Photography, jewelry featured by Port Ludlow Art League

PORT LUDLOW — The Port Ludlow Art League’s artist of the month is Diane Walker and its jeweler of the month is Mara Mauch.

The two artists are featured throughout August with displays at Sound Community Bank at the corner of Oak Bay Road and Osprey Ridge Drive in Port Ludlow and at the Port Ludlow Art League Gallery next door, which is open from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday and Fridays and online at www.portludlowart.org.

Before she began creating abstract paintings, Walker was a professional photographer whose award-winning work has been featured in books, magazines and galleries across the country. Now her photography is integral to her ongoing contemplative practice, organizers said.

She began posting her photos and poems in 2007 and continues to post daily on Facebook and at Contemplative Photography.com.

Best known for her boat photos, she now focuses on local flora and fauna and waterfront scenes but also includes images from India and Nepal. Her photos are complemented by brief messages summarizing her contemplative response to the image.

Mauch has been working with glass for more than 30 years. She said she finds her work with fused glass exhilarating because it combines the scientific properties of glass with her artistic imagination, according to a press release.

Using a kiln, Mauch fuses several layers of glass with or without dichroic (metallic coatings) or gold or silver inclusions to create cabochons that are used in necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

After adding more layers of glass and incorporating precious metals or other materials, she shapes the pieces by hand and then re-fires them.

In addition to the Port Ludlow exhibit, she will have her work at the Bainbridge Island Studio Tour on Aug. 13-15. For more information, see www.bistudiotour.com.

To purchase either of the artist’s work, email info@portludlowart.org to make a sales appointment or stop by the gallery.

After a long hiatus, the Port Ludlow Bay Club will once again host group art exhibits sponsored by the Port Ludlow Art League. The theme for this group art exhibit will be Feathered Friends.

Art league members created art using birds as symbols of freedom, hope and peace as well as flight, song, caring for young, hunting and as pets.

The art exhibit is available for viewing in person at the Bay Club, 120 Spinnaker Place, during August and September.

For more information on art exhibits at the Bay Club, email info@portludlowart.org.

Scholarships

The Port Ludlow Art League provides scholarships for graduating Jefferson County high school seniors and continuing or returning students for study in community colleges, universities, vocational and technical training institutes.

League members consider students interested in art and other creative areas of study. To raise scholarship funds, League members created 6-inch-by-6-inch plaques of original art for sale to the public, raffled two original abstract art paintings and held an art supply sale.

This year’s award went to Nessa Seebergoss, who graduated from Port Townsend High School and plans to attend DigiPen Institute of Technology.

In addition, Kent and Wendy Chesney offered a second scholarship for a graduating senior who plans to pursue a degree in art or art education in honor of their daughter, Kristen Elizabeth Chesney.

The Chesneys asked the Port Ludlow Art League to identify and recommend one of the scholarship applicants to receive this award.

The Kristen Elizabeth Chesney Scholarship was awarded to Audrey Drake, who graduated from Port Townsend High School and plans to study visual arts at the University of Washington.

For more information, see www.port ludlowart.org.