Artist takes some poetic license with paintings, drawings

“Fractured Silence,” Kay O’Rourke’s latest series of narrative paintings and drawings, opens Friday in the Lorinda Knight Gallery as part of the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Spokane.

O’Rourke’s colorful, expressive images capture the energy of poems written by a few of her favorite contemporary poets including Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver, Anita Endrezze and the late Octavio Paz.

A line from Paz’s 1969 poem, “Reader,” inspired the 50-by-70-inch painting “Through a Blaze Unharmed.”

“In the poem,” says O’Rourke, “the birds fly through a blaze, disappear and then all of a sudden there they are again, unharmed.”

O’Rourke says she sees the poem as a metaphor for keeping a positive attitude, even in the face of tragedy.

“It always comes back to seeing the yin and the yang, the positive and the negative, in all situations,” she says. “That is the natural balance of the universe. It is what life is about.”

Meet O’Rourke at the opening reception on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, 523 W. Sprague Ave.

More First Friday openings

Spokane’s First Friday Art Walk, the self-paced stroll through downtown galleries and alternative venues, includes many new shows and dozens of open artists’ receptions. All of the free events are from 5 to 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted:

•Artisans’ Wares, 1009 W. First Ave. – Pastels by Sheila M. Evans and fine crafts by regional artists.

•Artist’s Tree Gallery, 828 W. Sprague Ave. – Debbie Hughbanks’ Western, wildlife and domestic animal acrylic and pastel paintings.

•Avenue West Gallery, 1021 W. First Ave. – “Flower Elegance,” water media by Elizabeth Scott.

•CenterStage, 1017 W. First Ave. – Brett Weise’s photography on the second floor.

•Empyrean, 154 S. Madison Ave., reception 6 to 10 p.m. – “The Designer’s Coffeehouse Concert and Silent Auction.” Members of Spokane Falls Community College’s Graphic Design Club will perform music and auction artwork to raise money for club events; silent auction 6 to 9 p.m.

•Flour Mill Gallery at Auntie’s, 402 W. Main Ave. – Gallery in new location with the work of artist Tori Chamberlain-Bailey and others.

•Galleria De Felice, 10 S. Post St. in the Davenport Hotel, reception 5 to 9 p.m. – Three “Lion King” masks in display cases and oils by Vicki Broeckel of LaCrosse, Wash.

•GoodWorks Gallery, 1019 W. First Ave., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – “Birds I Have Known, Places I Imagine,” artwork by Karen Mobley.

•Grande Ronde Wine Cellar, Second Avenue and Lincoln Street – Special showing of basketry by Bali artist Dewa Ayu Susilawati and her family. Also works by local artists Louise Saylor, Betty Eaton-Rhea, Dennis Smith, Marsha Marcuson, Sheila Evans, Susie Snider, Dave Henke and Shirley Hackett.

•Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. – sculptural ceramic work by Trey Hill, resident artist from the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena.

•Kress Gallery, 808 W. Main Ave., River Park Square, third level – Large-scale, colorful abstract landscapes in “Shifting Viewpoints” by Christine Kimball. Curated by Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture’s Art at Work program.

•Montvale Hotel, 1005 W. First Ave., reception 6 to 8 p.m. – Northwest artist Rick Garcia’s abstract paintings “with a primitive edge.”

•New Dawn Books and Shanti Gallery, 509 W. Sprague Ave., reception 6 to 9 p.m. – Digital art by Savannah Ward focusing on the magic of creation and the essence of female legends.

•On Sacred Grounds: Coffee, Tea and Specialty Shoppe, Steam Plant Square, 163 S. Lincoln St., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – “Breaking the Mold: Creativity and Mystery,” Ned Fox’s artworks featuring media, texture and visual images into new contexts.

•Peters and Sons Flowers, Gifts and Gallery, corner of Second Avenue and Lincoln Street – Works by “Ole” Olson.

•Pottery Place Plus Gallery, adjacent to Auntie’s in the Liberty Building, 402 W. Main Ave. – Grand opening in its new location featuring the work of 22 local artists.

•Rainbow Regional Community Center, 508 W. Second Ave., reception 5 to 9 p.m. – “Dichotomy of the Nude,” works by Marie Green.

•Red Sky Studio and Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. – new work from Chris Kelsey and Rosemary Coffman.

Other First Friday activities

•ComedySportz, 227 W. Riverside Ave. – Free tickets to Friday’s 8 p.m. performance to the first 15 people to stop by and sign up between 5 and 6 p.m. Improvisational comedy played like a sport. Suitable for all ages.

•Far West Billiards, 1001 W. First Ave. – “Hot Rod Art” by Jeff Allison and Patrick O’Neil.

