Summer exhibit showcasing woman painters opens at Harbor History Museum

Four woman artists with a variety of approaches to landscape painting are the focus of a summer lobby exhibit at the Harbor History Museum.

“Summer Expressions” includes works from four members of Women Painters of Washington: Patsy Surh O’Connell, Judith Perry, Jeannie Grisham and Janice Taylor.

“We are excited to feature these beautiful works of art in our lobby. The paintings blend bold color and form with subtleties of nature for a perfect summer exhibit,” Stephanie Lile, museum director, said in the press release.

Tacoma painter O’Connell came to the United States in 1963, leaving the Republic of Korea and her family behind to continue her education. In the years since, O’Connell has established herself as an artist and active community member, according to a web biography. She founded the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma in 1996.

“This is a hard time for all of us, which we never even imagined,” O’Connell said in a conversation with The Gateway on Monday.

“Many times the artist sees not the present situation but imagines the future through the visual art. And I think definitely the artists have a place to change things and influence people’s thoughts and minds visually.”

O’Connell says she incorporates hope into her art through symbolism. She says a recurring motif in her work is birds, which she uses to represent herself and other people. O’Connell says a bird in shadow in one of her pieces in the show, The Daybreak, alludes to the current pandemic. A dash of yellow, she says, symbolizes a brighter future ahead — “To show that better days are coming, that the bird is looking forward to it,” she explained.

Judith Perry

Judith Perry, president of Women Painters of Washington, finds inspiration in the natural landscape of the Pacific Northwest, according to her website. A native or Raymond, in Grays Harbor County, she now lives in Tacoma.

“The lushness of the natural geography is now a focus and involves a study by seasons—from the weed of winter to the reflections of the waters of Puget Sound in the summer,” Perry writes on her website. She lists James Whistler, Lucien Freud and Mitch Albala as creative influences. “Drawing has always been captivating—seeing the line and shadows led to painting,” Perry said in the press release.

Janice Taylor

Janice Taylor also creates landscape-inspired art, though her works involve a variety of materials, according to her website. My mixed media compositions are made of oil paint, newspaper and sand,” Taylor writes. “They refer directly to urban decay and the environment.”

Taylor contrasts organic shapes with images of man-made construction and destruction, according to her website.

“In my present body of work I use images from photographs and drawings of the devastation of the urban landscape from natural and man-made disasters, architectural skeletal structures such as unfinished construction or demolished sites, partly finished bridges, abandoned and decaying industrial sites,” she writes. “These images I juxtapose with images of organic, abstracted rocks, roots, trees and water.”

Jeannie Grishman

Jeannie Grishman, who lives and works in gig Harbo,r begins her creative process with watercolor and gradually adds gouche paint, according to her website.

“Any media, as long as it is water soluble, is fair game, and any tool I can think of to help create textures on hot press paper is a welcome find,” she writes in an artist statement on her website.

Women Painters of Washington was founded in 1930 by six women who met while taking a portrait class at the Art Institute of Seattle, which would become the Seattle Art Museum. The group usually meets monthly at the Seattle Art Museum and has had work from its artists featured in a continually-running exhibit at the University of Washington’s Women’s Clinic since 1989.

The group’s website says it has held cultural exchanges, artist residencies, and exhibits with countries including Japan, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Germany and Kuwait.

“Women Painters of Washington empowers professional women artists to create, exhibit, and market their work while fostering art appreciation within their communities and beyond” is the group’s mission statement, according to its website.

Harbor History Museum is taking several COVID-19 precautions for the lobby show as well as its other exhibits and shop, according to museum operations and marketing manager Robin Harrison.

“We expect everyone who comes into the museum to wear a mask (employees included), we have a big bottle of hand sanitizer as soon as you come in the door, along with several masks if people need them,” she said.

Due to the coronavirus, the museum’s indoor exhibits (except the lobby) are closed until Phase 3. The museum shop will have shields between customers and employees and no-touch credit card transactions, according to Harrison. She said small items will be bagged by employees to cut down on handling.

“We sanitize all touch surfaces each day after we close and several times during the day,” Harrison added. “We also have public bathrooms where people can wash their hands.”

In addition to the lobby show, the museum has placed art in the windows for passersby, according to Harrison. The museum also has an outdoor courtyard space with displays of historic boats.

“Summer Expressions” will be on view until September 26 at the Harbor History Museum, 4121 Harborview Dr.

Miriam Franciso is a summer intern reporter. Reach her at miriam.francisco@thenewstribune.com

This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 9:00 PM.