Spring is just around the corner, and during Friday’s Gallery Cruise, Islanders might get a few signs of a new season.
Hats that speak of spring, art that reflects nature and s’mores at a new gallery are just some of the fun offerings this week.
So don your walking shoes and head for the town. Most venues are open from 6 to 9 p.m.
Mixed media and temporary sculpture
The Blue Heron will host two artists in its March gallery show, Tacoma photographer William Mitchell and Island mixed media artist Tom Hughes. The opening on Friday will also boast live music from Riverbend.
Mitchell, an avid climber and adventure traveler, worked full-time for the Department of Transportation, with a sideline doing photography for a photo stock agency. After retiring in 2003, Mitchell began shooting full-time.
His current exhibition will show abstract works from a portfolio he calls “Tangles,” a collection of color photographs that reveal nature through an abstract lens. He scans and prints works on archival paper.
A recent immigrant to Vashon from Buffalo, N.Y., Tom Hughes creates temporary sculpture with a message. His exhibition, organized around the theme of “Where We’ve Been,” illuminates words within recycled cardboard and salvaged plywood sculpture.
The installation, according to Hughes, will allude to mischief and collusion.
“It’s interactive art in a very concrete way, low-tech; it’s been referred to as a punk-rock aesthetic. I reinvent the wheel every time,” he said.
S’mores and fire dancing at Ignition
The Island’s newest art space, Ignition Studios and Gallery, will be open for its second First Friday fling, with food, fire pits, s’mores and fire dancing by Kajsa Ingemansson and friends. Zamorana’s Taco Truck will be in parked in Ignition’s parking lot.
Tenants of the space include Island Artistry Tile, Vashon Vintage and JK Designs. Upcoming Ignition exhibitions will include portraiture by Gage Academy instructor Ryan Finnerty and a summertime show of still-life work by Vashon painter Anelecia Hannah in partnership with North Carolina landscape artist Charles Philip Brooks.
Mad hatters show their wares
Vashon’s new textile gallery — Common Thread: A Fiber Arts and Textile Collective — is having a show sure to conjure up thoughts of March hares and mad hatters. For the exhibit, each artist in the collective has created a hat that reflects her medium.
Works by Rebecca Wittman, Suzanna Leigh, Kira Bacon, Kasia Stahancyk, Marnie Nordling, Sharon Schoen, Linda Stemer, Anya Weil, Mary Shemeta, Kim MacDonald, Jenni Wilke and Laurel Boyajin will be on view at the shop, located in the former site of Books by the Way.
Acrylic in the style of the Fauves
Two Wall Gallery will feature acrylic and watercolor paintings by Lynn Wilhoit. The artist, whose work has been exhibited at almost every Island art spot over the years, has been influenced by her many trips abroad as well as her admiration of the art of the Fauves, the Cubists and Pablo Picasso.
“I have no preconceived ideas before I start a painting,” Wilhout said in an artist’s statement. “I simply paint, see the direction the bold color and water are taking and I continue from there.”
A cellist reconstructs her instrument
During March, VALISE Gallery will present multi-media artist, musician and painter Karen Kennell.
Last summer, after playing the cello for 21 years, Kennell experienced something of a tragedy: Her beloved instrument was crushed under a moving trailer.
“I had played a concert the night before,” she said. “I put it under my friend’s trailer to keep it out of the sun and heat. I didn’t think anyone would be moving vehicles, but they moved that one and it ran over my cello. When my friends came to find me, my first thought was disbelief.”
With this exhibit, Kennell aims to reconstructs her mangled cello — literally and metaphorically — using installation, photography, painting and video and exploring both grief and healing in the process. The cello itself will be displayed in the front room of the gallery, the pieces suspended between the floor and ceiling as if the cello were intact, with space between the pieces.
Kennell is a native of Puget Sound but relatively new to Vashon. She is finishing her Master of Divinity at Seattle University.
Kennell has been an amateur cellist for 21 years and has played in symphonies for years. More recently she finds herself playing in folk, rock and worship contexts with guitars and voice. She also has been painting for nearly 10 years.
Also on display at Vashon galleries and shops
Blooms & Things will present painter Jayne Norton’s show “Germination.”
Duet will present “Prepositions,” painter Lenard Yen’s show of new oil on canvas color abstractions.
Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union will be celebrate its one year anniversary with a showing of the photography of John Anderson, music by Amrita, refreshments and prizes.
Vashon Senior Center, on Bank Road, will exhibit original artworks by students of Carpe Diem Primary School, and Clare and Bob Hallowell will display their worldwide collection of bird and frog sculptures from 5 to 8 p.m.
Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association will present “Abby Williams Hill: Wanderlust, Works on Paper, 1895-1927” (see story, next page).
SnapDragon, Vashon’s newest eatery, welcomes singer/performer Melodie Trottier, aka M is for Murder. She’ll perform her classic songs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The Hardware Store Restaurant will present photographer Biffle French’s show, “The Osprey Hunter.” French is a nature and travel photographer. He is also an author and wood artist.
