Artists want to do away with tired taboos

  • By Theresa Goffredo Herald Writer
  • Thursday, November 19, 2009 3:15pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Breasts are clearly things you never get tired of looking at — as an art form.

That’s why Lowell Art Works is presenting for a third time the exhibit that exalts these body parts with “The Breasts of the Northwest III: Oh-Nine!”

“We shall once again celebrate the focus of our fancies, and this year with extra support (and foam) for the female front,” Lowell Art Works president and show curator Jules Anslow said. “Decaf, half-caf, with whip or without, our own beautiful bits or a buddy’s, we will honor the aesthetic so tragically treated and scandalously stifled.”

For the past three years, about this time of year, the artists at Lowell bring out their best breast artwork, whether paintings, multi-media, sculpture or glass. Artists aren’t just showing off their artwork but busting down tired taboos, Anslow said.

“The time has come ‘round again for the draperies to drop, the shirts to be shed, and the double Ds to be displayed — proudly, persecution- and prosecution-free,” Anslow said.

The opening party for “The Breasts of the Northwest III: Oh-Nine!” is from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Lowell Art Works, 5205 S. Second Ave., Everett. The show runs until Dec. 20. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of artwork is donated to Gateway for Cancer Research.

“Art Jewelry X 5” at Stanwood House displays the delicate jewelry of five local artists.

The artists are Yonnah Ben Levy, Maryd. Coster, Dolors Ruscha, Karen Rust and Pam Summers. All are veterans of their craft.

Yonnah Ben Levy studied pottery 45 years ago with a Japanese Zen master who had them throw the same rice bowl for an entire semester. These rice bowls are now the containers of Ben Levy’s original jewelry, which combines fused glass or silver clay or sculpted electroform silver pieces she made in Jerusalem with beadwork.

Pam Summers’ jewelry sometimes combines hand-worked silver and copper and her own lamp-worked beads, making creations that bear a sculptural feel and a graphic sense.

Maryd. Coster was a professional stained glass artist in Colorado for 40 years. She has been making jewelry for 12 years now working with sterling silver, copper, dichroic glass, deer horn, beach stones and other natural materials.

Dolors Ruscha was raised in Barcelona, Spain, and her jewelry is Mediterranean-inspired. Her passion is glass.

Karen Rust’s background as a professional graphic designer figures into her jewelry, which she has been making for four years. She hand-etches figures into dichroic glass, removing certain metals in the glass to make the design.

“Art Jewelry X 5” opens with a reception from 5 to 8 tonight at Stanwood House, 99115 270th St. NW, Stanwood. The exhibit is on view through December.

Positive, powerful, innovative and cutting edge are some of the words used to describe the paintings and drawings of Andrew Morrison.

Always a reflection of his American Indian heritage, Morrison’s award-winning art has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and universities throughout the Northwest and the United States and can be seen at such local locations as the Seattle Indian Health Board, Edmonds Community College and Suquamish Clearwater Casino.

Morrison won full-tuition scholarships to Rhode Island School of Design and Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts and received a bachelor of fine arts from Tufts University.

His work will be on exhibit through Dec. 15 at the Edmonds Library, 650 Main St., Edmonds.

A pleasant show: Works from many well-known local artists are on display at Pleasant Ridge Gallery at the Rexville Grange in an exhibit that kicks off with music from Ireland and Scotland.

Some of the featured artists include ceramics artist Marguerite Goff, painters and printmakers Janet Hamilton, Anne Martin McCool, Molly LeMaster and Janet Morgan, photographer Sarah Arney, wearable artists Martha Tottenham and Nancy Dean, and basket makers Katherine Lewis and Jane Hyde.

The exhibit opens at 6 tonight with an artists reception and traditional music of Ireland and Scotland performed live by Campbell Road at Pleasant Ridge Gallery, 1929 Rexville Grange Road, Mount Vernon. The exhibit runs through Monday.

Gallery reopening: One of Langley’s popular galleries is going through a rebirth as Brackenwood Gallery reopens with a mix of sculptures, paintings and mixed-media pieces from Whidbey Island and the Pacific Northwest.

Brackenwood Gallery is the fourth incarnation of galleries at Langley’s First Street location, and continues where other galleries, such as Childers/Proctor, Gasgill/Olsen and most recently Karlson/Gray Galleries, have stood.

The gallery has been a mainstay to the art scene in historic Langley for more than 30 years. The opening exhibition, “Reflections,” will showcase work from more than two dozen local and regional artists.

New owners Rene Neff and Anne Waterman are longtime Whidbey residents who chose the name as a nod to history. Back in the day, Margaret and Peter Camfferman hosted their artist colony called Brackenwood at their home, where many important artists from the 1920s to the 1950s hung out, including Mark Toby, Kenneth Callahan and Morris Graves.

The “Reflections” exhibit runs through December at the Brackenwood Gallery, 302 First St., Langley.

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.

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