PORT TOWNSEND — Small Expressions 19 will begin at the Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend today.
The juried exhibit of original small format artwork created by a wide selection of artists will be on display at the gallery at 701 Water St. through Dec. 27.
Artists submitted their art online, and juror Jeff Olson selected the entries to be exhibited.
Those receiving awards will be chosen from the actual 2- or 3-dimensional works of art brought to Northwind Arts Center today, organizers said.
Olson is a Seattle-based artist with a significant and original body of work spanning more than 25 years, organizers said.
He holds a master of fine arts degree in painting and drawing from Washington State University. He lectures throughout North America as the director of art education for Royal Talens, a Dutch manufacturer of artists materials. Olson lectures on the history, development and application of artists’ materials.
“The central theme of my work has always lain within the primacy of the brushstroke in the process of painting. It is in essence the evidence of the physical interaction of the artist with the ‘stuff of this world’ — an evidence of life,” Olson said.
He said he is “fascinated by the leap of faith” made when meaning and form are made through the materials.
“In my work, I try to capture that moment of becoming, when the paint on the canvas floats between what it is and what it might be,” Olson said.
“At a fundamental level, it is about transformation. The process of painting becomes an echo of the traces left from a story of living imprinted on the land.”
The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.
For more information, email info@northwindarts.org or see northwindarts.org.
