Discover the bold and brilliant minds behind our art — meet this year’s Featured Artists.
Where passion meets canvas — explore the stories behind every masterpiece.
Discover the Kirkland Arts Center featured artists and explore the creativity of artists working in painting, ceramics, printmaking, photography, mixed media, sculpture, and more.
Kirkland Arts Center celebrates artists at many stages of their creative journeys. Our featured artists bring a wide range of experiences, techniques, materials, and perspectives to their work. As a result, this collection reflects the vibrant and diverse community of artists that KAC works to support, exhibit, and celebrate.
Explore the artists and their work below to learn more about their inspiration, creative processes, and individual approaches to making art. From painting and printmaking to ceramics and mixed media, each artist brings a distinct perspective and creative voice.
In addition to experiencing their artwork, we invite you to read the artists’ stories and learn more about the ideas, experiences, and techniques that influence their work. Together, these artists demonstrate the many ways creativity connects people and strengthens our community.
Reduction Linoleum Print
This reduction linoleum print, “4,3,2,1….” is a meditation on the interplay of light and darkness, and an exploration of an emotional landscape where togetherness and isolation exist simultaneously. The reduction technique, in which the same linoleum block is carved and printed multiple times, parallels the way this moment feel—layered and ephemeral.
Inspired by Edvard Munch’s moonlit paintings, as well as by Peter Straub’s poetic line, “the world was half night,” this hand-pulled print celebrates how the familiar becomes both new and strange when glimpsed from a darkened street.
Oil on Panel
I am a painter because there is no other medium of expression that totally absorbs me. Thick paint placed with purpose in one gestural stroke makes my heart sing. My senses tingle at sights I see every day; light breaking into a coffee shop or shadows pouring down a busy city street. I want to stop the world from spinning for a moment and capture those scenes. Four edges of a canvas containing shapes that make a strong design gives me intense pleasure as does the challenge of continually trying to learn more about how to become
Linocut
I have been working in ceramics for 25 years and became interested in the Korean tradition of double walled ceramics early on. My inspirations for patterns and forms come from all over the world. Most importantly, I am sustained by the Kirkland Arts Center community and all the staff and artists that have made it my artistic home.
Acrylic paint
Colors, shapes, and flowing lines create me anew every day, as they open my soul into new awarenesses. Dancing lines and curves flow creating sounds and rhythms of life pulled into physical form by songs inside me. Strong and bold colors are the blood coursing through my life. I feel that all nature, animals, abstract figures and conditions carry music within them. These sources both contain and release freedom and infinity. The art and music through which my life unfolds reveals conditions I had not experienced before, and through which I am now able to express my life.
Acrylic, cut up masa paper
Lezlie Jane paints what she cannot see. Free from identifiable subjects she is rewarded with a fresh perspective. Surprising impressions and images emerge. There is freedom from the familiar. This way of painting leads to discovery and learning. When shared, it is an ancient visual language. Lezlie Jane has a BA from Western University, a UW Certificate in Project Management, and is a Graduate Gemologist. Extended training includes courses from Stanford University, RISD, MoMA, Seattle Artist League, Esalen Institute, Gage Academy, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and Pilchuck Glass. Her work is featured in 11 books and many news articles.
Watercolor on paper
Painting with watercolors has opened a new world of creativity. Painting brings me so much joy! Playing with paint and creating new colors is such a gift. Being in nature and painting nature is my ‘happy place.’ I prefer to paint flowers and gardens but I also paint landscapes and seascapes for exercise. I paint for joy- not precision or perfection. I usually have an idea of what I want to paint but not always. Mistake is not in my vocabulary when I paint but I do ‘detour’ from my original idea frequently! I paint what I like.
Ceramic
Tailored for peculiar dreams, sculptural landscapes and interiors appear as miniature film sets.
No actors appear, no scripts have been written—the scenes remain ambiguous and unresolved.
Here the artist does not tell a story, but suggests that one may exist, drawn from the auras of our associations. Through tiny windows, peering inside, we stand at a precipice.
We search, we wonder and realize that the artist who has taken us there has left us alone.
Oil on Panel
Smile! is part of Larine Chung‘s snack series created during Covid shelter in place, Chung releases her anxiety through stress eating which prompted her reflection on the added emotional value snacks provide in our daily life. Smile! is painted message encouraging everyone including Larine herself to be Smile!
Acrylic on Canvas
These paintings are inspired by city spaces and, more specifically, a consideration of how we navigate and experience urban planning and roadways. For a long time, I was painting from the viewpoint of someone in the middle of this urban environment, and I used the environment as a place to explore layering texture and color. As this vein of work pushed more and more abstract, I realized that it might be interesting to change my vantage point and look at the urban spaces from above, to see urban planning as a design—both aesthetic and navigational.
Acrylic on Canvas
Juliet Fiss is a mathematical artist from Kirkland, WA. She has a B.S. in Imaging Science from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. In Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Washington. Her paintings are visualizations of algorithms in mathematics and computer science. Her abstract art is also a literal mapping of abstract mathematical processes, such as the Sieve of Eratosthenes. Most students learn these concepts through equations and diagrams, but through painting, Juliet visualizes them through natural patterns and structures full of color, texture, and symbolic glyphs.
Watercolor on Paper
I paint watercolor portraits that explore subtle expressions and the atmosphere surrounding them. Growing up as a gaijin in Japan, I learned kuuki wo yomu — to read the air — becoming attentive to unspoken emotional cues. That sensitivity guides how I work with watercolor, a medium that resists control and invites discovery. I begin with looseness and light, allowing form to emerge gradually through transparency and layered color. Through these quiet, luminous moments, I hope to encourage viewers to slow down and notice what might otherwise go unseen.
archival gicleé on Hahnemuhle paper
My current series of skulls and flora is an exploration of light and shadow as much as it is a meditation on life, death, and purpose.
I paint the luminescence in bone and flowers, finding elegance where others see the macabre. Coming from a background in figurative work, I’ve discovered a striking parallel: bone and flesh absorb and reflect light in remarkably similar ways. One no longer living, yet it once carried life.
Each piece becomes its own journey, and its own teacher.
Oil on Canvas
Oil on Canvas
Photography
Jeremy Hurd-McKenney is a Seattle-based photographer specializing in horror vignettes and architectural abstracts. He is the Gallery Director at Kirkland Arts Center.
Ceramic
Jeremy Hurd-McKenney is a Seattle-based photographer specializing in horror vignettes and architectural abstracts. He is the Gallery Director at Kirkland Arts Center.
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
Gail Kaneko is a ceramic artist whose work includes architectural forms and the textures of everyday materials. She creates small‑batch vessels, whimsical creatures, and sculptural pieces using mid-range clays.
Low fire Terracotta
I am a hand builder and I love the flexibility and the unlimited range of possibilities that one can explore with hand building in clay. I enjoy playing with bright colors, textures, and unusual shapes.
I am currently working with low-fire terracotta and love the richness and depth of its color. I strive to create a striking contrast between unglazed terracotta and smooth glossy glazes in my finished pieces.
Mixed Media
Kae Bae is a Seattle-based artist specializing in collage and mixed media, blending creativity with a systemic approach influenced by her scientific background. Through her work, she explores the beauty of lines, shapes, colors, and spatial relationships in both nature and the man-made world.
Her art has been exhibited in galleries, commissioned, collected, and recognized with awards. Drawing inspiration from both Eastern and Western cultures, she layers paper and fabric to create rich textures, dynamic compositions, and a sense of movement.
Kay’s artistic journey reflects her commitment to creativity, capturing the essence of nature while fostering community through art.
linocut
David Lynx is the Executive Director of Kirkland Arts Center. His work has appeared in over 60 solo and group exhibitions.
mixed media
Koray Lynx’s cloth doll art consists of textiles, sculpting, and various forms of mixed media. He makes cloth dolls based on various current and universal themes. Koray has been handcrafting art dolls since 2014. He started working on a doll to take his mind off some issues that were going on in his life. It was an effective distraction for a while. Then, he took a hiatus for a few years, only to come back to it again. When he creates a doll, he decides on a theme, but doesn’t know how it will turn out until it is finished. His latest work centers on issues and represents a message with each doll. He finished a doll about breast awareness, and another on the problems of Muslim women. One of his most recent dolls incorporated the Turkish eye and addressed the concept of superstition.
Linocut
David Lynx is the Executive Director of Kirkland Arts Center. His work has appeared in over 60 solo and group exhibitions.
