PORT ANGELES — A crab rendered in bright colors graces the poster for the 2018 Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival.
“Louis” was created by Don Dye, who gets his inspiration from nature.
The annual CrabFest is set for Oct. 5-7 on City Pier, in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot and in The Gateway pavilion.
Admission will be free to the CrabFest on City Pier but patrons must pay for crab meals — with crab, corn on the cob and cole slaw — and libations.
Tickets are available now at www.crabfestival.org.
Community dinner
They are $26 for the Peninsula Daily News Community Crab Dinner on Oct. 5 and $29.95 Oct. 6-7.
On the final day of the festival, patrons can purchase two crab dinner tickets for $55.90. Active military and their families who have ID will pay $26 per person all three days. Half-crab dinners are available for $16.
As a boy, Dye spent summer days fishing and observing nature while staying in his parents’ lakeside cabin and boating in the San Juan Islands.
“Being close to nature brings me enjoyment and peace which I hope is felt by the viewer,” Dye said.
Painting found
“Louis” was spotted by CrabFest Executive Director Scott Nagel in June at the Ocean Shores Sand & Sawdust Festival, where Dye was among the vendors.
It was perfect for the CrabFest, Nagel said.
“I saw it. I bought it,” he said.
Dye has been a full-time artist since the early 1980s. Most recently he has combined his woodworking skill and knowledge of metals to create designs in copper and branched into painting with acrylics, Nagel said.
He has participated in juried art festivals throughout the nation and his artwork can be found in private collections and fine art galleries both in the U.S. and abroad, Nagel said.
The artwork also will be on sportswear and other items offered during CrabFest.
Tickets purchased in advance not only allow the buyer to skip the ticket line at the crab feast in the Kitsap Bank Crab Central Tent in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot but also provide 10 percent off festival merchandise.
Don Dye
