Art wall's June artist expands into colors

Kirk Boxleitner | Jun 08, 20230

Courtesy of Alexis Newton count

Alexis Newton is the featured artist for June at Belfair Self-Storage's art wall.

Raised in Port Orchard, Newton was born in and spent "a huge part" of her childhood in Shelton, where most of her extended family has lived.

"My parents have lived on Mason Lake for the last couple of decades," Newton said. "It's essentially where I 'return home' nowadays."

Newton, whose website at http://www.DrawingAli.com shows a sample of her portfolio, describes graphite pencils as "my true love and passion, when it comes to expressing my true self as an artist. There's something about the quiet depths of dark lines, against the sharp bright light of an eraser streak, that really drives my desire to keep creating."

Newton has recently been expanding her techniques with watercolors.

"Most of my commissioned pieces are done in these media, allowing me to give color and life to cherished images," Newton said.

While Newton has taken "the occasional art class" and said she has always loved it, she said it wasn't until "the last handful of years" that she's focused on honing her craft.

"It wasn't until about six years ago that I picked up a pencil and started to draw for love," Newton said. "I've never felt a runners' high, that clears your head while you're running, but I do feel that when I draw. When times get a little tough and life gets hectic, nothing is better and more therapeutic for me than hiding away with a piece of paper, a pencil and some good music."

Newton said her grandmother, Joanne Nutt, was one of her art teachers.

"Her paintings colored my childhood, and are some of my most treasured pieces," Newton said.

Newton's most recent (and current) instructor has been Dori Craze of Poulsbo, whom she credits with inspiring her and building her confidence as she's branched into watercolors.

Belfair Self-Storage is displaying one of the pieces of which Newton is most proud: a portrait of a Coast Guard helicopter that she completed last year for her dad for Father's Day.

"I watercolor-painted one of the helicopters he was a Coast Guard medic on in Alaska in the 1970s," said Newton. She summarized the tale of how he was awarded a medal. "They went out on a flight to save a guy with really bad tetanus, on a boat out in the sea."

Newton's father and his Coast Guard helicopter crew struggled with low visibility, stronger-than-expected winds, incorrect coordinates and electronic failures in order to locate and rescue the ailing man.

"Fighting against all odds, they made it back to land, touching down at the same time they ran out of gas and expired the engine," Newton said. "The man was rushed to the hospital, where he survived due to the actions of (my dad), the medic onboard. To hear him tell the story is pretty incredible."

Most of Newton's watercolor commissioned pieces have their own stories.

"I've completed a watercolor of a vintage car that a friend's dad left her when he passed, a home portrait of a house being sold that had so many memories to the family selling it and a portrait of a beloved family pet who had passed," Newton said.

Newton works as a real estate broker with the Hauer Home Team. She incorporates her artistic abilities by creating a watercolor home portrait every time she buys or sells a home with a client.

"I really love handing those portraits to them, after the home-buying and selling process is complete, to help them celebrate that milestone," Newton said. "I love drawing images with a lot of detail. Lately, I've done close-up portraits of animals that have a lot of texture."

Newton acknowledged that she's found watercolors to be "a temperamental beast" at times.

"It's a hard medium to control, so you have to let go sometimes, and let it do what it's going to do," Newton said. "It's also really hard for me to leave negative space in my paintings, as I tend to use color in every square inch. It's been a slow process, learning to be OK with purposely having negative space."

During her frequent drives through Belfair, Newton has seen the Belfair Self-Storage sign promoting previous artists of the month. She took a few minutes to check out the art wall and worked up the courage to ask the business' manager Barbara Treick about having her art displayed.

"Barbara asked if I was available to do it the following month," Newton said. "This is my first real art display, and all it took was the nerve to finally stop and ask."