Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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This month, one of the most talented people I know has moved to town. David Gignac has been a close friend, fellow artist, co-exhibitor, and collaborator since I met him decades ago on Whidbey Island. It always amazes me but never surprises me, the ingenious way his mind works. It is always a joy to work on big and small projects, art and building, theater, and real-life problem-solving. I love living in Waitsburg and always hoped I could entice him to make this his home. When Jeff and Gayle Bro...
DAYTON-Dayton's Liberty Theater was one of just a few Washington State stops on the 2021 Missoula Children's Theatre tour. Over the weekend, local actors and actresses told the timeless tale of Johnny Appleseed. Johnny and his good pals, the Apple Seeds, travelled across the land on foot, leaving a trail of young apple trees behind. They managed to make friends with all kinds of people and animals throughout their travels, sleeping under the stars at night and enjoying the untamed outdoors...
DAYTON-The Wenaha Gallery's upcoming Art Event features Denise Wagner of Kennewick, specializing in Japanese wrapped stones. This art form involves using Japanese knot and basketry techniques to wrap smooth stones with natural cane ribbonry. Wagner, a licensed home healthcare provider, was working at a retirement facility when she saw a gentleman wrapping stones. He noticed her interest and invited her to join him, and he would teach her the technique. "We became fast friends, and we got...
Walla Walla – The July exhibit at Combine Art Collective will feature work by Sheilia Coe and Dianna Woolley. After retiring, Shelia Coe, pursued her other interests, including becoming a Master Garder. Fortunately, she took an interest in sculpture after taking instruction from sculptor, Penny Michel. Coe works in clay, creating pieces inspired by nature and animals. Her childhood was one full of art, thanks to a mother who encouraged her daughter to become an artist. It just took a while. P...
Groovy Session One of Walla Walla Rock Camp is in the history books. As I write this, Session Two is in progress. I've been aware of Rock Camp for years through the involvement of friends in the Touchet Valley, but this is the first year I've participated. The organizers recruited me as a keyboard and vocal coach. Rock Camp is an annual intensive music program for youth ages 12-18. They receive instruction from experienced musicians on everything from guitar, piano, and voice to songwriting,...
Wenaha Gallery's newest Art Event features Walla Walla woodworker Ron Jackson, who has been creating with wood for 67 years and counting. Jackson's Art Event runs through Monday, July 12. Jackson first fell in love with working in wood during junior high shop class. In the 1960s, he worked for Whitehouse Crawford Company in Walla Walla, a sash, door, and cabinet shop. That gave him his foundation in working with wood. He built upon that foundation through the years by constructing three homes, i...
DAYTON—The Wenaha Gallery’s newest Art Event features the hand-woven baskets of Lisa Kostelak, an artisan from Colville, WA, who has been making baskets for more than 35 years. Her first intro to the craft was a class taken at a mall in Florida, and while that got her started, she has spent many hours learning the art. There were no online instructional videos back then, and it was difficult finding actual hands-on learning from experts, so she plunged into books on the subject. Now, 35 years la...
Dayton-The Blue Mountain Artists Guild Gallery Shows are now open to the public. This marks one year since the Guild went to virtual gallery exhibitions in Dayton, Washington. The guild has been working in isolation since pandemic restrictions were imposed early last year. Now that local exhibition venues are back open, artwork can be seen and experienced in person at four locations around Dayton and online via the virtual gallery videos. The members voted unanimously to continue with the...
The bronze Stationmaster, which watches over the Historic Dayton Depot, was sculpted by Montana-based master sculptor Keith McMasters. The Stationmaster and Companion was dedicated and installed in 2010. McMasters was the featured guest during the March Kiwanis Club meeting, sharing words of inspiration and his journey through the world of fine art. McMasters was born and raised in Colfax, Wash., and the surrounding Palouse area. His love for art was nurtured from a young age. His grandmother...
WORLD WIDE WEB-The Esvelt Gallery has proudly presented the work of the Columbia Basin College Art Department faculty in a new 2021 exhibit. The work presented includes painting, drawing, photography, collage, digital media, ceramics, and sculpture. The visual arts faculty are artists who engage in their unique studio practices to showcase what is possible through continued creativity. Included are works from the painter and professor Tracy Walker; multidisciplinary artist, educator, and...
DAYTON-The Wenaha Gallery will feature Walla Walla stone carver Sandra Matthews-Sarve February Art Event. Sandra Matthews-Sarve works with both what is considered "normal carving stones," Including marble, alabaster, and soapstone, as well as ordinary rocks she and her husband find on their drives through the Southeast Washington area. She started carving in stone as an extension of her desire to work with ordinary, discarded, or overlooked items in life, and rocks fit that qualification. "Most...
DAYTON—In celebration of January, a month known for inclement weather, the Wenaha Gallery is featuring fine art jigsaw puzzles as their 3D Art Event. The gallery has puzzles big and small- ranging from 35 pieces to 1,000 pieces, which feature wild turkeys, a train landscape from the Colorado mountains, to a field of green clover. The gallery’s framer, Savonnah Henderson, says she recommends the 300-piece dog breed puzzle, as it is harder than it looks, but ‘immensely satisfying’ to complet...
