The best things in life are free. Flowers, trees, birds, and bees. The sea and sky. People bustling about, flitting from storefront to ferry, engaged in animated conversations, children playing make-believe swashbuckler hero on open-air stages, flying dreams like kites in the wind…
Art.
It’s everywhere in Edmonds, inside and out, handled and showcased with care in galleries, coffee shops, taprooms and taverns, cantinas and wine bars, alleys, playgrounds, and beachfronts — and costs nothing to enjoy.
Take it all in.
Free Little Art Gallery (FLAG Edmonds) builds on that generous spirit by encouraging neighbors, visitors, artists of all ages to share their creative expressions, and maybe take a piece of original, unexpected art for themselves.
Make Art • Leave Art • Take Art
Four weeks ago, Free Little Art Gallery’s “poet tree” sprouted up on 623 Main Street downtown. Inside the birdhouse-like display case, passers-by can find a world of wonders created by artists as young as five and as established as Christine Cossu (WeGoZoom), World of Whimm, Vicki Miller, Jenn Miltenberger, Ashley (Willow on Oakes), and Magical Minis.
The “poet tree,” made by local business Share with Others, resembles the mini-libraries posted throughout bucolic Snohomish County neighborhoods, tucked between pine trees and blackberry bushes, in and around hidden lakeside trails. Based on the honor system, you can donate and claim books — or small-format artwork, in FLAG’s case.
According to FLAG’s IG, the tiny art gallery was one and a half years in the making.
After opening, all kinds of art began to appear: painted rocks grounded by the wooden post holding up the display case, a hand-drawn doodle on a Leftcraft dinner receipt, quirky self-portraits, black-and-white fine-ink drawings, a mini-flower canvas — grinning impetuously — and a mystery bottle filled with goodies provided by the owner.
Artists can also mail their mini-art to 623 Main St. #1, Edmonds, WA 98020.
With our compliments
Enjoy more Edmonds-supported art, free or to buy for your very own:
- On display at Gallery North, a spotted sea lion and other seaside escapes by nature photographer Mary Bess Johnson and beautiful bouquets, like “Pink Tulips” by watercolor painter Lynnea Mattson.
- Cole Gallery’s always bustling with new art, including those from Pam Ingalls, Bev Jozwiak, Jed Dorsey, and Andy Eccleshall, featured recently in American Art Collector magazine.
- Driftwood Modern delights in finds from another time, mid-century home furnishings embracing the aesthetically-pleasing and the cozy-comfy, a Guy Anderson woodcut or monotype prints from the ‘60s, and other bespoke arrangements.
- Lose your senses at misty, moody, magnificent Cannon Beach through the lens of Randall J. Hodges.
- Pick up earrings and pendants encasing real flowers that never wilt and die at MaJe Gallery.
- Art View and Art Walk Edmonds (May 20, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.) continue this month. Check out Joan E. Archer and Leah K. Goodwin’s watercolors, photography, and oils at Aria Studio Gallery; Bryn Alberto and Tracy Felix, as they live-stream their art in progress via ARTSpot’s Facebook page during Art Walk; Jennifer Carrasco showing how she makes greeting cards from her mural images live at Cascadia Art Museum (Art Walk); Stephen Mark Gilbert’s acrylics and watercolors at Christopher Framing & Fine Art; Driftwood Modern’s John-Franklin Koenig’s large-scale paintings; Planet Dot Jewelry’s Michelle Mediati-Whalen and her pop-up at Pelindaba Lavender (Art Walk only); in-depth viewings of Jozwiak and Ingalls’ artwork at Cole Gallery; and much more.
Photo credits: FLAG Edmonds, including Willow on Oakes' mini-canvas, Jed Dorsey's "Celebrate," Pam Ingalls' "Castle's Castle," and Bev Jozwiak's "Buttons and Bows" and "Daily Chores"/Cole Gallery, Stephen Mark Gilbert/Christopher Framing & Fine Art, Lynnea Mattson's "Pink Tulips"/Gallery North.
