Gallery 9 in Port Townsend is featuring the artwork of self-taught oil painter and wood carver Gary Rainwater, as well as jeweler Judi Komishane for the month of September.

Rainwater logged 22 years as a Los Angeles firefighter, working everywhere from ambulances to fire boats, as he drove ladder trucks, saved lives and even delivered babies, including a pair of premature twins in a breach birth, during which he had to administer mouth-to-mouth breathing.

After rebuilding his Danish fishing boat, SV Ladyhawk, and sailing back to the Pacific Northwest with his wife Barbara, Rainwater reconnected with his box of oil paints.

Rainwater enjoys working with the contrast of light and dark, and his diverse array of subjects includes boats, nature, and animals as his works reflect the relationships of people to their environments.

Rainwater’s diminished vision has inspired changes to his subjects and techniques, but his portfolio already spans decades.

He spoke about his original oil painting of monarch butterflies,“The Gathering,” by observing that “they come from far away. Look closely at the white dots.”

Rainwater’s large carving of bison, on a redwood slab, is also featured, at the back of the gallery.

Rainwater spoke of the sadness he feels over how many large trees are now gone.

“There are too many people,” Rainwater said. “The petri dish is overflowing. Profit and politics mean nothing on a dead planet.”

According to Katy Morse, vice president of Gallery 9, Rainwater’s art conveys “a love of nature with the thoughtful hand of a skilled artist.”

Komishane has been making jewelry for more than 15 years, and finds a wide variety of materials for her necklaces, bracelets and earrings by combing through antique shops and other stops along her travels.

Komishane said she loves finding new ways to combine materials, so that each piece is unique, and never gets duplicated.

“I strive to make a wide variety of styles, colors and price ranges to suit different people,” Komishane said. “I love that my jewelry has found homes in many different places.”

Komishane is especially enthusiastic about making custom pieces.

“It was fun to do one that included the birthstones of the client’s three children, and another that combined stones from old family jewelry to make a new piece,” Komishane said.

With more than 800 pieces of jewelry, no two of which are alike, Komishane still appreciates finding unusual pendants to use in her beaded jewelry.

“Lately, I have rediscovered old pendants, acquired early on, that I’d put aside,” Komishane said. “In the past, I made many ethnic pieces, and my next focus will be in that direction. I hope you will take as much pleasure in looking at, and wearing, my jewelry as I do in creating it.”

Morse said the Gallery 9 cooperative started 20 years ago by a group of local artists.

To be featured in the 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, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but is closed on Tuesdays.

It stays open until 8 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month for the Art Walk.

For more information, visit gallery-9.com.