by Lynette Charters Serembe
Published in the Oly Arts Summer 2026 print edition, page 5
Form a Line at Childhoods End is a visual exploration of observations from nature through expression in line.
Line is the way we first learn to make a mark. From crayon drawings of infants to Kathe Kollwitz to a Leonardo da Vinci cartoon, quality of line has varied ways of evoking and portraying our experiences of life around us. Line is subtly seductive in its simplicity or can be bold, dynamic, and dramatic. The emotions we can evoke using line are as varied as any gestural mark possibly could be.
This show at Childhoods End is a collection of artists using line as their primary means of expression. Mainly (but not entirely), they are in a limited color palette to enhance your experience of the line itself. Most of these works are varied responses to nature from the unique perspectives and art journeys of the artists themselves.
Kathy Anderson is a Tacoma artist who studied the arts in New York. Her printed vignettes are skillfully and sensitively observed studies of birds and other creatures; they are embellished with hand painted color. As an observer we feel we are in silent dialogue with the animals she portrays. Each piece is charmingly surrounded, with the interplay of foliage as a framing device, and often an added bold surrounding line. They are remindful of Victorian illustrations from dusty old books of the past, neatly packaged windows with old-world charm, looking into a carefree world. Escapism for sure but they provide much needed comfort in our turbulent times.
Colleen Cotey’s sculptures are knitted wire observations of animals doing their thing in nature, mounted on drift/found wood, flat stone, or metal frames. They are a little like quick-time life drawing studies scribbled in 3D wire with internal lines. They are like an unusual and clever combination of life drawings and yarn bombings, but in worked wire. They capture the liveliness and vivaciousness and playfulness of our outdoor critters lost in their capers and daily life; their feathers or fur being fluffed in the wind.
Sarah Gettys is a local artist working primarily on printed/painted wood block. Her body of work is either carved/painted wood. With her more subdued color palette work, instead of the print, the finished piece is the physical block that has been carved. They have a distinctively mid-century feel with their bold lines and patterned areas. Her more colorful painted works on wood have an unrestricted color palette and involve the use of spray paint, stencil and printing and seem to joyfully embrace a more wildly 80s style. Most of her works sport animals playfully staring back at you in an entertainingly challenging kind of way, making you feel like you are the one being observed
Julia Janeway inherited her mother’s kiln and glaze recipes after her mom passed on. Using the well-loved items of loved ones after they are gone is to keep their memory alive and honor their experiences in life. Janeway’s designer ceramic wall-tiles also celebrate life in nature in the beautiful simplicity of folk-art style. Each are small, carefully composed narratives in black and white carved clay resembling wood or lino-cuts, often embellished with flamboyantly colorful borders. The patterns she utilizes are simple in design but flow elegantly suggesting movement and drama of the moment.
The materials used show the processes of artmaking. There are prints, the blocks used for printing turned into relief sculptures, wire sculptures that look like life drawings, and plates that look like printing blocks. The whole show is like exploring the interplay of disciplines with a common theme of animals in nature.
WHAT:
Form a Line fine art show
WHEN:
July 31- Sept 20
WHERE:
Childhood’s End Gallery
222 4th Ave. W., Olympia
HOW MUCH:
Free admittance
LEARN MORE:
info@childhoods-end-gallery.com
childhoods-end-gallery.com