The quaint town of Union sits at the southern bend of the Hood Canal located on the western side of the Puget Sound. Union faces west with its southern Olympic Mountain views and calm waters; offering consistently colorful shows of dramatic mountain sunsets. This alone is a sure draw for artists and photographers as well as the many seasonal vacationers who come to visit and find the means to return. The charm of Union doesn’t end there. In spite of it being a small town, Union has a roster of historic sites: The Dalby Waterwheel, McReavy House, Union Marina, Alderbrook Resort, as well as Robin Hood Village Resort, Hunters Farm, and Harmony Hill. The list is just some of the landmarks steeped in stories of history within the town. Union is also home to two boutiques worthy of a visit: Cameo, and The Weed Patch, and is home to the popular coffee shop, Union Square Deli, serving up a great menu and local ice cream, and is often filled with town regulars.
Union has been a long time home to visual artists, authors and musicians, and those wanting to live a quieter life within the woods and along the picturesque shore. Artists began flocking together to Union around one-hundred years ago, in the 1920’s with the formation of the Artist Colony. To learn more about this eccentric period of local history, find out more by picking up a copy of Michael Fredson’s The Artist Colony on Hood Canal: Pixley, Orre Nobles & Waldo Chase (2011).
Every August, Union is host to Hoodstock, an outdoor arts and music concert taking place on the water. The large part of the audience is boaters and kayakers enjoying a roster of regional musicians. Meanwhile on land, at the Union Marina this festival hosts a second location, easily accessible by dock, showcasing artists and artisans selling and connecting with the vacationers and the community. This annual arts and music festival is expanding and evolving each year. It’s here that several of the local artists come out of the woodwork to display their beautiful creations and share with the public. It’s nestled next to Union City Market where many local creators are also on exhibition year-round.
Introduction written by Janelle Kroner, artist and resident of Union, WA
Anne St Jean
Anne St Jean is a multimedia artist, who moved to Union in 2017; she is retired now and lives with her husband, two big dogs and three chickens. She's originally from Denmark and have lived in the United States for more than 30 years. In 2008 she decided it was finally time to do something about her long-time wish to learn watercolor painting, so she enrolled in a college class and very quickly fell in love with the process of creating and expressing thru art. It led to several more classes and soon she was active in Olympia arts walk and joined the Splash Gallery for a few years.
Now her days are mostly spent working with clay, textiles and painting in her home studio, and she will occasionally join the local plein art painters in the Union area for a bit of watercolor or pastel painting in the gorgeous nature surrounding Union. Lately she has ventured out in a new more abstract painting style in some very colorful flower and tree paintings, which expresses her love for color and form. You can reach Anne through email by clicking HERE
James Kroner (b. 1978) received his MFA in Fine Art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco (2013). The focus of his thesis was ‘The Energy in Nature’ with the marine climate always having an effect on the appearance of the city, he studied the fog and its movement as it played with the light cast by the time of day and depicted his renderings in often large scale works.
In the years since graduating, James has continued on this path within the theme of studying the local atmosphere and the interplay it creates on the scene he’s inspired by. Having moved north to the PNW he has been able to keep this focus as a motivation for his work. Kroner often travels to teach annual workshops around Europe, the U.S. and online. Go to James’s website HERE
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jameskroner/ @jameskroner
“To wander around in nature and marvel at its outstanding beauty and genius design was one of my favorite things to do as a young girl, and it still is to this day. I feel a strong connection to nature that is based on love, respect, and fascination. This connection is what makes up the core of my art. I’m also drawn to fairytales and mysticism, which shows especially in my paintings. When I create, I strive to evoke positive emotions in the observer, hopefully similar to my own emotions.”
Tove was born and raised in rural Sweden in a large family and moved to the U.S and Pacific Northwest in 2014. She has loved expressing herself through art since she was a little girl, so naturally her lower and higher education has always focused around art. After attending a High School that had a big focus on the arts, she pursued one year at a fine art school where oil painting was the focus, followed by one year of photography school. Since then, photography has been the predominant art form, but she also enjoys painting. Her photography and art is featured at Hood Canal Resort and Union City Market in Union, WA.
