Congratulations to Janet Miller and Cathy Tran - 2025 EAP Winners

Both artists receive a free booth at the Best of the NW Spring Show, April 12-13, 2025. Be sure to stop by and congratulate them and support them in their first Best of the NW Show.

Janet Miller

“I am an artist and art teacher in Seattle, WA. I create artwork with mixed-media, including beeswax, encaustic pigments, graphite, oil paint, ink, and salvaged materials: scraps of old maps, antique sheet music, worn sewing patterns, well-used dictionaries, handwritten memories, and other remnants of our experiences in this problematic and beautiful world.

My artwork is greatly inspired by the social justice movements that I have connected with, witnessed, and learned from over the years: folks that work together to generate hope and resiliency, create safer ways to live and take care of each other, revolutionize love, family, and home, and hold transformative visions of new ways to live in the face of violence and oppression.

My latest body of work, “The Seattle I Remember,” remembers and celebrates some of the beloved places of Seattle, primarily on Capitol Hill, that have been replaced or displaced by high-end businesses in this time of rapid development. The paintings honor shared memories and highlight resilience. Queer people, artists and organizers are still here, even as we struggle to survive in our increasingly expensive city. Many of us are directly impacted by gentrification and need sources of hope so we can keep working for justice and equity. These paintings serve as a reminder that behind each replaced building is a history of community, struggle and resilience.”

See more of Janet’s work: https://www.planetjanetart.com https://www.etsy.com/shop/PlanetJanetArt and https://www.instagram.com/planet.janet.art/

Cathy Tran

“Drawn from my experience living as a neurodivergent, my work explores the instability of perception—how form dissolves and reassembles through the shifting lens of memory and experience. Reflections fragment, distort, and blur, revealing the limits of imagery as a system of meaning.

I approach each painting as a process of discovery, balancing structure and fluidity while navigating the tension between intention and spontaneity. My work is influenced by the world-building of magical realism in literature—authors like Jhumpa Lahiri, Haruki Murakami, and David Mitchell—as well as painters such as Susan Rothenberg, Winifred Nicholson, Francesca Molette, and Lila Holmes, who develop distinct visual languages within their work. I’m drawn to how they construct internal systems of meaning, where intuition and decision-making weave together to create compositions that feel elusive, yet are deliberate and impactful.

I begin first with speed and openness, by mapping out quick sketches using acrylic, or oil pastels— before slowing down to let the painting emerge. Layers accumulate gradually, each brushstroke informing the next, allowing movement and texture to organically shift the painting’s direction. I let the work rest, adjusting and responding over time until something appears that piques my interest and curiosity.

Light plays a significant role in my practice. I’m drawn to places where it behaves unpredictably— reflections on lakes, the glow caught between folds of petals, city lights at dusk. Since moving to the Bay Area, I’ve also become fascinated by fog—how it diffuses and absorbs light, constantly shifting the landscape into and out of focus. These fleeting visual experiences shape the refractive quality of my paintings.

The subjects that emerge in my work are often drawn from memory—impressions of places, light, and forms that have left a lasting imprint. Flowers frequently surface, recalling childhood gardens not as literal depictions, but as sensory recollections, softened by time and perception. My paintings exist in this in-between space, where familiarity and abstraction meet, mirroring the way perception itself remains fluid and ever-changing.”

See more of Cathy’s work - https://www.artxcathy.com Instagram: @cathy.paints

About the Emerging Artists Program

Emerging artists are the future of tomorrow’s art, but it’s not always an easy path. We designed our Emerging Artist Program (EAP) to help ease the journey from emerging artist to successful, experienced artist-business person.

Emerging artists are juried separately, still using criteria similar to our other events. The EAP artist(s) are selected and paired with a Northwest Art Alliance legacy artist who acts as a mentor. The EAP artist is awarded a booth space free of charge (including pole, drape, and electricity) in the Best of the Northwest Spring show and featured prominently in show promotional materials.

The NWAA mentor will be an experienced BNW artist who can share their expertise and help the emerging artist prepare for the event by being available to answer questions and “show them the ropes” of participating in Seattle’s premier art and fine craft show. The mentor donate their time for 6 weeks preceding the show to their protege to help them prepare for their BNW debut.

What is the definition of an Emerging Artist?
“An emerging artist is an artist that has mastered the basic techniques in her/his art form and is attempting to launch a professional career in the arts or an artist taking their established career in a new direction.”

PLEASE NOTE- All mediums are allowed to jury, EXCEPT JEWELRY.

2024 EAP WINNERS

Rosie Port and Sarah Silverman-Pucci

2023 EAP WINNERS

Lee Morrison

“Using abstraction, I paint colorful, fractal forests. The forest series is created by painting layers to achieve eye-catching, fragmented, glass-like effects. My art pays homage to the trees and to nature, which continuously cradles and challenges us individually and collectively. When viewing one of my paintings, I aim to show the moment when perspectives both collide and coalesce, catering to the idea that we perceive this world through our own unique colored lenses.” See more of Lee’s artwork by clicking HERE

Magali Lenarczak

“My inspiration stems from many places, from the mundane to a more personal event; Also, I have a complex imagination and draw from subconscious guidance. I paint with watercolors on Yupo, a synthetic substrate; the plastic-like, sleek surface allows me to get my whites back. I use found objects that make an imprint, handmade stencils, stamps, watercolor pencils, brushes, and rollers, to name a few.” See more of Magali’s artwork by clicking HERE

Some of our other EAP winners: