It's always fun to meet artists you admire, even if the only words that came out of my mouth weren't exactly original: "I love your work." I mean, come on, I should have been able to do better than that for Thomas Wood, Bellingham artist. He is both a painter and printmaker, and creates both intricate, whimsical etchings and quietly beautiful oils of the Northwest. Above is an etching, entitled Fishing Boat.

Below is Wood's Chuckanut Bay from Woodstock Farm. Sometimes just one shape is enough to provide harmony - my eye goes immediately to the graceful bend of the tree on the left.

Lately I've been increasingly interested in prints. Even though the painting of mine below is not a print, I've been fooling around with mimicking some of the style, flatness, surface quality of prints, etc. using acrylics. Came across a photo I took years ago, noticed a tiny figure off in the corner in the background, and used her because of her marvelous shape. Not sure if it's done; don't want it to slide toward the sentimental. . .