Edmonds art gallery welcomes the new year and 3 new members

EDMONDS — Each January, Gallery North welcomes its new members by featuring them in an exhibition titled “In With the New.”

This year’s “In With the New” exhibit at the gallery — which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year — features Lynnea Mattson, Theresa Williams and Krystal Munday.

“This is our tradition, we’ve done a show for at least the past five years, where we like to do a special introduction of our newest members,” said Lonni Flowers, president of Gallery North. “Some years we only have one new member, other years we have five or six. This year, we have three.”

In addition to the featured exhibit, you’ll also get to see the latest artwork from all 17 Gallery North members.

Lynnea Mattson, of Snohomish, has been painting for more than 20 years. She’s painted in oils and acrylics, but now she solely works with watercolors. Her style involves realistic foregrounds and impressionistic backgrounds. Mattson paints landscapes and portraits, but her favorite subject to paint is animals — lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants.

Mattson, 73, trained with the likes of Robert and Sharon Long, Joe Garcia, Bev Jozwiak, Kathy Collins and Soon Warren. She teaches her own painting workshops at her home studio. Before COVID-19 hit, she had a dozen students. Two students have continued to paint with her during the pandemic.

“What keeps me motivated is that my students want to come back to take classes,” said Mattson, who has about a dozen paintings in the show. “In order to teach classes, I have to keep painting, so I can show them how to paint.”

Krystal Munday is a silversmith in Everett. She specializes in sterling sliver jewelry made with glass, gemstones and wood. All of Munday’s work is inspired by nature. Her latest collections feature snowflakes, ferns, honey bees and feathers.

Munday, 38, has always loved creating with her own two hands. As soon as she manipulated her first sheet of metal, Munday was hooked. She set up her own silversmithing studio at home and has been making handmade jewelry ever since.

Because of the pandemic, Munday spends a lot more time in her studio. Especially since all of the art festivals she signed up for in 2020 were cancelled, including the Shack Art Center’s Artists Garage Sale.

“It’s given me time for reflection,” said Munday, who has about 100 necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings on exhibit. “It helped me find my center.”

Theresa Williams is a self-taught painter from Shoreline. Williams paints Northwest landscapes in acrylics featuring our mountains, lakes, sunsets, beaches and wildlife. Her work was featured in both the Edmonds Arts Festival and the Shoreline Art Festival in 2019.

Williams, 62, paints with bright and bold hues, in order to highlight the beauty of the subject. Her paintings are based off her own photographs. She’ll go out with her camera in search of inspiration.

“Most of my paintings are mountains because I like the Olympic mountains,” said Williams, who has 10 paintings in the show. “I grew up in Edmonds, so I draw my inspiration from the Puget Sound.”

A fourth new member, Cyndi Brown, will show her work in February. “Washington Wild” will feature Brown’s sculptures and Ben Groff’s paintings from Feb. 1-28.

Sara Bruestle: 425-339-3046; sbruestle@heraldnet. com; @sarabruestle.

If you go

Through Jan. 31, “In With the New” is on exhibition from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday at Gallery North, 401 Main St. Edmonds. The exhibit features the work of three new members: Lynnea Mattson, Theresa Williams and Krystal Munday. Call 425-774-0946 or go to www.gallerynorthedmonds.com for more information.