Oil
Abstract artist
Watercolor on paper
Eva Moon, a multi-disciplinary artist who’s wandered through song, stage, and story, now finds inspiration through watercolor. Her paintings are rooted in the wild beauty of the Pacific Northwest, where mossy forests, mountain lakes, and rocky beaches have a way of tugging at her heart. She paints the places that fill her with awe. Her goal is to share the feeling of standing there: The hush, the history, the sense of connection she feels to nature. Eva donates 100% of her profits to The Nature Conservancy. Her work has been included in juried shows, solo exhibitions, and private collections.
watercolor on paper
Eva Moon, a multi-disciplinary artist who’s wandered through song, stage, and story, now finds inspiration through watercolor. Her paintings are rooted in the wild beauty of the Pacific Northwest, where mossy forests, mountain lakes, and rocky beaches have a way of tugging at her heart. She paints the places that fill her with awe. Her goal is to share the feeling of standing there: The hush, the history, the sense of connection she feels to nature. Eva donates 100% of her profits to The Nature Conservancy. Her work has been included in juried shows, solo exhibitions, and private collections.
Ceramic
I have been exploring with clay since I first started taking classes at a community center in Boulder, CO in 1997. Later, as a student, an apprentice, and an occasional instructor at Clayworks in Binghamton, NY, I had the opportunity to learn and experiment with firing techniques such as high fire reduction, wood-firing, soda firing, Raku, and pit/sawdust. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, the primary focus of my work has been making functional ware on the wheel. I love wheel thrown forms and like to alter them to create one-of-a-kind pieces. As I explore different clays, methods
ceramic
I have been exploring with clay since I first started taking classes at a community center in Boulder, CO in 1997. Later, as a student, an apprentice, and an occasional instructor at Clayworks in Binghamton, NY, I had the opportunity to learn and experiment with firing techniques such as high fire reduction, wood-firing, soda firing, Raku, and pit/sawdust. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, the primary focus of my work has been making functional ware on the wheel. I love wheel thrown forms and like to alter them to create one-of-a-kind pieces. As I explore different clays, methods
Yarn and wood
My name is Shawn Parks. I am a queer, non-binary artist working primarily in public art, quilt making and fabric installations. I graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2004 with a BFA in Textiles, where I focused on weaving. I moved to Seattle in 2006. My home and studio are now on Bainbridge Island. Caretaking, support and optimism are at the heart of my work. Championing women, queer and feminine strength through lenses of color, joy and textiles inform my practice.
Ceramic
I try to incorporate my love of nature into my ceramic art and photography. I am also a musician, and studied music composition and piano in Japan before moving to the states.
Ceramic
I try to incorporate my love of nature into my ceramic art and photography. I am also a musician, and studied music composition and piano in Japan before moving to the states.
Soft Pastel
Sarah’s work is inspired by the beauty of the natural world around her, whether in her home state of Washington, her native Great Britain or on adventures around the world.
Sarah is an award winning pastel artist who has been painting with pastels for 12 years. It was at Kirkland Arts Center that her love of pastels grew. She is a member of the Pastel Society of America, Plein Air Washington Artists and a board member of the Northwest
inks and acrylics
Cynthia Yatchman is a Seattle based artist. A former ceramicist, she received her B.F.A. in painting (UW). She switched from 3D to 2D and has remained there ever since. She works primarily on paintings and prints. Her art is housed in numerous public and private collections. She has exhibited on both coasts, extensively in the Northwest, including shows at Seattle University, SPU, Shoreline Community College, the Tacoma and Seattle Convention Centers and the Pacific Science Center. She is, a member of the Seattle Print Art Association,COCA, Women Painters of Washington and Puget Sound Group of Northwest Artists.
mix media on canvas
Stephen paints pop songs and sculpts lyrics, where he captures the feelings and/or reinterprets the meanings. A multi-disciplinary artist, Stephen has experiences cover both side of the Pacific Ocean. Through the decades he picked up graphite drawing, acrylics, oil, wood and clay sculptures, but the original influence of both eastern and western water-based disciplines is still evident in between the many thin layers of washes.
Serigraph on paper
Singletary’s art has become synonymous with the relationship between Tlingit culture and fine art. His glass sculptures deal with themes of Tlingit mythology and traditional designs, while also using music to shape his contemporary perspective of Native culture.
