Gallery 9 in Port Townsend is featuring the artwork of fiber artist April Bederman and mixed media abstract artist Lisa Dawson for the month of October.

Bederman was introduced to felt while working summers in Alaska, and took to making hats through felting, which involves applying layers of carded wool to a form or pattern.

Water, soap, agitation and elbow grease are subsequently applied before shaping the final item.

Bederman grew up in a home of makers, so not only is she interested in functional art, but she also loves color, texture, nature, dogs and people. And she enjoyed and appreciated handmade beauty. “Knowing how a thing is made, and who made it makes it a treasure.”

While visiting friends in Port Townsend, Bederman was introduced to “nuno” felting, in which fine wool is felted into lightweight silk fabric, for lighter accessories.

For Dawson, “exploring creative thinking” began at about the age of 4, when she took her first art lesson at the Long Beach Museum of Art in Southern California.

Since then, Dawson’s passion for art has found its expression in experimentation, blending various media and techniques without following “any rules or principles” for creating art.

Dawson credited much of her inspiration to the talent of her artist mother, Rae Belkin, who dabbled in many different media herself throughout the decades, “executing them all beautifully.”

In spite of benefiting from such an artistically rich background, Dawson admitted that she never seemed to be able to recreate landscapes or portraits on canvas that captured the qualities they possessed in real life, which was why she became so enthusiastic upon discovering abstract painting.

Dawson now uses her self-taught style to create collages of handmade paper from around the world with acrylic paints, charcoal, oil pastels, gold leaf, cold wax and “just about anything else that will literally stick.”

Dawson’s creative processes involve “purposeful selections” of clashing paints and materials that “cohesively complement” each other, and are “directly tied” to her personal feelings, experiences and emotions of “tragic loss and healing.”

Katy Morse, vice president of Gallery 9, said Dawson represents this in her textures, color palettes and materials, “inviting viewers to contemplate and interpret each piece in their own ways.”

Morse said the Gallery 9 cooperative 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. Gallery 9 is located at 1012 Water St. and is open six days a week, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but is closed on Tuesdays.