While the holiday shopping season doesn’t officially start until after Thanksgiving, art lovers can snag the first pick at original art and crafts shows opening in November.
The Homer Council on the Arts will present a wide range of work by local artists for its annual 5×7 show, where all work is done in the 5-inch-by-7-inch format. A new venue is set to open when Darren Williams, a.k.a., The Plantman, moves indoors to the Alaska Wildberry Building on Pioneer Avenue. He’s opened his walls to local artists, starting with Megan Frost, who paints post-apocalyptic visions.
At Bunnell Street Arts Center, artists Karen Stomberg and Elisa Pettibone look at botanical themes. Pettibone adds another dimension: She shows how dyes can be made from Alaska plants on the Kenai Peninsula. Bunnell is open with COVID-19 restrictions, but it will only have an artists talk via Zoom and Facebook live.
Also working in Alaska materials is jewelry maker Jessie Snyder, who creates her work using Alaska sand and silt blended with gemstones, shells and other materials. Grace Ridge Brewery will show Jay Wright’s art inspired by Alaska’s wilderness and wildlife.
Ptarmigan Art does not have a First Friday opening and is closed until after Thanksgiving.
Art Shop Gallery
202 W. Pioneer Ave.
Here & There, jewelry with Jessie Snyder
4-7 p.m., First Friday Opening Reception
Anchorage artist Jessie Snyder shows here jewelry in Here & There, a collection of jewelry made using Alaska sand and glacier silt, blended with gemstones, shells and other minerals. Snyder travels around Alaska with her family to collect the sand and silt. Together they canoed to a Portage Glacier beach, flew to Kodiak Island and hiked to many other rivers and glaciers. Snyder said that while she loves the sand part of her jewelry, she also enjoys hand stamping Alaska wildflowers and mountain ranges onto earrings and necklaces.
Bunnell Street Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Ave.
Traces by Karen Stomberg
Swatches by Elisa Pettibone
6 p.m. artists talk via Zoom.
Artist Karen Stomberg shows her botanical drawings while Elisa Pettibone shows large-scale color swatches made using dyes from Alaska plants on the Kenai Peninsula.
Of her work, Stomberg writes, “I am very conscious of the preciousness of our world and the efforts made by science to protect, preserve and document each piece of it. So, though this work began with drawing the beauty of iconic wildflowers, it deepened as I considered their twin qualities of fragility and resilience.”
Pettibone, a Homer artist, writes of her work, “For this exhibition, I have developed a series of colors derived from Alaskan plants within the Kenai Peninsula region to create large scale swatches and a color library depicting the results of over 50 experiments.”
The artists talk is through Zoom and Facebook live. For more information and to register, visit www.bunnellarts.org.
Grace Ridge Brewery
3388 B. Street off Ocean Drive
New work by Jay Wright
5-7 p.m., First Friday Opening Reception
Local artist Jay Wright draws his inspiration from Alaska’s scenery and wildlife. Of his work, Grace Ridge Brewery writes, “Jay is a man with the utmost appreciation for his outdoor surroundings. Alaska is where his heart lies, from the moment he stepped onto its soil. As with all his life’s adventures, he goes in with reckless abandon of a fearless child, and captures what his eye sees, the beauty and simplicity of nature at its finest. Please stop in and enjoy his wondrous world of art.”
Homer Council on the Arts
355 W. Pioneer Ave.
5×7 show by various artists
5-7 p.m., First Friday Opening
The Homer Council on the Arts presents its annual 5×7 show featuring 5-inch by 7-inch works of art in a variety of mediums. The list of participating artists includes Barbara Bigelow, Lorna Branzuela, Edward Hutchinson, Amanda Kelly, Yvonne Leutwyler, Donna Martin, Molly Montgomery, Michael Murray, Lynn Marie Naden, J. Piotreck Pawlikowski, Karen Roush, Kathy Smith, Dianne Spence-Chorman, Oceana Wills, Barbara Wyatt and Aleda Yourdon.
There is no formal reception, but the gallery is open for extended hours from its normal hours of 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday until 7 p.m.
The Plantman
528 E. Pioneer Avene in the Wildberry building
Art by Megan Frost
5-7 p.m.
In its new indoors venue in the Wildberry building, the Plantman hosts local artist for First Friday and a gallery exhibit. Frost creates what she describes as post-apocalyptic art painting in acrylics on vinyl. There will be music and hors d’ouevres.
Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.
Elisa Pettibone’s work for “Swatches,” show how dyes can be made using Alaska plants. It opens Friday, Nov, 6, 2020, at Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Bunnell Street Arts Center)
Jay Wright’s “Whale” is part of his exhibit opening Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Grace Ridge Brewery in Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Grace Ridge Brewery)
Barbara Wyatt’s painting is part of the 5×7 show opening Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at the Homer Council on the Arts in Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Homer Council on the Arts)
Diane Spence-Chorman’s “Morning Light” is part of the 5×7 show opening Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at the Homer Council on the Arts in Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Homer Council on the Arts)
Megan Frost’s painting on a vinyl record is part of her show opening Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at The Plantman in Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of The Plantman)
