"In truly creative pursuits there is no 'right,' or 'wrong,' there is only self expression, which is the highest form of personal freedom!" — Mathie, 2009
“Every mark is the RIGHT mark!” — (Mathie) Regarding trusting yourself when creating art.
”If it leads to creativity, trust and love, I’m in!” — (Mathie)
”Think higher, feel deeper,” — (Elie Wiesel)
"You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it." — Albert Einstein
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My owl painting was exhibited right next to the Guy Anderson at the Museum of Northwest Art! He was one of the four artists who, in the late 1930s and '40s, became known as the Northwest School of modern art, or the mystics. Fed by one another's passions and talents, Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson sought to create art that consciously responded to the world events around them.
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May 5 - May 7, 2023
Featured Artists
Christopher Mathie - new collection of large scale abstractions and new seascapes (artist in attendance all weekend)
Faryn Davis - new collection of paintings and jewelry created with layered resin and natural found objects, combined with paint and ink
Newman & Ciancibelli - new collection of blown-glass sculptures by the Washington glass-blowing duo.
Schedule:
Friday, May 5
Spring Show Opens
Meet and Greet with artists: 4:00- 6:00 pm
Saturday, May 6
Drawing demo with Christopher Mathie: 12:00-1:00 pm
Unveiling Mathie's newest paintings: 1:00 pm
Live Music by Local Guitarist Wes Wahrmund: 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Gallery Reception: 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 7
Christopher Mathie in attendance at gallery: 11:00 am-1:00 pm
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In 2022 Christopher Mathie marked his 30th year working as a full-time professional artist. His first exhibition was in a small Gig Harbor, WA gallery in 1992. He couldn’t have known at the time it would be the beginning of a long, successful career as a studio artist.
In 2009, he began exhibiting at White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. This venue quickly became his top selling gallery and a long, productive, and enjoyable relationship ensued. Today he works with five art galleries and the Museum of Northwest Art store. Over the years he's worked with more than eighty galleries and with many interior designers. Custom work has been a significant part of his career, but his most immense joy comes from going into the art studio with a cup of coffee and maybe a shot of tequila and letting loose on a large scale painting with no idea what's about to come out. He loves to explore right on the canvas making energetic marks and bold profound shapes...and then just seeing where they take him!
Mathie earned his art degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1994. His paintings are included in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally. He was nominated for the 2016 James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award, given by Fry Art Museum / Artist Trust Consortium.
I am beyond grateful to have found my true passion and career in the same line of work. Thank you to so many art collectors, galleries, family and friends who have helped me along the way.
— Christopher Mathie
"I've been a Mathie collector since 2007, and I will continue to follow this talented artist. I read something recently that said that good art demands a response. Christopher’s work does that for me."
— Dr. John Simmons, Bainbridge Island, WA
"Christopher's work pulls us in, and seems to keep evolving as we continue to find and feel new things in the art we have."
— Sally & Lew Jones, Bonney Lake, WA
"Mathie's work speaks to me emotionally, in a visceral way."
— Ann Johnson, Seattle, WA
"Christopher's work in all mediums is creative, imaginative, progressive and engaging."
— Rich Holliday & Jim Napoleon, Kauai, HI; Palm Springs, CA; Port Orchard, WA
"Mathie's paintings carry great movement, layers, and action. Unexpected brush strokes reflect the light just so, and a palette knife scrape makes the seafoam move — surprises that take me back to an afternoon alone with the sea."
