NORTHWESt LORE
Northwest Lore is an exhibition held annually at Europa Gallery which explores the wildly mysterious and colorful history of the great Pacific Northwest. Hand picking (so far) over 60 artists who have roots in the PNW has ensured that the stories chosen range from personal mythology to pop reference and beyond. This ongoing show brings a playful and exciting aura to the Pioneer Square Seattle art community and makes for a unique opening night. There is currently an art book being created to honor the artists that have participated in the first two initial exhibitions. Europa will continue this exhibition annually as an ongoing tradition.
NORTHWEST LORE GALLERY
12 × 12 inch painting on wood panel.
Rick's was one of Seattle's most infamous strip clubs, operated by a crime family for decades. Its iconic neon sign stood as a Lake City landmark, instantly recognizable to generations of Seattle locals. I worked next door at the car wash for years, where the guys from Rick's brought their Lincoln Town Cars every week. They always tipped big, and as a kid I admired them while being equally intimidated. At sunset, the neon sign would come alive, I was mesmerized by its glow, a memory that inspired this painting.
12 × 12 inch painting on panel
Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill features a famous, hollowed-out black granite sculpture by Isamu Noguchi titled Black Sun, which perfectly frames the Space Needle.
The Myth: Local gothic subculture and teenage urban legends from the 1980s claimed that the sculpture was a supernatural focal point. The myth states that if you look directly through the center of the ring at midnight during a full moon, you will see a fleeting, terrifying vision of your own future demise.
The Superstition: To ward off the bad luck of the vision, local folklore dictates you must spin counter-clockwise three times and touch the cold granite before leaving the park.
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
The Wheedle on the Needle follows a shy orange humanoid creature who loves the peace and quiet of his forest home but is driven away as Seattle grows and becomes noisier. In an attempt to create silence, he climbs atop the Space Needle with a bag of clouds to cover the city with rain so the people of the city will stop whistling happily. When the people discover the cause of the rain, they make him a giant pair of earmuffs. Grateful, the Wheedle clears the skies and returns to sleep atop the Space Needle, his glowing red nose blinking.
12 × 12 inch image transfer and encaustic on canvas
In 2008, Anthony Curcio carried out one of the most carefully planned armored truck robberies in U.S. history. After spending months preparing, he created an elaborate escape route through nearby Woods Creek in Monroe, WA and posted a Craigslist ad that brought dozens of people dressed alike to the scene, allowing him to blend into the crowd. When a Brink’s truck driver arrived with more than $400,000, Curcio pepper-sprayed the guard, took the cash, and escaped using an inner tube and a pulley system he had built to pull himself 200 yards upstream, where a getaway car was waiting. He remained free for more than a year before DNA evidence led to his arrest. Curcio served six years in federal prison and later became an author and motivational speaker. Absolute Monroe legend
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
Lying between the ridges south of North Bend, beneath the towering prow of the synonymous ledge, the waters of Rattlesnake Lake cover the site of a small community that housed the workers and families of logging crews, railroad workers and employees of the Seattle Water Department. Sitting on the lakeshore north of Cedar Falls along the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, this community, founded in 1906, called itself Moncton after one the first settlers. Unlike the housing in Cedar Falls itself, the property was privately owned and allowed for growth amounting to 200 individuals by 1915.
In the autumn of 1914, Seattle City Light sought to provide electric power via a masonry dam built between Cedar Lake and Rattlesnake Lake. The following spring, the masonry pool began filling to capacity, with unintended consequences for the lakeside town. Porous sediments in the glacial moraines lying between the lakes allowed large quantities of water to seep into the lower lake raising the water level nearly a foot a day.
Hopes that the water could be diverted faded as houses were lifted off their foundations and left floating. Over the summer of 1915, the suddenly homeless residents set up camps on the higher elevations and the City of Seattle eventually condemned the town with a total of $47,658.03 paid out to the displaced.
