PORT TOWNSEND — Gallery-9, Northwind Art and the Port Townsend Gallery will be among the venues participating in the Art Walk from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday in downtown Port Townsend.
• The Jeanette Best Gallery, 701 Water St., welcomes five new artists to its Showcase 2024 exhibit.
The artists are painter Wendy Higgins, Gyotaku printmaker Cody Hagen of Port Angeles, sculptor Kim Simonelli of Port Townsend and photographers Jeff Sweet and Patrick Slattery of Sequim.
The art to be featured at various locations during the First Saturday Art Walk includes “1k Niomon Gate Zero Four” by Thomas Saknit.
The new artists join 12 others already on the exhibit, which will be on display through Dec. 31.
Also on display, until Aug. 18, is “Sifting the Silence: Painting and Printmaking,” a solo show by Shirley Scheier.
For more information, visit www.north windart.org.
• Gallery-9, 1012 Water St., will feature the oil paintings and Sumi-E drawings of Ann Arscott and the ceramic tiles and sculptures of Sarah Fitch throughout August.
Arscott works with oils, pastels, water colors, ink and pencil on canvas, silk or various papers.
The art to be featured at various locations during the First Saturday Art Walk includes “Horses” by Sarah Fitch.
She travels extensively and has visited 125 different countries.
“I take thousands of photographs on my journeys,” Arscott said. “These are the jumping-off places for my art. My Sumi-E work is special because our children have been living in Japan.”
Fitch is a self-taught artist who works in bas-relief stoneware ceramic tiles and sculptures.
She is attracted to nature and enjoys wild creatures.
“My studio is in the woods where nature’s wildness still exists,” Fitch said. “I need the quiet and the wild in my creative space. For me, art is a meditative practice that helps in clearing mental clutter and maintaining a hold on sanity in this capricious world.”
She tries to create a sense of liveliness, character and expression in her animal-themed works.
Each of her tiles is created one at a time, then stoneware fired to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, which make them more durable than raku or terra cotta.
Arscott’s and Fitch’s art will be on display from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays at Gallery-9, 1012 Water St., throughout August. For more information, visit www.gallery-9.com.
• Port Townsend Gallery, 715 Water St., will host Martha Collins and Tom Saknit from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Collins, a nationally known woodworker, won the 2019 Louise Binswanger Prize for Best Artist New to the Philadelphia Craft Show. She also was selected for the Smithsonian Show in 2023 and 2024.
The art to be featured at various locations during the First Saturday Art Walk includes woodworks by Martha Collins.
Collins creates intricate patterns through a process of lamination and turning that resemble beadwork or needlepoint.
She creates mosaic artwork using sustainable woods from all over the world, then layers it with hand-dyed maple veneer.
Saknit will present images from his suite, “Memories of the Pacific Rim: Impressions on Canvas,” that he recently exhibited at the A/NT Gallery in Seattle.
Saknit’s redacted photography technique removes some details from a picture to emphasize the remaining subjects. The negative space, however, becomes part of the resulting narrative.
The art of Collins and Saknit is on display at the Port Townsend Gallery from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. daily throughout August. For more information, call 360-379-8110 or visit www.porttownsendgallery.com.
• The Jefferson County Historical Society will host a reception for the opening of two new exhibits from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at its Museum of Art and History, 540 Water St.
“Paintbox Cornucopia,” a retrospective by Suzanne P. Lamon, showcases 50 years of self-discovery, resilience and artistic expression.
Lamon’s large oil paintings reflect her diverse experiences from cowboying to driving a log truck to her battle with sarcoma.
“Stem to Stern: The Craft and Culture of a Maritime Community,” a multimedia exhibit by Jeremy Johnson, brings the maritime culture of Port Townsend to life.
Johnson has filmed the restoration of historic vessels like the Western Flyer and the Tally Ho, as well as the daily operations of fishing boats and sailboats since 2018.
His exhibit highlights the essential skills and way of life preserved by craftspeople and provides a connection to our shared history.
Both exhibits can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays at the Jefferson County Historical Society’s Museum of Art and History throughout August. For more information, visit www.jchsmuseum.org.
