meet the artists
Jason LaClair
Artist
Jason LaClair is a local painter of Lummi and Nooksack heritage who has spent his life in the region. Raised around several carvers and artists he was inspired to start his own journey at the age of nine. For many years he practiced in Northern Formline Art and today has been learning and practicing in the shapes and traditions of Coast Salish art. His work represents a simple yet deliberate style with linear designs that were used for spindle whorls and expressions of spirituality.
Jason's most recent works include the 2022 Happy Valley Elementary "Salmon Egg" Mural, the 2022 Whatcom Intergenerational High School "Generations" Mural, and the "Salmon Run Mural" in downtown Bellingham on North Forest Street.
Sarah Finger
Artist
Sarah Finger is the artist behind the local printmaking studio Skyline Printworks. Sarah was born and raised on an organic farm in Whatcom County, and she has been shaped into the person and artist that she is today by the natural splendor of the Pacific Northwest and the strong, vibrant community of Bellingham and Whatcom County. Her process involves hand-carving her intricate designs into wood or linoleum blocks, which then get inked up and pressed onto paper in her home studio in Bellingham. Sarah's work comes from a deep connection to her home and a broader love of the natural world, and she is grateful for the opportunity to share that passion through her artwork
Mac MxNett
Muralist/Artist
Born locally here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Max McNett's art is a reflection of his love for the outdoors and the rewards of exploration. Continuously traversing between different mediums, the techniques and approaches to the art range from stone carvings to illustrations to large scale murals. Through his work he hopes to inspire a sense of curiosity for the natural world as well as promote the virtues of patience and persistence to those around him.
Christopher Hartshorne
Artist
Christopher Hartshorne received his BFA in Illustration from The Columbus College of Art and Design. He worked as a freelance illustrator before falling in love with the process of relief printmaking. Christopher carved and hand printed his first woodcuts in his studio apartment in Philadelphia, which led him to receive his MFA in printmaking from Tyler School of Art. His woodcuts have evolved from illustrious dramatic figurative scenes to bold abstract work, where color and pattern are the focus.
Caitlin Scarano
Writer/Poet
Caitlin Scarano is a writer based in Bellingham, Washington. She holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MFA from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her second full-length collection of poems, The Necessity of Wildfire, was selected by Ada Limón as the winner of the Wren Poetry Prize and recently won a 2022 Pacific Northwest Book Award. Her work has appeared in Granta, Carve, and Colorado Review.
Bonnie Smerdon
Artist
Painting with acrylic on canvas, Bonnie allows landscape and her daily surroundings to motivate her artwork. Smerdon gathers imagery for her paintings on neighborhood walks, long distance bike tours and ventures into the backcountry. Smerdon refers to ordinary visual objects such as highways, streetlights and residential architecture. These devices are placed in specific lighting and atmospheric spaces to push commonplace scenes into the uncanny or bizarre. By focusing on the ordinary, her work taps into a collective memory bank allowing space for empathy and wonder, in relation to our landscape. Bonnie’s background in modern dance informs the quality of light and compositional elements that appear throughout her work. Smerdon invites performance and other media practices to inform how she approaches painting.
Ivan Colin
Artist
Ivan Colin is an abstract painter based in Bellingham, Washington. He was inspired early on by street art culture in his native Napa Valley, California where he became hooked into the art world by graffiti and markings etched on walls. San Francisco and Oakland were only an hours drive from where Colin grew up, so he visited them often. There he encountered walls covered with murals, vandalism and illustrative characters.
John Gialanella
Artist
John Gialanella (or Johnny, he's pretty indifferent) earned a BFA in Design from Siena Heights University in Michigan, and his MFA in Design from the University of Arizona. While John likes to dabble in a little bit of everything, from visual design work to typeface design, he's most at home working as a letterpress printer, book artist, and collagist. John currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Print Production in Western Washington University's Design Department.
Darcie Gray
Artist
Darcie Gray is a Bellingham based artist who launched Range Design Studio in the heart of the mountains when she found her way to (and temporary residence in) the Grand Teton's. Darcie focused on bringing design, company branding, and marketing to communities, nonprofits, local businesses and artists. During that time, her own passion for making art and painting was reignited, and so began her pursuit as an artist, maker and designer.