The following year the waters receded enough to allow workers to demolish the remaining structures and burn the wreckage. For decades after, swimming and recreation in Rattlesnake Lake was prohibited due to fears of contamination of the water supply but it was found that the glacial sediments acted as an effective filter for impurities.
In 1970, Rattlesnake Lake Park opened to the public, allowing boating, fishing and swimming. To this day, intrepid divers can find traces of this lost history in the form of concrete foundations at the bottom of the lake.
12 × 12 inch painting on panel
For decades there have been talks of many UFO sightings in the PNW. A lot of these sightings have taken place in the area of Tacoma Wa. And the locals say strangely enough that the famous burger joint “FRISKO FREEZE” is the backdrop for their favorite landing spots.
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
Only one man’s survived, and this is his story to share - but if I may - readers beware. For there’s an old cowboy armed with rope and with knife who hitchhikes the streets under the street lights. Committed to a psychiatric hospital after slitting a throat, his accomplice a Washington state resident who watches near gas stations n restaurants, nightclubs n roads, whether it be broad daylight - or in the dark of night. This watcher takes his notes and phones the man. Now this man he’s a killer smokes three packs a day hangs out near cowgirls with nothing to say. Watching and waiting now almost 60 he’s there for the money for the hope that one day he can make his way back to the South still stuck in Seattle. Walk with a scrappy friend for else you’ll hear heel clicks followed by a 6 foot tall shadow as the killer cowboy starts to close in.
12 × 12 inch painting on panel Watercolor, graphite on arches paper
The wooden house hand built by my friends dad like a permit-less Marin beast off Dearborn, this was were my friend and his brother lived. 8th grade memories. I never really saw my friends dad but a couple times because his room was up what seemed like 8 floors of wooden stairs and ladders. Every room and hallway was full of books and musical instruments. Guitar cords, symbols, kick drums, amps, everywhere. Weekends were spent running around the city, breaking beer bottles under the 12th ave bridge, smoking cigs and watching my friend and his brother play death metal as loud as they wanted as late as they wanted with no neighbors in the area. I have fond memories of this house. I’m not sure if anyone remembers it but it’s mythical to me and the homies from ISSY.
12 × 12 painting on panel
“The Thunderbird” A colossal , supernatural bird of prey central to Native American mythology. It symbolizes immense power, protection and the sky’s dominion
12 × 12 painting on canvas
The land overlooking Georgetown was used as a burial site first by the indigenous population and then settlers in the 1800’s. Having seen its last burial in the 1930s, the property was quickly divided and sold off with the northern half being turned into housing. Headstones were pushed into piles and no records show that bodies were removed.
12 × 12 painting on paper wood dyi frame
In 1940, the same year the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was completed, it was miraculously destroyed by the winds of the Puget Sound.
People often forget that below the Narrows Bridge lives the Giant Pacific Octopus. A force of nature not fully understood by locals and experts.
When the bridge was being built, the Octopi were able to flirt with human civilization for the first time. Falling in love with the beautiful women of Tacoma.
Once the bridge was done people stopped breaching below the water. The Octopi had grown fond of these local beauties, and soon became jealous with rage.
Missing the beautiful women of the Pacific Northwest so desperately, they deteriorated the infrastructure of the Narrows Bridge from beneath the water. As soon as the high November winds came, the bridge twisted and “galloped” until its eminent collapse.
Giving this famous incident the name “Galloping Gertie”. Gertie being the girl the Giant Pacific Octopus loved the most.
12 × 12 paiting on panel
Perched on Capitol Hill, Lake View Cemetery is one of Seattle's oldest and most historic cemeteries. It serves as the final resting place of many of the city's founding pioneers—including the Denny and Boren families—as well as martial arts legends Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee
According to local folklore, a cluster of white peonies growing near the historic Denny family plot will occasionally bloom with deep crimson streaks that resemble fresh blood dripping down their petals. Some versions of the legend claim the flowers begin to weep blood or crimson-red sap on the anniversaries of tragic deaths connected to Seattle's early pioneers or local children. The mysterious blossoms are said to reflect the grief of those buried beneath them, blending the cemetery's history with the Pacific Northwest's damp, gothic atmosphere.