View more of her work on her website HERE
Janelle Kroner (b.1980 Janelle Randall) resides in the PNW town of Union along the southern part of the Hood Canal. Painting from life in oils through travels both international and close to home, Janelle enjoys the adventure of finding dynamic scenes and striking contrasts in nature and will stop along the side of the road to document the moment using a brush. Often returning to the same scene in various seasons, Janelle works to grow her ability and observations to compare with past paintings.
In 2005, she received her BFA in Fine Art Painting at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She went on to work for various galleries, also at the SFMOMA and full time for a decade as a bespoke decorative painter in S.F. Always keeping in line with her sole passion for fine art painting and arts administration. She has since moved to Union, appreciating the comradery of its inspiring community of artists. Janelle currently works full time as a painter and dedicates time to her goal of supporting and encouraging others by serving as the President of Plein Air Washington Artists.
See more of Janelle’s artwork HERE
“I was born and raised on the Olympic Peninsula, and you’ll most likely find me hiking, hunting, fishing, toiling away in my garden, or mushroom hunting - usually with my pup by my side or in the backseat of my pickup. I spend my time in the outdoors to find inspiration and to remember my part in the natural world.
I’ve just begun my journey into the fine arts and started selling my work in the spring of 2021. My primary mediums are both painting and printmaking. I create work inspired by things wild and free, my time spent on the back roads and backcountry, and a lifestyle that can only be created by the Pacific Northwest. Using photographs captured on my outdoor pursuits as references, I paint landscapes primarily in acrylics and watercolors, but have recently started exploring a transition into oils this fall. As a printmaker I carve designs in both wood and linoleum to create hand-pressed block prints.”
You can see more of Alexandra’s artworks at Potlatch Brewery in Hoodsport, WA, and at Crazy Hill Nursery in Belfair, WA. She can accept several commission requests throughout the year, see more at her website HERE. Instagram @alexan.ehrich
Harro
“My preferred medium is reactive metal paintings, using patination and rust. Alchemy is a word often used by others to describe my bronze, copper and iron application process. Originally intended for architectural coatings, this medium does excellent outdoors. Growing up on the waters of Puget Sound, the marine sea life inspires my artwork & activism to this day. Salmon and salmon recovery remain at the heart of my body of work.”
-Harro Scharbau IV
Public Art
BriAnne Waite
PWN born - PWN inspired - BriAnne utilizes all mediums from watercolor to concrete to fabric. In 2017, BriAnne broke out of the usual paint on canvas style to begin painting mural. It ia a love for making art accessible for everyone and she quickly became obsessed with tagging buildings and rooms. In 2020, BriAnne felt there was a void in art inspired apparel. She filled that void in the Hood Canel area by creating a new fabric design each year inspired by the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Even though BriAnne has added all these exciting mediums to her repertoire, she stays in touch with her roots by creating epic acrylics and watercolor paintings.
Instagram@PNWArt
Loren Feldman
Art has always been a big part of my life, as a way to express my ideas or to help others express their’s. After getting my BFA in visual communications from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, I began thinking about how design and traditional art relate. After moving to Union, WA a few years after graduating, I started merging my traditional art background with my design skills to create branding and merchandise for businesses in the PNW.
Environmental impact is something I keep in mind when creating, whether it be subject matter or the materials I use. I try to minimize waste when making my work, sometimes recycling old pieces into something new, or looking for sustainable sources when creating designs for apparel. I enjoy working with various mediums, such as watercolor, gouache, screen printing, charcoal/pencil, ink, and digital. I also occasionally explore different styles with my work to continue evolving as an artist. I’m inspired by surrealism, mid-century modernism, nature, and impressionism.
Instagram @ghostforgood
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Union City Market is a year-round community gathering space offering local snacks, art, gifts, and specialty grocery items. It is located on Hood Canal within a working marina. Local artists are on display through mediums of photography, ceramic pieces, watercolor paintings, and more. Learn more HERE
Featured artists include, Mark Dalton-Giclee, Tove Koch- Photography, Brianne Lesman- Acrylic, Michael Friel- Oil, Nancy Romanosky- Oil, Jan Morris- Watercolo, Michelle VanBerkom- Watercolor, Harro Art-Oxidation, Susan Nocella- Glass, Janelle Kroner- Oil, William Swanson- Ceramics, J.T. Wolff Bowden- Mixed Media & George Stenberg- Photography