“Ruby Princess in Port 1” by Mark Skullerud.

Image courtesy of Northwind Art

It was a great line from a great movie.

And it’s also the theme of the new Artist Showcase in Northwind Art’s Best Gallery.

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

The new show opened last week in Port Townsend and runs through March 28.

The latest offering in the Artist Showcase, a juried and curated exhibit series, features 31 selected artists.

One of the works, by Elizabeth Reutlinger, also recalls another famous phrase from the Hollywood classic “The Wizard of Oz”: There’s no place like home.

The 18-by-35-inch oil painting depicts a stand of towering alder trees.

“It’s a typical Northwest scene,” Reutlinger said.

Originally from Kentucky, not Kansas, Reutlinger has lived here for 45 years, first moving to Bainbridge Island in 1973 before buying a house in Port Townsend in 1976. 

Reutlinger, who now calls Quilcene home, has three paintings hanging in the show, and the tree painting is her favorite.

“I’ve always been sort of dabbling in art,” the artist said, recalling dalliances with sculpting in bronze and concrete.

“I weld metal things and make outdoor bird baths, yard art. I make a lot of yard art out of funky, rusted metal,” she said.

She’s been painting since 2008; oils are her medium. She started after taking a week-long oil-painting class for beginners taught by Diane Ainsworth.

Reutlinger has been a featured member of the Artist Showcase since 2013. She is inspired by where she lives, often turning to photographs to set the scene for what she’ll paint next.

“I’m living life in the most beautiful place in the world. I’ll see something and it just grabs me, and, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to paint that,’” she explained.

Then it’s off to her art room to grab a canvas and fill the space with song. 

“I put on music, usually gospel. Get out my paint brushes, map it out, sketch it in with a neutral color on the canvas,” Reutlinger said.

And then stop thinking.

Being overly analytical, or overthinking the process, are pitfalls to avoid.

“I get out of my thinking brain,” she said.

Reutlinger said the start of each painting offers the promise of exploration and experimentation. 

“I use all sorts of techniques when I’m painting,” she noted, adding that she’ll typically turn to a palette knife when painting trees and landscapes.

Light leads her through the image, and she works with the texture of the oils — thin in places, super thin in others — to create contrasts and depth within the painting.

That’s where a palette knife comes in; laid on the canvas, leaves are scraped on. Another turn of the knife, here and there, for little specks of the blue sky. 

“You can see the knife,” she said, noting the trunks of the alders in her painting.

“I’m really pleased with this particular one, because it was really fast and it was really successful. And it doesn’t always happen that way.”

Most of her paintings are done in a day, for good reason, Reutlinger said.

“They have to happen fast because I paint while the paint is wet,” she explained.

After two or three hours painting, Reutlinger said she’ll take a little away from the canvas — a break for a bite to eat, or a beer, or a walk — then give her painting another look.

“When I’m winding down on the painting I have to go away from it,” she said. “Then it’s really clear what needs to be done; ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got to fix that.’”

Getting back to Oz, and the theme of the new show, Reutlinger recalled first seeing the movie when she was 6. She’s 70 now.

“I was afraid of the flying monkeys,” she laughed.

Organizers of the new Artist Showcase said the theme was picked as a nod to the tumultuous year that’s just gone by.

For those interested in an artful escape from 2020, people can click their heels down to the Northwind Art Best Gallery, located at 701 Water St. Exhibit hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

The pieces in the showcase include 2D and 3D artistic styles, which range from classical to abstract. Mediums include watercolors, pastels, oils, encaustic, photography, ceramics, metal and wood.

Featured artists include Tamera Abate, Robert Basta, Jinx Bryant, Kathy Constantine, Jeanne Edwards, Duane Ervin, James Ferrara, Harry Goldstrom, Brian Goodman, Joyce Hester, Meg Kaczyk, Tracy LeMoine, Wanda Mawhinney, Evan Miller, Marian Morris, Roger Morris, Jason Mullins, Scott Pascoe, Jim Romberg, Kathleen Secrest, Kim Simonelli, Mark Skullerud, Michele Soderstrom, Kristen Taylor, Linda Tilley, Kerry Tremain, Diane Walker, Chris Witkowski, Debra Wuts, and Joe Wuts.

To see the exhibit, and to learn more about the artists, go to NorthwindArt.org.