PORT TOWNSEND — There will be a reception for Nancy Aikman and Katy Morse from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday during Port Townsend’s First Saturday Art Walk.
The event will be at Gallery 9, 1012 Water St., where Aikman and Morse will be the featured artists for February.
Aikman creates cabochon jewelry and basketry from the needles of southern long leaf pines. Except for the traditional Irish linen with which she ties her baskets, all of her material comes from nature.
“I found my life story through expressing my connection and respect for nature in the creation of baskets and jewelry,” Aikman said. “Each basket is unique and takes on a life of its own, waiting to find their place of belonging to a special individual who feels it was always meant to be there.”
Her artwork is made with pine needles, semi-precious cabochons, glass beads, shed deer antlers, bone beads, recycled glass and metals.
Cabochons — from the French word “caboche” or head — are natural gemstones that are shaped and polished instead of cut and faceted. These stones can be found throughout the world and typically have a flat side with a domed face.
Morse creates acrylic paintings using archetypal images of the divine and feisty feminine.
“The Earth Mother sustains us every day in our earthly existence,” Morse said. “She is both nurturance and destruction, revealed in the cycles of birth/life/death and regeneration. The cyclical nature of the feminine show us a way to accept the many changes in our lives.”
Her acrylic paintings use bright colors that dazzle the imagination and guide women on transformational journeys.
“The evolution of my art has led me to Shamanic Reiki practices of connecting with earth and spirit as a healing process,” Morse said. “These are medicine paintings created with intentions for healing relationships, both on a personal and planetary level.”
Morse’s paintings and Aikman’s basketry and jewelry will be on display from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at Gallery 9 throughout February.
For more information, visit www.gallery-9.com.
