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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

On the Wall Jennifer Zurlini

Artwalks offer plenty in CdA, Spokane

“Close Call,” oil on panel by Kathleen Cavender.   Courtesy of Kathleen Cavender (Courtesy of Kathleen Cavender / The Spokesman-Review)

An abundance of art is available for art seekers this weekend, with openings across Spokane and Coeur d’Alene on Friday night.

Spokane’s First Friday Artwalk features more than 30 artist receptions for local and regional artists throughout downtown.

Farther north, the Tinman Gallery at 811 W. Garland opens its Best of the Best show, featuring works by regional artists who have exhibited at the gallery this past year, with a reception Friday from 5 to 9 p.m.

Coeur d’Alene has moved its Second Friday Artwalk up a week for its last gallery artwalk until spring. The big draw is The Art Spirit Gallery’s Small Artworks Invitational, where small works are presented in a big way for the 10th year running.

Small Works Invitational

There is a special lure about small artworks.

In the case of The Art Spirit Gallery’s Small Artworks Invitational, it’s being able to see so many new works and a wide variety of artists and art genres all in one place.

This is Art Spirit’s largest show of the year, with 31 invited artists and 244 new paintings, drawings, prints, pottery, glass and sculpture that have never before been shown.

“We will round that out with some pieces from our inventory, creating a show of over 300 pieces by about 50 artists,” said gallery owner Steve Gibbs.

As for the size constraint of 12 inches and under, Gibbs said, “Some artists can view it as a restriction but for others it actually gives them some freedom.”

He said that gallery artist Robert Grimes of Spokane – who carves and paints unique three-dimensional, highly detailed works that are an inspired combination of sculpture and painting – enjoys making the small works “because he can do things quicker and more relaxed with the smaller scale, and keep things a bit rougher than his big pieces that have so much detail.”

New to the show is Spokane artist Victoria Brace, who won a merit award in painting at Spokane’s ArtFest in June. Her figurative oil paintings and still lifes, created from a rich, earthy palette, have a classic and academic approach. She was trained in Moscow, Russia.

Another Russian-born and trained artist is sculptor Simon Kogan, who has five figurative works on exhibit in plaster and bronze, including loose and spirited representations of horses. “The Horse That Knows” (2007) is the tilted head of a horse, haunting and almost apparitional in white.

Clancie Pleasants’ acrylic paintings stand out because of their rich, vibrant colors and texture. The Blanchard, Idaho artist adheres strips of canvas and recycled things to the surface of her paintings and uses thick paint to create textures that give depth and reason to gaze longer into her works.

In her artist statement she writes, “I hope that my audience can see a bit of themselves in my pieces and the frailty of human kind. I strive to communicate a sense of sensual harmony and radiant power that transcends life and achieves an enduring honesty.”

Other artists include Walla Walla’s Squire Broel, showing abstract oil paintings from his “bloom“ series; Boise illustrator Bill Carman, with quirky and enchanting mixed media paintings; clay artist Valerie Seaberg from Jackson, Wyo., whose organic, textured “wave” bowls are trimmed with pine needle and horse hair lacing; George Carlson, Harold Balazs and numerous other favorites.

Many of the featured artists will be in attendance at Friday night’s reception.

“Condensation”

“Sometimes after a real good cry, everything looks fresh,” said Kathleen Cavender from her South Hill studio.

The large, lighted room was filled with oil paintings on panels – ominous and promising, stirring and tranquil landscapes ready to be taken to Lorinda Knight Gallery for Cavender’s First Friday opening.

Cavender pours her feelings and emotions into her work, turning the act of painting into a catharsis.

Looking across the room at all the finished panels, she said, “It’s like reading my diary. This exhibit is the most transparent and honest work I’ve ever done.”

It has been a year of unusual loss and grief for Cavender, having lost friends to cancer and accidental death.

“I’m just weathering the storm,” she said. “I’m going through a very challenging season of my life. … The struggles that I’m being faced with are here to teach me how to handle things more beautifully.”

Cavender’s technique starts out with lots of energy and emotion, with large brushstrokes underneath. She then does ragging, dripping, splattering, lots of brushwork and some sanding. The final product tranquil, deep and luminous.

“The goal is to transfer what I’m feeling into something more important,” she said. “The clouds represent all of the emotion, the turmoil, the joy and inspiration. All of those things that are on a soul level.”

The trees in the landscape often represent her as a person.

The painter is also a poet and musician.

“I’m all about story, because I’m a word person,” Cavender said. “There’s different pockets of my soul with all three outlets. The poetry inspires the work, the painting inspires the poetry and the music inspires the painting.”

Cavender taught studio painting at Spokane Art School, and has plans on hold to start an art school of her own. She has work in the permanent collection of Gonzaga University’s Jundt Museum and the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, and is part of the MAC’s Art at Work Program.

Her band, The Kathleen Cavender Jazz Trio, will be playing at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., then at the gallery reception from 6 to 8 p.m.

“At the very end, I might get up and sing,” she said.

Jennifer Zurlini can be reached at jenniferz@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5479.