VISUAL ART REVIEW: CJ Swanson paintings at Batdorf and Bronson

VISUAL ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton FOR OLY ARTS Years ago, CJ Swanson and her husband, the painter David Noah Giles, opened the now defunct Art on Center Gallery in Tacoma. Back then, her paintings were reminiscent of Sonia Delaunay’s work — a kind of soft and decorative cubism with circles and interlocking, almost kaleidoscopic or …

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Visual Art Review: The Personal is Political

Visual Art Review: the annual postcard show at South Puget Sound Community College ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS You’ll find the good, the bad and the you-gotta-be-kidding-me at the annual postcard exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College. There are professional artists in the show, including many of Olympia’s best, and there …

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Visual Art Review: Jennifer Lauer at All Sorts Gallery

Visual Art Review by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Jennifer Lauer’s Color and Light at All Sorts Gallery is a little gem of a show of still life and landscape painting in a classical modernist tradition. Lauer lays on lush layers of paint reminiscent of Wayne Thiebaud, with colors such as seen in Wolf Kahn’s …

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Kathy Gore-Fuss: At Home in Nature

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS For nearly four decades, the art of Olympia artist Kathy Gore-Fuss has moved through a fascinating metamorphosis from multi-media, surrealistic, abstract and symbolic to paintings that are as traditional as naturalism en plein air landscapes. Her gradual shift has not removed the indelible and unique signature look of her …

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Jeffree Stewart’s Breath and Bone Songs

by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Jeffree Stewart has been making art in the Olympia area since the 1970s. Just off a month-long solo show at the Pierce College Steilacoom Fine Art Gallery, he is now showing a group of some 10 to 15 paintings at Allsorts Gallery in Olympia. Stewart is nothing if not …

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REVIEW: Susan Christian’s Long Journey

VISUAL ARTS REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Susan Christian’s paintings at Stable Studios are the real deal. They are painting as painting is meant to be: simple, straight forward, unpretentious and with no trickery whatsoever. Some might see the cut-off figures, oddly elongated formats and mysterious scenes as gimmickry, but they’re not; they …

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"Street Love," mixed media by Evan Clayton Horback

Welcome to Fall Arts Walk 2017

OLY ARTS is very happy to be the print-media sponsor for Olympia’s Fall Arts Walk 2017.  In 2017, Fall Arts Walk and Procession takes place on these days: Arts Walk – Friday Oct 6 (5 p.m. – 10 p.m.) Arts Walk – Saturday Oct 7 (noon – 5 p.m.) Jazz Walk – Saturday Oct 7 …

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"Fly Away," painting by Lonnie L. Spikes Jr.

Cover Artist Lonnie Spikes

by Ned Hayes for OLY ARTS Lonnie L. Spikes Jr. is the artist whose piece “Fly Away” graces the cover of this edition of OLY ARTS. “Fly Away” was created by Spikes after the death of a relative. During the funeral procession, Spikes noticed a monarch butterfly resting on a cross above the interment site. …

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Weekend Preview: June 9, 2017

WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. This week, there’s enough live music in Olympia to keep your toes tapping all night long, not to mention author readings at some of your favorite bookstores. Click here to listen to our podcast version of Weekend Preview, sponsored by Shur-Kleen Car Wash. Follow the links …

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Weekend Preview: May 26, 2017

WEEKEND PREVIEW is your weekly guide to events in Thurston County. This week, Olympia’s musical season ramps up with show-stopping concerts all over town. And don’t forget the EGYHOP fundraiser this weekend, either, where you can enjoy everything the local arts scene has to offer while supporting a worthy cause.   Click here to listen …

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