PORT TOWNSEND — Gallery 9 has turned May’s spotlight on Jon Geisbush and his woodturnings and Katy Morse and her acrylic paintings.
Gallery 9, home of the North Olympic Artist Cooperative, is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday at 1012 Water St., Port Townsend. Masks are optional.
Geisbush is the newest member of Gallery 9. His work can be seen in the front window on Water Street and inside the gallery as the gallery’s featured artist for May.
Geisbush has been turning wood for about 20 years. He said he has always enjoyed working with his hands, taking much pride in his family’s garden to ensure it was maintained in the best of conditions.
Before completing high school, he rebuilt car engines, and in college he restored a small hydroplane and got it running for a good ride.
Katy Morse’s images are on display at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend.
The art of woodturning is all about the source of wood, he said.
When Geisbush started turning, he lived in an arid part of the country. The most available wood was dimensional wood, such as what is found in a lumber yard.
“Whether I was turning a handle for a tool or a bowl or a platter, I glued dimensional wood together and used that to turn my object,” he said.
“It was interesting to use different species and colors of wood to obtain colorful turnings.”
He said he is inspired by other woodturners who provide discussion and demonstration of improvements, as well as by a desire to check out the wood and see what can be found inside.
“What colors, what curls, what bird’s eye type figure might be found?” he said. “This exploration determines how best to perform the turning to show what lives inside the wood.”
Morse works with acrylic paints on canvas, drawing inspiration from the divine and feisty feminine to create archetypal images that tell stories of redemption and empowerment, she said.
She is trained as a Color of Woman Teacher and Red Thread Circle Guide who brings women together in their explorations of personal creativity.
“These are medicine paintings,” Morse said.
“They invoke an inner source of reflection and reveal new understandings that come about when we shift old patterns.”
Her recent work shows the transformational journey of walking through the past two years of pandemic: “Light Bringer” carries her crystal staff of wisdom through the storm, walking her sacred path while in the company of dragons; “Rainbow Deva” is embodied feminine energy in alignment with her central channel of chakras, dancing in a field of roses surrounded by incantations to the Hindu goddess Tara.
In the front window is “Wisdom Circle” an epic story painting of women gathered together for healing in the arms of Great Mother.
“We are in transformative times and these paintings are my prayers of hope, my way to Awaken Healing Through Creativity,” Morse said.
For more information, see www.gallery-9.com.
Jon Geisbush’s bowls are featured at Gallery 9.
