Expired Under Northwest Skies by Lynn Zimmerman at the Inn at Lynden

August 6 – February 27, 2021

The Jansen Art Center is pleased to welcome Lynn Zimmerman to the Inn at Lynden for an exhibit of her work. The exhibit opens on August 6 and will be on display through January 6, 2021.

Zimmerman grew up in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and explored the outdoors on horseback with a camera alongside. She earned a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration from Capilano University where she was hired as graphic designer. After moving to Port Townsend, Zimmerman became a freelance photojournalist. Zimmerman refined her painting skills while teaching at BellinghamART, the school that she founded 20 years ago. While studying paintings by early landscape artists she gravitated to classic oil painting. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are inspired by the natural landscape of favorite sites in Skagit and Whatcom counties, I try to capture the delicate, fragile beauty of the natural world. From quiet scenes of the meandering Samish River to the drama of Northwest skies, I often return to the same site during different seasons and take photographs that sometimes include solitary farm houses, traces of the human presence. 

I try to awaken an emotional response to nature by capturing dappled light through trees, luminous atmospheric colors, and evanescent reflections in water that may go unnoticed. My experience as a photojournalist informs my paintings. Framing the subject with a camera establishes composition, which is then translated into charcoal. I build up subtle values of dark to light to contrast relationships between earth and sky. The white of the canvas evokes atmosphere and the soft form edges suggest a blurring of time. At once so familiar yet new, these landscapes reflect my desire to create something of enduring beauty.