With spring springing up around us the Kingston Art Gallery’s wall will bloom with the lively and thought- provoking work of painter Julia Viniko Miller. Featured artist Miller’s show runs from April 8 through May 3. Her artist’s reception at our Second Saturday Gallery Night is April 11, 5-8p.m. Enjoy art, artists, music, refreshments.

After 20 years operating popular neighborhood restaurants in Seattle, Miller dropped the sauté pans and picked up brushes and acrylic paints to explore the painter’s process. Classes followed at the Gage Academy and Pratt Center for the Arts with experimentation and study on her own. Thrilled with a recent move to Kingston, her current work is inspired by the beauty of her new surroundings in North Kitsap. Also on display is a series of colorful landscapes as well as samples of miniature alphabet blocks illustrating healthy natural foods. As Miller says, “Once a cook, always a cook.” A fairly new member of the cooperative, Miller is the Secretary and the host of our monthly “Mug UP!”

Our third monthly “Mug Up!” is the first Thursday, April 2, 10 a.m. until noon. Bring your coffee mug to be filled along with your creative spirit. All artists (and I believe we are all artists, some just waiting to be discovered) and persons who love art please join us!

April 22 through May 17: Stan Tsonev’s wildlife photography will hang at Cleo’s Learning Center for the Arts just adjacent to the Kingston Art Gallery at Cleo’s Landing. Sales of work from his show, “The Moment of Connection,” will benefit Stillwaters Environmental Center. A special Earth Day open house will be held Wednesday, April 22, 6 to 8 p.m.

How much do you value and appreciate having a fine arts gallery in your corner of the world? The opportunity to become a “Patron of the Arts” by becoming a Kingston Art Gallery patron is offered to you beginning this month. Stop in the Gallery anytime for information. We are open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and would love to talk with you about the benefits. Or, click on our website www.kingstonartgallery.com.

Did I mention … the slugs are coming?

Contributed by Marilyn Liden Bode.