meet the artists

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.

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.

​

www.siennadawn.com

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

​

www.skylineprintworks.com

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.

​

www.christopherremmers.com

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.

​

@insta_snax

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. 

​

www.kapache1.com

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.

​

www.ChristopherHartshorne.com

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

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.

 

www.caitlinscarano.com 

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. 

 

www.sheplaysthecello.com

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.

​

www.bonniesmerdon.com