New work at Smith & Vallee Gallery in January 2021

I am grateful to be represented by Smith & Vallee Gallery in Edison, WA. The owners, Wes Smith and Andrew Vallee, have supported me in every possible way since the first time I showed work in their gallery. The gallery staff — Camille, Mary, Eve and other professional art enthusiasts who came before them — have made the experience of showing my work to the public an enjoyable, educational experience. All have become friends as well as colleagues.

So, it’s a special pleasure to know that my new work will be shown along with that of my friend, Andrew, a talented wood and bronze sculptor, at Smith & Vallee Gallery during the month of January 2021. Andrew studied printmaking at Western Washington University, but wood — and now bronze — soon found a place in his heart and mind. That is evident when you see his work. Our studios are near each other in the small village of Edison so I know Andrew works early in the morning in the back of Smith & Vallee cabinetry shop before their crew arrives. And, I’ve watched him head to the studio on his days off while his wife, Andrea, and his two young daughters give him the space he needs to concentrate. It’s been an inspiring, gratifying experience to watch Andrew’s work evolve, and I am grateful for the opportunity to exhibit my work with his.

See my “About” page for an artist’s statement about my new work that will be shown at Smith & Vallee.

For more information visit https: //www.smithandvalleegallery.com/

New work at Jansen Art Center

Lynden, WA (north of Bellingham) has lovely, tree-lined streets and a vibrant, intact downtown and the Jansen Center is at the center of it. Great day trip! My paintings, monotypes and a drawing or two will be on view there through February 2020. The gallery is closed on Tuesdays.

New work on view, August 2019

My new paintings, drawings and monotypes will be shown at Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison (WA), during August 2019 along with work by sculptor Marceil Delacy. There will be an artist talk on Saturday, August 10 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. and an artists’ reception will follow. Here is my artist’s statement:

This new work focuses on the lines drawn between land and water, past and present, memory and intuition: my territory.

The “Visible Bones: Samish Flats Series” explores my emotional response to the landscape that I have lived within for most of my adult life: the brooding estuarine tidelands and farmland of the Skagit and Samish lowlands. The landscape here carries a powerful sense of time for me and serves as a daily reminder that we are living in only a dot on a vast, ancient continuum. I owe the title of this series to writer and naturalist Jack Nisbet, whose books explore the human and natural history of the Northwest. His friendship and writing have deeply influenced how I identify with my “place” and informed my work in ways I cannot adequately express.

The landscape paintings in this group explore the dynamic intersection of agricultural farmland and estuarine tidelands. The valley’s waterways – its threaded lines of rivers, ditches, drains and dikes – are the arteries that sustain living things, particularly recently cultivated ones. The acqua al mare – the routes of water to the sea –are complex. My painting has found inspiration in the writing of poet and farmer Jessica Gigot, who writes in her poem Tide Gates, “Opening, closing, regulating seawater. These rivers are not home to everyone. They only let in what they know.”

Speaking of lines: for several years, I have collected birds’ nests found within this landscape and am keenly interested in the energy, centrifugal force and gravity of these objects: they are three-dimension drawings in real life.  They represent shelter, refuge and loss: so fragile yet so strong. One line at a time.

IN OTHER NEWS: I’m grateful to Smith & Vallee Gallery for exhibiting the work of their gallery artists, including my own, at the Seattle Art Fair August 1-3.

I will teach an INTRODUCTION TO MONOTYPE workshop in my Edison (WA) studio October 18-20, 2019. Studio fee of $325 includes all supplies and materials. For more information contact me.

SPRING 2018: My new work will be on view at Smith and Vallee Gallery (Edison) during the month of May. I am honored to be showing with master bronze sculptor Philip McCracken. An artist talk by sculptor Tony Angel, speaking on behalf of Philip's work, and myself will take place on Saturday, May 5 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. with a reception to follow.

I will host a monotype demonstration in my studio on Sunday, May 6 from 1-4 p.m. and again on Sunday afternoon, May 13.  It is open to the public so please visit if you are curious about the process. My studio is just north of Smith and Vallee Gallery in Edison.

In other spring news, my large scale nest drawings can be seen at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art through the month of June, part of a group show, "Home."

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FEBRUARY 2018: Olympic College has a new art gallery and its inaugural exhibition, "Home," includes two of my large scale nest drawings. It will move to Bainbridge Island Art Museum in March (the opening is March 10).

I am part of a three-artist exhibit at Roby King Galleries (Bainbridge) throughout February.

Smith & Vallee Gallery (Edison) will host its "Flight of Fancy" invitational bird show through February. Now in its sixth year, it is always very good, diverse and there is a lively artists' reception on Saturday, February 3 from 5-8 p.m.

I did a special monotype for MUSEO's "All the World's a Stage" a Shakespeare themed show, and it turned out to be very interesting. All invited artists submitted work inspired by Shakespeare's writing and partnered with a local theater group to bring it to life. On view through February.

EARLIER NEWS:
I'm happy to be exhibiting with sculptor Marly Eidsness at MUSEO in Langley, Washington,  through October October 2, 2017. The show features Marly's wire avian sculptures which seem to speak to the tangled lines of my large scale nest drawings also on view.

RESIST: protest prints by Northwest artists
Perry & Carlson Gallery (Mount Vernon), September 7-30, 2017
This is a great group of original prints on the topic of political action. There are also postcard reproductions of the work available for sale so you can write them, and mail them, to inspire social justice and inspire political action.

MONOTYPE WORKSHOPS

For more information or to register for upcoming workshops please contact me.

OPEN STUDIO DAYS

The studio is occasionally available for artists who have taken my previous monotype workshops. Please inquire for more information.