Through September, Kathleen Faulkner’s oil pastels are the headline story at Scott Milo Gallery in Anacortes. “Agua Verde” may be reflections on water, or perhaps a dream state. “Dream Work” itself is intriguing: foreground leaves are divided from a rushing surf by logs. “Seasonal Color” depicts a vast stretch of purple fields backed by misty hills. “Larch” is simply delightful; a spray of happy cloud appears to hold a yellow tree and darker foliage in its mitten fingertips.
The trio of “Quiet Presence” I, II, III, oil paintings by Dederick Ward — another Anacortes-based artist whose work is being featured through the month — will be an enigma to someone not familiar with his work. He’s been painting cloudscapes recently, but I was initially puzzled by these seemingly white canvases. Then, a day or two later, I was up early. A morning mist was in the air, through which I glimpsed the faintest promise of rosy sunrise and blue sky and thought, “Aha, that’s Dederick Ward.”
Ward is one of those late-life masters who worked a full, technical career before full-time painting. In the gallery, owner Kathy Khile juxtaposes Ward against another late bloomer, Keith Sorenson. He painted realist images until, sliding into abstraction, (he reports) the paint took on a life of its own. I liked his oil painting “June,” marked with a current of red running beneath a spray of green and blue. “Fall Pond” and “The Red Path” were similar evocations of lush foliage, but (to my taste) marred by the intrusion of vertical white streaks. “January Fields,” where the restless white is in the sky, was appealing.
Down the center of the gallery, paintings are anchored by Leo Osborne’s exquisite bronzes. “Eagle Song,” “Morning Song” and “Harmony” each feature a pair of gracefully imagined birds.
Kylie Fair Anderson, a 2018 graduate of the University of Washington’s fine arts program, paints an encyclopedia of Skagit scenery in photo-perfect style, such as this work, “The Tired Tulip.“ She has mastered the serene and restful. (Photo by Stephen Hunter)
Kylie Fair Anderson, a 2018 graduate of the University of Washington’s fine art program, has wasted no time painting an encyclopedia of Skagit scenery in photo-perfect style.
On her website, viewers will see her holding her paintings on easels, each fitting precisely into the landscape behind — sky, beach, rocks, water, daffodils, tulips, the Deception Pass bridge, lakes and forests. It’s quite a stunt. She’s on all the social media sites. She has mastered the serene and restful, as in “Autumn Reflections,” oil on masonite. And I know exactly where she stood to paint “The Skagit River,” “A Lyman Landscape” and “A Day at Diablo Lake.”
Anderson has tremendous talent and enthusiasm. Where does she go from here? Perhaps the small, almost monochrome oil on canvas work, “A Piece of the Sea,” gives us a clue. Here, she creates an expressive story of the ocean, retreating from the rocks, even as it masses to crest in another wave.
One piece in the gallery, the mixed-media “Moon Dream,” engages the viewer on multiple levels. There’s a garden door, a lantern, tree trunks and foliage, and subtle transitions of color and texture, all permeated with a sense of warmth, well-being and mystery. It’s unmistakably by Anne Martin McCool.
Lanny Bergner is a regular at the gallery and shows several of his lovely, copper wire “not-baskets,” which he calls “Bio Morfs.” They are intricately and artfully woven, each unique and embossed with abstract, torched patterns.
Bergner has a corner on this unusual kind of sculpture. His work has been celebrated worldwide and was recently featured at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner. Starting Oct. 7 and continuing through Nov. 26, new pieces from his “Leaves of Philadelphia” series will be featured at Scott Milo, along with works by fused glass artist Steve Klein.
Colorful fused glass can always be found at Scott Milo. New to me is the work of Joel and Lori Soderberg, who appear to have sliced myriad small colorful pieces and fused them into decorative oblong blocks. They offer several series: “Evening,” made up of shades of red; “On Fire,” red, shading to yellow; “Sunrise,” blue to yellow; and a multicolored set, given initials such as “ROYGBIV5.”
Sculpture-wise, I have never seen canoe paddles such as the “Celebration Paddles” Les Eelkema has created. They range in length from 36–54 inches and appear to be of ash hardwood, which Eelkema has inlaid with metalwork depicting crows, feathers, leaves and abstract designs. He’s wrapped the handles with brass, aluminum and copper wire. Each is a work of art, and if I were a canoeist I would have grabbed a couple, as the prices are too reasonable to believe. As the ads say, they should be “flying out the doors!”
See the current works by Faulkner and others from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday through Oct. 1 in Anacortes at Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave. Entry is free. Info: scottmilo.com.