— Allison Dudo, Salt Lake City, UT
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“Listen,” 48 x 48 in., is kind of a cautionary tale. I sometimes think that if humans don’t listen, nature will just take over. We see it with global warming; storms getting bigger and more frequent, fires, droughts and endangered species. This painting is meant to have a transformative feeling, full of wonder and questions. But also, the bird figure is dominant as if to say, people need to listen to the warnings nature is giving. -Christopher Mathie
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I'm really excited to debut a brand new marina painting called, "Slosh & Sway," 20 x 80 inches, by #Mathie. It's part of a new collection recently installed at Earthenworks Gallery, Port Townsend, WA. With this piece I wanted to capture what it feels like universally to just observe the marina. For me it's a pleasant, peaceful feeling to see and hear the boats gently rocking, the water slapping the side of the boats, an occasional spray of water sloshing up onto the docks. I was thinking about how it feels similar no matter where in the world you are making these observations. When I lived in Gig Harbor I spent many hours just listening, seeing, and smelling the saltwater and watching the masts of sailboats rocking. A couple years ago when we were in Croatia the marinas felt the same...and then I thought about being sixteen years old living in Gijon in northern Spain as an exchange student. I spent lots of time on the boardwalk, listening, watching people and boats, hearing a different language than my own and knowing this feels different, AND the same. And then I think about all the people through all time that have had this experience and I wonder how many other people find comfort in this gentle rocking of the soul, nurturing us to just be, to breathe and relax and know that we are connected across space and time. As I age I see more and more ways that my perceptions mirror others. The way I see and feel probably isn't that different from you. I encourage you to slow down, observe your surroundings, find peace and solitude in the little things...if you aren't near a marina, try watching the trees, or clouds...their gentle slow sway is similar. I believe there is a universal peacefulness right outside our windows.
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An exhibition exploring three WA artist couples' collaborative and individual work in a variety of mediums.
Chuck and I share about a 700 square foot studio. I work on one side and he on the other. We work back to back, but are often surprised how much our work cycles through similar color palettes, shapes and even emotional effects at the same time. We see our work as collaborative in that we critique each other's work frequently and have come to rely on each other's insights. For seventeen years as a couple we have taken in pretty much all the same stimulation as we travel through life together. However, we usually do not work on the same pieces, until now. New for this show, Chuck and I have collaborated on two pieces where we literally passed the paintings back and forth. It was a new and fun challenge!
The originals (pictured below) were a finished heavily textured Mathie landscape and a completed Gumpert abstract. We exchanged them for a layer of Gumpert figures and Mathie sailboats. We swapped again multiple times, each adding layers of color and slight compositional changes over a series of days. It was a good challenge to not be too attached to how the paintings were evolving and it was fun to get the pieces back at different stages and see how we could improve them. We ultimately were pleased with the outcomes.
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“Away From Shore,” 60 x 48 inches
Represented by Millstream Bainbridge Gallery, Bainbridge Island, WA.
🔴 *SOLD — thank you!
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We are living in a time that will be historically important. What was it like living under quarantine? How did people cope, and what happened to mental and physical health? We each will have a story to tell.
The "Stay at Home Order," came from Washington's governor March 23, 2020. That was 47 days ago, although I haven't left the house for a couple weeks before that! When things get difficult, I tend to go inward. I have always used art as a vehicle to figure out how I feel and what I think. I create when I'm scared, and when I'm happy; when I experience confusion and when I feel joy. It all comes out in the art.
When Allyn, the owner at White Bird Gallery, asked how has quarantine affected your current work? I realized that I had again looked inward and gone straight to making art. This time it's different because I'm mostly alone, besides my partner and our dog Blue, with very little interruptions. The usual phone calls, emails and texts from galleries and usual demands on my time both professional and social have subsided. My head is actually clearer and I'm processing thoughts fully. I purposely slowed down on social media because I was finding it too negative. The result, I think, has been more purposeful paintings. I’m making pieces where my attention has stayed in the art. Allyn commented that this body of work feels powerful and confident. And if that is true, I think that comes from focus.
I intentionally use art to transform feelings and emotions. When something causes me anxiety I try to play it out on the canvas. I often create chaos with paint first and then find ways to resolve the conflict right before my eyes. It reminds me that things can and do get better. Resolution is possible. It also reminds me that it's not always easy or fast. While some paintings do come out spontaneously, others take a great amount of time and effort. The current body of work is a mix of those two things. Some pieces seem to just pour out of me. But when I am deep in thought layer after layer gets applied to the canvas. It's as if each train of thought is explored as another layer of paint. These are the paintings that become complex; rich in texture with complicated coloration. My work is rarely simple...neither are my thoughts. I suppose that's true for everyone.
