Gallery 9 in Port Townsend is featuring the artwork of painter Ann Arscott and sculptor Sarah Fitch for the month of August.

Arscott started drawing and painting as a small child, returning old soda bottles for money to buy paint, and entering her first art competition at the age of 5.

Her art has been inspired by the beauty of nature as she’s traveled around the world, and when her family went backpacking in the wild, she always included a tiny art kit in her bag. Those travels have included 125 different countries, where she took thousands of photographs, images that serve as what she calls “jumping-off places” for her artwork. 

Arscott, who has worked in oils, pastels, watercolors, ink, and pencil applied variously to canvas, silk, and various types of paper, cited “a strong Asian influence” to her style and subject matter. She credited that with being shaped by her time at the China Institute in New York.

Arscott likewise attributed her connection to nature as developing further with her studies in geology, as well as teaching at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

“My Sumi-E work is special, because our children have been living in Japan,” Arscott said, explaining that “Sumi-E” painting is an ancient art form that translates to “black ink painting” in which paintings strive to express the essence of forms, rather than their realistic appearance.

Arscott added, “I find that influence creeps into most of my other work as well. We came to the Olympic Peninsula about 20 years ago, and I still can’t get enough of the astonishing beauty.”

Arscott’s Asian-inspired paintings are set to be on display in Gallery 9 in August.

Fitch is a self-taught artist who makes bas relief stoneware, ceramic tiles, and sculptures.

According to her Gallery 9 peers, Fitch’s work has been described as “earthy folk art, with a whimsical and spiritual nature,” as she’s attracted to nature and has “a sense of delight and magic” when she sees wild animals.

Fitch’s fondness for ravens is why she named her workspace “The Rolling Raven Studio,” which she located in the woods “where nature’s wildness still exists.”

Fitch added, “I need the quiet and the wild in my creative space. For me, art is a meditative practice that helps in clearing mental clutter, and maintaining a hold on sanity in this capricious world.”

Fitch’s goal is to create “a sense of liveliness, character and expression” in her animal-themed works.

Each of her highly detailed tiles is created one at a time, rather than being mass-produced like commercial tiles, and they’re stoneware-fired to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit to make them more durable then raku or terra cotta.

The results are highly textured impressions of animals that Fitch’s Gallery 9 peers have said “seem to come alive in your hands.”

Katy Morse, vice president of Gallery 9, said the cooperative was started 20 years ago by a group of local artists. To be featured in its gallery, an artist must become a member of the cooperative through an application process.

If those artists qualify, their work is juried by the other members of the cooperative, and the artists present their experiences, as well as why they want to be part of the cooperative.

“The benefits include having your art on display in a great space in downtown Port Townsend,” Morse said. “The gallery only keeps 20% of the sales, which means the artist gets 80%.”

Gallery 9 is located at 1012 Water St. and is open six days a week, but closed on Tuesdays. It stays open until 8 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month for Art Walk.

For more information, visit gallery-9.com.