden light. There is not a living soul in sight — just the bluish, silvered water, the near bank and the dark forest at water’s edge. My appreciation for abstract art involves time, study, and thought. Confronted with a room full of paintings, I’ll go for the mailboxes every time. Therefore, I approached this year’s abstracts armed with the thoughts of the 2005 Expressions West juror, Norman Lundin of Seattle. He simply looked for paintings that engaged him, and judged based upon composition, execution, and presentation.

The large, acrylic abstract “Beirut” by McMinnville painter Pat Barrett is a good choice for those who, like me, tend to stumble around abstract pieces. Where does it start? And when is it going to end? Beirut says nationalism and it says conflict. I see culture — modern and antique — and I think this may be an abstract I could live with.

Not so with the mixed media by Christine Ann Cutty, of Grants Pass. There is always at least one artwork at Expressions West that leads me to wonder, “why?” “Warm Arches of Santa Barbara, CA” is that painting. It’s a studio-wrap canvas, carelessly executed. The graphics force the perspective to the point of confusion. I believe this may have been one of those pieces that was better when viewed in slide, or digital format.

Finally, Faigin reviewed figure studies for this show. In his words, “Many figure pieces failed to make the cut because they struck me as painted versions of family album photos, or depictions of colorful western types that leaned too heavily on stereotypes or cliche (i.e., cowboys and Indians).”

Well. This exhibit is not the place to go for a feel-good fix on people.

An anguished family speeds away across the waters, marooning three pets in Marilyn Burkhardt’s “Katrina.” From the painfully scrunched face of the fellow in “Sleep 1” (by Jaime Gustavson of La Grande) to the cast of characters in Blake Flynn’s “Garden of Evil” (tiny cherubs flutter around a naked and dismayed Adam and Eve; pod babies emerge from flowers; another cherub works the exposed folds of human brain tissue with a scrub brush and lots of soap) — these people are not at ease.

I recommend the landscapes. A long and relaxing walk through the landscapes. A walk, perhaps, to check on the mail.

Expressions West continues at the Coos Art Museum through July 5.

Teri Albert reviews art and artists for the Ballyhoo! page of The World. Comments on or story ideas for this column are welcome, and can be e-mailed to malbert3@verizon.net.