When I see that a piece has transformed from chaotic to organized and structured, it feels good. Like I found my way through murky feelings that have now become clear. I suddenly know what I think and that seems to make finding resolutions in the rest of life easier. Creating art really is my coping device. It is a way of acknowledging and celebrating the strength of the human spirit. And it is something positive I can do during trying times. Hopefully I’m putting art into the world that inspires and helps others cope too.
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February — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Woodinville, WA "Winter Showcase” — Group Show
February 8th to March 8th
March — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Woodinville, WA "Earth & Sky” — Group Show
March 14th, to April 12th
***Online only due to Covid 19
April — Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA "Earth, An Abstract” — Group Show
50 abstract pieces celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day
April 18th to June 28th
***Online only due to Covid 19
***Click here to VIEW THE SHOW!
April — Earthenworks Gallery, La Conner, WA — Solo Feature, New Work
***Cancelled due to Covid 19
April — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Woodinville, WA "Taking Flight, Our Fascination with Birds” — Group Show
April 18th, to May 3rd
***Cancelled, due to Covid 19
May — White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR "Spring Show” — 3 Person Group Show
May 15th to July 7th
June — White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR "Spring Unveiling Virtual Festival,” — Featured Artist
Watch virtual unveiling, CLICK HERE.
Video starts at 14:40 minutes…go back to beginning to see all the galleries.
July — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Woodinville, WA "Anniversary Show” — Group Show
July 18th to August 30th
July — August — Earthenworks Gallery, Port Townsend, WA — Two Person Feature, Mathie + Gumpert — New Work
October — Childhood’s End Gallery, Olympia, WA "Partners in Art” — Group Show
October 2nd to November 15th
November — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Woodinville, WA "Annual Small Works” — Group Show
November 21st to December 31st
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I am honored to have five Mathie paintings juried into this "Virtual Exhibition," at Port Angeles Fine Arts Center in Port Angeles, WA.
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Earth & Ocean — Sculpture by Christopher Mathie
“Breathe — Humpback Whale”
Upcycled Materials Sculpture, 14h x 59w x 36d in.
Process: The Earth & Ocean Arts Festival was the catalyst that led me to explore sculpting with upcycled plastics and packaging from the art studio. I was thinking about how I could put less plastic in the landfill that comes directly from my own art studio practice. Paint jars, plastic wrap to cover paint palettes, wrapping that covers our canvases, almost everything we use comes in some kind of packaging. I thought what if that was the raw material that I sculpted from.
I started by sorting all the studio debris (clean trash) that could go inside my sculptures to create volume. I then banded it all together and covered it with gesso. I painted the surface like one of my canvases, then varnished for a protective coating. The result was fine art sculpture with an archival, museum quality finish...yet filled with all that plastic that would have ended up in the landfill. I’m proud to have found a way to upcycle, and reuse plastic in a positive way!
The problem: Related to plastics in the ocean I read an article about a dead whale recently found to be filled with 88 pounds of plastics, another with over 1000 pieces of plastic in its belly, and another with over 80 plastic bags in its stomach. It’s estimated 100,000 marine creatures a year die from plastic entanglement and these are the ones found. Approximately 1 million sea birds also die from plastic per year. (Source: NationalGeographic.com)
Shoppers worldwide are using approximately 500 billion single-use plastic bags per year. This translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on Earth. And the number is rising. (Source: OceanCrusaders.org)
Additionally, in August 2016, I saw a beached adolescent humpback whale right next to the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in Washington, right by my house. It died and was thought to have starved, which can be caused by ingesting plastics that impedes digestion, leading to starvation. Seeing this first hand in my own neighborhood really impacted me. When you see something with your own eyes, it’s hard to not take the problem seriously. I’m committed to use less plastic, upcycling / recycling whenever possible.
About this sculpture: I like the idea that we don’t always have to think the way we have in the past, especially when it comes to problem-solving. One of my favorite quotes is, "You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it." — Albert Einstein.
