Gallery Fraga

Craig Kosak

2007-10-22T13:24:00.001-07:00

We're delighted to be featuring Seattle artist Craig Kosak in a one-man show of oil paintings. The show runs through October 31. If you can't make it to the gallery, here's a glimpse at how it looks. You can also see every piece in the show at our web site.

New to Gallery Fraga

2007-08-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

We're delighted to welcome William LaChance to the gallery. His paintings combine oil and encaustic to create dreamy scenes with soft explosions of color.

Born in St. Louis, William became a landscape painter and art educator, teaching at the University of Maryland and the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Art at Indiana University. He has also lectured at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and was an Artist in Residence at The Chautauqua Institute in New York.

William earned his BFA degree in painting at the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Indiana University. His work is currently on display in our East Gallery.

Fooling the eye

2007-08-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

It just happened again. A visitor the the gallery called out to her friend that there's a piece of tape on one of the paintings.

Actually, there's not.

The painting in question is by master trompe l'oeil artist Donald Clapper. And that tape is quite realistic.

But then, that's the point of a trompe l'oeil painting. The term is French for "fool the eye" and that's what the artists in this show are doing with their work.

Come in and see it for yourself before the end of the month.

April Show - Christine Reimer

2007-04-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

Christine Reimer's work is gorgeous in the gallery. Take a look. Better yet, come in and see the show in person -- it will be up through the 28th.

A great opening - thanks, Christine!

2007-04-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Art lovers turned out in force on the year's loveliest day so far to check out the First Friday gallery openings on Bainbridge. People enjoyed meeting our April artist, Christine Reimer -- and we know the feeling is mutual.

Here's a photo of Christine with Kathe at the opening. You can find more opening pix at our web site. And go here to hear Chrstine talk about her work.

Welcome, Christine Reimer!

2007-04-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, artist Christine Reimer delivered her work to the gallery for the show that opens on Friday, April 6. After months of watching the show progress via emailed photos, it was a joy to see Christine's work in person again. Her use of color bring each scene to life in a way not often seen.

Christine will be joining us for the opening on First Friday from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Hope you will, too!

Megan Chapman's Show

2007-03-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Megan Chapman's work is luminous, practically glowing on the walls of the gallery. The show is up through March 31. Hope you have a chance to see it in person!

Why yes, we deliver.

2007-02-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

Recently, with the help of artist Alan Jones, we delivered and installed one of his incredible (and large!) oil paintings. Our clients have graciously allowed us to share photographs of the painting as it now looks in their home.

So the answer is yes -- of course we deliver and install artwork locally and ship out of state and internationally.

A look at our February show.

2007-02-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

Visitors to the gallery continue to be positively affected by Rodney White's incredible paintings. Here's a look at some of the work in the show.

Hear Rodney White talk about his work.

2007-02-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

We're excited to introduce our new podcast, giving you a chance to hear our artists talk about their work. Our first podcast features our February artist, Rodney White. Hear him talk about the inspiration behind some of his work in the show and describe his techniques.

Check it out here. Then let us know what you think.

Thanks for coming, Rodney!

2007-02-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

We were delighted to have Rodney White in the gallery for the opening of his show and for an informal gallery talk the next day. (He's shown in the photo at left talking about his work with one of the many new fans he has made on Bainbridge Island through his art.)

For other photos of the opening and Rodney's show, go here.

To see work from the show, go here.

Rodney White Opening Tonight

2007-02-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

Picked up Rodney White at Sea-Tac last night. We're thrilled to have him here for the opening tonight. We invite you to come meet him and get his perspective on his work. He'll also be giving an informal talk at the gallery on Saturday.

Opening Reception: Friday, February 2, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Gallery Talk: Saturday, February 3, 2:00 p.m.

Inside Rodney White's Studio

2007-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

From Rodney White's apartment/studio in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, you can see the Chrysler building glittering in the distance to the north. He lives in a building that has been converted from its previous industrial life to one of mixed residential and studio use. In fact, that's a requirement to be a tenant in the building. (In addition to other artists, Rodney's neighbors include a furniture maker.)