Though regarded as an urban legend, the story has been passed down through generations of late-night cemetery visitors and remains one of Seattle's most haunting pieces of regional folklore.
12 × 12 painting framed
“The Maury Island Incident was a ufo sighting in Washington State where a fisherman in June of 1947 claimed to have seen 6 ufo air crafts sucking debris out of the water next to his boat. Soon after seeing this occurrence the witness had a continuation of contact from what were to be known as men in black who seemed to be trying to cover up everything surrounding the sighting. This happening actually lead to the Men In Black movie series.”
12 × 12 inch painting on panel gold leaf, gauche, pastel and pencil on found ledger paper
Based off of a sad spooky story about a woman who went missing from a nearby tavern in the 1930’s and later resurfaced 4 years later in Lake Crescent - oddly preserved and appearing as if she was made of soap. The actual depth of Lake Crescent is not known but estimated to be about 1000 ft deep (that’s roughly 100 stories tall, even taller than the Columbia Tower, the tallest building in Seattle.) Because of the incredible depth of the cold lake and a process called saponification that took place, she was able to be identified as Hallie Illingworth and her killer was later apprehended.
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
“Give Her Her Flowers” pays tribute to Tina Bell. A black woman whose contributions that went on to shape the sound and culture that would define Seattle as we know it was almost forgotten. I wanted to celebrate her as shes now being recognized “The Godmother of grunge”. Drawing from my own visual language of growing up in California; airbrushed memorial t shirts are a familiar form of public remembrance, love,community and pride. Both a memorial and reclamation, asking us all to reconsider who gets to be remembered, celebrated, and whose stories become part of Northwest Lore.
12 × 12 × 4 inches painting on linen (Courtesy of Foster White Gallery)
“Tales of the hoop snake are found across both the Pacific Northwest and Australia. Sightings report a snake that bites its own tail to form a circle, rolling over land to chase after its prey. In some cases it has a venomous spike at the end of its tail and in others there are spikes that form inside the circle, like the spokes of a tire. In either case the fatal moment is on impact when the snake injects its venom into its victim.
If you find yourself in the unfortunate circumstance of running away from a hoop snake it is advised to quickly jump behind a tree at the last moment and allow the snake to collide into it, in which case the tree will wither and die from the venom (but you’ll survive!)
I first started making art inspired by comparative mythology and am still compelled by curious cases of similar myths found worlds and timelines apart.”
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
Meet Alma. “She was running from something” words spoken by a person who cared for her fleetingly, as Alma Ann Smith met with our legal system. She lost her life on March 3rd, 1983 , a vulnerable 18 year old teenage runaway from Walla Walla Washington while hitchhiking to freedom on the Pacific Highway South near Auburn Wa. She became the 19th known victim of the PNW own most prolific Green River Killer. I’ve depicted this delightful young woman/girl/child as being surrounded by butterflies to symbolize our hope, faith and love as we continue to strive and aspire to protect our most vulnerable ones children, women and men, and mourn in the loss of the 49 to 89 victims of the GRK. In the process of preparing for the subject. I painted the green river killer a few times. This man is still alive and I found his ego to be overwhelming. I refuse to use his name or share his image. As for Alma. She was known as kind and incredibly generous with a stunning smile. Bless her heart and soul.
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
“In this painting, Lila Alexis Thomas considers folklore as something carried through migration, memory, and ancestral protection. Coming from their Southern Louisiana lineage, Thomas looks toward the movement of Black Southerners to the Pacific Northwest and the ways stories, symbols, and spiritual traditions travel with people into new landscapes.
