The Edmonds Arts Commission and the Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation present a joint display of sumi paintings by Priscilla Maynard in the EAFF Gallery and the EAC Display Case at the Frances Anderson Center through October.
The exhibit is presented in conjunction with the 19th Annual Write on the Sound writers’ conference, presented earlier this month in Edmonds.
Maynard, also a poet, gave a slide presentation during the conference and her daughter, Robyn Maynard Dobbs, read her poetry about the artist losing her sight. Due to a degenerative eye disease, Maynard is nearly blind. Yet, since holding the brush, grinding the black ink and applying water to rice paper is so familiar, she continues to paint by feeling her way. “Listening with an inner ear … paying attention to what something I see out there is telling me about itself,” Maynard said, “whether it be a tree, an ostrich, a beet, or a broom. That is what I do when I paint. Then I let the painting unfold before me.”
Maynard, who holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, is one of the foremost sumi artists in the Northwest. She exhibits her paintings and has won awards in major juried competitions, including exhibitions in Japan. She is past president of the Puget Sound Sumi Artists, the Northwest Watercolor Society, and the Women Painters of Washington. She teaches sumi painting at community colleges plus private classes and workshops. Maynard is currently represented by Foster/White Gallery in Seattle. Her work is in public and private collections around the U.S. She currently lives in Bothell.
The Frances Anderson Center is located at 700 Main St. in Edmonds. The work may be viewed during building hours, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information call 425-771-0228.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
