It’s been a busy summer for Jeremy and Aron Nels Steinke. The brothers, who grew up in east Vancouver, have their artistic pursuits on full display. Both are Camas High School graduates and now live in Portland.
Jeremy, 36, has paintings exhibited at the new Gallery 903 in Portland’s Pearl District (903 N.W. Davis St.). He said he likes to straddle the line between representational and abstract with his art.
“I like to push in both directions,” he said.
The Steinke brothers’ parents, Alona and Don, still live in east Vancouver and have started an organic farm, which Jeremy works on in addition to painting.
Jeremy, who attended Clark College before moving on to the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, paints figures as well as animals and elements from nature. He has a background in figure drawing.
Cats inspire kids’ book
Aron Nels Steinke is a writer and illustrator. His children’s book, “The Super Crazy Cat Dance,” came out last month through Blue Apple Books. Aron, a 29-year-old Clark College graduate who went on to the Vancouver Film School in British Columbia, is having a release party at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at Guapo Comics & Coffee, 6350 S.E. Foster Road, Portland.
The book tells the story of two young girls who create a wild feline dance.
“It’s a fun book about cats in a comic-style format so early readers can enjoy reading it on their own or can have an adult read it to them,” said Aron, a preschool teacher.
He self-published “The Super Crazy Cat Dance” about three years ago as a black-and-white pamphlet book. Now it’s a full-color, hardcover book.
Aron and his wife, Ariel Cohn, have three cats.
“They inspired the book a little bit,” he said.
Aron has a companion book in the works focused on dogs. He expects it will be out this time next year.
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