•Global Credit Union, 726 W. Riverside Ave. – Erin Griffin’s watercolors on display through windows.

•Liberty Cafe, 404 W. Main Ave. – Paintings by local artists.

•Mootsy’s N. 9 Pizza, 9 N. Washington St. – Works by local artists.

•Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. – First Friday admission by donation between 5 and 9 p.m. Exhibits include “The Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau”; “Spokane Timeline: Personal Voices”; “From Where the Sun Rises: Children of the Plateau Tribes”; and “Land Mark: Prints by Joe Feddersen.”

•Rock Coffee, 920 W. First Ave. – Paintings by emerging artists including Gabriel Brown, Jacob Wellman, J.K. Porter and Keena Amia. Live acoustic music.

•Spokane Transit Authority Plaza, upper-level rotunda, 701 W. Riverside Ave. – STA and the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture present “Seeing Spokane,” century-old photographs of familiar downtown corners, capturing Spokane’s rich transportation history. Also “Remembering Natatorium Park,” a step back in time when fun meant a short trolley ride to this Spokane amusement park.

Garland District shows

Ildiko Kalapacs’ “American Hungarian,” a show of bright figurative paintings and sculptures, opens Friday in the Tinman Gallery, 811 W. Garland Ave.

Kalapacs, born in Hungary, brings her unique bicultural experiences to her work.

“My art reflects how I digest my life experiences and observations,” she writes in her artist statement, “how I make sense of them, investigate them and distill them. There is an essence in my art to which many may relate.”

Meet Kalapacs at an artist’s reception on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. in the gallery. The show runs through Nov. 27.

•Just two doors east of Tinman Gallery at A Time to Dance studio, 3815 N. Post St., an informal Hungarian dance concert with Márta Sebestyén and Jómóka Táncház begins at 7 p.m.

•New art by Felisa Carranza is at Estudio Felisa Arte, 612 W. Garland Ave. The new works are unveiled tonight with an opening from 6 to 9 p.m., continuing Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. The show runs through Jan. 2.

‘Drawn to Yellowstone’

“Drawn to Yellowstone: Artists in America’s First National Park,” an exhibit of 70 breathtaking images, opens Saturday at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.

Yellowstone National Park has lured generations of artists, including explorers like Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Hill. This touring exhibit features paintings, prints and drawings that depict the aesthetic response to the park.

Free on Saturday are a number of family events including a video screening of “Yellowstone Today” at 12:15 p.m. Smokey Bear shows up at 1 p.m. and National Park Service Historian Lee H. Whittlesey gives a talk in the museum’s auditorium. The exhibit officially opens at 2 p.m. and cowboy musician Chuck Borris entertains.

On Nov. 12 there is a “Family MACFest: The Beauty and Beasts of Yellowstone” from noon to 3 p.m. Cost is $10 per family, and includes admission to all museum galleries and the Campbell House.

The museum, 2316 W. First Ave. in Spokane, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and students. Children 5 and under and museum members are admitted free. Call (509) 456-3931 for more information.

Sandpoint’s ‘Holiday Art’

Pend Oreille Arts Council in Sandpoint is presenting its First Annual Holiday Art Market this weekend.

More than 70 artists from across the western United States will have handcrafted items including sculpture, ceramics, metal, fiber, photography, paintings, mixed media, furniture, holiday décor and edibles.

The event takes place in Bonner County Fairgrounds’ Main Exhibit Hall, 4205 N. Boyer in Sandpoint on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call (208) 263-6139.

Bank Left Gallery

Fiber artist Monika Kriebel is in the spotlight during November at the Bank Left Gallery, 100 S. Bridge St. in Palouse, Wash.

“For Monika, art has to be functional, be it a piece of pottery, glass art, or a painting,” according to gallery owners Nelson and Pamela Duran. Most of the pieces are one-of-a-kind creations.

An opening reception is Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Other galleries

•”Art of the Draw: A Brief Look at Comic Books in America” is the subject of today’s Art ala Carte brownbag lecture at noon in the Compton Union Building on Washington State University’s Pullman campus. Gerald Steffen, graphic designer and artist, talks about comic books, their influence on popular culture and what goes into their making.

•The Cottage Gallery in downtown Coeur d’Alene is showing the black-and-white outdoor photographs of North Idaho College instructor Philip Corlis through November. An opening reception is Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, 1520 Sherman Ave.

•Painter Betty Eaton-Rhea is showing her work this weekend in “A Brush with Light” at Canturbury Court, 1010 S. Rockwood Blvd. View the work on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. An artist’s reception is Saturday at 1 p.m.