The work draws from Black Southern folklore surrounding haint blue, a color associated with protection and the warding off of harmful spirits. Shades of cobalt, pale blue, and haint blue create a protective atmosphere around guiding hands and a central symbol. The painting also references ironwork, gates, fences, and door grilles, forms historically shaped by Black craftspeople and builders throughout the United States. Some of these patterns echo African visual traditions, including Adinkra symbols such as Sankofa, which speaks to looking back in order to move forward.
Through hands, color, and symbol, To Ward, To Remember becomes a meditation on protection, migration, and the ways folklore follows people across place and time. “
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
The first vision graceful character the 93 sportsman travels throughout the wilderness mastering all skills of the back country. In a never ending series of events along the way, he obtains many skill sets and encounters people & many creatures throughout his journey.
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
In 2023, Lake City Park honored author Octavia Butler by renaming 37th Ave NE as “Octavia Butler Avenue.” A pioneer of visionary fiction, Afrofuturism, and ecofeminism, Butler lived in Seattle from 1999 to 2006 and was often seen walking through the neighborhood. She moved north from California out of concern that climate change was making her home state unlivable—a reality she explored in her fictional works.
Knox’s broader body of work also explores life in the wake of climate change. Like Butler, Knox uses walking as a way of connecting to her environment, and this painting is inspired by the artist’s own walks through Seattle. Drawing from Dawn, the first novel in Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy, the painting depicts Lilith, represented as a blooming flower, as she looks back at the alien tree which has been her prison for 250 years. Her captor taunts her hesitation: “Back in the cage, Lilith?”
12 × 12 painting on canvas
“Zeb” was a prolific graffiti tagger in the Pacific Northwest. In 2010 he went on a graffiti rampage writing his tag all over Seattle before heading down to Portland Oregon to continue the spree before he was eventually caught after a police chase in a stolen taxi. I’ve known Sam since 2004 and over the years he’s become one of my best friends. Today Sam lives in Oregon and is working on building a better life for himself. To me that is the most legendary part of his story.
12 × 12 painting on canvas
“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye. The story of love is hello and goodbye, until we meet again”
These words were part of a poem, that Jimi Hendrix wrote, the night he died.
We are all here for a brief finite period of time. Sometimes we ask, “What does it all mean?”
How does our life unfold? What do we do with our lives? How have we touched the people in our lives? Have we made a difference, in the lives of others? Who has saved our lives? How do we go on, when we lose our parents, our loved ones, our friends, or our child?
Life and death are intertwined. How do we make sense of it all, when someone dies? How do we live in these times of strife, wars, or devastation? All these thoughts, swirl in our minds.
We have this time, right now, and we’re living it. Let’s live for the ones who have left us. Thank you to all, who make the world a better place. With the art, the music, the stories, the things you do, to help people.
Until we meet again, I will listen to Jimi’s song, “Little Wing,”
and Live for my sweet Tep.
The music and the memories, will live forever. Praying for Peace…
12 × 12 painting on panel
The Wolf and Orca are spiritual brothers of the coastal Pacific Northwest. Both apex predators travel, communicate, and hunt in highly organized, lifelong family packs. The black-and-white coloration of the killer whale is a visual reflection of the coastal gray wolf's countershaded fur. The sharp, triangular dorsal fin of a male orca is like the pointed ear of a wolf cutting through the water. Some say these animals are one in the same: a shape shifting spirit that takes the form of Canus Lupus to hunt and protect the coastal lands and forests and when they dive into the sea they transform into Orcinus Orca to patrol and guard the Oceans. One predator, two boddies, one spirit, two realms.
-derived from teachings of the Quileute and other coastal tribes-
12 × 12 painting on canvas
The "Lady of the Lake" is the tragic true story of Hallie Illingworth , whose remarkably preserved body surfaced in Washington's Lake Crescent in 1940. The folklore surrounding the ghost of Hallie Illingworth centers on a phantom woman who haunts the waters and shores of Lake Crescent. Witnesses, including visitors and staff at the historic Lake Crescent Lodge, describe a sorrowful apparition dressed in 1930s clothing. She is most frequently spotted floating just above the lake's surface or wandering the misty shoreline at night. Indoors, people report unexplainable cold spots, eerie footsteps in the hallways, and a lingering, melancholic presence believed to be her restless spirit.
