Artist Cecile Charles’ gallery gains prominence

For several months after it opened, her downtown art gallery was “under the radar,” owner Cecile Charles said recently.

Now, her business, Gallery of the Thum’ at 106 S. Madison St., is emitting some significant blips on the local art screen.

The gallery, with about 500 square feet available for art displays, had about 150 works on view and nine area artists represented in early March.

Different artists will be featured each month, Charles said.

In March, it was Shelly O. Haas with 16 pieces in the gallery.

Haas is a nationally known illustrator, Charles said. She lives in Harrington, Wash.

This month, watercolors by Kim Saenz will be featured. Some of the Crarousel figures on display around downtown were done by her.

The gallery’s other works are varied, ranging from oils and watercolors by Dian Allison to jewelry by Nienke Crick. There are pastels by 15-year-old Chloe Johnson and one piece by Vicki West, president of the Spokane Watercolor Society.

Charles said that textile artist Lydia Quinone sometimes can be found at work in the gallery, and noted teacher Emmy Randolph’s watercolors are displayed there. Charles said she is pleased that “tramp artist” Mark Shurman and street artist Ricardo Meza also are represented.

The gallery owner herself works in opaque watercolors (gouache), both contemporary and traditional. She taught for 11 years at Northwest Christian Academy and has taught an academy of home-schooled student group each week for two years.

Charles, orginally from San Francisco, has lived in Spokane since 1978.

“I consider this my home,” she said.

Her interest in art began early, and she has been painting since she was 16. She had a dozen years of intensive tutoring and eventually spent some time as a street artist in San Francisco.

“Many, many artists were launched that way,” she said.

Charles has produced some greeting cards, which are available at the Signature shop in the Davenport Hotel and the Made in Washington store in River Park Square.

The Gallery of the Thum’ is open weekdays except Tuesdays and also will be open on random Sundays once a month when Charles schedules some special events. One of the things she has in mind is a benefit show for the Red Hat Society.

Charles has a footnote to her gallery’s name: “A matter of perspective.”