PORT ANGELES — Harbor Art Gallery will feature Cindy Elstrom’s ceramics and textiles for the months of November and December.
The gallery at 114 N. Laurel St., is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
“From the moment we were introduced, I have had a lifetime love affair with clay,” Elstrom said in a press release from the gallery.
That introduction took place in a community education class much like the one Elstrom taught at Peninsula College for eight years.
Working in clay for the past 40 years has taught her a great deal, the artist said, “not simply how to work with it but how to be one with it.”
During her career as an educator and then social worker, “the physical and spiritual nature of clay provided balance and replenishment,” Elstrom said.
She aims to make “art for daily life,” and so her wheel-thrown pieces are not simply functional ware, but usable art, the gallery said. She draws inspiration from her focus on the emotional and spiritual nature of people as they live their lives.
Elstrom has been a full-time artist since moving to Port Angeles, beginning at the Port Angeles Farmers Market then moving to juried festivals.
Anderson Gallery was the first to present her work, followed by Art Front, both in Port Angeles. She also showed at Gallery 9 in Port Townsend. Sunny Farms in Sequim carries a limited line of her ceramics.
When Elstrom joined Harbor Art Gallery it was on Railroad Avenue. Her studio was adjacent to the gallery, allowing public access to her working studio.
When that building was razed , Elstrom built a new studio near her home and Harbor Art moved to Laurel Street.
Elstrom is now part owner of the Harbor Art Gallery.
