Sandy Brown Jensen

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Sandy Brown Jensen
Sandy Brown Jensen is primarily a landscape photographer, as was her father. Her father, Warren, was a sharpshooter in WWII, landing on Omaha Beach and surviving all the major ensuing battles. When the war ended, he turned his government-issued rifle stock into a camera mount for his beloved Leica and turned himself from a wartime soldier into a peacetime artist.
This act profoundly influenced his daughter to also change late in life, after retirement, from a writing instructor into a photographer. She has never forgotten her father’s passion for peace after war and the ways he expressed that artistically. She also seeks to photograph the peace and the underlying golden glow of our Pacific Northwest world. This portfolio is called Summer Gold: Gilded Photography as a way of honoring both her father and her Oregon home.
biography
Oregon photographer Sandy Brown Jensen is the co-host for Viz City, KLCC’s Arts Review Program. Sandy’s MFA is in Poetry, and she has retired from a career in teaching writing at Lane CC. Her interest in imagistic poetry hasn’t changed, but she has moved from the pen to the camera. Her primary interest is in Photography Églomisé or gilded photography, and she hopes to primarily show this work on this occasion.
Sandy lives in Eugene, Oregon. She is happily married to her Shakespeare scholar husband, Peter, and they are ruled by two cats in a house not too far from the Willamette River. She is an avid hiker and backpacker as well as a passionate home cook. Her favorite city is Paris.
Where do you, personally, find your inspiration?
I find inspiration in all the landscapes of our shared Pacific Northwest home. I walk the Delta Ponds almost daily, and I love to photograph it through the seasons. I have been climbing Mt. Pisgah from the east side for thirty years, and I never tire of the vistas. My husband and I return again and again to Paulina Lake and to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, but we equally love getaways in Yachats or Gold Beach. Oregonians: we are the lucky ones.
What is your favorite thing to do in or around Eugene?
As the radio host for Viz City, KLCC’s arts review program, I have the joy of looking at and talking about art. I love the new Karin Clarke Gallery at the Gordon because it is in a delightful walking mall. Downtown Eugene has J. Michael’s Bookstore, the White Lotus Gallery and all the lively downtown action. I love our Saturday Markets. I love our nearby nature and the many places to walk or hike or bike like Spencer Butte or the Amazon bike path. I love sunsets at Golden Gardens Park and kayaking or sailing on Fern Ridge Lake. We have so many great restaurants; Marche is my favorite, and I love shopping at Provisions and the Fifth Street Market. We live in such a wonderful place; what’s NOT to love?!
featured work
Summer Gold: Gilded Photography
July 1—September 11, 2022



When we live in time when “bombs burst in the air,” it is a profound privilege to live in Oregon’s many gold and green landscapes. We find peace in nearby nature such as Eugene’s Delta Ponds, the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum, or Fern Ridge Lake. We go to our beaches, mountains and deserts for the peace of wild places we are so lucky to have close at hand. This show celebrates Summer Gold using an alternative photography process called “gilded photography,” which imbues landscapes with a golden glow.
Artist Reception: Friday, July 15th, 2022, 5:30-7:30 PM
Russell Tomlin’s Review on “Summer Gold: Gilded Photography”
I enjoyed very much my time with your new exhibit at the Don Dexter Gallery, and I wanted offer some remarks on its stunning quality and your creative vision and technical excellence.
First, the golden glow you put forward is pervasive and that glow extends from each individual work to the larger atmosphere of the gallery space. Your technical skills are also amazing with a consistent attention to detail in each photograph and the enhancement of that photograph through your process.
Second, let me discuss several the pieces in this exhibit. My particular favorite, perhaps revealing my coastal bias, is “The Sand Labyrinth at Bandon”. This was one of your silver works I believe, but I just loved the overall glow of the final image coupled with the stunning clarity and detail of the distant people and the beauty of the labyrinth. Pure beauty and stunning.
I don’t have an order to the remaining few I’d like to compliment you on. I engaged for some time with “Fall Creek: A Green Visit”, in part because I’ve been there, and I think I know this location. The overall impression is subdued but you managed to find a way to make the greenery in the right foreground to glow. Another beautiful work.
Your image “Harney Lake Storm Cells” is such a delight, where your fortunate encounter with storm cells way out east brings an exciting life to this image. I really enjoy, again with this golden glow, the contrast in the blue and white storm cells above the parched loking terrain over which they appeared.
Lastly, I still really love “Golden Raven Master”. You know how much I liked your original photo. This particular work retains all the detail and movement in the regional portrait but adds that delicious golden glow across the image.
Sandy, this exhibit is remarkable. I am glad to see it in one place. May I congratulate you on a distinctly beautiful collection, a combination of a discerning photographic eye and the amazing transformations you accomplished through your golden and silver glow techniques.
Amazing. I hope others will take the time to visit the Dexter Gallery, located at 2233 Willamette St, Suite B, in Eugene. I recommend you give them a call to make sure they’ll be open when you’ll like to visit: 541.485.6644.