Sometimes opening your mind means seeing things in a less concrete way. For me sculpting a subject that is morphing into other subjects is a cue that not everything is black and white. Sometimes there’s not just one answer to a question and we have to think outside the box for solutions. We have to allow our minds to be malleable. To create a sculpture like this one can’t have an exact plan or map…I allowed the piece to evolve in an intuitive way. At one moment it seemed like an elk or cow head, then a bird started to appear, then an antler, was it elk or moose? Or was it tree, or coral? You see the point was to not control the process allowing for surprises...maybe the solution to resolve the piece was something brand new that I could not have arrived at by planning. The answer was unknowable, until it was known. I believe “Transforming Psyche” happens gradually, but can even occur on a global level.
On the Cannon Beach Gallery Group website
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“Seeking Balance” (Personal Statement)
What do yoga, playing piano, petting my dog, and painting have in common?
They are all practices that I’ve found release stress and focus my energy. They are active ways that I consciously know will produce balance in my body, both physically and mentally. I can reach a similar state of flow in any of these four ways.
As I’ve come to realize this, I know my intention in life at age 46, is to find balance… to live in harmony. I spent many years floundering, wishing I knew how to be peaceful and yet knowing I was FULL of angst. Maybe it’s just the natural sequence as we age that we become more gentle, more loving, more at one with the world. Whatever it is, I’m grateful to finally feel more at ease.
This is a photo of me doing yoga in the Pacific Ocean on Kauai a few years ago. It was November when the humpback whales were there to breed and calve. While doing my tree pose I was watching whales breach. I kept thinking I'm meditating in whale water. Experiences like these remind me that I'm just one tiny piece of a vast and magical system and help me know I'm okay in the world... I keep this photo in the art studio to help me remember to continue Seeking Balance.
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Related Links:
*Watch Artist Talk on YouTube: 40 min. video
*Preview Collection here: www.whitebirdgallery.com
*More info here: bit.ly/2C5jQ9n
*Link to article/interview about show: Coast Weekend Magazine
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(Written by Allyn Cantor, Owner of White Bird Gallery, after visiting Mathie studio while this collection was in process).
Above are installation images from current Mathie solo show. Runs thru Oct 20th, 2018.
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For some the piece below has been a challenging painting to look at, so I've decided to share what it's about. "A Strong Man," 80 x 20 inches, by Mathie. Over the past six months I've been interviewing people and creating art from these dialogues. The writing here tells you a bit of the story. You may see this piece in my current show, "Seeking Balance," runs thru Oct 20th, at White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach, OR.
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February — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland, WA "Contemporary Showcase — Group Show"
March — Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland, WA "A Sense of Place — Group Show"
June — Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) annual auction.
Preview Party, Friday, June 15th
Auction, Saturday, June 16th. I'll have paintings in both live & silent auction.
July-August — Childhood's End Gallery, Olympia, WA "Coastal Paintings"
Opens July 20 — Aug 26
September-October — White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR "Abstraction & Coastal Paintings"
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Below is a full page ad for Gallery Mack in the upcoming 2017-18 edition of 'Where Guest Book Seattle' — an annual, in-room, coffee table book that introduces visitors to the essence of the city — distributed exclusively in 15,200 upscale hotel rooms around Seattle, Eastside & South Sound and reaching 1.6 million readers.
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"I believe in a kind, generous WORLD. One where if I do my part, continuing to pour love, strength, compassion and creativity into the world, I will ALWAYS be taken care of. I will have more than enough. And I will know love, because above all... I am made of LOVE."
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This award is given annually for five years, based on merit and is a $50K grant and opportunity to show at the Frye Art Museum!
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Opens Saturday, March 11th, 2017
Runs through April 2nd
NEW PAINTINGS BY QUINCY ANDERSON, SUSAN FAUST, CHUCK GUMPERT
TRACEY LANE & CHRISTOPHER MATHIE.
ALSO SCULPTURE BY MELANIE FERGUSON & LEO OSBORNE
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Inspired by the garden, the work is largely tactile and boldly colorful.
One piece went to Howard/Mandville Gallery in Kirkland, WA.
