Saunter into summer June 2 at the First Saturday Art Walk. 

Galleries and other venues are filling their walls with fresh new works – from photographs by paddleboarders at the Northwest Maritime Center to a retrospective show and art talk at the newly expanded Port Townsend School of the Arts gallery downtown.

Here’s a preview of what gallery-goers and art lovers can look forward to seeing this month. Many of the artists will be on hand to talk about their work.

PTSA BENEFIT

Port Townsend School of the Arts is hosting a special exhibit of watercolor paintings by Janet Cramer (1914-2009) at its newly-expanded gallery at 236 Taylor St.

Cramer’s daughter, Nancy Heckler, will present the show opening and talk about her mother’s life and work, focusing on Cramer’s legacy of helping young artists.

Cramer was a watercolor artist who most recently lived on Bainbridge Island. After attending The American Academy of Art in Chicago in the 1930s, she had a career in New York City as a fashion model and then owned a women’s boutique for 24 years before returning to painting.

She was a juried member of the Arizona Watercolor Association and an associate member of the American Watercolor Society. Her work has been featured in galleries, special exhibits, magazines and many private and public collections. 

Her work will be available for purchase to help fund the Port Townsend School of the Arts, event organizers said.

SUP PHOTOS

At the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., a Tacoma resident who completed the 2017 Race to Alaska on a stand-up paddleboard is showing a collection of photos he has taken on, in and around the water.

Dean Burke, who was the first person to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a distance of more than 40 miles, on a stock 14-foot stand-up paddleboard, is also helping the maritime center launch its new race SEVENTY48, in which participants cover 70 miles in 48 hours from Tacoma to Port Townsend using only human power.

In his photographs, Burke said he focuses on showing how the shores of Tacoma have changed, from a place of industry, to what they are today, with waters as clean as they have ever been in the last 150 years, a shoreline with more access to the water, and the return of sea life, according to a press release.

WORLD OF COLOR

Painters Nancy Van Allen and Marie Amerson present a “World of Color” in June at The Bishop Victorian Hotel, 714 Washington St.

Amerson is known for her contemporary impressionistic art and Van Allen for her contemporary realistic art.

Van Allen said she calls her art “almost-altered reality.”

“What I attempt to do in my art is reflect the beauty of Mother Nature,” she said.

Amerson has been an area resident since the mid-’70s. 

“I keep painting, because I never know what is going to happen,” she said. “It’s an adventure! It is being open to discovering something new that keeps me pushing forward.”

THINK BIG

Northwind Arts Center, 701 Water St., invited artists to “think big” for its June show, aptly called “Think Big.” 

The juried show of 2D and 3D art offers an opportunity for artists of all disciplines to go large, whether by taking advantage of the art center’s tall walls, or by painting close-ups of images from their imaginations. 

Juror is Michael Paul Miller, associate professor of art at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. 

“I am fascinated by and appreciate the wide range of visual art in the region,” he said. “From 2D to 3D, from formal to the conceptual, and from material to style to so much more, there are numerous criteria to consider when evaluating a work of art for success.

“For this show, one criterion is universal, and that is size – powerfully emotive, humbling and larger-than-life size.”

Northwind also continues its Artist Showcase, featuring artist of the month Sandy Haight. Haight is a signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society and was the 2016 poster artist for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

Haight has been focused on painting the inner landscape of flowers, what she calls “floralscapes,” for the last few years. 

“Enlarging and composing the bloom from the photo to fill a picture plane, I take the viewer into an abstract and sensual world,” she said in a press release. “I look for beautiful transitions of color or textures that could be expressed luminously with watercolor or provide an opportunity to try new painting techniques.”

3 JEWELERS

Three jewelers – Addy Thornton, Shirley Moss and Andrea Guarino-Slemmons – present their work this month at Port Townsend Gallery, 715 Water St.

Thornton works with enamel and stone, creating rings and earrings. Moss, “The Chainmaker,” has been making handmade chains for 47 years, while  Guarino-Slemmons will be featuring jewelry of the Northwest.

GALLERY 9

Gallery 9, at 1012 Water St., presents nature photographer Nancy Cherry Eifert and jeweler Carlos Roberto Costa Ribeiro. 

Eifert said her photography reveals her continuing exploration of the beauty on the Olympic Peninsula. Her images are now shown on the cover of Olympic National Park’s summer newspaper, the Bugler.

Ribeiro is celebrating his 14th year with Gallery 9. He is originally from Brazil, where he learned the art of silversmithing. In his pieces, he uses hand-braiding, gemstone settings and coconut shell ring-making. His latest collection includes earrings, pendants, bracelets and rings.