The Port Townsend Gallery’s featured artists for March specialize in woodworking and mixed media.

Mitchel Osborne, speaking for the Port Townsend Gallery, touted woodworker Martha Collins as creating “small, intricate pieces” with sustainably harvested hardwoods from “throughout the world,” and combining them with either natural veneers or maple veneers that have been dyed.

“Collins is known for her small vessels and jewelry,” said Osborne, who noted those pieces are created with as many as thousands of pieces of wood. “Her career is in its fifth decade, and has been appreciated and exhibited at the finest shows in the country.”

Collins is currently preparing for the 2025 Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C., from April 23-27, as one of 120 artists invited from roughly 1,200 applications.

“This is Collins’ fifth consecutive appearance at this prestigious show,” Osborne said. “Collins readily admits that this is her Wimbledon, and it’s a great honor for her to be included.”

Meanwhile, mixed media artist Margaret Woodcock is presenting new paintings and drawings at the Port Townsend Gallery that utilize soft pastels, charcoal, ink, oil and cold wax, as well as collages.

According to Osborne, two themes emerge in these new works: “Growth and vitality in nature and a sense of place.”

Osborne elaborated, “With these new works, Woodcock is exploring how different materials can work together to form coherent images and take advantage of their inherent qualities.”

For example, Osborne cited “the softness of the pastel contrasting the intense black of the fluid ink line, or the layering of cold wax medium, with oil over line or marks, to achieve a depth of color or atmosphere” in Woodcock’s works.

“Her goal is not so much to be representative in approach, but to connect the character of the medium with the expressiveness of the floral, plant or tree forms with her own creative response to nature,” Osborne said. “At times, Margaret also adds collage elements with the other medium, carefully cutting or tearing paper images, animal or bird forms, landscapes, graphic elements like maps, handwritten notes or charts, as well as color or texture, letting suggested relationships and queries emerge like a visual poem.”

Osborne characterized Collins and Woodcock as “a wonderful pairing of two very different artistic expressions, each with an intricate and complicated process.”

What to know

Port Townsend Gallery’s March artists will greet people at 715 Water St. during the Art Walk on Saturday, March 1, from 5-8 p.m.