Inside Rodney White's Studio

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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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.