DAYTON—The Wenaha Gallery will feature College Place-based abstract oil painter Frankie Laufer. Laufer moved to California in the late 1970s and returned last year, settling in College Place. He uses two rooms in his house as his studio. Describing himself as a “late bloomer,” he started painting at the age of 40. Laufer said he felt internally that he wanted to paint, so he went to a paint store, opened up a tube of paint, smelled it, and put some on his finger. Laufer says it was at that...
Frost on Walnut Trees, 2021. Bill Rodgers was out at one of his favorite spots last Sunday and took this stunning photo through freshly frosted trees looking north up Whiskey Creek Valley....
I was one of those early nerds who couldn’t wait to get my hands on the first Apple iPad. I had been using my iPhone to draw using an app called Brushes. One of my art heroes, David Hockney, had been doing daily drawings on his iPhone and sending them to friends. I was intrigued by the images. The phone was too small for me, and I embraced the larger iPad immediately. I took it traveling and found I could have full color to work with. Because the app allows for layers and transparency, it was m...
At this point in history, color theory has established a well-documented dialogue. Various studies of human psychology note that the color yellow may elicit feelings of comfort, while red tends to make people hungry or impulsive. Marketing experts refer to the pairing of red and yellow as the Ketchup and Mustard Theory. Green and earthy tones are sometimes used to convey a message of healthiness and environmental responsibility. One might feel moody looking at the ocean's deep blues or soothed...
WALLA WALLA-In addition to its roster of 18 membership artists, Combine Art Collective (CAC) has assembled a septet of guest artists for their annual holiday showcase. The Guest Artists Times Seven exhibit features seven artists who present ethereal works in various textures, shapes, and sizes. Jeweler Anne Lindsay returns with a new collection. Along the lines of jewelry, Sandra Simonson creates geological masterpieces from plain stones made to shine with their unique presentation. Needle...
WALLA WALLA-Walla Walla native, Brandon Hallsted, wears many hats. By day he is an entrepreneur who owns Connor's Flooring and Design. As past president and current board member for ArtWalla, he's an effective leader. He has spent the last 22 years as a husband to his beloved wife, Mandy. And, this month, Hallsted dons the Combine Art Collective featured artist hat. Beginning his art years ago with sketches, pastels, and painting, Hallsted pursued technical skills that garnered him a bachelor's...
Books are magical treasure troves of knowledge and art. Academics love books. It makes sense that places of study such as colleges and universities would house libraries of rare collections. The University of Washington's Bhutan book, for example, is a massive seven-foot by five-foot behemoth. This thing weighs 133 pounds and took an entire 24 hours to print. As a former Guinness Book of World's Records holder, Bhutan, at its mammoth scale, offers landscapes as big as windows and life-size...
DAYTON—The newest Art Event at Wenaha Gallery in Dayton features the pottery of Kennewick artist Pat Fleming. Fleming has been making and teaching art for 54 years and counting. Fleming’s pottery is unique in its use of local materials including clay dug from Othello, Prosser, and the Walla Walla River Basin. His glazes also derive from local soil and ash, the latter from the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption and his backyard barbecue. The gallery will be featuring both functional and non-...
Local artists Wayne Chabre and Jeanne McMenemy create special show for the occasion WALLA WALLA-Combine art collective is celebrating its one-year anniversary with featured artists Wayne Chabre, sculptor, and Jeanne McMenemy, owner of Calligraphica. Though there will be no reception, a showing of the artist's work will be available for viewing beginning Thursday, September 3 at the gallery's regular business hours. Wayne Chabre, born in Walla Walla, graduated with a B.A. in Art from Gonzaga...
WALLA WALLA-Record Store Day (RSD) comes around just once a year. This past Saturday, August 29, Hot Poop celebrated the thirteenth annual event with a somewhat demure version of its usual festivities. Record store day is all about getting music lovers inside brick and mortar record stores, connecting listeners with the establishments that keep music and musicians alive. To participate, store owners sign contracts attesting that they will not sell any of the select RSD merchandise online for at...
Dayton's Wenaha Gallery will feature junk journals by Des Moines, WA, artist Trudy Love Tantalo. Her show runs from August 11 though September 4. Trudy Love Tantalo is a Des Moines, Wash. paper artist who creates junk journals, which she defines as "a unique handmade journal made with a variety of papers, with additions and embellishments that make it fun and interesting to use." A lifetime journal user herself, she describes junk journals as the perfect place to write about your day, tuck in a...
Well, the bar has certainly been set high for any future productions at the Liberty Theater. My attendance at Mary Poppins this past Friday night, was my first at Dayton's Main Street theater, and what a production it was! The cast featured 59 actors with an extraordinary range, from the young man with the big, big voice, Carter Barron, who played Michael Banks, to Walla Walla resident Janine Wheeler who sparkled as the nanny, Mary Poppins. With music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert...
It's easy to forget that we live in an incredibly beautiful area. Mountains, meadows, farmland, trees, and – easily underlooked because we forget to look up – clouds: these elements of our landscape invite us to think big and expand our world. Nancy Richter thrives in this big, expansive, and beautiful world. The Kennewick photographer, who grew up in Montana's Big Sky Country, especially loves clouds. "I love them all – pink and salmon, fluffy, lenticular and cirrus, stormy and wild," Richt...