When I visited him a few weeks ago, I saw both recently finished pieces and work in progress. Rodney, already amazingly proficient at making new paintings look like vintage wood signs, is experimenting with ways to hasten the rusting process so he can create works on metal as well.

Rodney is passionate about both the typography that pervades his work and the positive messages that many of his pieces contain. His studio provides numerous examples of how he is continually refining his art, in many cases stripping away extraneous detail to get to the core of the message; in others, combining fonts for impact or adding numeral forms for their visual interest.

We're excited to welcome Rodney to the gallery for his solo show in February. There are two opportunities to meet Rodney and talk to him about his work: at the opening reception on Friday, February 2 from 6:00 until 8:00, and during his gallery talk on Saturday, February 3 at 2:00. Hope to see you there.

Rodney White - A Sneak Peek

2007-01-24T10:34:00.000-08:00

We're excited to present the work of Brooklyn artist Rodney White, whose solo show opens on February 2.

Rodney's work combines the persuasive power of advertising with positive messages and unique insights. Inspired by poetry, typography, numerology, vintage signs, and advertising design, he creates graphically compelling mixed media works that are filled with color and simple wisdom. It's fun to discover the message in each piece.

You may have seen Rodney's work on TV -- it's been featured on the ABC shows Freddie and Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Rodney will be at the gallery for the opening on Friday evening, February 2 from 6:00-8:00. And don't miss his talk in the gallery on Saturday, February 3 at 2:00.

A look at our January show

2007-01-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

Haven't been able to make it to our January show? Here's a look at it. Click on any photo for a larger view. The show runs through January 27.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: J. Ross

2007-01-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

The amazing mixed media (acrylic, paper, and wood) crow pieces by Whidbey Island artist J. Ross keep flying out of the gallery. And it's easy to see why: the artist combines a unique technique with an obvious deep familiarity with these fascinating birds. J. Ross's statement puts it best:

I am a painter.

My work has a depth, a thickness of energy, and lives somewhere inside the worlds of figurative abstract painting, folk art, and sculpture.

My work is an ongoing conversation between texture and form and Spirit and color.

For the last five years, I have been painting the spirit and energy of crow.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Leigh Knowles Metteer

2007-01-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Leigh Knowles Metteer is an expert printmaker as well as an experienced, original painter. For this show, she has created a series of monotypes of crows.

What is a monotype, you ask?

It is the simplest form of printmaking, requiring only pigments, a surface on which to apply them, paper and some form of press. Each monotype is one of a kind, a unique piece of artwork. Frank Howell, the late Santa Fe artist who became an expert with the medium of monotypes, most clearly describes the process:

Monotypes are pulled impressions that were drawn or painted on a metal or Plexiglas plate. The images are created through applications of ink that are rolled, brushed, daubed or otherwise applied and manipulated and then, with the material, usually paper, that is to accept an impression, are “pulled” with the use of a press.

Now that the snow is behind us, we hope you'll have a chance to see Leigh's work -- as well as all of the other fabulous pieces in this show. It closes on January 27. Stay tuned for information about our February show of work by Brooklyn artist Rodney White.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Jhenna Quinn Lewis

2007-01-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

"I seemed to be born with a love and appreciation for art and nature, or maybe a better word to describe this is awe," says Oregon artist Jhenna Quinn Lewis. "Art is a universal language that can teach, or perhaps touch, us about ourselves and our world. It is a part of all our lives and surrounds us even if we don't notice or understand it."

Jhenna says she has always had the need to create through images on canvas. "The need is to foster an understanding of nature that is reflective, which suggests the presences of some unacknowledged mystery," she says. To Lewis, a painting is "a moment held in time." She believes that "artists strive to capture something in that moment and give it eternity.

"For me, paintings have a meditative quality. Through the manipulation of composition, subject matter, color, light, and shading, I try to bring out a subtle inherent quietness that the viewer can be drawn into. My hope is to create a state of mind. I have always lived in two separate worlds that unite the real and the imagined."

