The Visual Arts Committee opens its March exhibit with a community show showcasing landscape art on Friday, March 1 at 5:30 p.m. with Featured Artist Avi Shmueli.

After moving to Orcas with his wife, Andrea Reback, a few years ago, Avi Shmueli set out to acclimate to his new natural environment. It was green, remote, very quiet, and often dark and wet. He picked up painting to process the new scenery: The fir, tsuga, red alder and hawthorn trees, the moss, ferns, bracken, elderberry and ocean spray. Working mostly in abstract landscapes with oil on canvas, his work consists of outdoor scenes from the areas he covers on walks with his dog, Ranger.

While hesitant to call himself an “artist”, Avi has a distinctive style which he feels has congealed over the past few years through study and exploring different disciplines. Writing, printing, and drawing never ‘stuck’, but when he started oil painting, he felt his creativity and inspiration unfold.

Avi’s process involves taking many photographs – some stand on their own, but others, based on light, shade, and composition, are best suited to be translated on canvas. Avi credits his art class with Terry Johnson as giving him regular motivation to pursue his art:

“It’s the little things with in-person instruction that you can’t get from online classes – watching someone hold a brush, looking at how they work, and having the positive encouragement from artists of all skills and experience levels. They have helped me to mature and grow immensely as an artist,” he said.

Avi Shmueli’s artwork will be on display in the Orcas Center lobby from March 1 – 26. For more information, visit www.OrcasCenter.org.