August First Friday shows feature an artist new to the Homer art scene among a solid collection of well-known southern Kenai Peninsula and Alaska artists. Ptarmigan Arts, an artists co-op, features the photography of its newest member, Blaine Wright. At the Art Shop Gallery, veteran photographer and author Taz Tally has five new black-and-white photos taken on his many hiking and skiing trips around Alaska.
At Grace Ridge Brewery, Nancy Johnson returns with her bold mandalas and other images done in a pointillism style, but in vibrant rainbow colors. Joining her on some works is her husband, artist and musician Charles Aquilar. Also working in bright colors and abstract images is AnnaLisa Cox, with “Reflections,” fluid acrylic paintings, shown at the Homer Council on the Arts.
In a one-night event, NOAA artist in residence Kate Lochridge shows her work that resulted from her residency exploring sea level change in Alaska.
At Bunnell Street Arts Center, portrait and landscape artist David Pettibone returns to the gallery with new paintings — some departures from his more realistic style — in a joint show with ceramic artist Deb Schwartzkopf. Like Pettibone, “Midge” Turea M. Grice creates in a realistic style, but of wildlife done in pastels in her work at Fireweed Gallery.
The Pratt Museum & Park offers a free First Friday show of “Protection: Adaptation and Resistance,” a group show by contemporary Alaska Indigenous artists of art created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Art Shop Gallery
202 W. Pioneer Ave.
“The Small Things in Alaskan Beauty”: photography by Taz Tally
5-7 p.m., First Friday Opening Reception
Photographer Taz Tally has created five new images captured on camera during his adventures around the Kenai Peninsula and Alaska while skiing or hiking.
“While some people avoid going outside in inclement weather, I look forward to heading out to search for the treasures that wind, rain, snow, cold and ever-changing temperatures offer,” Tally writes.
Bunnell Street Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Ave.
Paintings by David Pettibone and ceramic art by Deb Schwartzkopf
5-7 p.m., First Friday Opening Reception, with 6 p.m. artists talk
Painter David Pettibone and ceramicist Deb Schwartzkopf show their new work at Bunnell Street Arts Center.
“I moved to Alaska in search of wilderness,” Pettibone writes. “Painting being an autobiographical medium, these works describe the domesticated wilderness in which I now call home.”
“As a studio artist my goal is to make fabulous tableware that infuses life with purposeful beauty,” Schwartzkop writes. “As an active community member and instructor I use my unique skill set, as an artist and small business owner, to offer educational opportunities. Through clay, I create pathways to cross-pollinate communities.”
Creative Fires Studio and Dean Gallery
40374 Waterman Rd.
New work by Jeff Dean and M’fanwy Dean
5-7:30 p.m. First Friday Reception
Stop by to see Jeff Dean’s new heat-colored steel engraving, “Naknek River Sunrise,” as well as new prints on maple from M’fanwy Dean. They also hold an open studio where Jeff Dean’s “Salmon Stream Table” can be seen in progress.
Fireweed Gallery
475 E. Pioneer Ave.
“Capturing Wildlife in Pastels”: drawings by “Midge” Turea M. Grice
5-7 p.m., First Friday Opening Reception
Homer’s “Midge” Turea M. Grice’s art showcases Alaska’s amazing wildlife. Her pastels are vibrant and sensitive portrails of the diversity of animal life around us. A self-taught artist, Grice grew up in northwest Montana and moved to Alaska in 1995, making Homer home. Early on, after receiving a small set of pastels from her grandfather, she decided to try her hand at this medium and discovered her talent.
Now retired, Midge writes, “It wasn’t always easy to figure out what worked and what did not work but now with more time I can pursue my artistic career.”
