Featured Artist
Chris North
ceramic sculpture
My ceramic sculpture is symbolic of a collective memory of what I feel about the experience of place, our environment and how it all overlaps and connects.
I began this journey almost 20 years ago while working as the marketing director for an architectural firm in Portland, OR. I wanted an escape from technology and marketing, which I found at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. I chose clay as my medium. It is earthbound. It has a memory and is flexible and unforgiving at the same time. While living in Portland, I sought the rugged beauty of the Pacific coast. It’s vast horizon and unbroken wind. The similarities to the Kansas prairie are not lost on me. Our big, boundless sky and wind that blows the grasslands into waves of color and texture.
My inspiration for form, texture and color comes from my daily walks, car drives that offer passing snapshots and the written words of authors such as Craig Childs and Annie Dillard. In my work, I create a dialogue of pieces and parts I’ve mentally collected or photographed. I work heart to hand, embracing imperfections. I keep multiple sketchbooks and build my work using coil and slab methods. I use very little glaze. I strive to create visceral surfaces.
The touchable quality of my work is achieved through carving and gouging the surface, hand burnishing terra sigillata on to unfired clay, and adding layers of pattern combined with stains, oxides, slips and multiple firings.
Featured Artist
Kymm Ledbetter
mixed media
I create mixed-media floral paintings using watercolor, colored pencil, sewing, paint markers, and touches of fused glass. My work grew out of a major shift in my life—after 25 years as a fused glass artist, I had to step away from that medium in 2022 due to health reasons. What followed was a period of figuring out what I could still do, and more importantly, what I was willing to try.
What I found was a renewed sense of curiosity. Through self-teaching, experimentation, and a lot of trial and error, I discovered a love for combining materials in unexpected ways. My process is rooted in problem solving. Each piece becomes a question I don’t fully know the answer to when I begin. I’ve learned not to fear mistakes, but to rely on them. They are how I learn, adjust, and move forward.
I’ve also learned to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I try not to let fear stop me from pushing into new territory. Sometimes you just must jump and trust there’s a net somewhere. If you stay afraid and never take a chance, you don’t get to find out what you’re capable of.
Watercolor, especially, has changed how I approach both art and life. It’s taught me to let go of control and accept unpredictability—what happens, happens. There’s a kind of freedom in that, and a quiet sense of trust in the process.
Creating this work and choosing to participate in this show is part of that same mindset. I wanted to see if I had what it takes, and to discover what challenges I’m ready to face next. My work reflects where I am now: still learning, still experimenting, and still willing to take the risk of not knowing.
Private Collections Consignment Works
Our featured exhibitions for this month highlights works in various media from the gallery’s private collections consignment works. These works include pieces by well-known local, regional, national and international artists. We encourage you to browse the collections below and contact us for additional information on specific artists or works.
Smith Collection
Wu Collection
Evans Collection