Interview with Maxine Martell

MAXINE MARTELL

Museo is proud to be presenting work by distinguished artist Maxine Martell this October.

A longtime Whidbey resident, Maxine started her artistic career in Seattle. Her impressive CV lists exhibits in prominent galleries and museums through the years. She is in many private collections as well as having been acquired by esteemed public collections, including the Seattle/Tacoma International Airport and Nordstrom stores across the United States.

Winter, Maxine Martell

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On a personal level, we love visiting Maxine in her delightful studio. Full of her history in paintings and drawings, bursting with her intellectual curiosity, a gorgeous view of the prairie and water, and, when we come to visit, always a plate of delicious snacks (and a nice glass of wine) it is wonderful.

Maxine’s garment pieces are, to us, distinctive examples of her personal narratives, her technical skills, and her joy of painting.

Artist’s Statement / Raiment:

When I began the garments I was remembering an Italian wedding. The guests pinned money

on the bride’s dress. I thought they ought to pin phonographs on her. At the moment she

embodied the generations before and the ones to follow. The pattens on the gowns (vetch,

willow, rosehips, lace/ice) echo the season’s of a woman’s life, the titling of the planet And the

seasons bring us food, a banquet if we are lucky.

The Interview:

I am so fascinated by the, are they photographs or postcards? In your pieces, especially the 4 season coats – I can’t stop looking at them. Are they from real photographs or postcards, and are they all people and; places you know? The sense of connection with place and time, because of those elements in your pieces, is so interesting. Where were you when you painted those four coats – both physically, and in the world around you? 

All our minds are filled with photographs and postcards and they are pretty universal—birthdays, holidays, travels, families, sweethearts, friends. All I had to do was think for a minute and from behind my eyes up would pop snapshots from the season. They were ephemeral but became real as I painted them.

The coats were painted here on the island. My studio is in a field where I am close to the natural world, to vetch and rosehip and puddles with skins of ice. To be in my studio is to be in a place but also to be in my mind and body.

What was the genesis of the coats? Did you plan on doing four or did they come one by one? Did you sketch and paints all four in sequence? 

A photographer friend had access to a collection of vintage fashion. One of the garments he photographed captured me. It’s lace was too intricate to replicate in a drawing so I created a pattern of my own. That led to drawing a second garment with different lace. Then the idea of the seasons and their flora arrived along with the memory of an Italian wedding I once attended.

A series often begins with an individual painting which suggests variations. Once begun I work on several paintings at a time. They call back and forth to one another until I abandon them.

What are you interested in these days?  Any book recommendations or music or interesting things you have been reading about? 

I’m currently reading “The Living Mountain” by Nan Shepherd about walking in the Cairngorms mountains in Scotland. Beautiful prose. Also, the latest Thomas McGuane story, “Take Half, Leave Half” in the New Yorker (Oct. 10, 2022). So good.

I mostly listen to Jazz. I like the improvisational aspects of it. 

On Instagram I love to see and hear the instruments and musicians that find release and joy in sound. 

Today, I’m planting some Iris bulbs as a promise to spring.

Denim Jacket

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5 Whidbey Island Artists You Should Know

PETE JORDAN

Double Bluff Driftwood Rhythms Series No. 3

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One of Whidbey Island’s most well-known landscape painters, Pete Jordan paints the shorelines of the island he loves. Born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 1949, Pete Jordan moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1968, and has been painting full time since 1970. Combining a background in the environmental sciences with an interest in the natural world, Jordan keenly observes nature, and transforms it into a luminous experience of color and light.

In his recent Driftwood Rhythm Series, Jordan captures the essence of Whidbey Island, both of the natural world and our human experience with it.

Evening, Storm Clouds Moving Off

Walking Toward the Last of the Sunset

Minus Tide Fisherman

“So many times I have walked the beach and found myself feeling like I was in a Pete Jordan painting,” says Museo Gallery owner Nancy Whittaker. “His skill at capturing the light on the driftwood, the green of the low-tide, the wispy clouds in the sky are like no other. Pete paints what he knows and loves; he is of the local landscape.”

This shimmering between realism and painterliness makes Pete Jordan’s beach landscapes some of the most sought-after landscape paintings in the Pacific Northwest, and especially to collectors on Whidbey Island, where Jordan paints and strolls the beaches for inspiration.

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MICHAEL DICKTER

Heron Cluster Flock

Michael Dickter engages with the concept of impermanence in the natural world in his colorful and surprising paintings that play with both realism and the imagination.

“I am interested is in creating a permanent record of the impermanence of our world,” says Dickter. “In considering the exquisiteness of a moment shared, of a new connection, a new thought, an old memory, I am often stuck by the duality of permanence and impermanence all around us.”

