L-R: Artists Paco Berg & Chiyako Oka, of Daystar Retirement Village in West Seattle remain active in the arts. Their work hangs in the lower level as a result of a Sept. art walk there. Pictured below is an ink illustration by Berg of her Siamese cat, Winston. She has a series of cats and penguins.
Daystar Retirement Village held an art walk Sept. 22 featuring nearly 25 paintings and drawings that remain displayed in their lower level. Daystar residents featured are Paco Berg, Chiyako Oka, and Catherine Schade. Their work has hung in art galleries, and Oka teaches a watercolor class monthly at Daystar.
"When I first saw this apartment, I thought, 'Oh gosh! This will be a perfect studio,'" recalled Oka, who was born in Kobe, Japan. She moved to Daystar here one and a half years from the neighborhood above Lincoln Park. "Northern light, that's what they say," she remarked pointing to her large, north-facing windows, desirable to painters.
"I started painting 40 years ago, with oils at the YWCA here in West Seattle," she recalled. "Then I started to do acrylic, then water color. Oil is kind of hard because you have to stand up and extend your arm, and you have to have a very steady hand."
Heather McCallum is Daystar Activity Director. Prior to this post she worked at a Pioneer Square art gallery call Global Art Venue.
"Some of these works are very fine," she said. "Art uses every bit of your brain power, and working with colors is very stimulating. This is really something you want to add to your program, art, music, literature, poetry sharing. It's amazing the background of some of our residents. As I get to know them I become amazed to the extent of their involvement in the arts and music."
