Two self-taught artists take the spotlight at Gallery-9 in April.

Gallery-9 is home of the North Olympic Artist Cooperative, and the featured artists are Jon Geisbush with wood-turnings, and Carolyn Doe with silk batik and oil paintings.

Geisbush is a native Washingtonian who has always enjoyed working with his hands.

He rebuilt several car engines and transmissions in his youth, and restored a small hydroplane while in college.

Afterward, family and an engineering career occupied most of his time but as retirement approached, his family encouraged him to take up a hobby. 

Having previously enjoyed working with wood, he chose woodturning and his family got him a lathe and bandsaw to get started. 

He has been turning for about 15 years. 

“The art of woodturning starts with the source of wood and when I first started turning, I lived in an arid part of the country where the most available wood was dimensional wood such as that available in lumber yards,” Geisbush recalled. 

“Whether turning a handle for a tool or a bowl or platter, dimensional wood was glued together and turned. I quickly learned about different species and starting forms of wood provided different presentations.” 

When he returned to Western Washington his interest in woodturning increased with the availability of new sources of wood. As his turning skills improved, he became fascinated by experimenting with the wood to see what could be found inside. 

Geisbush became a member of Gallery-9 last spring and continues to experiment with the colors and presentation of wood.

Doe is a silk batik artist and oil painter. Her current works at the gallery are framed silk batiks with scenes of nature and birds, and oil paintings of trees.

“Batik has become my voice,” she said. 

“When dye touches silk fabric it spreads like crazy. The wax creates a boundary. It is this dance of control/no control that captivates me for hours,” Doe explained. “Through this ethereal quality, I try to convey the essence of a place and of the creatures who dwell there.” 

Doe started working in batik on silk fabric more than 30 years ago.

Using pure beeswax and silk dyes, she creates images of nature on silk fabric, which is then stretched and framed under glass. 

Her oil paintings display simplicity and depth, with Doe using palette knives to create wide horizons with stately trees, or the quick pose of a small bird on a slender branch. 

“I’m not one to say a lot about my art. It comes from a feeling place, something I can’t put to words,” she said. “I want those who are drawn to my art to experience their own feelings and thoughts around it.”

Gallery-9 is at 1012 Water St., Port Townsend, and is open five days a week, Thursday through Monday. Masks are optional.

For more information, visit gallery-9.com.