The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Starting in August, Dayton’s Wenaha Gallery will be playing host to the works from the husband and wife duo of Joyce & Randy Klassen. The artistic couple will display a contrast of styles, as Joyce uses torches and waxes to create encaustic pieces while husband Randy uses tidy watercolors for his easel-mounted paintings.

The couple from Walla Walla, whose art reflects the opposite of their normal personalities, are being welcomed by the people at Wenaha. Randy is the son of Jacob Klassen, who was known for his watercolors over his 70 year career after settling in Canada. Randy described his times painting and sketching with his father as an apprentice as being influential on his style now. He took up art fulltime after retiring from more than 50 years in pastoral ministry.

Joyce creates mixed media pieces that have been previously described as spanning from abstract to realism styles in their Walla Walla home. The couple moved to Walla Walla in 2003. Joyce described her work style as bringing form out of chaos. She has created works entitled “Design and Texture with F Sharp in the Key of G” and “Encaustic Mosaic,” while Randy has works titled “Palouse Falls in April” and “To Such Belongs the Kingdom of God.”

Randy and Joyce Klassen are the featured Pacific Northwest Art Event artists at the Wenaha Gallery from August 1 to September 3. The gallery is located at 213 East Main Street in Dayton and can be reached at (509) 382-2124.