Above Photo: Paintings: Patty Haller | Ceramic: Brian O'Neill
SMITH & VALLEE GALLERY | 5742 Gilkey Avenue | Edison, WA 98232
Open Daily 11-5pm | (360) 766-6230
CURRENT EXHIBIT:
PATTY HALLER | PLANTbased
With sculpture by:
BRIAN O'NEILL | MARCEIL DELACY
JULY 7-29, 2018
Patty Haller
PLANTbased is her third show at Smith and Vallee Gallery, her second as the solo painter. Haller's colorful oil paintings explore botanical layers in the forests of Western Washington, treating each setting as a unique and rich dataset. By alternating between careful observational drawing, pattern discovery and chance painting techniques, she locates organic forms in space and amplifies the growth. Each panel lets the botanical world speak for itself on the wood panels, with both true and fanciful parts contributing to a vibrating whole.
Haller is a former forester and financial analyst with a BS in Forest Resources and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Washington. She trained to be an artist at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, completing their Landscape Atelier in 2009. She continues to study art history through the University of Oxford, England, including courses in the Northern Renaissance and Art Nouveau. In 2016 Haller's work was chosen to represent Olympic National Park by the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. for their National Parks Centennial exhibit. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the Anacortes Arts Festival organization and several public spaces throughout Western Washington. Haller enjoys a spacious painting studio in a renovated US Navy building in Magnuson Park, Seattle. When she's not painting, she likes to travel and hike with her husband and three children.
Brian O'Neill
Brian O'Neill finds great satisfaction working with basic raw materials that can be formed into objects that have shape and balance - a rhythm in their proportion, scale and surface texture. Some of these universal rhythms of nature are embodied in his pieces, evoking the simple strengths that reside in stone and natural landscape. Most of his forms are vessels. While not always "functional" in the traditional sense, each piece has an interior and an exterior. The visible form and the more hidden space inside is an anthropomorphic relationship O'Neill enjoys exploring. Each piece comes into existence and develops a personality as it evolves - much like all of us. "My inspirations for shapes are everywhere, the beautiful curve of an oar handle, aboriginal masks, product and architectural design, the world of fashion. Well-balanced form in any medium informs my work." O'Neill hold a BA in Fine Art from Western Washington University and carried a dual major in ceramics and visual communications. While his heart was wedded to clay, O'Neill pursued a career in graphic design, which has taken him to Chicago, Los Angeles and eventually Seattle. While living in a two-dimensional world of typography, photography, color, paper and now the digital realm, O'Neill always kept a hand in the clay and maintained a ceramic studio wherever he lived. He came to see that design principles translate across all platforms and dimensions and began thinking he might one day shift to the 3D world of clay. That day came in 2001. He left his urban ways, sold his house in Seattle and moved to rural Whatcom County, WA making the transition to a life in clay. His work is represented nationally by galleries and museums, and is included in numerous permanent collections. He also exhibits his work at a handful of regional art shows. Most recently Brian had the privilege of participation in the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C.
Marceil DeLacy
Marceil DeLacy's love of carving began as a child living on the outskirts of Seattle. With a pocketknife, she created images from ivory soap, then letter openers from kindling wood and arrows from tree suckers before graduating to the use of chisel and mallet. DeLacy learned her craft from the wood itself, letting it guide her eye and hand. In the early 1980's she began serious fine art sculpting, winning awards in juried shows and showing work in the Bellevue Art Museum. After a break to pursue other interests, she resumed her artwork on a full-time basis, working in wood salvaged locally in the Pacific Northwest. Her lifelong affinity for trees and love of nature inspire most of her sculpted subjects. As human encroachment and climate change displace flora and fauna, her art serves as a way of giving voice to nature. To the end, she strives for simplicity of form and generally uses only a clear finish or no finish at all in order to let the natural color and beauty of the wood speak for itself. It's a process she calls "listening to the forest".
Artist Talk: Saturday, July 7, 2018 (3:30-5 pm)
Artist Reception to follow: Saturday, July 7, 2018 (5-7 pm)
SMITH & VALLEE CABINETRY
Open MON-THURS | 7-5:30 (360) 305-4919
Open MON-THURS | 7-5:30 (360) 305-4919
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