‘Connected by Light’ brings the work of Christine Lange to an exhibition that celebrates the ways light reveals, transforms, and connects.

Artist reception Saturday, July 11, 2026 from 4-6pm. Let us know you’re coming! (Not necessary to register to attend)

Learn more about the event, and the artist reception on July 11th, on Facebook.

Visit the Fountainhead Gallery website regarding the event.

Christine Lange, as the skipper of her boat, creates paintings around the Salish Sea through firsthand joys and experiences on the water. She paints in plein air (outside) from the boat during the summer, and works from the boat or her marina-adjacent studio in the winter. Her seascapes, plein air works, and depictions of boating life in the Pacific Northwest are often ablaze with sunset. Her subject matter tends to convey optimism and a connection to glowing nature.

This show is a tribute to the incredible artists and loved ones who mentored and encouraged Christine and others; it’s an expression of how, when we connect with each other and the local waters, we create beauty in the world. The “world” she choses to paint is the Pacific Northwest and the incredible light we receive here. Eight-and-a-half minutes after leaving the surface of the sun, light filters through our atmosphere and graces our region’s waters and mountains with glittering beauty in saturated rainbow colors. At this latitude, the light on the Salish Sea is ethereal and rich. She will forever attempt to capture the prism rainbow colors that surround us at every dawn and dusk and hours in between. Even with “short” light in the winter, gray as it seems, the colors are still there if you look for them. Some of these paintings were made from the boat in the middle of winter, freezing cold on the marina docks. Most are summer scenes with long days and warm skies ablaze at sunset.

8.7 million of us live around the Salish Sea from Olympia well North into Canada and we often refer to this home as “Cascadia”. Great Blue Herons are a ubiquitous presence for us year-round, and it’s lovely to watch them elegantly fishing from the swim step of the boat or wading in the shallows while she paints from shore. They make an appearance in this show, as they are a constant presence in the background of her life on the water. The heron symbolizes patience, self-reliance, and inner growth or awareness. This fits, because even when the rest of the world seems harsh, we trust our neighbors in Cascadia to be keepers of our little pacific northwest gem, with caring wonderful people, surrounded by nature. We are all connected by light.