It’s whimsy, OK? But it’s more than that.
We stumbled on Stan Peterson’s work by accident, when a road trip we planned didn’t pan out and we needed a new destination.
So. We’re lying on a blanket under a shady tree in Spokane’s Riverfront Park (wonderful, surprising, must-be-visited). We’re bummed because we can’t proceed to Canada (a passport left-behind issue). And because we dig on the stoics, and the stoics advise going with the flow rather than getting all het up, we revise our plans as we listen to the Spokane River tumble over waterfalls nearby.
Inevitably, we wind up the next day 300 miles away at the Maryhill Museum on the Washington side of the Columbia River, not far from Goldendale. If you don’t know the Maryhill, I both feel sad for your not-knowing and envy you the upcoming pleasure of discovery. Walking into the Maryhill for the first time is like reading a new and about-to-be beloved book. You’ll read it many times, but that first time is magical.
And that’s where we found Portland artist Stan Peterson tinkering with his show titled Horse Play. We came upon the wood carvings with their muted color washings in the best possible way. You come around a corner and you see the horses in the little boat and you immediately think of singer Lyle Lovett’s If I Had a Boat song, with the delightful line: “Kiss my ass, I bought a boat and I’m going out to sea.” It’s amazing how often that is the correct response to life.
Peterson’s carvings are whimsical, but muscled. The work feels certain of itself, completed. And it’s grounded in place: horses, river barges, pelicans, sturgeons, bluebirds. I fell in love right away. And then I checked his website and now, well, I’m a new fan.
It’s instructive to meet the actual artist, and I’m glad we did. But I only remember one thing he said. Despite being a lifelong artist whose work sells in galleries, the Maryhill show is his first at an actual museum. He was excited as he said this — eyes bright, big smile. Like a kid at play.
You can meet him, too. Peterson is giving a walk-through chat at 3 p.m. on Saturday Aug. 29. The museum cafe will be open and serving fresh salmon. (RSVP at the museum website). Since this is the closing walk-through it’ll be the last chance to see his work at the Maryhill.
I might have to go back.
Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now 