His paintings record the motion and color of birds, the fading light of flowers, and his process of color choices, layering and erasure.

Dickter has lived on Whidbey Island for just a few years, moving from Seattle to take over the Island’s beloved Museo Gallery, but in that short time has established himself as one of the Island’s favorite painters of birds, as well as an innovative creative artist, taking risks in his work while exploring nature’s beauty.

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Spring Cleaning

FAITH SCOTT JESSUP

Faith Scott Jessup’s paintings are equal parts invention and description. While the work has a high degree of verisimilitude, for Jessup, realism is not the point. Rather, detailed description is a by-product of sustained observation and contemplation.  

An avid beachcomber, Jessup find and collects small, often overlooked objects during her daily walks along Whidbey Island shores. 

“Sometimes these items—stones, leaves, shells, twigs -- intimately observed, will converse with reimagined landscapes,” says Jessup. “At times, favorite stones or other things that have hovered around the edges of my life for years will be rediscovered and painted anew, given the fresh perspective of a new place.”

For Jessup, objects in the natural world resonate with life an energy.

“The resonance of these humble objects speaks to my attitude about art, the world, and existence,” she says.

“To be quiet, to listen, to touch. To pay attention.”

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CLAUDIA PETTIS

Flock at the Beach

“If we care enough to notice something and give our attention and meditate on it, then we give honor to that subject, says painter Claudia Pettis. “I believe sheep are worthy of my long hours of concentration.”

A classically trained artist, Pettis is skilled in the observation of light, color, shape, and line, giving her paintings a feeling of masterful control of the brush.

“Sculpting in clay and working in wax and bronze started my progression into painting, says Pettis. She studied portraiture, particularly Dutch works, has spent hours in front of Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Manet, and Carot - all inspiration for her growth as an artist. As a shepherd to the animals on her Whidbey Island farm, Pettis also follows in the Dutch painting tradition of recording the life around her.

“From Neolithic times to the present they have given us wool and milk, weavings and shelter, the Vikings sails, and the nomadic cultures. I find them a magnificent symbol of survival and service and tenderness,” says Pettis.

“Quite simply, they inspire me. It is a great comfort to paint what I most know as a shepherd – sheep.”

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JEAN WHITESAVAGE

Pod Rising

“It’s really hot this week and I am forging steel,” quipped sculptor Jean Whitesavage on an atypically warm summer day on Whidbey Island, where she shares a studio with her collaborator and partner, Nick Lyle.

“Go figure.”

Whitesavage spends a lot of time in front of the heat of the forge, producing sculpture and architectural ironwork for buildings, gardens, parks and public spaces, as well as creating smaller works for interiors. Together, Whitesavage and Lyle have completed more than thirty public art commissions as well as designing, making and installing artwork for many private homes and gardens, and for businesses as well. 

Inspired by the forms of nature, Whitesavage creates winding and trailing forms that echo the verdant abundance of her Northwest island home.

Sometimes collaborating, sometimes working independently, Jean and Nick design and fabricate artworks in hand forged steel, as well as a variety of other media, such as stained glass, hand-painted porcelain enamel, masonry and wood.

A Studio Visit with Aiden Rayner

STUDIO VISIT WITH AIDAN RAYNER

Aidan’s welded sculptures will be featured this July alongside C.A. Pierce and Michael Dickter.

Landscapes of Whidbey

Three talented Whidbey Island artists will be featured at Museo for the month of May. Our lovely island is seen through their different perspectives: Sue Gustaf Hamilton’s playful landscapes, Laura Viola Preciado’s lively abstract paintings and Karen Abel’s terrain based ceramic sculptures. This show is our homage to the beauty of our scenery, as well as to our local artists.

A Guided Meditation with Elena Korakianitou

A guided meditation to gather and send peaceful wishes.

Conversation with AJ Power and Suzanne Head

Join us for a Zoom discussion with exhibiting artists: AJ Power and Suzanne Head.

Studio Visit with Jean Whitesavage

Jean Whitesavage forges steel sculptures by hand in her Whidbey Island studio. Come get a glimpse into her process and the garden that inspires it all.

Conversation with Pete Jordan and Evelyn Woods

Join us at the gallery for a conversation with exhibiting artists: Pete Jordan and Evelyn Woods.

Interview with Michael Dickter

In the midst of the Covid-19 quarantine, Michael found inspiration in imagery that represented peace and solitude. Michael talks with Nancy about his recent work in this brief interview:

Melissa Koch Zoom - Q&A

We originally created this short interview for our instagram story, and couldn’t resist re-posting it, here. Melissa Koch briefly talks about her studio practice for her June show at Museo:

Jite Agbro Zoom - Q&A

Jite Agbro was featured in our June exhibition, and she took the time to answer a few questions while visiting family in California.