Artists play with color and light in seasonal Lynnwood exhibit
Published 1:30 am Thursday, September 6, 2018
This season’s exhibit at the Lynnwood Convention Center features colorful art meant to dazzle the eye.
A free artists’ reception for the summer/fall exhibition, “Inventing with Color and Light,” is Sept. 12. There will be house-made appetizers and a no-host bar. After the reception, go on a free tour of the 53,990-square-foot building that opened in 2005.
The center biannually showcases talented artists from around the region. “Inventing with Color and Light,” up through December, features acrylic and oil paintings by eight Western Washington artists: Amanda Adams, Lisa Snow Lady, CJ Elsip, Carol Ross, Linda Bergeron, Hyosoon Jung, Janci Mannington and Beth Van Faasen Betker.
The artists, who will be at the reception for a meet and greet, painted anything that followed the color and light theme, be that flowers, landscapes, vistas, the cosmos, fantasy or abstract. There are about 35 paintings in all. Exhibit curator Ann Morgan said “Inventing with Color and Light” is meant to appeal to an audience that isn’t necessarily art savvy.
“We wanted something colorful to see on the walls and attract the eye,” Morgan said. “It’s a really diverse show with lots of different subjects.”
Morgan, a retired art educator and administrator for the Everett School District, manages the exhibit with her daughter, Kaitlin. Ann Morgan often visits galleries in search of artists to be showcased, then recommends they apply for the exhibit.
Amanda Adams, a Snohomish resident, is the only Snohomish County artist featured. Her abstract works, which imply meanings through color and texture, are painted on large canvases.
The colors in Adams’ five paintings represent different seasons, including the early spring and late winter.
“A person can get a feeling out of that just because of the placement of colors,” Adams said. “I’m very tied to the rhythms of nature.”
Lisa Snow Lady’s paintings are also about the seasons. Snow Lady, of Seattle, was inspired by how lights and shadows cast on houses change throughout the year. It’s about seeing beauty in the ordinary, she said.
“I love color and the opportunity to challenge myself with interesting palettes,” Snow Lady said.
Artwork is key to the aesthetic of the $31 million state-of-the-art facility, said Sara Blayne, general manager of the center. Just outside stands a piece titled “Spectra” by Doug Hansen, which is 35 feet tall and made of steel, fused glass and fiber optics. Also inside is Rick Mullarky’s interactive floor, “Terrapixel,” a 64-glass tile installation that generates a light display.
“(Art) gives it a personality,” Blayne said of the building. “If we didn’t have art — whether it be colors or blacks and whites — it’d be just boring walls. It definitely brings some life to the building.”
Evan Thompson: 360-544-2999, ethompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter@evanthompson_1.
If you go
What: “Inventing with Color and Light”
Where: Lynnwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St. SW, Lynnwood
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and during weekend events through fall; artists’ reception is 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12
Cost: Free
More: 425-778-7155 or www.lynnwoodcc.com
