Art Opening: Peter Fisher / Orcas Retrospectives
May 23, 2025 @ 5:30 pm
Visual Arts Committee Presents:
Featured Artist: Peter Fisher
Community Show: Orcas Retrospectives
Installation Day: Thursday, May 22nd
Art Opening: Friday, May 23rd
On Display: May 23rd – June 24th
Pickup: Wednesday, June 25th
For this community show, let’s celebrate the history and art of our beautiful island! Do you have historical photos of Orcas Island? Or perhaps fantastic artwork from Orcas artists who are no longer with us? Artwork on display for this show does not need to be for sale – We are just excited to appreciate the talent of Orcasonians from years past.
Community shows are open to ALL island artists, beginning and experienced alike. The purpose is to showcase island art and celebrate our creative neighbors! To exhibit in a community show, an artist needs to come on the Installation Day (for this show, May 22nd) with their artwork ready to be displayed or hung.
On Installation Day, the artist will fill out two labels including title, artist name, the medium, and the price, (or denoted NFS). One label will be attached to the artwork, the second will be given to the committee. The artist will also fill out an Artist Agreement and Sales Information Sheet if she or he does not already have one on file. All placement and hanging of the art will be done by the VAC.
Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres for the Artist Reception on Friday, May 23rd.
To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit: www.OrcasCenter.org/VAC
Featured Artist: Peter Fisher
2025 is the 50th Anniversary of my first art exhibition; it was at Tacoma Art Museum when I was 18 and a high school senior. The group show was called “Photography 1975” and their jury chose 5 of my entries. Luckily, my high school history teacher had worked for Ansel Adams and taught the “Zone System” so I was producing artwork that I still sell by 1974. In 1983 I moved to Orcas and opened my photography business.
This exhibition provides a sampling of my favorite images from a lifetime of making art. Orcas Island is my favorite subject matter but I enjoy photographing everything from flowers to ferries. Nature is my primary muse but whatever catches my eye is fair game: my artist’s statement is “everything is connected – I see, feel and photograph the energy connecting everything.” Art in service of beauty and spirit!
From about age three, (circa 1960) growing up in Arkansas, I remember knowing two things: I wanted to be an artist and I wanted to share my joy of playing in nature by making art.
The Orcas I visited many summers as a kid included stays at North Beach Inn, running around Madrona Point, and visiting my grandparents, who moved to Grindstone Harbor in 1964.
After 1976, my parents lived in Tokyo, Jakarta, and Brussels. I’d bring film and document my visits; my slide shows are visual stories of where I have been and what seen.
After enjoying a childhood trip to Norway in 1968, I went to school at Hallingdal Folkehugskole in 1977-8. I learned Norwegian, met my cousins, made new friends. I loved the slow pace of life, the skiing, and the culture.
The most extraordinary experience I had overseas was working in Kashmir, New Dehli, and Rajpur for indian scholar Gopi Krishna. One day, shopping for dish scrubbers, I found these.
Why am I an artist? To celebrate and honor my love for the beauty in nature. When I feel my heart connect to the spirit of a rock, or see the life force in a blade of grass, then I create art to give thanks for the gift of mystical experience.”
