Saturday Art Walk brings new shows

PORT TOWNSEND — This weekend’s free Art Walk promises new exhibitions in downtown Port Townsend’s galleries, all set to be open 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

“My World Wipe Your Feet,” an exhibit of drawings and watercolors by local musician and visual artist Danny Barnes, has just opened. Barnes’ work, along with pieces by teaching artist Tracy Bigelow Grisman, is now showing at Northwind Art’s Grover Gallery, 236 Taylor St.

The gallery will highlight Barnes’ creations during Art Walk, which happens every first Saturday of the month. Then “My World” will stay on display through May 28.

In addition, “Wet: Reflections on Water,” a juried photography exhibition, awaits at the Jeanette Best Gallery, 701 Water St. This show, presented by Northwind Art, showcases photos by 30 contributing artists exploring the power of water.

Voting for the People’s Choice Award is underway at the Jeanette Best Gallery throughout the “Wet” show, which will close April 30.

Also on Saturday’s Art Walk:

• Gallery-9, 1012 Water St., is featuring Jon Geisbush’s wood-turnings and Carolyn Doe’s silk batik and oil paintings during April and plans a book signing during the gallery walk from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Sandra Smith-Poling will present her newest publication, “Illustrated Haikus of the North Olympic Peninsula.”

Smith-Poling is known for her watercolors influenced by the English School of watercolor that strives to obtain the maximum effect with the first stroke of the brush, organizers said.

“Her command of watercolor is a joy of light, color and detail,” they added in a press release. “She captures what the eye and mind see and feel in a scene.”

He style of painting is said to be “the perfect complement” to Haiku poetry, which also uses the simplest of forms to capture a feeling.

Her collection of paintings and haikus are available in cards, prints, and now compiled in her new book.

The gallery is open five days a week, closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Masks are optional.

Geisbush is a native Washingtonian and a self-taught woodturner. After he retired from his engineering career, he took up woodturning as a hobby. His family provided him with a wood lathe and bandsaw to get started. He has been turning for about 15 years.

“The art of woodturning starts with the source of wood, and when I first started turning, I lived in an arid part of the country where the most available wood was dimensional wood such as that available in lumber yards,” he said.

“Whether turning a handle for a tool or a bowl or platter, dimensional wood was glued together and turned,” he added. “I quickly learned about different species and starting forms of wood provided different presentations.”

When he returned to Western Washington, his interest in woodturning increased with the availability of new sources of wood from local trees. He said that, as his turning skills improved, he became fascinated by experimenting to see what colors and grain figures might be found inside the wood.

“He found exploration of the wood determines how best to turn the wood to find what the wood has to show,” organizers said.

Doe is a self-taught silk batik artist and oil painter. Her current works are framed silk batiks with scenes of nature and birds and oil paints of trees.

“I started working in batik on silk fabric over 30 years ago. Batik has become my voice,” she said.

“When dye touches silk fabric, it spreads like crazy. The wax creates a boundary. It is this dance of control/no control that captivates me for hours.”

Using pure beeswax and silk dyes, she creates images of nature on silk fabric. These are then stretched and framed under glass.

Her oil paintings with palette knives show wide horizons with stately trees, or the quick pose of a small bird on a slender branch, organizers said.

“I’m not one to say a lot about my art,” Doe said. “It comes from a feeling place, something I can’t put to words.”

For more information, see www.gallery-9.com.

• The Port Townsend Gallery, 715 Water St., will highlight artwork that features birds during the month of April.

Featured artists and many members of the cooperative will be on hand from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Many artists have selected favorite pieces that honor birds in their many habitats and poses.

Birds will be represented in a variety of mediums including watercolor, photography, woodblock printing, fiber arts, woodcarvings, ceramic ware, photo etchings, collages, acrylic paintings, batik prints and crafted metal art.

Among those featured will be nature photographer Andrea Slemmons, who travels the Pacific Northwest, Canada and Alaska in her search, getting up before sunrise.

“It takes immense patience to get the perfect shot, but she does it for the love of nature and the joy of sharing her experiences with others,” organizers said. “Andrea strives to capture the personality of the bird she is photographing instead of documenting the existence of the bird.”

To freeze a bird’s wings in flight, she uses the method of setting her camera to multiple frames per second. Her work is printed on glossy aluminum sheets to give her subject matter more vivid color.

Another artist featured is Pat Herkal, a fiber artist who, organizers say, is “fond of creating birds and other critters.”

She began learning when she was 5, taught by her grandmother to crochet rugs and embroider.

Her bead work at the gallery includes critters, vessels, jewelry and wall art. She mixes colors and textures with found objects both man-made and natural.

She has shown her work across Puget Sound and continues as a member of Peninsula Fiber Arts.

All her work is hand-sewn.

The Clockwork Redbird shown is made from hand-dyed handwoven silk and embellished with watch bits.

A third Port Townsend Gallery artist is Maegan Sale Kennedy, a mixed-media graphic artist who enjoys drawing intricate details and bright colors.

As a child, she always had a pen and camera in hand, organizers said, adding that she grew up surrounded by art as both of her parents are avid art collectors.

After obtaining a degree in photojournalism, she became interested in pen and ink drawings and now also uses watercolors, charcoal and colored pencils to create her pieces.

“She first tries to capture reality, and then gives it her own unique interpretation,” organizers said, adding that her depiction of rooster Merle was inspired by the local culture of raising chickens.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and by appointment. For more information, phone 360-379-8110 or see www.porttownsend gallery.com.