Giclee print of acrylic pour on canvas
Art has been a great passion of mine since I was a baby. I enjoyed drawing on the walls of my house as a toddler which motivated my parents to enroll me in art classes. I started classes when I was six years old and immediately loved it. I enjoy drawing and painting animals, landscapes, and anything that is interesting or meaningful.
My favorite medium is acrylic because it is forgiving and with it I have the ability to splash bright and versatile colors onto the canvas. Recently I have been doing acrylic pours, drawing everyday objects, and painting landscapes.
Acrylic and canvas
Looking out my studio window, I saw that my dock had chairs waiting and the sun was
shining…but my love of painting outweighed their call and so my donation to this years
Auction, “A Balanced Life” was born.
My journey with art began as a child, but after career paths in Cardiology and a stint as a
Montessori teacher, I was able to return to art with classes at Kirkland Art Center in the
early and mid 90’s.
Kirkland Art Center introduced me to many mediums and provided me with a broad art
background. I now am on the board of directors for the Women Painters of Washington,
a 90 yr old organization of talented painters. My work is represented by 3 galleries (2 in
Washington and 1 in Oregon) and I enjoy being accepted into juried shows in galleries
across the state. My work has been collected throughout the United States as well as in
Iceland, Mexico, and Canada.
Ceramic
Alecia Rossano is a classically trained figurative sculptor from Seattle. She earned her Bachelor of Fine
Arts from Scripps College and her Master of Fine Arts from the graduate school of the New York
Academy of Art. She has also studied in Florence, Italy, which inspired her love of Renaissance and
baroque art. As a professor for 20 years at the DigiPen Institute of Technology, she led the development of their MFA in digital art and directed that program from 2012 – 2015. She taught Sculpture, Figure Drawing, Art History and Anatomy at DigiPen from 2004-2025.
Glass
Working with glass allows me to transform my flat designs, using heat work and gravity to stretch them into dynamic forms that are both sculptural and functional. By positioning transparent glass alongside or across from opaque glass, I create windows in my volumetric vessels that allow the viewer to simultaneously see multiple surfaces and layers from various vantage points, changing as the viewer’s eye moves around the object.
Ceramic
Margaret is a native from Namibia and lived in South Africa before immigrating to the USA in 1981.Margaret takes her inspiration from the natural world and ethnic designs with liberal use of color and decorative patterns.She employs the wheel as well as handbuilding pieces for both decorative and functional use.
Ceramic
My love for throwing on the wheel stems from the mesmerizing process of shaping raw clay into form and function. I find great joy in creating functional pieces that serve a purpose and evoke beauty and emotion.
For me, the exploration of color, texture, and surface design is where ceramics truly come to life. Each piece is an opportunity to experiment with new ideas and techniques and create a distinct and visually captivating piece.
Acrylic
Reeve Washburn lives in West Seattle and loves her artist community. Her career began in strategic brand design before a pivot to the arts with the West Seattle Art Walk which she led for five years. Reeve now practices intuitive printmaking as her own form of abstract expression. As a proud member of Women Painters of Washington and Seattle Print Arts, she regularly exhibits her work at Alki Arts and other local and regional galleries.
Giclee print of acrylic pour on canvas
Art has been a great passion of mine since I was a baby. I enjoyed drawing on the walls of my house as a toddler which motivated my parents to enroll me in art classes. I started classes when I was six years old and immediately loved it. I enjoy drawing and painting animals, landscapes, and anything that is interesting or meaningful.
My favorite medium is acrylic because it is forgiving and with it I have the ability to splash bright and versatile colors onto the canvas. Recently I have been doing acrylic pours, drawing everyday objects, and painting landscapes.
Porcelain
Porcelain
Upon discovering glass fusing in 2007, I quickly migrated toward the art of painting with glass Frit. I find art glass to be the most rewarding of mediums to paint with and I enjoy utilizing its translucent qualities whenever possible. I paint from my personal photographs, as well as from my memories of beautiful landscapes visited. I am very excited to share that Kirkland Arts Center has graciously offered me to exhibit my landscapes in kiln-formed glass in their main gallery May 29–June 25, 2026. Please stop by during the opening night reception or during the show’s run.
Ceramic
Ceramic
Ceramic
Ceramic