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

First Friday: ‘A Stroke of Nature’ at Terrain Gallery is a must-visit

Kat Smith’s “Excavate Integrate” will be at the Chase Gallery. (Courtesy)
By Audrey Overstreet For The Spokesman-Review

October’s First Friday art walk is perfect for those needing an antidote to the Terrain freight train. Find relief from the crowds at local pubs, galleries and wineries beckoning art lovers with quality shows and festive openings all free of charge. For a full list, go to downtownspokane.org. Here are highlights:

Terrain Gallery, the space at the Cracker building (not the arts event at the Jensen Byrd Building!), is a must-visit venue this month. The show “A Stroke of Nature” opens with six notable local artists whose careers and ages span the last six decades.

Spokane arts maven and painter Karen Mobley came up with the proposal to launch a group show with some of her local favorites, including Lila Girvin, Caren Furbeyre, Louise Kodis, Melissa Lang and Megan Martens. Seeing how these six professional artists approached their interests in nature is like a refreshing walk through the forests of the soul.

Their creative reflections – descriptive, abstract or stylized – are born from life experiences filled with love and loss. To view this much talent together is a rare opportunity. To meet them at the opening reception is icing on the cake. From 5-8 p.m. at 304 W. Pacific Ave.

The Kolva-Sullivan Gallery is producing its annual showcase of emerging contemporary ceramic artists from the renowned Archie Bray Foundation in Helena. Artists from across the country and world will be represented in the exhibition. Anyone interested in the future of ceramics will want to examine these creative vessels and fanciful objects. From 5-9 p.m. at 115 S. Adams St.

Saranac Art Projects will feature two exhibits for the month of October. One is titled “The Streets of Spokane” by Eastern Washington University digital arts professor Jenny Hyde. Hyde’s statement opines that our streets are “one topic that residents of Spokane agree upon … despite drastic difference in politics and incomes.”

Using an old EKG machine, Hyde draws a line based on the movement generated as her car drives over surfaces. The smooth and rough spots that litter our paths are a metaphor for the complicated layers within the lives of those who live here.

Jessica Earle is an emerging electronic artist who uses technology to reinterpret the natural world and focus on environmental trauma. With her exhibition “Melt,” viewers are presented with a future Alaska Cruise Ship view of icebergs or lack thereof. From 4-8 p.m. at 25 W. Main Ave.

AS2 and The Wonder Building will debut two commissioned murals by Daniel Lopez, the artist responsible for the riveting pixilated face in the “American Jesus” mural on the building at Division Street and Second Avenue. His vivid works have graced dozens of other spaces in town in recent years. From 5-8 p.m. at 835 N. Post St.

Karen Kaiser, whose day job is as curator of education at Gonzaga University’s Jundt Art Museum, will show her own work at Vino! A Wine Shop at 222 S. Washington St. There is a $10 charge to cover the wine tasting from 3-6:30 p.m.

Grab the kids – Who are we kidding? It’s for us! – and head to Spark Central where comic book artist Jason Gorder will show selected original pages from his 25 years as a comic book inker. Gorder contributed to hundreds of comics and graphic novels, including “X-Men,” “The Avengers,” “Superman,” “Aquaman,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Star Wars.”

Selections from his series of new paintings and illustrations delve into his passion for music. From 5:30-8 p.m. at 1214 W. Summit Parkway.

If watercolors are your thing, get on over to Avenue West Gallery to be amazed by the brushwork and beauty on display by cooperative member Keiko Von Holt and guest artist Diane Conkright. Both have been members of the Spokane Watercolor Society, and it shows. From 5-8 p.m. at 907 W. Boone Ave.

Kick off Fall Arts Tour weekend at the Chase Gallery where Spokane-based artists Kat Smith and Jackie Treiber and Moscow-based artist J.J. Harty will exhibit their fascinating mixed-media works.

From paper collage to 3D works of disassembled objects, the pieces will cause viewers to re-examine the familiar. Opening reception is from 4-7 p.m., and the artist talk will be at November’s First Friday. 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.