[September 23, 2011] Magnuson Gallery show: Out of the woodwork Tweet Sep 22, 2011 (Moscow-Pullman Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A couple of local wood artists came "out of the woodwork" to offer work to display and Dana Magnuson, owner of the Magnuson Gallery in Kendrick, decided to go with it. The next exhibit at the gallery is called "Out of the Woodwork," and will feature about 30 works by nine area wood artists. The exhibit, which will run to the end of the year, will open with a reception with artists 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the gallery at 101 N. Sixth St. in downtown Kendrick. Participating artists include Ben Carpenter, Jim Christiansen, Geoff Crimmins, Alice Day, Ed Krumpe, Kristin LeVier, Robert "Mike" Romiski, Michael Weiss and Len Zeoli. This is just the fifth show Magnuson has had in the gallery, which he opened in his former insurance office in May 2010. While the first couple of artists -- Romiski and Weiss -- approached Magnuson with their work, when Magnuson then put out the call locally for other wood artists to take part in a show, no one replied. "A lot of people do wood working, but they're kind of shy," Magnuson said. Thankfully for Magnuson and the gallery, Moscow artist Christiansen is not shy, and he rounded up a half-dozen of his fellow wood-workers for the show. "He said, 'I'd like to support you,' " Magnuson said Monday. "The next thing I knew, he and Ben Carpenter blew in with a carload of pieces." The art range from utilitarian pieces like wooden bowls, to purely decorative ones such as an intricately carved old-fashioned microphone by Romiski and "intarsia" works by Day. "Intarsia" is an art form that developed in Renaissance Italy. The pieces created by Day looked something like wooden jigsaw puzzles. "She picks out these really exotic kinds of wood," Magnuson said, adding many of Day's intarsia pieces are on display and for sale at the Helmer Store. The Magnuson Gallery is not particularly large, and Magnuson said he had a little difficulty finding enough flat spaces for the pieces, all of which are free-standing except for Day's which hang on walls like paintings. "I borrowed a cool two-tiered table from my landlord," he said. LeVier said she got into working with wood when she was "a poor graduate student" at Dartmouth College where she was studying molecular biology. She wanted nice furniture and shelves, but she couldn't afford to buy them. She said Dartmouth has an "open access shop" that allows students to use the facilities and even get instruction and tips from staff who work there. "Their workshop is incredible," she said. After years of making shelves and furniture, she ventured into making art pieces after moving to Moscow when she saw the work Christiansen was doing. "I always wanted to move that direction," she said. Now that her youngest child is starting kindergarten, LeVier said she'll have more time to make furniture again. Her long-term goal is create "high-end art furniture," she said. LeVier said one of the things she enjoys most about working with wood is that an artist often doesn't know what will happen when they begin working with a piece of wood. She said while many artists claim they simply uncover the art that already is inside the wood, she often doesn't look at it that way. "I think I'm more of a designer," she said. "Sometimes I enforce my will on the wood, other times I let it inform me. Sometimes I'm in control, and sometimes the wood is in control." One of LeVier's pieces in the Magnuson show is carved spoons. Making spoons is something she finds very satisfying, and one of her spoons was recently accepted into a prestigious wood art exhibit that will take palce in Connecticut this fall. "Carving spoons is so much fun. I just love it," she said. The spoon that will be in the Connecticut exhibit can be seen at www.galleryofwoodart.org. Alan Solan can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 235, or by email at [email protected]. If you go -- WHAT: Out of the Woodwork exhibit -- WHEN: Artist reception 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday -- WHERE: Magnuson Gallery, 101 N. Sixth St., Kendrick -- COST: Free ___ (c)2011 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho) Visit the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho) at www.dnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]