LA CENTER RESIDENT Sherry Lynch is shown here with one of her recent works, which is a smaller version of an ikon she produced for Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Portland. Lynch will soon present this piece to Father Stephen Schneider as a gift.
THE NOVEMBER 1993 cover of Esquire Magazine inspired Sherry Lynch to do this piece, which helped are third grade students learn about Black History Month.
La Center resident Sherry Lynch loves to tell a story with her portraits.
“As long as I can remember, I did a lot of portraits and I loved them,’’ said Lynch. “That’s just the story of my life. Now, I’ve been doing religious ikons for many years.’’
Lynch grew up in Monroe, LA in what she describes as “a religious family.’’
“I had a very religious mother, so it was a strong suit in my family,’’ Lynch said. “What I really wanted to be was a portraitist. I was able to research portraits of the saints and descriptions of them. That’s why I started. It was just fascinating. It was what I wanted to do.’’
Lynch lived in New Orleans before moving the area in 1969. Shortly after arriving in the area, she went to an art museum in Portland, where she discovered a form of art that has now become a big part of her life.
“It was so unlike anything I had ever seen before,’’ said Lynch, referring what she termed as Northwest Coast Native American art. “I fell in love with it and never got over it. There’s a lot of history in it.’'
Lynch was trained and educated about art both in New Orleans and here in Washington, where she received a degree from the Evergreen State College. She loved the human form, the head in particular. But, after discovering the Native American ar tform, she soon turned her sights on religious paintings, known as ikons.
Recently, Lynch finished a portrait of Jesus for Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Portland. She also produced a smaller version of the portrait to the retiring Father Stephen Schneider.
In 2010, Lynch joined together with her students at the Trinity Iconography Institute to the Cathedral to produce The “Holy Trinity’’ icon for Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland.
Lynch was widowed and then married Ron Ridnour in 1998. The couple have lived in La Center since 1999.
Ridnour moved to the area from California in 1996. About a year later, he took a trip back to California. About the same time, Sherry was headed to Alaska for a trip of her own. Unbeknown to them, they each used the same pet sitter at the same time. When they returned from their trips, they were each invited separately to a birthday party for the dog sitter.
“We ended up at the birthday party and that got it started,’’ Ridnour said. “A year later, we got married and she says it’s been pretty good.’’
Lynch and Ridnour are members of the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Battle Ground, where another of her works is displayed. This piece is what is known as a triptych.
“A triptych is a series of three paintings that can be attached one to another,’’ Lynch said. “They are three paintings related to a specific theme.’’
Lynch also produced a triptych for St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Anacortes. The center piece stood eight feet tall and the two side pieces were six feet in height.
In 2009, Lynch and Ridnour traveled to Wrangell, AK for the Southeast Deanery Native Convocation, where they presented the an ikon at the meeting of the Tlingit Nation. The piece was painted on a wooden support – made by Ridnour – that measures 15 and 1/2 inches by 26 inches.
Lynch called that ikon “Our Lady of Alaska.’’ The central panel shows the Madonna seated on the bench of a long house, holding her young son on her lap. The background and seat are made of painted Chilkat weaving and a button basket.
The Madonna is very traditional European, according to Lynch, but the background, haloes and incidental signs are derived from traditional Tlingit art. The background of the figures is copper metal leaf. Copper was very highly valued by the native cultures in Alaska, Lynch says.
The golden halo of the Mother supports a rendering of an eagle and a raven, the two halves of the Tlingit Nation, supporting the sun in their beaks. The young Christ Child is shown in full festival regalia.
For more information about Lynch’s works, Sherry can be reached at (360) 263-0578. Ridnour can be reached at (360) 263-0577.
A tribute to Black History Month
La Center portraitist Sherry Lynch has spent a great deal of her career creating religious works. However, many years ago she honored Black History Month with a tribute to a legendary sports icon.
Lynch was working with an area third grade class, volunteering her time teaching art. The students were going through a lesson on about Black History.
Lynch was inspired by the November 1990 cover of Esquire Magazine, which featured a photo of a young Michael Jordan.
“Since it was Michael Jordan at such a young age, I just thought the kids would like it because it was a very famous person when he was their age,’’ Lynch said.
Lynch said she thought it would be a great way to inspire her young students.
“I guess it was kind of like to show them that they could be anything they chose to be if they worked hard at it,’’ she said.
After Lynch completed her work, each of the students had the opportunity to write a thought on the piece about Black History.
Jordan was also featured on the November 1993 cover of Esquire Magazine, this time with a portrait of him as an adult.
