Anita Amrhein at Middle Street Gallery
“Dreams of Nature,” watercolors by Anita Zymolka Amrhein, will be shown at Middle Street Gallery in Washington from July 14 through Aug. 20. The artist will be at the gallery on July 14 and 29. Works by other members of the nonprofit artists' cooperative will be offered as well.
Amrhein's paintings are large and brilliantly colored, and they show fantastical, dream-like arrangements of abstract figures into which she has subtly woven drawings of fish, insects, birds, and plants. “Nature, color, details and music inspire my watercolors, which can be realistic, abstract, whimsical or all at once,” she says. “I like to portray the beauty of nature’s creations, real or imagined, big or small, to remind us of the important part each contributes to the existence and preservation of the environment.”
The artist's works have appeared in solo shows in Hamburg, Berlin, and Potsdam, Germany, and in Milan, Italy. In the U.S., her paintings — which she signs with her maiden name, Zymolka — have been accepted for exhibition at the Tacoma Museum of Art, the National Watercolor Society, the Northwest Watercolor Society, the California Watercolor Association, and the Shenzhen (China) International Watercolor Biennial.
Middle Street Gallery offers paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, glass, and multi-media art by its members. It is now at 311 Gay Street, lower level, with an entrance on Main Street across from Ballard’s. The gallery, www.middlestreetgallery.org and (540) 227-5066, is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.