Homer Alaska - Arts -

Art Shop Gallery

West Pioneer Avenue

5-7:30 p.m., First Friday reception.

Longtime Alaska artist Byron Birdsall shows new prints of recent work, including scenics and comics of the Homer Spit. Birdsall also paints an original of the Homer Spit, to be raffled off at 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10 each and proceeds benefit Hospice of Homer.

Bunnell Street Gallery

Gina Hollomon, new ceramic work

6- 8 p.m., First Friday reception. Artist's talk at 6 p.m.

Anchorage and Bear Cove ceramic artist Gina Hollomon's show features primarily birds.

"As a primarily self taught ceramic artist, Gina is really experimental," said Bunnell Street Gallery director Asia Freeman.

Freeman said to expect new uses of the gallery space, with not every work displayed on a pedestal.

"We'll be using the ceiling in a new way," she said.

Fireweed Gallery

East Pioneer Avenue

"Spring Show," work by Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society artists

Glass and metal sculpture by Laura Mendola

5-7 p.m., First Friday reception.

This month, the Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society presents its annual "Spring Show" of members' work, including a 16-panel collaborative painting, "Hot Tamales at Fritz Creek." Proceeds from the painting benefit the society's scholarship program.

Anchorage artist Linda Mendola also shows her glass work, including patio table sets and glass with metal sculpture.

Homer Council on the Arts

"An Expose of Kachemak Clay," curated by Lynn Marie Naden

West Pioneer Avenue

5-7 p.m., First Friday reception.

The lower Kenai Peninsula community of clay artists comes together with an exhibit of work in all clay forms, from traditional pots to hand built sculpture. Curated by Lynn Marie Naden, the show includes work by Naden, Marie Herdegen, Ruby Haigh, Paul Eneboe and Annette Bellamy. The exhibit shows how artists can work together and not in competition, said HCOA director Hope Finkelstein.

"These clay artists really understand the value of collaboration," she said. "They understand that competition in this respect is not necessary. They themselves know that they mutually benefit each other."

Picture Alaska

East Pioneer Avenue

"The Landscape of My Mind," paintings, prints and illustrated books by Teri Sloat

5-7:30 p.m., First Friday reception.

Artist, writer and illustrator Teri Sloat shows original pastel and burnished colored pencil paintings, giclee prints and a selection of beautifully illustrated children books. Sloat and her husband have taught in Kiana, Kalskag, Oscarville and Bethel.

"My art is the result of many years living in western Alaska and more recently, in northern California, as well as spending much of my time vacationing in my imagination," she writes in her statement. "The landscape of my mind is filled with shapes and colors which excite me, traditional and original folklore, landscapes, and always, always birds, sometimes real and sometimes of fantasy."

Sloat returns to Picture Alaska May 9-10 to demonstrate working in colored pencils over an acrylic base and working in soft pastels.

Ptarmigan Arts Back Room Gallery

East Pioneer Avenue

Wildflower paintings by Toby Tyler

5-7 p.m., First Friday reception.

Longtime Homer artist R.W. "Toby" Tyler began painting Alaska wildflower in 1959 when he worked on a fish-counting site on the Alaganak River.

"With all that time on my hands, I set out to record these flowers on paper as each bloomed before my delighted eyes. Once started there was no stopping until I had captured them all (which, of course, I never have!)," Tyler writes.

After opening a small studio in the old Harrington Cabin next to Wild Berry Products, he displayed paintings of wildflowers and local plants up until his second shop closed in 1991. The collection grew too large to be displayed as it had been for 30 years, Tyler said until now.

"This year is when Toby finally decided to reorganize it so he could present it to the public as a show," said Ptarmigan Arts owner Jewels.

Ring of Fire Meadery

Old Town, Bunnell Avenue

"Bird Art Competition," by various artists.

5-7 p.m., First Friday reception.

Artists have been invited to submit bird art in all media.

First Friday Films

Homer Film Society and Bunnell Street Gallery

8 p.m., Cinema 127 (127 Bunnell Avenue)

An evening of Avant Garde films

Donation requested

The Homer Film Society and Bunnell Street Gallery present four avant-garde films, including "Black Rock," by Homer artist Michael Walsh. Other films include "Nostalgia," by Holis Frampton; "La Jetee," by Chris Marker, and "e motion all stud ee's," by Jan Doyle. The series continues through the summer until the Kachemak Bay Campus Foreign Film Series returns in the fall.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.