Jhenna's work has been featured in Southwest Art and other magazines. Her paintings are also included in major corporate and private art collections throughout the United States.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Louise Peterson

2007-01-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Born in 1962 in Darlington, England, Louise Peterson trained in classical ballet at The Urdang Academy and The North London School of Performing Arts and performed with Dance for Everyone (London) and The Israel Ballet (Tel Aviv). Her dance experience helped shape her love of figurative sculpture. Louise is also a great animal lover, and has been involved with Great Dane Rescue.

Louise works from her ranch studio near Guffey, Colorado, inspired by vistas of the surrounding high country. She is an elected member of the National Sculpture Society, the Society of Animal Artists, the National Sculptors' Guild, and the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Terry Samilson

2007-01-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

Bainbridge Island artist Terry Samilson creates stunning work in a variety of mediums. But perhaps her greatest achievements are her fiber art pieces. She told us how she came to love working with this unique material:

My dad lectured around the world and when he would arrive home after a long journey it was exciting to watch quietly as he would unpack his suitcase. Tucked in among his offbeat colored dress shirts and wide ties a swaddle of cloth would be revealed for my mother to ponder for sewing projects. She would turn wool tartan from Scotland into matching kilts for all my sisters, pima cotton lawn from London into smocked puff-sleeved dresses, silk brocade from China into a jacket and Mola blouses from the San Blas Islands into pillows. There were madras and silks of saturate colors from India, ikots and batiks from Indonesia. The glorious world of fibers arrived at our sewing table. Sometimes the fabrics were so precious that they would lay in wait in the closet for years for just the right pattern. Some are still there, too lovely to sacrifice to a pair of scissors.

And so my appreciation for fibers was nurtured during some of my earliest memories. I thought about British and Indian embroideries when conceptualizing my altarcloth for this exhibit. Their use of metallic thread elevates intricate patterns to a level of grandeur that I wanted to achieve for my celebration of endemic birds of Bainbridge Island.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Janie Cribbs

2007-01-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Whidbey Island artist Janie Cribbs (pictured below with Gallery Fraga's Kathe Fraga) paints birds through a nearsighted lens that magnifies their varied character and curious nature. In this world, details emerge in a narrative context.

Inspired by numerous visitors to her year-round feeder and a chance finding of vintage stamp-sized bird trading cards, Cribbs continues to capture "life un-still" in this current show of acrylic paintings.

Janie Cribbs is also a singer/songwriter who performs throughout the Northwest. She recently returned from a series of shows in Ireland.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Craig Kosak

2006-12-30T11:22:00.000-08:00

Seattle artist Craig Kosak says this about his work in the show:

My current work is inspired by encounters during a tour of national parks in the summer of 2005. The goal of the trip was to gather subject matter for a series of landscape paintings and I spent weeks hiking in the wilderness of Yellowstone, Glacier, and the Grand Tetons.

The trip, as it turned out, became something of a vision quest – where I would indeed find inspiration for a new body of work, though it was not the inspiration I sought. Lovely as the landscapes were, what stuck with me were repeated encounters with wildlife – especially ravens and buffalo. Over and over again, and quite by surprise, I found myself in their company as if they had a message for me. My work is an exercise in understanding that message, of seeing the world, and the human condition through new eyes.

Hints of mythology and an altered view of time are starting to appear in the work, presenting themselves for further study and exploration. Each painting explores the way these beings see the world and wonders how their perspective might improve our lives.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Jim Eppler

2006-12-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

Jim Eppler brings the power, beauty, harshness, and magnetic attraction of nature to his bronzes. This Lubbock, Texas artist creates from the experience of his lifelong enchantment with wildlife and his innate gift for the use of color and form.

Animals and their habitats constantly draw Eppler to their world. When researching a particular species, he moves quietly into the world of wildlife. He watches, listens, learns, and photographs the remarkable dimensions of wildlife and their habitats. “My photos reveal their form and habits, but their gift to my soul is what inspires me to sculpt.”

His ability to accurately capture his subjects in bronze has earned Eppler the respect of both colleagues and collectors.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Cheryl Warrick

2006-12-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

Cheryl Warrick is a Boston-based painter best known for her richly colored and quilt-like paintings that explore the journey of wisdom. In her work she incorporates folk wisdom, proverbs, symbols, and landscapes. Her work asks the viewer to open doors to find visual relationships in the paintings and quietly discover their meaning.

