Phyllis Ray
My studio is my Kirkland home, where I make my life with my husband and our two cats. I divide my time between our studio home and our beach home on the Long Beach Peninsula. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Art Education and a Masters in Educational Psychology. I worked as a counselor in private practice in Seattle for 30 years while also being a painter. I now devote myself full time to art. I taught art to children and adults at the Thousand Oaks Institute of Fine Arts in California. I have participated in numerous Northwest art’s festivals and juried shows including the Northwest Annual Review, the Northwest Watercolor Show, the Eastside Associations of Fine Arts Annual Juried Show and the Edmonds Art Festival where I won Best in Painting in 2000. My work is represented by RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. I am a member of the American Watercolor Society, Artist’s Trust, Seattle Co-Arts, National Watercolor Society, Women Painter’s of Washington, and am a Signature Member of Northwest Watercolor Association
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Passionate
about light, color, shadow and space, I tend to gravitate toward the
day-to-day moments of my life for the subject matter of my
paintings. Rich layers of color and strong silhouettes invite one to
step into a very particular moment and experience it’s mood. Through
this awareness I attempt to bring the magic of the mundane into my
paintings; light shimmering through an open doorway, the shadow of a
flower spilling across a tablecloth, the feeling of a chair just
after it’s occupant has left the room. These are the kinds of events
that captivate me and find their way into my work. I work in
watercolor, oil bar, acrylic and manipulated Polaroid. Currently I
am concentrating on developing my work in watercolor. I have been
exploring watercolor monotype as well as direct painting. I am very
excited about using very dark pigments in watercolor painting. Most
recently I have been drawn to things and places that are old, rusty,
decaying, forgotten, and yet beautiful in their aged and used stage
of life