August 2005 Featured Artist: Pat Longley

Pat Longley was born in Seattle and has always enjoyed living in the Northwest. She takes great pride in her roles as a wife to her husband of 46 years, mother to her four children, and grandmother to four granddaughters. Over the years she has worked in various art media to express her feelings. She has worked in ceramics, candle making, oil and acrylic painting, and currently works in encaustic painting.

Encaustic painting has a long history, but it remains as versatile as any modern medium. Encaustic is a beeswax based paint that is kept molten on a heated palette. It is applied to a surface and reheated to fuse the paint into a uniform enamel-like finish. It can be polished to a high gloss and can be modeled, sculpted, textured, and collaged. It cools immediately, so there is not drying time, yet it can always be reworked. Encaustic is extremely durable because it is impervious to moisture. Because of this it will not deteriorate, turn yellow, or darken. Encaustic paintings do not have to be varnished or protected by glass.

Pat is completely self-taught and has avoided formal art training. She enjoys working with wax because it provides great depth and richness of color. She enjoys experimenting with new techniques and color combinations.

Click on the arrow to see some of Pats's work currently on display in the gallery.

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July 2005 Featured Artist: Bob Kim

Bob Kim captures the essence of everpresent natural beauty and our primordial connection to it. He creates images that transcend the limits of camera and film, a vision of nature’s panoramic grandeur, timeless and unspoiled. His artistry is a unique combination of the camera’s eye and the mind’s envision. It is his original method of mixing classic painting techniques and traditional fine art photography and latest digital tools that gives physical presence as well as emotionally dramatic lighting, greater range of color fidelity and extraordinary details.

Bob Kim was born in Seoul, Korea in 1961, and moved to the United States with his family in 1975. He studied fine arts and photography at the Maryland Institute of College of Art in Maryland, graduating with a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts in 1983.

Click on the arrow to see some of Bob's work currently on display in the gallery.

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June 2005 Featured Artist: Lamar Van Dyke

Seattle artist Lamar Van Dyke was the target of an international protest a few years ago when American Hindus Against Defamation discovered that her "Sacred Seats" series of religious figures painted on toilet seats included images of Hindu deities. The organization took this to be an attack on the Hindu religion rather than a tribute to strong female icons, as Van Dyke intended. The cross-cultural misunderstanding resulted in death threats and calls for the U.S. government to shut down her studio.

None of those pieces are included in this show, but Van Dyke's pin-up girl toilet seats are. Her Bird Women painting depict a series of dreams and experiences. At first glimpse they appear to be whimsical fantasies, but they have a darker undertone. Our show also includes three pieces of her amazing furniture.

Van Dyke worked as a tattoo artist for 18 years and owned Tattoo You in Seattle. Frustrated with the limitations of that medium and the lack of creative freedom, she sold her tattoo studio three years ago to, "enjoy the luxury of creating art in whatever medium takes my fancy in the moment." Her work has been show in San Francisco, Buffalo, Portland, Amsterdam, and Seattle.

Click on the arrow to see some of Lamar's work currently on display in the gallery.

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May 2005 Featured Artist: Lucy Elle
Lucy Elle

Lucy Elle is a resident of Seattle and is well known in the beading community. She has had a number of solo shows and particpates in group shows frequently. This show at the Scooter Gallery contains more than 100 pieces.

Her designs have been published in several books and magazines. She is also an expert on dwarf hamsters.

Click on the arrow to see some of Lucy's work currently on display in the gallery.

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April 2005 Featured Artist: John Tardif

Native Seattlite John Tardif worked as an architect until 1994 when a stroke left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak at age 46. With extensive therapy, John has relearned how to walk and speak. While he has made much progress in the past 10 years, his ability to speak, read, and write remains limited. His recovery has also included a new career.

Never having painted before his stroke, John began painting watercolors after a year of therapy. Because his stroke left him with little mobility in his right arm, the formerly right-handed architect is a left-handed painter. In addition to watercolor John also works with oils and pastels. However, watercolor remains his favorite medium. He enjoys painting landscapes, builidings, and animals. He is a passionate painter who works at his craft every day.

When Tardif isn't painting he volunteers at Swedish Medical Center, Providence Campus, and Northwest Hospital. John also serves on the Homeless Committee at St. Joseph Church. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Debi, and their two children.

John is available to do original watercolor portraits of people, pets, and buildings. Please contact the gallery for details. Ten percent of the profits from the sale of his work go to aid the homeless in Seattle.

Click on the arrow to see John's work on display in the gallery archive.

March 2005 Featured Artist: Jenohn Thǿgersen

This is G. Jenohn Thǿgersen first solo American show. His paintings, in acrylic on either wood or canvas, convey impression of domestic interiors using bright colors, dynamic pattern, and a distinctive perspective. Viewers may detect a Scandinavian sensibility in the paintings, perhaps influenced by his Danish background and his frequent travels to Denmark. Where his work is well represented in private collections.

Before moving to Southworth, on the Kitsap Peninsula, to pursue art and writing fulltime, Thǿgersen was the Federal attorney for the Indian Health Service in Alaska. He is well-known in Seattle for his involvement with the Gay Activism Movement for nearly 20 years. He has served on the board of the NW AIDS Foundation and the Greater Seattle Business Association, as well as being in the seminal Dorian Group.

Thǿgersen describes his journey from attorney and activist to artist this way: "I retired from the practice of law in 2000 partly because I was tired of commuting back and forth to Alaska. But I was also just plain tired. I have now been HIV positive for almost 24 years. Besides losing two partners, I have lost more than 50 friends and acquaintances. Though my health remains good, this can start to wear on a guy after awhile. So after visiting a dear friend who was dying at Swedish Hospital, I decided then and there to try something else with the time I have left in life. Why painting? I guess I just like color and perspective."

Click on the arrow to see Jenohn's work on display in the gallery archive.

February 2005 Featured Artist: Sam Weis

Sam Weis

This is a collection of a few paintings spanning a decade. Sam has been drawing and painting since early childhood, participating in her first showing at age 15. She studied fine arts at the University of Iowa. Sam currently resides and paints on Washington's Kitsap Peninsula.

"I am inspired by the natural world, the beauty of this world of animals and plants, of rocks and sky. It is my hope that these paintings will inspire others to appreciate and be fully present in this beautiful world."

Click on the arrow to see Sam's artwork on display in the gallery archive.