'Environmental Still Life': Photos Capture Patterns, Textures of Rural Subjects

Photographer Jacob Smithers’ “Environmental Still Life” is on display through Sept. 7 at 's ArtsNow gallery at the , 201 Fourth Ave. N.

You can meet the artist Aug. 16 from 5-8 p.m. during the . The free reception, at the conference center, will have live music by the Jazz Pearls, a swinging jazz combo, with musicians Ashley Webster, Morgan Gilkeson and Lauren Hendrix.

Refreshments will be available. For more information, call 425-640-1243, e-mail artsnow@edcc.edu or go to www.edcc.edu/artsnow.

“It’s interesting how as people we change so much as the years go by, but deep down we retain a strong sense of self and that core of who we are tends to stay the same, ” said Smithers, who often uses aged structures and nature as his subject matter.

The photographs border between figurative and abstract. They close in and capture patterns and textures of rural subjects.

Smithers was born in the Seattle area, majored in Environmental Science at Seattle University, and studied under Photographic Center Northwest and Seattle University’s Claire Garoutte.

He continues to work with several nonprofit organizations, harmonizing his love for photography and community.