Back in September, there was talk in Seattle leaf-peeping circles about how the “fall color” season was sure to be shortened by an especially dry summer this year. But here we are in November and the bursts of yellow, orange and red are hanging on — despite blustery nights and the rainiest day of the year (yesterday).
So give thanks for stubborn leaves, which are making this wet weather a little more lively. At least until that “rainiest day of the year” record gets crushed in the coming days.
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Another tactic for managing the drippy and the dark: new vistas offered by landscape art. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that local galleries are currently offering a wealth of ways to look beyond our own soggy scene.
At Harris Harvey Gallery downtown, Anacortes-based artist Hart James presents bold and angular landscapes that leap off the canvas in Quiet Like Circles on Water (Nov. 6-29; artist reception Nov. 6). If you’re longing for the brighter greens, blues and yellows of summer, these thickly painted oil-and-charcoal works are transportive.
Also downtown, at Patricia Rovzar Gallery, longtime Seattle artist Alicia Tormey is showing abstracted encaustic paintings of vistas and botanicals. The artist (who has relocated to Idaho) blowtorches the beeswax, creating a laced and webby effect that gives the pieces an otherworldly aura. Are these places on earth, elsewhere or imagined? Decide for yourself at Pyrophytic (through Nov. 29).
And for the “lean in” approach, consider heading to Stanwood for Pilchuck Glass School’s annual Light in the Forest event (Nov. 8 & 9, 4-7:30 p.m.). It’s a chance to fully immerse yourself in the PNW landscape by following dark trails across the rural campus in search of neon artworks nestled in the woods.
This year’s forest installations come courtesy of Pilchuck alums Jen Elek and Jeremy Bert, so expect to encounter leaves, stumps, mushrooms and slugs — in real life and aglow. I’ve attended this event the last two years and can attest it’s a very cool art-in-nature experience. Also: Bring a flashlight!
The landscape theme continues in Pioneer Square, where another First Thursday Art Walk is kicking off with a tangible splash this evening.
Prepare for puddles, and stop by J. Rinehart Gallery where Seattle painter Susanna Bluhm presents the evocatively titled show, The Ground, Which Opens Its Mouth (through Nov. 26; artist talk Nov. 15). In these large-scale oil-and-acrylic pieces, familiar landscapes are peppered with mysterious abstract marks (is that a face in the brush? teeth in the grass?). In this way, Bluhm writes, “An individual painting can become a new place in itself.”
At nearby ArtX Contemporary, longtime Seattle artist and poet Alan Lau is showing Walks Along the Kamogawa (through Nov. 15). Designated “Part 1” of his Kyoto Series, these highly abstract paintings were inspired by Lau’s yearly visits to Kyoto and the Kamo River. Made with sumi ink, watercolor and pastel on rice paper, the works have the intriguing effect of seeming both zoomed out to a jetliner view and microscopic.
Landscape takes on a literal meaning at Taswira Gallery, where the Fontainebleau Concretions (through Dec. 16) are making a visit, courtesy of a collab between Taswira’s Avery Barnes and The Passenger Collection. These globby sandstone formations — also known as gogottes — look like the land itself was attempting to make sculpture. Shaped some 30 million years ago by silica-rich groundwater and quartz sands in the Fontainebleau region of France, such elegantly amorphous phenomena were used as garden sculptures by Louis XIV at Versailles.
The geologic white blobs make for a compelling “compare and contrast” with the new show at Greg Kucera Gallery a few blocks away. Seattle artist Timea Tihanyi’s Interiorizing (Nov. 6 - Dec. 20; artist talk Nov. 8) presents an array of 3D-printed porcelain works that suggest the spine and bones of an alien creature. Also in this collection: multi-colored sculptures made from 3D-printed polylactic bioplastic that look either like geologic slices at sunset, or crazed confections created for the Great British Baking Show.
Lastly: I can’t guarantee any landscapes at the Railspur arts space this evening, but the lineup for the new Forest for the Trees group show demands a look. Featuring sculptors, painters and ceramicists including Cathy McClure, Brandon Vosika, David Hytone, Jeffry Mitchell, Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes and Margie Livingston, To Whom It May Concern promises a landscape rich in Northwest artistic excellence (opening party Nov. 6, 5 - 9 p.m. on the third floor of the Railspur Studios).
More reasons to put on your raincoat and get out there…
< Susan Orlean and Claire Dederer — both powerful writers of nonfiction — take the Town Hall stage (Nov. 7) to talk about what it’s like to write the story of your own life. Orlean (probably best known for The Orchid Thief) says her new memoir (Joyride) feels her most personal.
< Pacific Northwest Ballet is staging three contemporary works in the mixed bill In the Upper Room (Nov. 7 - 16). One piece is very contemporary indeed (as in, a world premiere), choreographed by current PNB dancers Amanda Morgan and Christopher D’Ariano. Also in the mix is Dani Rowe’s emotive The Window, which premiered at PNB in 2023; and Twyla Tharp’s highly athletic and energetic titular piece from 1986.
< I first discovered Manual Cinema during the pandemic, when all the world was watching live performances online (remember?). The Chicago-based arts collective uses vintage overhead projectors, shadow puppets and live actors to create compellingly spooky narratives. Now I’ll finally get to see their work in person, when they present their take on Macbeth in The 4th Witch at The Moore Theater (Nov. 12).
< On the Boards presents Aya Ogawa’s acclaimed autobiographical play The Nosebleed (Nov. 13-15), in which the author dives deep into her complicated relationship with her long-deceased father. These are dangerous waters, to be sure, but Ogawa incorporates comic moments and audience compassion amid the tender drama. If you go, note that On the Boards is likely still reeling from having received an unbelievably generous $5 million donation from Seattle arts philanthropist Shari D. Behnke (who also funded the first Arts and Culture Writer position at Crosscut).
Passages
Finally, I wanted to give an all-too-short acknowledgment of a beloved Seattle arts leader who recently passed away. Marge Levy, a ceramicist, SCUBA diver, former director at Pilchuck Glass School and co-founder of SOLA (Support of Old Lady Artists) died on Oct. 18 at age 81. She was always a whirlwind of energy and ideas — and humor too. I remember fondly a long-ago interview during which she regaled me with wild stories about the origins of the Seattle ceramics scene. She was a creative force and friend to so many local artists.
Catch up with the printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers featured in the new season of Art by Northwest.
