West Seattle Art Walk, Thurs. , August 13

It was 5:00, and I was just thinking of making my way to West Seattle for the art walk. I looked off my patio at Puget Sound and the large number of boaters on the water for what must be a good fishing season. Suddenly, the wind kicked up, and I could see, looking across at Maury Island, that a squall was starting. The sky turned dark - kind of blue-black. The water turned a deep steely gray. But what was most strange, was the wakes from the boats were very white, and stayed like that for a long enough period of time, that they could be seen for a long ways off the back of the boats. Some photos of this can be seen here. To see all the photos, click on any photo in my slideshow.

Then, all hell broke loose. One of the strongest showers I have witnessed brought buckets of rain and hail. It looked like an art walk was out of the question. But within a half hour, it calmed down, and then disappeared, so I was off to West Seattle. It was a very pleasant evening, and things appeared lively in West Seattle.

My first stop was at Capers, a home decor store on California Avenue. There I met photographer and writer, Judy Lane. Judy specializes in taking photos of birds. But that does not adequately describe her photos, for they have a strong painterly quality to them. I had to look close to see whether they were not in fact paintings. She captures a crow perched on a limb, while the background is shrouded in a deep fog with other items in the image soft. Or a Great Blue Heron, standing in a shallow marsh in a driving rain, giving a softness to the image and the colors, reminiscent of a fine watercolor. Her portfolio, at least here, was not large, but her work is beautiful.

Judy had the opportunity to show her work to Art Wolfe. Art suggested she take her images, and write a book. So that is what Judy has done. It is a self-published children's picture book titled "Keiko & The Crow". Written in collaboration with Robert Maughan, it is a story of her dog Keiko, and his interaction with a community of crows. The book is available at Capers, online through authorhouse.com publishing, and others. (crookedfeathergirlstudio.com)

My next stop was at Coffee To A Tea With Sugar (aka Sugary Rush Baking Company, where I met artist Kerry Smith. Kerry had emailed me to let me know he would be here for this opening, and had told me he was a dolloptist. I had no idea what that term meant, so of course I had to find out.

Kerry takes what I would call big globs (or dollops) of oil paint, and applies them with a metal tool to a canvas so they form a base coming to a small tip out from the canvas - think Hershey's Kisses only much, much smaller. The paintings are made by taking colors and applying them in a regimented manner to form a pattern, or in a totally random manner for a more abstract presentation. It is painstaking, meticulous work which requires a steady hand and loads of patience. In fact, the quote on Kerry's business card, and website is "Painting is Patience". Well put. A photo of Kerry applying the paint to a canvas is on the slideshow. When dry the paintings are firm, but soft. I have never seen this done before but the paintings are totally distinctive in look. They could almost be woven, but the colors are brilliant, and the patterns intense and tactile. A highly unique style and end result. (peakedpaint.com)

Next, I went to Brunette Mix. I just missed meeting the featured photographer, Tim McGuire, but the owner of Brunette gave her permission to shoot the work, so I have included it in my slideshow. Tim took photos of bicycles in Italy. Just the bicycles - leaning against old walls. They are printed on canvas, and put in a windowless frame. Very cool photos. Tim takes photos for his day job, too. His company takes stock images used in communications, publishing, and advertising. (timmcguireimages.com).

Then, walking down the street, to Arts West Gallery, I came to a group show of work by the faculty of Photographic Center Northwest called "Inspired By The Light". It is worth a trip up here just to see the variety of work of what are true fine art photographers.