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Artists at work
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The 2016 Astoria Open Studio Tour invites the public to meet
artists and see demonstrations all around Astoria July 30 and 31
Story and photos By
DWIGHT CASWELL
Have you ever wondered what
happens between the artist’s idea
and the gallery’s painting or print?
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Satur-
day and Sunday, July 30 and 31,
almost 50 local artists will invite
you into their studios to meet them,
see their work, and watch live
demonstrations. And it’s all free and
a lot of fun.
The local arts community is
thriving as never before, and this
tour is proof of that. The variety
and quality of work on display is
impressive. There will be long-es-
tablished Astoria artists, like Darren
Orange, Gin Laughery, David Lee
Myers and Noel Thomas, as well
as relatively recent arrivals on the
scene, like Robert Paulmenn and
Lam Quang’s HiiH Lights. You’ll
also fi nd other accomplished artists
who are new arrivals to Astoria.
One of the newcomers to the
tour is David McMacken, whose
10th Street studio, Ratz and
Company, is in its third year. His
exceptional illustrative work is
unique in the area, and his career
as an illustrator goes back over
half a century. His agents peddle
his talents, literally, from Chicago
to Shanghai, and it is McMacken’s
experience that, “Artists need to
learn to be businessmen, or you’re
not a professional artist.”
On display in McMacken’s stu-
dio are both paintings and archival
prints of his work, which include
advertising illustrations, paintings
of Astoria and the coast (“Pilot Boat
Arrow No. 2,” “Cape Foulweath-
er”), rock ’n’ roll art (He’s got a
thing for Frank Zappa, but who
doesn’t?), and stuff that’s just plain
weird. Among the latter are “Attack
of the Killer Chihuahua” and
various movie monsters obliterating
New York and San Francisco. You
can’t ask for a more heterogeneous
oeuvre than that.
Normandie Hand’s studio and
gallery is located in Suite A at 1054
Exchange St. The studio is new, but
her work has long been familiar to
art afi cionados on both sides of the
river. “Printmaking is the basis of
my work,” she says, “and some-
times I do mixed-media on top of
the prints.” The media she uses
include beeswax, colored pencil,
crayons, pens, sumi and acrylic
inks, and collage.
Hand has a background in
marketing but fi nds that marketing
her work is a distraction from the
creative process. She has taken a
break from the sales end of things
to create a body of work for her
next gallery show.
“I’m very inwardly focused
when I’m creating art,” Hand says.
“It’s an addiction, a good and pos-
itive one.” While working on her
prints she listens to Books on Tape
because, “It engages the exacting
part of my mind, which frees me up
to be creative.”
Hand’s work can be represen-
tational (lots of dogs on paper and
two dogs in the studio) or abstract.
For the open studio she will be
joined by three other well-known
local artists, printmakers Kirsten
Horning and Gin Laughery, and
painter Linden. That’s a powerful
combination, and makes this studio
a must-see.
Another artist not to be missed
is Renee Rowe. Her studio is
located in the Astoria Art Loft at
106 Third St., where nine artists
are participating in the studio tour.
Rowe is new to Astoria but not to
art. She has managed and owned art
galleries, and she moved here when
she decided to concentrate on her
own artwork. “I absolutely love the
quirky nature of the town, and that
it’s forward looking and has a past it
connects with,” she says. Rowe also
likes being a part of an arts com-
munity, “being with serious-minded
people who are committed to art
and doing meaningful art.”
Rowe divides her work into
“impressionist art and crazy art.”
Her impressionist work is primarily
of the local landscape. “I’m from
THE LOCAL ARTS
COMMUNITY IS
THRIVING AS
NEVER BEFORE,
AND THIS TOUR IS
PROOF OF THAT.
Printmaker and multi-media artist Normandie Hand transfers ink to paper.
Artist David McMacken will showcase his illustrative work, including paintings and prints, at his studio in downtown Astoria.
the desert,” she says, “and I love the
green and the water and the clouds.
They thrill me.” Her “crazy art” in-
volves dripping and throwing house
paint as well as “metal, varnish, old
paper, you name it. I just play.”
These three studios represent 14
artists, and the whole of the Astoria
Open Studio Tour is just as interest-
ing, exceptional and fun. Check out
the map of studio locations as well
as samples of each artist’s work on
Page 12. Plan your time, or get into
the spirit of the thing. Park some-
where in Astoria, start walking to
the nearest numbered location, and
surprise yourself with art.
Renee Rowe, one of the artists at Astoria Art Loft, works on an impression-
istic painting.