Thursday night’s Art Walk was, as one of the many sidewalk musicians put it, squinting into the sun, “probably the last good one we’ll have.” The public turned out in hordes to take in the last gorgeous summer evening along with their monthly dose of art of all media..

I caught up with photographer Chris Fleck toting the spiral rainbow totem that signifies art inside a business. As he planted it in the sidewalk outside of Red Petal Cupcakes, he invited me inside to come see his pictures.

Chris captures stunning natural scenes on his world travels, and has them printed on aluminum to bring out color and depth unachievable on paper. He says that he caught the fish to bait the eagle swooping down in the fierce and elegant composition shown above.

Demonstrations abounded last night, so art walkers got quite the education in woodworking, shoe painting, and encaustics.

Inside ARTspot, in the back studio, Tracy Kay Felix experimented with encaustics, enthralling audiences for long periods of time. Encaustic painting is done by melting pigmented wax onto paper kept warm with a hot plate. “I’ve always been a bit of a pyromaniac,” Tracy told an onlooker, “so the warmth doesn’t bother me.”

Tracy was playing with the possibilities offered by a palm tree stencil she recently picked up, mixing oil paint with the encaustic wax and trying various methods of rubbing to see what she might make. She explained to two kids watching her work that art isn’t about going through a series of steps to get to a final result, but it is about the process of exploration and experimentation, pushing the limits of your materials, and not stopping until you feel you’ve reached a point of no further creation. Tracy will be teaching a series called “Renegade Encaustics” starting next Friday, Sept. 27 from 2-5 p.m. Classes also offered Oct. 25 and Nov. 15 at the same time. Cost is $65, which includes all materials.

The major galleries were packed to the gills. At Gallery North, in its swanky new location on Main St. just above 4th Ave., the Colored Pencil Society’s work was still on display. Gallery North was running a raffle—choose your favorite piece from the show for the chance to win a piece of fine art. I helped myself to a delicious cucumber bite, fell in love with Pamela Belcher’s “Water Totem: The Protector”, dropped my name in the basket, and crossed my fingers.

At Cole Gallery, painters were putting contemporary twists on 19th century styles. Jennifer Diehls chooses fleeting moments of modern life to depict in her Impressionist paintings. From far away, “Order Up” shows a grill cook placing to hamburgers on the pick-up counter, but close up it is an exciting blend of warm, fatty colors, quite like the hamburgers themselves. Marcio Diaz was showing his blown-up version of pointillism, which he calls “Bubblism.” He explained to me that Bubblism has its history in architecture and graphic design, but he has been studying its possibilities in paint for the past five years.

All told, it was an evening whose beauty was enhanced by the good energy of artists and art appreciators—not to mention that huge full moon!

— By Juliet Brewster

Juliet Brewster

Artfully Edmonds columnist Juliet Brewster, an Edmonds native and Edmonds-Woodway High School graduate, has a degree in literature from Bennington College. To have your arts happening listed, email her at brewster.juliet@gmail.com.