Grace Ridge Brewery
870 Smoky Bay Way off Lake Street
New work by Nancy Johnson and Charles Aquilar
5-7 p.m., First Friday Opening Reception
“Sometimes all I can do is paint rainbows — in celebration, in defiance, in joy, in resistance,” Homer artist Nancy Johnson writes. “… I present to you my rainbows (along with a few of my other favorite colors.) This show marks a new style for me in shape and dimension, but as always, constructed entirely from dots. I’ve invited my husband, artist and musician Charles Aguilar, to collaborate on several pieces with me. I hope you enjoy his new vision for my paintings as much as I do.”
Homer Council on the Arts
355 W. Pioneer Ave.
“Reflections” by AnnaLisa Cox
Art by Kate Lochridge
1-5 p.m., First Friday opening; open 1-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday
“Using bold, rich, vibrant, multi-dimensional colors, as well as other globally sourced ingredients, I create one-of-a-kind fluid acrylic paintings that not only change when placed in different lighting conditions, they also engage the viewers imagination to find a way to explain and express what is seen,” AnnaLisa Cox writes.
Her show is at HCOA Aug. 5-29 and at South Peninsula Hospital in September.
In addition to the gallery opening on First Friday, HCOA also hold an open house for NOAA Hollings Scholar and Artist in Residence Kate Lochridge. She shares the art works that resulted from her residency exploring sea level change in Alaska. This is a one-night-only event.
Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery
471 E. Pioneer Ave.
New work by photographer Blaine Wright
10 a.m to 7 p.m., First Friday extended hours; open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
New Ptarmigan Arts member and photographer Blaine Wright shows his wrok. After retiring from a career in engineering, Wright and his wife moved to Homer in 2020. His interest in photography dates back to the early 1970s and a borrowed camera. In the 1980s, he began training with a professional photographer in Arizona and was awarded an “aspiring photographer” membership to the Tucson Chapter of the Arizona Professional Photographers Association. He has had work in multiple galleries, including an artist’s co-op very similar to Ptarmigan Arts in Colorado.
Pratt Museum & Park
3779 Bartlett St.
“Protection: Adaptation and Resistance”
4-6 p.m.
First Friday at the Pratt includes crafts, lawn games, food, popsicles and free admission. See its special exhibit, Protection: Adaptation and Resistance.
Curated by Asia Freeman, the group show explores how a new cohort of Alaska Indigenous artists embrace customary artforms and modern technology to create innovative new platforms for sharing and storytelling; reconnecting with ancestral knowledge; and strengthening relationships to land and with one another.
Photo provided AnnaLisa Cox’s “Into the Abyss,” one of the works in her show opening Friday, Aug. 5, at the Homer Council on the Arts in Homer.
Photo provided AnnaLisa Cox’s “Haze,” one of the works in her show opening Friday, Aug. 5, at the Homer Council on the Arts in Homer.
Photo provide A work from Nancy Johnson’s show opening Friday, Aug. 5, at Grace Ridge Brewing in Homer.
Photo provided A pastel drawing from Turea M. “Midge” Grice’s show opening Friday, Aug. 5, at Fireweed Gallery in Homer.
One of David Pettibone’s paintings from his show opening in August at Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo provided)
One of the new black-and-white photographs from Taz Talley’s August show opening Friday at the Art Shop Gallery. (Photo provided)
Jeff Dean’s “Naknek River Sunrise,” an engraved steel painting, showing at the Dean Family Gallery in Homer, Alaska. (Photo provided)
One of photographer Blaine Wright’s images from his show opening Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at Ptarmigan Arts in Homer, Alaska. (Photo provided)
A work from Nancy Johnson’s show opening Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at Grace Ridge Brewing in Homer, Alaska. (Photo provided)
A pastel drawing from Turea M. “Midge” Grice’s show opening Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at Fireweed Gallery in Homer, Alaska. (Photo provided)
One of the new black-and-white photographs from Taz Tally’s August show opening Friday at the Art Shop Gallery. (Photo provided)
A pastel drawing from Turea M. “Midge” Grice’s show opening Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at Fireweed Gallery in Homer, Alaska. (Photo provided)
