Nearing 90, renowned artist still inspired by Skagit’s beauty
Philip McCracken deals with the infirmities of age by focusing on his creative passion.
Those who visited Skagit County recently to see the acres of tulips know the beauty of this place — though it’s not limited to Mount Baker looming over the country roads that run along the fields of flowers.It’s also found in quiet places along the dikes, in birds nests, in the songs of birds, among the forests, on secluded Salish Sea beaches and in the night sky. Representations of this beauty can be found through May 27 at the Smith & Valley Gallery in Edison. It’s worth the trip. The gallery is known for showing some of the best art of the Northwest, and the current exhibition is a masterpiece. It features major American artist Philip McCracken, whose wood sculptures and bronze casts are found in the collections of art museums across the country and abroad, and Kris Ekstrand, a well-known Bay View-Edison painter and printmaker, who previously served as a director of Seattle’s Northwest Bookfest and the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner and worked at the North Cascades Institute.
