Slightly West of Spokane artists add spring show to their repertoire
Most people see Spokane’s West Plains as a wide-open plateau of flood blasted basalt and grasslands surrounding marshes and clusters of pines topped off with a lot of airplanes. The winds sweep across it, and the frosts come early. Among this rugged landscape, however, are people who have built close knit communities that look after each other and celebrate their friendships. And their art.
The Slightly West of Spokane artist community is a gathering of 14 individuals, who have joined together to share and promote their art to the wider community. On April 25, the group will be hosting its first spring show at the Rosarium Garden Center, a West Plains entity known for its hardy root roses, hardy perennials and beautiful grounds.
On a recent visit to her sunny greenhouse workshop, Ruthie Franks, a gourd artist, said the group is like a family.
“This group inspires me,” Franks said. “We support each other and love to get together to share and brainstorm.”
The artists range in ages from the mid-70s down to an emerging 17-year-old artist, Cloie Milson, who works with multiple mediums including acrylic, watercolor, ink, and fiber arts.
Franks has been growing gourds for more than 30 years after falling in love with “the shiny seeds.” At first, she just gave them away but then realized she could create art with them. “I grow martin house, dipper, bottle and the tiny spinning top varieties of gourds,” Franks said. The tiny spinning top gourds sitting on a tray between us were only a couple of inches wide.
Her art really took off after she retired from nursing during COVID. Franks collects the gourds in the fall from her “gourden” and hangs them in her dry barn to cure over the winter. Once dry, she cleans them up and begins looking for what each one calls her to create by scratching the surface of the gourds to enhance markings and unusual patterns. Stain is then rubbed into the surface to enhance the markings.
The Slightly West artists group was founded in 2009 by Janet Wilbanks, a painter living in Cheney, who approached Dennis Smith, a potter living in Medical Lake, about expanding his after-Thanksgiving sale into a studio tour. The idea was to create exposure for artists’ studios and community venues in the Cheney-Medical Lake region to the public. The addition of this new spring show, which they plan to make an annual event, will augment their annual fall tour that happens on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Other members of the group use a wide range of media to explore their art. Chris Bradley crafts handmade knives and works wood into beautiful pieces of art. Michelle Schneider creates art pieces that express the serendipitous interaction of the clay, glaze, and fire to challenge the observer to use their imagination as to what they see. Rosanne Anderson raises sheep to create fiber art with a side of novel writing. Dennis Smith works with all types of visual media but especially oil, watercolor, acrylic, pencil, chalk and pottery. Alexandria Odjonii works in silver inspired by color, pattern, shape, texture, sound and emotion and all powered by luscious coffee and the affection of her cats. Nichole Nutt uses bright colors to create flower paintings and collages enhanced with embroidery.
Becka Schmidlkofer, owner of the Rosarium, is excited to have the group for their spring show. “I was raised with artists, so I understand the heart that goes into their work,” Schmidlkofer said. “I’m excited to have them here.”
While it’s a little early for their gardens to be in full bloom, the nursery will have plenty of their own root roses as well as hardy perennials and shrubs available during the show.