Watercolors Of Gardens `Immediate,' Says Artist

Art exhibit

Kathy J. Mitcham, watercolors and prints, through June 15 at the Evergreen Gallery, 15167 N.E. 24th, Redmond; 747-6758. Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: Free. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Local artist Kathy J. Mitcham was drawn to watercolors, she says, because "it's a more immediate medium." Her approach takes her most often, however, to a place where time gets forgotten: the garden.

The artist draws her material from gardens up and down the West Coast, from a friend's modest backyard plot to professional exhibits in show gardens. Mitcham's translation of the material generally comes from three approaches: garden still lifes, scenes of gardeners tending and structures with a strong floral presence.

Many of of the still lifes set the subject against a non-referential background in the manner of French Impressionist Edouard Manet. "Fleurs en Hiver" portrays dusty red and yellow blossoms, their stems and leaves a lighter shade of the sea-green background. The flowers in "Iris," "Lillies" and "Sunflower" leap out from solid black fields.

"Blake Garden" and "Refuge" involve two different angles of the same scene. Both "Blake Garden I" and "II" center on a pool in an elegant show garden, the pool wreathed by flowers over which trees stand like sentries. "Refuge I" has an open feel, with a stroller with a blue umbrella watching a swan on the lagoon. "Refuge II" zooms in on the lagoon and places the swan in a thicket of trees.

The architectural lines in her watercolors featuring buildings lean toward the simple. "Porte Francaise" shows a streamlined white door topped by a roof garden. The flowers in that garden seem unusually bright against the cool blue surroundings.

"The Keeper," a print, takes a surreal twist on the architecture theme. White flowers flow over an English-style brick wall, in which a half-oval door opens onto a sparse, dusty garden. "Red Wheelbarrow" shows the tool propped against a slatterned white garage, hemmed in by a prolific sea of wild flowers.

Mitcham got her start creating textile art, receiving a degree in the field from the University of California in 1974 and working as a textile designer in Hawaii for five years. After returning to the mainland, she shifted to etchings and within the past few years to watercolors.

"People can usually see the textile designing background," Mitcham said, "particularly in pieces with a lot of patterns." Her background, she said, particularly draws her to gardens with a strong architectural component. She said the American impressionist Maurice Prendergast had similar inclinations and provided inspiration.

Aside from showing her work year-round in various galleries around Seattle, Mitcham does a local solo show every few years. She will exhibit in the Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Fair in Bellevue, which takes place July 29 through 31.