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About Mathie’s Dynamic Coastal Paintings:
Christopher Mathie is a vibrant regional painter well known for his dynamic abstractions that reference coastal landscapes. His warm style is a result of trusting personal artistic mark making, allowing pure color, texture, line and form to be distilled into essential elements. Mathie creates many large canvases of coastal-inspired renderings, as well as thoughtful smaller works that reference local subjects like the interplay of water and rocks or a crab on the cusp of sand and sea. In his spirited abstractions, Mathie conveys a realm that exists somewhere between reality and imagination.
Mathie's mixed media paintings are filled with energetic movement, fluid emotion, and bold confident brushwork, as the artist builds up layer after layer of textural paint to achieve complicated coloration and highly activated tactile surfaces. Deconstructing his subjects to their most important lines and organic forms Mathie's intriguing canvases invite viewers to engage very personally with his painterly attributes.
The Washington-state artist is widely recognized in the Pacific Northwest with over two-decades of exhibition history. His paintings have been exhibited nationally and are included in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally.
Written by Allyn Cantor, Owner of White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR
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Below is the front of the gallery postcard. Opens Aug 12th.
*Above full page ad appeared in the August, 2016, edition of American Art Collector Magazine.
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For more info: www.monamuseum.org/event/2016-mona-art-auction
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"Painting, to me, is a practice... kind of like meditation. Some days you get somewhere, some days it is just the act of painting, moving, mixing and being. The results are not important... it is the act of doing that matters. The rewards will come in spirit, in strength, in healing. And sometimes you will have a good painting too, the rest get painted over." (Mathie)
Full page ad in the Nov. edition of "Southwest Art Magazine," page 21. Courtesy of White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR. For my solo show that was Nov 7, through Jan 5, 2016.
🔴 SOLD — Thank you!
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Published in: Coast Explorer Fall/Winter 2012, Written by Veronica Russell
Christopher Mathie paints in a style he calls "emotional semi-abstraction." His work can be seen at a variety of Pacific Northwest galleries, including Gallery 903 in Portland, Gallery Mack in Seattle, Howard/Mandville Gallery in Kirkland and White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach.
Artist Christopher Mathie has not always been so unafraid to express himself. Admittedly, the prominent Northwest artist's early work was somewhat stifled by his own fears: fears of offending the public, fears of not being able to sell his work, fears of exposing himself too much in his art. However, according to Mathie, his recent work has taken a serious turn in tone.
A recent exhibit called "Conversation Pieces" is an exploration of the human mind and body that allowed him to take off the mask and explore in ways that might not always be comfortable. "Art reflects life on all levels," he says, "and our experiences aren't all lovely."
Mathie's journey to a finished piece includes many layers, each another step on the path to completion. It is during his final layer, though, being the most visible to the viewer, that he is most concerned with his emotional state of mind. Every mark carries the energy of the artist, each mark exposes the attitude, the opinions, even the strength or weakness of the painter. He spends as much time preparing himself physically and intellectually as he does actually painting. "I have to be willing to let my emotions be viewed publicly through my work," he says, "to create confident looking and feeling pieces."
Mathie defines his style as "Emotional Semi-Abstraction" and his technique helps him exhibit that style. "I paint quickly and spontaneously," he says, "in a style that favors intuition." Often, Mathie will scatter photos around his work space, images that he's collected through the years, as he paints. He uses these images as inspirational inanimate muses as he works, interpreting bits and pieces from each photo, (or each emotion the photo elicits), onto his canvas as he builds his painting.
Mathie is quick to point out that he does not attempt to paint realism. "I truly believe reality is over rated... highly subjective," he says. Using only these bits and pieces of reality, he allows the rest of his piece to be more abstract, leaving the viewer with an important role in the painting: interpretation.
Individuals react to art based on their own collection of memories and experiences. Some are repelled by a piece that others are quite attracted to. Mathie says a good piece of art will offer the viewer an opportunity to interpret as they see fit, and he does not like to spoon feed a particular message to his viewers. "I prefer to make work that requires thinking and participation," he says. "I think people are smart and sophisticated. They like to be engaged, challenged to participate and question."
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