Born in Ontario, Ore., C.J. Myers is a self-taught artist.

Her work, as she describes, is soothing and captivating, and her only goal is to engage the viewer.

“I was just brought up in it,” said Myers, whose mother, grandmother and great grandmother are all artistic. “I knew I always had a talent for it. I enjoyed it. I was passionate about it.”

Myers was most recently selected to participate in the Bossier Arts Council’s Wine, Art and Music event inside Boomtown Casino’s 1800 Prime Steakhouse in Bossier City. Leigh Anne Chambers, former executive director of the Bossier Arts Council, arranged for Myers’ showing that will continue through the end of October.

“The thing that immediately engaged me with C.J. Myers work was the layers, the way the paintings seemed to exist in a plane somewhere between a 2-D image and 3-D sculpture,” Chambers said. “The images invited me in to investigate the details while simultaneously pulling me out to view the work from a distance. This push and pull are what makes her work so compelling.”

Her work is a splash of mixed media overlapped with paints depicting strong swamp scenes, as well as a variety of glass and metal work.

Myers’ current work includes pieces that represent the South and the culture of Louisiana.

“There still a gap between the races here,” said Myers, who lived in Oregon for 38 years. “I know it was here even worse when I was younger. Living in Oregon, it’s just not there like that. That inspired me.”

Myers spent her young years moving from state to state, and then in England. Her teenage years were spent in Bossier City where she married very young. After divorcing, Myers and her four children moved to Portland.

“Portland is completely different than anything in the South,” Myers, who owns two bars in Oregon, said. “Honestly, I just wanted to get out of the rain. Portland is very rainy.”

Myers is a recent transplant back to her Bossier City home. She moved almost a year ago in October, and now she’s finally getting back on her feet.

“I’ve got a kiln as big as a bathtub,” said Myers, who moved with just one carload of items and her art she planned to sell. The kiln, along with a number of other items, had to stay, but now they’re here with her and she plans to keep her art alive.

“The culture here in Louisiana, the music, the swamp, the fleur-de-lis that everyone is proud of – I want to capture that pride,” Myers said. “I want to capture that emotion.”

Although Myers has worked in numerous mediums (painting, clay, woodworking, charcoal, pastels and pen and ink), she discovered her greatest passion in 2006 when she began working with fused glass. Working with fused glass provided a challenge she had not experienced in other media, and it completely captured her mind and her heart.

“I like working with mediums that are unpredictable,” she said, showing off one of her recent pieces mixed with copper. “I love the idea of it having a life of its own.”

Myers also upcycles furniture, refinishing and hand-painting using various themes and subject matter.

“I love creating,” she said. “I love doing something I haven’t done before.”