Canvas & Stone

Evening view of the Blue Whole Gallery

Artists

   Janine Hegy and Ryoko Toyama

   With the coming of autumn, the Blue Whole Gallery will showcase two of its active members Janine Hegy and Ryoko Toyama through out the month of November starting on Friday the 1st.  Each of these two exceptional artists chose different artistic surfaces to express what they see around them.  Janine selects natural stone, wood and jewelry to explore the world of texture, color and form that can be creatively made into objects to be enjoyed and used.  Ryoko uses the painters brush with bold strokes of color on canvas or paper responding to visible objects or concepts that surround her life.  Both artists strive to create objects that captivate and attract the viewer to see more within ones mind.

 

"Yew Bench with saw marks"

Janine Hegy

 Janine Hegy, stonemason and jeweler, enjoys putting materials of different natural elements together to create an object of simplicity & useful function. This artistic endeavor  can be readily seen in the yew bench which combines the warmth of wood with the strength and chiseled lines of sandstone and limestone. The stone supports are positioned artistically enhancing the split wood whose surface retains original saw marks.

                                      

 

Butterfly wedge

  Janine also uses her artistic talents to create stone landscapes in settings that become a garden pathway or a natural wall to enhance the garden's overall effect. She owes such strong focus due to her passion for tools, great mentors and by having joined in the 2003 Stone Foundation, the Dystone Conservancy and Stonefest. With her continued study under various mentors in the field she has increased her expertise and skills.   This again can be seen in her stone wedge carving showing butterflies and flowers.

Japanese Butterfly

    To enhance her interest with natural materials Janine Hegy also has a background in metal training. Studying with Silversmith-Lynn Hull/N.Seattle; Lost Wax Casting - Revere Academy of SF and Goldsmithing - Andy Cooperman-Pratt/Seattle she has gained. The results are clear in the Japanese Butterfly of copper and silver etching that she created & the pearl and coral earring on the left.  
     These artistic works by Janine can be enjoyed and savored by the public at Blue Whole Gallery on Friday November 1st and throughout the month.  Give yourself a special treat and inspiration during this time when autumn leaves cover the ground with seasonal beauty.

Ryoko Toyama

"Tale of the Sea #2"

   Ryoko Toyama, applies her brush to canvas and paper with watercolor, mixed media or acrylic rendering scenes of astonishing creativeness and insight.  It is part of her expressive nature to view life, present or past and introduce the element of spontaneity. In this way she shares her inspiration with others who view her work and enjoy its creativity.

"At Jamestown Beach"

"Moon over Protection Island"

   Ryoko, strives to interpret what she loves on the Olympic Peninsula.  It is this quest to offer a  panorama of nature and human contact that gives the viewer a slice of time offering parables of human involvement with nature.  This is captured by her painting "At Jamestown Beach" where paddlers are approaching the beach during the annual Tribal Canoe Journey.  Or for example when the natural beauty of the land meets the sea and becomes an embracing love affair  in the painting "Moon over Protection Island".

"Cycle of Life"

"Pear Two"

   These bold brush strokes of Ryoko also pictures the meaning of life that she has embraced as shown in her painting "Cycle of Life".  Yet a simple paring of two pears allows viewers to sample the simplicity of natural objects as well.

    The Blue Whole Gallery is inviting the public to experience these two artists whose dynamic views of what they see around them are so differently expressed.  Both Janine Hegy and Ryoko Toyama artwork explore different views and materials giving us an appreciation and exposure to their visual world of color, texture and inspiration.  An adventure awaits you on the 1st Friday of November when you can treat yourself to such diversity by seeing the work of these two fine artists at the Blue Whole Gallery.