Open Studio Tour artist Betty Rayle excels at the press
Freeland artist Betty Rayle said color speaks to her and, judging by her work, it apparently has a lot to say.
Rayle is one of more than 100 island artists who will be welcoming visitors into her studio for the 11th Annual Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour. The tour is Saturday, Sept. 29 and Sunday, Sept. 30.
This island tradition allows art lovers a rare glimpse into the artist’s process and indulges the “lookie loo” fantasy of anyone who has ever wondered how artists create what they do.
As one of the many local working artists or crafters who reveal everything from painting techniques to glass blowing, weaving, woodworking, pottery and many other crafts, Rayle said she realized her form about 15 years ago.
“The monotype seemed to be my thing,” she said.
For about 40 years, Rayle has explored painting with oils, watercolors and pastels while indulging her kid-in-a-candy-store joy of print-making.
After purchasing a formidable, hand-operated etching press years ago, she has diligently added to her body of work with intaglio, aquatint, wood block and monotypes.
Her monotypes are produced by painting with oil-based paints and lithography inks on zinc or plexiglass plate and then transferring the picture onto paper with the etching press.
“There’s a million things you can do with printing and that’s what I think is so fun about it,” Rayle said.
Her paintings and etchings reflect the spontaneity and impressionistic qualities of art but boast an undeniable, cheerful quality that’s played out in the brightest of colors and subjects.
Flowers, dancers, children combing the beach for shells and landscapes of the muse that is this island — and one that seems to be a common link among local artists — belie the personality of Rayle that is feminine and bright and seemingly happy to do her thing in the studio all day long.
But that is not all she does.
Positioned alongside her studio is the Greenbank Gallery, a small building that houses a collection of her work and the work of a handful of other island artists.
Beyond that is a healthy field of grape vines lovingly planted and cared for by her husband Frank who, with his wife, began the Greenbank Cellars Winery nine years ago. It is Rayle’s artwork that adorns the labels of a variety of vintages produced there; one a color-infused watercolor portrait of the winery’s picturesque barn surrounded by Northwest pines.
Her paintings are collected nationally and internationally and she has won her share of juried exhibition awards and accolades.
Rayle’s artwork has been produced by two card companies and has also been chosen for Christmas cards for Seattle Children’s Hospital and as limited edition prints for the 1994 Maxwelton Salmon Adventure, the 2001 South Whidbey Youth Benefit Project poster — a sweet depiction of Langley’s First Street — the 2005 Loganberry Festival poster and by Starbucks Coffee Company for what Rayle has dubbed her “15 minutes of fame.”
But fame does not seem to be the impetus for this artist.
“I think most artists have a strong feeling about what they do,” Rayle said.
“Sometimes I think about a project for two or three years first. I see in these older pieces a part of who I am.”
Greenbank Gallery and Studio is located at 3112 S. Day Road off Bakken Road in Greenbank. Visit www.greenbankcellars.com or call 360-678-3964 for info.
The Whidbey Island Studio Tour is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30. Go to www.whidbeyopenstudiotour.org for more info about the tour.
Patricia Duff can be reached at 221-5300 or pduff@southwhidbeyrecord.com.
