Vashon’s art community will be out in full force on Friday, enjoying its ritual march through new exhibits opening up at Island art spaces.
The First Friday art walk will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5. A number of galleries and shops plan noteworthy shows.
John Anderson brings landscape photography to Hardware Store
John Anderson, a renowned landscape photographer who lives on the Island, will have a show of his large-scale work at The Hardware Store Restaurant in February, with an opening reception slated for Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.
Anderson’s austere black and white depictions of mountain ranges and canyons have earned him comparisons to Ansel Adams and other great photographers, and critics and collectors alike have also also been awed by his color-drenched depictions of the sky, water and forests.
The exhibit is a benefit for Anderson, who has Parkinson’s Disease. Viewers can make donations to help Anderson travel overseas to receive new treatments for the disease; 100 percent of the proceeds from sales will also go to Anderson.
Glass artistry comes to the Heron
Rob Snyder, an award-winning glass artist and pioneer in the glass-fusing movement, will display his glass artistry at the Blue Heron this month, beginning with an opening reception Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.
Snyder, who moved to Vashon six years ago, artfully juxtaposes the strength of nature with the fragility of glass as seen in his delicate glass branches and sensuous blown glass leaves. He often creates large pieces with clusters of many small objects, such as “Calling,” a work that evolved from stacking several glass sticks in a conical arrangement.
Some of Snyder’s pieces are made of a single exquisite glass leaf. Others, such as an extravagant glass chandelier created for his Blue Heron exhibit, are comprised of many leaves.
“I work from the heart; I just have faith and trust. The work is somewhat of a spiritual expression. It’s a total journey about creating an atmosphere of letting go,” Snyder said.
Raymond Martinez shows his photographs at Luna
Raymond Martinez will present an exhibit of his photographs with an opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, at Café Luna.
Martinez has lived on Vashon since 1992 after spending many weekends on the Island in the early 1980s.
He said that he’d been interested in photography for many years, but he began to take it seriously about three years ago when he bought a digital camera and shortly thereafter took the class “Shoot to Show,” offered regularly by renowned Island photographer Ray Pfortner.
“I love to get in close and ‘shoot’ the architecture and natural beauty of flowers, and capturing the miracle of birds in flight always humbles me,” he said.
And when it came time to print his images, Martinez said he used Islander Douglas Mesney’s printing for the two photos, “Flying V” and “Hornet on Peony Bulb with Iris,” which are Giclee prints. “Taking photographs is a meditation for me,” said Martinez. “It is my retreat, my sanctuary that revitalizes and renews my spirit.”
Finding art in the grain of wood
Robinson’s Furniture will be the site of what woodworker Brad Davis calls “artful furniture,” tables made with an eye towards how the wood grain creates “abstract landscapes,” he said.
The show, called “The Drama in Grain,” will feature six tables and have a reception on Friday night.
Davis, a cabinet-maker, said he enjoys discovering the beauty and intricacy of wood.
“The joy for me comes from using my imagination to combine and find balance with the grain and the sap woods in a way that creates an abstract landscape, to in turn engage your imagination to see what you can see,” he said.
