Artist Reception: August 11, 6- 9 p.m.
Exhibit runs August 12 - September 1.
Kirkland Arts Center presents Reflections & Refractions in watercolor, an exhibition of contemporary watercolor paintings by four Kirkland artists. Reflections & Refractions investigates how an artist's experiences and development influences the interpretation of their environment.
Through light, color, definition or abstraction, each artist creates their own dialog that gives insight to their beliefs, their loves and how they express those emotions.
Featuring the work of Kathy Collins, Maggie LeMoine, Chris Sharp and Joanne Shellan, Reflections & Refractions celebrates success of four former Kirkland Arts Center students. Each of these artists currently presents her work in regional galleries and exhibitions throughout the Puget Sound area. Reflections & Refractions demonstrates KAC's commitment to educating and developing artists at all levels of their artistic development, and the artists' ongoing connection to the Arts Center.
On August 11 the artists will lead a group painting session from 6- 9 p.m. during the artists' reception. All gallery visitors are encouraged to try their hand at watercolor and experience its expressive power. By inviting the audience to interpret what they see in watercolor, the artists hope to create a 'snapshot' that captures the personalities and emotions of the community.
Kathy Collins
Collins' dramatic paintings are created by employing high contrast. Brilliant sunsets are offset by dark and subtle evergreen-covered mountains and meadows. Collins is a member of the Northwest Watercolor Society and Women Painters of Washington. She has exhibited her work throughout the Northwest including the Annual Northwest Marine Art Exhibition, Edmonds Art Festival and Parklane Gallery in Kirkland.
Maggie LeMoine
LeMoine's subdued color palette and selective elimination of detail representation convey a strong sense of memory and emotion. LeMoine is a member of the Northwest Watercolor Society and Parklane Gallery. She has exhibited her work at the Kirkland Arts Center Gallery and Parklane Gallery in Kirkland.
Joanne Shellan
Shellan is a contemporary Northwest artist whose passions for life and art are seen in her colorful watercolors. Painting plein air or in her studio, she works hard at capturing the effects of color that stir her imagination. By experimenting with various water media, she works to create the right mood for her chosen subject.
Shellan comes from a family of artists. Her father and grandmother encouraged her love of all art from an early age. After studying art at Washington State University, she became a gemologist and used her visual skills to analyze colored stone and diamonds. After studying with artist Joan Archer, she began dedicating all her professional talents to painting.
Today she lives and works in Kirkland with her husband and two sons and spends as much time watching their sporting events as painting. Shellan works hard every day at becoming the best artist she can be and creating a good life for her family.
Shellan is represented by Parklane Gallery. She is a member of the Eastside Association of Fine Artists and the Northwest Watercolor Society. She has participated in juried and small individual and group shows throughout Northwest Washington. For more information, contact her at joanne.shellan@verizon.net or visit www.parklanegallery.com.
Chris Sharp
In Sharp's hands watercolor is freely used and bold color fields appear to melt from the paper. She is a member of the Northwest Watercolor Society and has exhibited her work at Kirkland Arts Center Gallery and Parklane Gallery in Kirkland. A documentary filmmaker, Sharp has been widely recognized, winning a Peabody and other awards for her news documentaries.
Sharp is a true renaissance woman, having reinvented herself six times (so far): nurse/family therapist, teacher, entrepreneur, documentary producer/writer, CNN news director/investigative reporter as well as artist/blues guitarist.
Sharp has received some of the media's most prestigious awards including the Peabody Award and multiple Emmy Award nominations.
After completing her masters degree at the University of Washington, she taught undergraduate psychology, sociology and nursing. Sharp then went on to become a family health systems planner until 1984, when she launched Passages Inc. , an independent video production company focusing on creating family histories and documentaries.
The Kirkland Arts Center is located at the corner of 7th Avenue and Market Street. Information: 822-7161 or www.kirklandartscenter.org.[[In-content Ad]]