Sienna Dawn
Artist
Sienna Dawn uses paint as a vehicle for self-discovery of the body, mind, spirit, and the natural world. Bright colors become therapeutic while living in the gray of the pacific northwest. Inspired by the scenery and photography of her travels, she uses digital and manual manipulation of each moment to create acrylic paintings that are both simple and beautiful.
Christopher Remmers
Artist
Christopher Remmers is an American painter based in the Pacific Northwest. His dynamic and imaginative paintings are inspired by classical realism and mythology. Widely recognized for his large-scale paintings and fanciful subjects, his canvases are often imbued with symbolism, allegory, and a sense of mystery. Remmers has studied under the tutelage of California-based artist Virgil Elliot, author
of Traditional Oil Painting, as well as artist Tenaya Sims at Georgetown Atelier, a traditional painting program in Seattle, Washington, where Remmers taught for 5 years.
He now offers 1 on 1 mentorship to Artists and creatives at all stages.
Kaplan Bunce
Muralist/Artist
The artist Kaplan aka Kapache1 is an Apache native artist and the father of three daughters ages 16, 13 and 2 years old. His work is heavily inspired by his Native American cultural roots as well as an expression of visual prayer. His range goes from assemblage sculptural works and panel pieces to large scale murals that can be found around the continental United States and Hawaii. His approach to art is heavily influenced by his cultural background as well as in home construction and fine finish carpentry. The high perfection level or sometimes lack of come from his work in the field. Color is a large part of Kaplan’s work which is inspired by textiles from around the world as well as surf and skate culture. Kaplan hopes to inspire humans to live a good life, full of contribution to our communities as well as draw awareness to Native American culture and values with his work.
Laura Norton
Caligrapher
Laura Sasaki Norton is a multimedia calligrapher whose work centers social justice themes. In 2022 her art was displayed in a New York City exhibit of AAPI artists celebrating being "Visible, Vibrant, Vocal" in the wake of anti-Asian violence, and has appeared in national publications as well as on walls around Bellingham.
@lettersaloft
www.lettersaloft.com
Erin Esses
Cellist
Local Bellingham cellist Erin Esses loves making music and sharing it with others. From classical to Celtic, fiddle to folk, and even mixed age children’s classes, she performs and teaches it all.
Nicki Lang
Artist
Woman daughter sister orphan wife mother neighbor friend teacher student banjo-player singer pianist painter volleyballer runner biker hiker climber reader cook gardener ecologist plant-geek lover maker feeler writer human.
Savannah LeCornu
Artist
Savannah LeCornu is a self-taught artist and part of the Tsimshian, Haida, and Nez Perce tribes. She is also a theatre maker with a B.A from Western Washington University where she focused in dramatic writing and lighting design. She started drawing and painting at a young age, drawing inspiration from her hometown in Alaska as well as the various pacific northwest towns she moved around. She also started practicing Northwest Formline art, something she would continue to practice to this day and would become the main focus of her work. She strives to create accessible art that celebrates indigenous peoples, her family, and the northwest areas she has always lived in.
Most recently she held her very first exhibits. “ah yes, that old indian saying” was displayed at Seattle Repertory Theatre and she was a part of “arnaq, hana’ask, smɁem” at Columbia City Gallery, both in Seattle Washington.
Taj Williams
Artist
Taj Williams is a multi-disciplined artist raised in Bellingham, Washington and attended Cornish College of the Arts, where he earned his BFA. Although formally trained in photography and video, his passion for working with spray paint on public walls prevails as his medium of choice. Rooted in street art, he believes that the world is a better place with more public art. Through his vibrant murals, he hopes to inspire people to look on the brighter side of life while providing locals and visitors with a stunning urban landscape.
Kat Houseman
Artist
Kat Houseman has actively been pursuing art for over 20 years. She began her love of art in Great Falls Montana. Her Mother often would set up watercolors and art supplies for the kids to play with, and of course coloring books! Kat would regularly check out “how to draw” books from the school library. Her first easel and oil paint came from her Grandmother that had passed at an early age. Kat feels fortunate to have family that was supportive and understanding of the arts.
Over the last several years she has gathered gallery connections and dedicates her time to suppling them with new work. As often as possible she participates in live painting event and museum fundraisers. Most recently she has started to teach day long and multi week workshops.
Interested in joining the artist community?
Please reach out to us on our contact page