VANCOUVER, Wash. – Several colorful abstract paintings by Leonard Orr, vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of English at Washington State University Vancouver, are on display in the Engineering Life Sciences building through Aug. 31.
Orr’s works have no predetermined orientation and he makes no sketches or advance plans. Many pieces use broad brush strokes and dripping paint, although Orr never paints two consecutive paintings in the same way.
When putting together a show, Orr often finds the pieces that naturally go together have been painted years apart.
“Painting is a way to engage life in a fully sensory and passionate manner,” he said. “It is a refreshing departure from the verbal and linear, from the rule-bound or time-bound.
“Abstraction allows me the greatest freedom,” he said. “Instead of trying to create a resemblance, every painting can be filled with surprise, mystery, energy and emotion. I attempt to keep my brain out of the process as much as I can and let my unchecked passions flow.”
When his colleagues learned of his talent, they asked Orr to lend some of his paintings to liven up the office walls. So in addition to the exhibit in the Engineering Life Sciences building, several of his pieces are on extended loan in the WSUV Academic Affairs suite.