Featured artists in May are Melissa Bixby and Cathie Wier
Melissa Bixby and Cathie Wier are featured artists in May. They are both inspired by the Salish Sea and in their art, as they explore the textures of the waters, the seaweed, and the creatures hidden beneath the surface.
Melissa Bixby
From the depths to the surface, Melissa Bixby’s work captures the extraordinary marine life and vibrant color found in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Her years of diving and underwater photography have long inspired her batik practice, and more recently, her photographic work has begun to stand confidently on its own. Through both mediums, Melissa invites viewers into a world that exists just beneath the surface—one that is deeply interconnected with our own. Her work seeks to bridge that gap, fostering a sense of intimacy and wonder between the viewer and these often unseen environments. Melissa hopes that by capturing the essence of these rare and precious marine creatures, her work evokes a sense of awe and inspires a deeper commitment to protecting one of our most vital and fragile ecosystems: the ocean.
Meet our artists during Art Walk. May 2, 5 to 8 pm.
Light refreshments are served.
Cathie Wier
Cathie Wier is a weaver and silk artist. Her work is a celebration of texture, color, and the dynamic beauty of nature. In her weaving, Cathie continues to explore pleating. She designs intricate warps for the loom to create patterns of pleats and color combinations, allowing the final image to emerge once the pleats take form by steaming and shrinking a fine silk yarn that is woven into the fabric. Drawing inspiration from the ocean, wild rivers, forests, and gardens, Cathie’s weavings are abstract bursts of color—carefully planned but organically evolving.
In her silk work, Cathie explores stitching, steaming, and dyeing the silk for a variety of textures. When silk is steamed, it holds its shape, creating a fabric that is fascinating to stretch and shape. Cathie exploits the transparency of the silk to layer it on woven or dyed backgrounds, giving the pieces additional depth. This month, she has new silk pieces inspired by the choppy waters of the Salish Sea.