Cheryl's work can be found in numerous collections including, The Boston Public Library, Boston Museum Of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Free Library, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, Fidelity Investments, and Lucent Technologies.

Birds of a Feather Artist Profile: Sarah Rogers

2006-12-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

Sarah Rogers was born in Seattle, but raised with central Florida winters and Black Hills summers. Sarah's medium is watercolor, usually combined with graphite. She frequently applies several layers of heavy color to create the bright tones and often opaque quality of the paint. Sarah prefers smooth surfaces and uses hot pressed paper or plate smooth illustration board.

Sarah graduated from the University of Florida at Gainesville, worked as a graphic designer in Charleston, South Carolina, then moved on to New York City, where she spent seven years as an art director for an advertising agency. Sarah now lives and paints in the Northern Black Hills.

Birds of a Feather opens January 5 with an artists' reception from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Thought for the day

2006-12-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist." -- Louis Nizer

Art 101: Impasto

2006-12-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

Today's term, which is from the Italian for dough, comes to mind because of the way Alan Jones, whose work is in the gallery right now, uses oil paint.

Impasto, according to the art experts at the Tate in London, is "an area of thick paint, or texture, in a painting. First noticeable in Venetian Renaissance painters Titian and Tintoretto, then in Baroque painting, for example Rubens. Increasingly notable in nineteenth-century landscape, Naturalist, and Romantic painting.

"Use of impasto became more or less compulsory in modern art as the view took hold that the surface of a painting should have its own reality rather than just being a smooth window into an illusionistic world beyond. With this went the idea that the texture of paint and the shape of the brushmark could themselves help to convey feeling, that they are a kind of handwriting, that they can directly express the artist's emotions or response to the subject."

Of course, a painting is worth a thousand words. Come in to the gallery and see how Alan defines impasto.

Q&A with Alan Jones

2006-11-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

The gallery is showing new work by Alan Jones through December 16. Alan's work always gets a lot of attention. For one thing, he paints large: his pieces are up to five and a half feet tall by nearly seven feet wide. (The one shown here, "Where the Meadow Meets the Woods," is 64" x 80".)

Alan's paintings are also incredibly detailed. People tell us they feel as if they could step right into the scene.

Because we always get a lot of questions about Alan's work, we asked him to answer some of the ones we hear the most. Feel free to ask a question of your own and we'll post Alan's answer.

How long have you been doing these kinds of paintings?
I have been painting depictions of the forest since 1986 and began working outside in the early 1990s.

How long does it take to paint one of these large paintings?
Typically six months from start to finish and from 150 to 200 hours.

How do you work?
Painting is a solitary activity. I work alone and normally for a number of hours at a stretch. On average, around half of the work is done outside on location, which involves the use of a make-shift “easel” (more of a support really) in the woods. Once I begin working inside on finishing the piece, I typically do not take the piece back outside again. I work outside all year except for very cold or wet weather, and have painted outside in all months. Working outside has a number of challenges, including changing light, wind (a real problem with large canvases), and falling debris! At one point, I thought I was going to get charged by a deer when it ran within 3 feet of me. The locations are all close to home so I carry the canvases from my studio to the location by hand.

Is there anything on the canvas to give the painting that texture?
The texture is the outcome of a layering process (metamorphosis) but is not the goal of the process.

Your work makes some people think of Seurat. Were you influenced by his work?
Seurat is not a key influence although in a general sense I am influenced by his work.

What artists have influenced you?
Balthus, Vermeer, Turner, Rembrandt, many Italian artists.

Why do you use oil instead of acrylic?
I have always painted in oil and have never considered acrylics.

Welcome!

2006-11-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks for visiting Gallery Fraga's new blog!

This companion to our web site is where you can get a behind-the-scenes look at current shows, read interviews with our artists, find out what's coming up in the months ahead, and get some background information that can help you appreciate art more fully.

And, because this is a blog, it's interactive. We'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to respond to our posts with comments of your own and ask questions about the gallery or art in general.

Again, welcome.