Gallery-9 in downtown Port Townsend is featuring the works of two artists for June with Susan Martin Spar’s oil paintings and pastels, and Robin McKann’s woodworking.

Spar, a classically trained artist who graduated from both Georgetown Atelier in Seattle and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, has focused on landscapes, figures and still lifes. Her art is included in the permanent collections of both the Millard Sheets Foundation and the Corona Heritage Park Foundation.

Spar’s oil painting “The Wizard Nebula” was inspired by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. She has begun looking beyond the everyday objects, animals and landscapes which previously comprised her work, and expanded her perspective to encompass the broader universe.

“Perhaps it’s my age that is pushing me to look beyond my inner landscape for inspiration,” Spar said. “I have always been intrigued and mystified by space. I love science, science fiction and all things futuristic.”

Given her “traditional and classical” background and training, Spar emphasized that even her more “futuristic” paintings were produced without the use of AI, airbrushing or any media other than a brush and palette knife.

“The Wizard Nebula” and “Pillars of Creation” are on display at Gallery-9 this month, along with several of Spar’s more traditional pieces.

McKann’s years of hands-on practice in woodworking included the opportunity to work on his “spiritual master’s” house in Malibu, from which his skills as a cabinet and furniture maker evolved until he was able to retire from his carpentry business in Southern California, and then move to Port Townsend.

McKann uses spalted alder, figured maple, myrtle wood and several “well-aged, exotic” woods that he’s collected over the years, coating them with layers of hand-rubbed pure tung oil to give them a durable, water resistant, nontoxic surface, that he touted as enhancing the natural beauty of the wood.

McKann continues to produce functional fine art such as cabinets, tables, decorative boxes and cutting boards, and he credited joining Gallery-9 in 2008 with inspiring him to explore the woods surrounding his home.

“Curvaceous forms and innovative swinging drawers and lids for natural formed boxes are found in my designs,” McKann said. “I have spent many years chasing rainbows in grains of wood.”

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.

“There’s an application process,” Morse said. “Prospective members fill out forms and submit photos of their work.”

If those artists qualify, their work is juried in person 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.

“There are expectations, once a member has been voted in, but 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 open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays, and closed Tuesdays, at 1012 Water St., except on the first Saturday of the month, when it’s open until 8 p.m. for the “Gallery Walk.”

Visit gallery-9.com for more information.