Generations of 'Locally Grown' art locally shown

As you are reading this article, someone in the valley is painting. Skagit Valley has been fostering the arts for decades and this month FORUM Arts is acknowledging that work, both current and historic.

The ‘Locally Grown’ show features a half dozen of those who are painting or have painted in the Valley. The exhibit includes three who have died – Guy Anderson, Jeffrey Thostenson and Clyde Sanborn – while three artists are still painting: Christian Carlson, Margy Lavelle and Dedy Ward.

“In putting together the exhibition ‘Locally Grown,’ I set out to show a range of both work that has been of consequence historically and is currently relevant in the Valley,” says gallery owner and artist Meg Holgate.

Exhibit planning began with a painter who is arguably the father of the valley’s art scene, Guy Anderson, His iconic legacy is well documented. “Along the way I was told of other painters whose work was less known, and yet they were very much a part of this area,” says Holgate.

Jeff Thostenson, a La Conner resident for 30 years, and a volunteer fire fighter, was first and foremost an artist. Thostenson painted throughout the highs and lows of bipolar disorder and a suicide attempt; and although he died relatively young, he left a vast body of work behind. Six of his pieces are part of the show.

The self-taught artist could be both celebratory and dark in his work. Here, his acrylic, abstract paintings – completed in the 1980s when he was in his late twenties – represent a time when he was happy and there is a resulting lightness in his work and looseness in the brush. Holgate points out the sweetness, wide open heart experience of the pieces adorning one wall.

One of the most surprising pieces in the show is a single painting by Clyde Sanborn. Sanborn is better known for poetry in La Conner – his short poems, often scrawled on cocktail napkins, are coveted in dresser drawers and on walls of the locals. But Sanborn also painted. ‘The Final Eye’ is accompanied by a simple poem: “when the final eye seez it, the rest of the universe will appear.”

Both Sanborn and Thostenson left the world too young, Holgate says.

“I sometimes wonder, if they were still with us what marvelous parts of their creative genius might they be sharing with us today.”

Dedy Ward’s paintings feature his vision of inherent beauty of the Northwest. He spent many years painting with the late Clayton James, and today continues to create in his Anacortes studio. His work often hints at his relationship with James. “They at times shared palettes that are mirrored in each other’s plein air oil paintings,” Holgate points out. As a geologist, his love of rock can be seen in much of his work. His landscapes dwell somewhere between abstraction and realism. There he finds an honest expression of how he feels, she says.

Margy Lavelle, painter and owner if i.e. Gallery in Edison, has recently started a new series of pieces that contrast from her early work, which have a smoother finish. These paintings deliver motion, energy and texture, and seem to keep the experience for viewers on top of the canvas, Holgate points out. The oil stick smell and texture bring a full sensory experience to her work.

Mount Vernon’s Christian Carlson is an architect and painter who sees both the natural and the man-altered forms of the Skagit Valley and beyond when he paints. His encaustic landscapes include architectural shapes scored through the beeswax provided by Skagit bee farmers, representing the boundary lines that speak to human influence.

Guy Anderson, who lived from 1906 to 1998, was a member of Life Magazine’s “Big Four artists” of the 1950s He was a Northwest “mystic” whose work has been internationally renowned. The Guy Anderson pieces at ‘Locally Grown’ are his smaller works – one of his locally known Christmas cards – and block prints.

“We are gifted by the work of so many artists, writers, poets, sculptors and musicians that call this part of the world home.” Holgate says.

The exhibit continues through the first week of December at the South First Street gallery.