Check Out The Pros At Work

Downtown Spokane isn’t the only place brimming with art this week. You can watch Art in the Making in Coeur d’Alene, Artwalk 2 kicks off in Sandpoint, baseball art steps up to the plate in Moses Lake, and painted porcelain shines near Priest Lake.

Saturday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m., the atrium of the Coeur d’Alene Plaza Shops will be transformed into a working art studio as 11 professional artists set up their easels to draw, paint and sculpt from live models.

“We share what we do with people,” says organizer Steve Gibbs, owner of Art Spirit Gallery. “It’s not competitive, nothing is for sale. We’re here to have fun and promote art.”

Art in the Making takes place about every three months at the shops, 210 Sherman Ave. Participating artists this time are Betty Billups of Sandpoint; Naoma Irey of Post Falls; Rachel Pettit of Edwall, Wash.; Don Ealy and Patsey Parsons of Spirit Lake, Idaho; Gibbs, Dave Clemons, Bruce Pierce, Randy Raak, and Stephen Shortridge of Coeur d’Alene, and Heidi Wastweet of Hayden Lake.

Sculptor Wastweet will be working on a relief sculpture in clay.

“Relief sculpture is a little bit of a lost art form,” she says. “It was very popular in the architecture of the Renaissance.”

Wastweet, who hopes to revive interest in her art form, is comfortable with people looking over her shoulder. “It’s fun to get that instant feedback,” she says.

Supplying background music is acoustic guitarist Malcolm Johnstone. An accomplished performer, Johnstone studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Artwalk 2000

Friday night, Sandpoint kicks off the second half of Artwalk 2000 with 20 new shows.

This is the 14th year the Pend Oreille Arts Council has organized this community-wide visual arts celebration.

“We had a great response to the season’s first Artwalk,” says co-chair Sally Lindemann.

Self-guided tour brochures are available at the Arts Council office in The Old Power Plant at 120 E. Lake, which is within easy walking distance to most of the venues.

Friday night opening receptions include the Festival at Sandpoint poster artists at Pend Oreille Arts Council Gallery; Greg Smith at Selkirk Gallery; Louis Maestas at Artistic Impressions Gallery; Stephen Lyman landscapes at Lyman Gallery; Judy Deam, Gretchen Hellar, Betty Jemison and Barbara Januz at Art Works Gallery; Craig Pitre and Robert Lindemann at Olivetree Gallery; Ward Tollbom at Hens Tooth Gallery; Roger Anthony at Northwest Handmade; Corene K. Jones at Kincaid Jewelry; Leanore Bittner at Eves Leaves; Judy Peterson at Northwest Artisans; Linda Heisel and Kevin Watson at Petal Talk; Bob Gregson at Wonderland Studio; Andrew Raney and Nancy Pridham at Eklectos Market Place; “Dragonflies” Group Glass Show at Panhandle Art Glass; Bonnie Shields at East Bonner County Library, and Chris Bier at Pend d’Oreille Winery.

Saturday afternoon, between 1 and 4 p.m., two artist receptions feature Louise Evans, and Mike Krejci at Design Center and Gabe Babel at Artistic Impressions Gallery. Visitors can also view Betty Jean Billups’ art at the Pend Oreille Bank and the works of Lizbeth Zimmerman and Judy Fairley at Misty Mountain Furniture.

Artwalk 2 runs through Sept. 7.

New contemporary gallery

Also in Sandpoint, the new Chris Kraisler Gallery exhibits work by “nationally acclaimed contemporary artists working in the extreme,” says gallery owner Kraisler.

“Extreme art is produced by artists who continually challenge mainstream contemporary thinking, rejecting established notions through their own internal processes, and drawing inspiration from all of art history,” he says.

An opening reception is Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, 517 N. Fourth. Regular hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.

Baseball as art

“A Double Play - Baseball in the Basin Exhibit and Baseball as Art” opens Friday and runs through Aug. 26 at the Adam East Museum and Art Center in Moses Lake.

The exhibit juxtaposes history and contemporary art through the “Baseball in the Basin” exhibit spanning 70 years and artworks by 23 regional and national artists.

For the “Baseball as Art” juried exhibition, artists were asked to interpret baseball as a subject, medium or inspiration. The juror was sculptor Reuben Trejo, art professor at Eastern Washington University.

During the opening reception, Friday from 7 to 9 p.m., there will be a special improv performance by the Playback Theater. People in the audience will be asked to share personal memories about baseball, and Playback actors will reenact those stories on stage.

The museum is located at 122 W. Third. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free.

Entree Gallery

Porcelains painted with an Old World antique quality are included in “Priest Lake and Other Reflections,” the latest artworks by Spokane painter Linda Brisbois.

The exhibit of porcelains and watercolors opens Tuesday at the Entree Gallery near Priest Lake.

In her woodland watercolors, Brisbois uses “several layers of transparent watercolors to achieve a rich depth of color,” says gallery owner Pam Martin. In other pieces, “she creates an iridescent quality of uniting watercolor, metallic paint and watercolor pencils.”

An artist reception is Aug. 4 from 2 to 4 p.m. The gallery, two miles east of Nordman on Reeder Bay Road, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.