WENATCHEE — Michael and Adele Little Caemmerer of Plain are showing a combined exhibit of paintings and ceramics at Collapse Gallery, 115 S. Wenatchee Ave. Married for 34 years, the Caemmerers have never before thought of doing the art thing together, but they did really enjoy working collaboratively this way for the exhibit called “Co:lab.”
Adele is a visual artist who has shown her work quite a bit, including group shows at Cafe Mela and Collapse, and a solo show at the MAC gallery on the Wenatchee Valley College campus. Michael makes ceramics, which he sells at markets and online. This is his first gallery exhibit — pairing pottery work with Adele’s paintings.
“The glaze itself inspired the idea,” said Michael. “We just kind of ran into a glaze I was using on one of my pots that looked a lot like the paintings she was doing in her studio. And so we had this idea of doing something together that emerged from there.”
A series of 11 pieces are paired, based on color combinations in nature with organic dot-like patterns.
The couple lived overseas for 19 years, working in Taiwan and also for 15 years at an international school in New Delhi, India. In North Central Washington, Michael was director of programming for Icicle Creek Center for the Arts from 2014-2019. He is also a playwright and theater artist. Adele taught in Wenatchee for seven years at Orchard Middle School.
The Caemmerers are active with Grünewald Guild, a nonprofit artistic retreat center in Leavenworth with a mission to be welcoming and inspirational to all who value art, faith and community. They help facilitate a cyber studio online with the guild so artists can continue to check in and share what happens in their process between retreats.
Adele participated with the 220 Group, which she said “emerged from a class that Scott Bailey taught [at Wenatchee Valley College] — an upper level painting class. We met and didn’t want the class to end so we kept meeting and challenged ourselves for years to do exhibits. It’s not meeting formally anymore but keeps the relationships and partnerships. It functions differently, not dissolving.”
“We take classes to have community. We want to do our own thing but don’t want to be alone,” said Adele. “We like the concept of open studio whether online or in person.”
Collapse Gallery is open 12 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
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