Combine Art Collective and the gift of art

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 felting is the art of forming wool into different shapes using short, stabbing motions with a special barbed needle. CAC has curated two felt art styles to compare. Kathryn Barron manipulates the medium into vessels while Margaret Jamison makes ornament sized felt animals. Between these two styles, environment and populace play off each other.

The work of Walla Walla University professors Steve Miller and Matthew Pierce is also on display. Miller is known for his handmade porcelain and stoneware bowls and vessels. Pierce is a classically trained oil painter who portrays contemporary subjects.

Whitman's Sheehan Gallery director and artist, Daniel Forbes, who has curated shows for the CAC gallery in the past, shares his handmade sculptures. A range of work from wooden and wall-hanging to bronze and free-standing, each shares a familiar sense of lean limbs.

If two is a pair and three is a crowd, seven is a trove of treasure to behold, just in time for seasonal shopping.

Combine Art Collective is located at 130 E. Rose St. and is open Thursdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.