Stewart’S Reflections Become Art

Ever have periods when your mind is bombarded with thousands of thoughts everything from blissful dreams to hair-raising nightmares?

E.L. Stewart, a Spokane artist, painted a year of her musings from last spring to this in works that range from violent and chaotic to sensual and restful.

“ThoughtScape,” a collection of varied paintings, will be exhibited all of May at the ART gallery on the second floor of Auntie’s Bookstore at Main and Washington.

E.L. Stewart brings together “her figurative work with her fantastic landscapes in a pleasing marriage,” said Brandon Rudd of Artistic Resources & Technology (ART).

Stewart hopes viewers “will walk away feeling as eager for the future and the possibilities that are forthcoming as I am.”

An artist’s reception will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday with live music and refreshments.

The ART gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

In other Spokane galleries

Rita Robillard, a fine arts professor at Washington State University, uses mixed-media screenprints to pose questions of a sense of place, and how that sense changes through the thoughts of those who have a new vision of what could exist there.

Robillard’s show, “Essence and Artifice: Visual Images of Spokane,” will be displayed May 8 to June 6 at the Lorinda Knight Gallery, 523 W. Sprague.

Combining old engravings of the West with contemporary scenes, the artist depicts the dreams people imprint on places they’ve visited.

“Hand-coloring the images reflects the hopeful aura surrounding a new project,” said Lorinda Knight, gallery owner.

Robillard had a one-person show at A.I.R. Gallery in New York City last year.

An artist’s reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m. May 8 at the gallery, whose hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

“Moments in Time,” an exhibit of paintings by Dede McKay, will be at Colburn’s Art Gallery, 203 W. Riverside, May 5-30.

McKay’s solitary figures suggest worlds within worlds, said Mary Cordes, gallery spokeswoman.

The artist, a longtime art teacher, designer and gallery owner, captures “a feeling of human isolation by setting her subjects against an expanse of landscape around which the painting revolves,” Cordes said.

McKay recently returned to Spokane and joins her two daughters, well-known Spokane artists Gina Freuen, a ceramist, and painter Kay O’Rourke.

An artist’s reception will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

“Recent Works” of Nancy Kiefer is showing at Hot Flash of America, 509 W. Sprague, Friday through June 3.

An artist’s reception will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

An exhibition of Ildiko Kalapacs’ mixed-media paintings, sculptures, drawings and computer prints is on display at Geer Gallery, 8 S. Monroe.

“Although all my work is based on my life experiences,” Kalapacs has said, “I aim to reach a certain universality. Figure it out!”

The show, which opens Friday, runs through May 31. Gallery hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

In North Idaho galleries

A series of black-and-white photographs manipulated to create dreamy, charcoal-like images will be featured May 5-30 at The Art Spirit, Gallery of Fine Art, 908 Sherman in Coeur d’Alene.

Lisa Whitsitt, who has been taking pictures for 16 years, says photography is like alchemy, “a method of transmutation or the seemingly miraculous ability to change one thing into another.”

“Born to Love Magic” is the title of Whitsitt’s show, which she hopes will cause viewers to interpret, embellish and “finally create a personal narrative with details from their own lives.”

Whitsitt is a Spokane native who spent the last 10 years in Seattle. She recently returned to the area and now lives in Garfield Bay, overlooking the Green Monarch on Lake Pend Orielle.

An artist’s reception will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on May 8. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

“From the Heart,” a collection of hand-thrown, white-bodied porcelain with hand-cut heart designs by Marilou Bier, will be exhibited the month of May at the Entree Gallery in Nordman, Idaho.

Bier, a former Priest Lake resident, has studied under some of the nation’s great potters, said Jim Martin, gallery owner. She is well known for her huckleberry pottery.

Entree Gallery is two miles east of Nordman on Reeder Bay Road. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

In Seattle

The artwork of Helena Martens, a Colville artist, will be displayed during May at Beyond the Edge Cafe, 703 E. Pike Street in Seattle. “I am She, Expressions of the Divine Feminine” is the title of her show.

“No matter what I am exploring, the human female form tends to be my primary vehicle of expression,” Martens said. “Whether as a stark, defined nude or as a more subtle feminine impression, she is there.”