12 × 12 painting on circular panel
Peering between the cracks of time under over through what we may call substance, their exist beings or… More like ideas, dreams, and memories convalescing. Were we too gaze subtlety enough to truly see what we would appear like… What do you see here, near the waves, watching, a remnant, a premonition, beneath the temperate trees?
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
“Theodore Robert Bundy (né Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered dozens of young women and girls during the 1970s. He was nicknamed the "Campus Killer" and the "Lady Killer". After more than a decade of denials, he confessed to 30 murders committed in various states between 1974 and 1978. Bundy's modus operandi typically consisted of convincing his target that he was in need of assistance or duping her into believing he was an authority figure. He would then lure his victim to his vehicle, at which point he would bludgeon her unconscious, then restrain her with handcuffs before driving his victim to a remote location to be sexually assaulted and killed”
12 × 12 inch drawing on paper framed
The eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980 was followed by multiple sightings of mysterious flying creatures in the area that were described by witnesses as winged ape-like beings with glowing eyes. Brian Canfield had a close encounter with something matching this description in 1994 while driving in Pierce county, Washington. In an interview with CR Roberts from The News Tribune, Canfield explained how the creature landed on the hood of his car and stood in the road watching him for several minutes before flying off into the night.
12 × 12 inch drawing framed
The men came in the morning and took down the building on the corner. It had been there a long time. A woman watched from the café and did not order anything
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
Saint Rat (of Hot Rat Summer), is the unofficial name given to a guerrilla mosaic public artwork installed in Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill, Seattle in 2024. The mosaic became the subject of local controversy after repeated removals by the city and subsequent grassroots restoration efforts. The artist/ collective responsible has not been publicly identified. However, this work of art is widely interpreted as a symbol of queer and trans resilience. The mosaic gained cult status and sparked broader discussions around public art, graffiti policy, and civic engagement. Through it all, Saint Rat continues to rise and lift our spirits from the heart of Seattle.
12 × 12 painting on canvas
Liquor, Wine, Beer, Smokes, Cold Drinks and an ATM
12 × 12 painting on panel
The world was once shrouded in darkness because the sky chief kept the stars the moon and the sun in bentwood boxes in his lodge. The raven, at this time, was a pure white bird who wanted to bring light into the dark world. Being a trustee by nature, the raven hatched an elaborate plan to steal these shiny celestial objects one by one. In the end the raven flys into the sky with the sun in his beak. The heat from the sun scorches his feathers black as coal, as he brings light to the world.
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
portrait
12 ×12 inch painting on panel
"Woman had intense color phobia before fatal shootings: Police say Saroeun Phan, 60, opened fire inside a West Seattle home on September 23, 2010 and fired at least 20 rounds, wounding her daughter and killing her son-in-law and two granddaughters before turning the gun on herself. On Saturday a family friend said Phan's illness took a turn about a year and a half ago, as she developed an intense phobia about colors and became more distant from her family. "She don't want any color. She don't want to see any color," Sean Phuong says. She was dressed all in white as she calmly the trigger. Sean Phuong says in the past few months Saroeun Phan would not talk to anyone who was dressed in dark clothing. "No blue, no black. No anything. Only white. Then you can talk to her," he says. "But a friend or granddaughter, grandson, want to talk to her - you wear black like this, she don't want to talk. She don't want to see it."
12 × 12 painting on panel
Spent a lot of time in this part of town and saw the monorail catch fire. Baby was dangled
12 × 12 inch painting on canvas
The 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed “Galloping Gertie” for its vertical movement during windy conditions, opened on July 1 and collapsed into the Puget Sound later that same year on the stormy morning of November 7. The bridge collapse created an artificial reef for sea creatures to inhabit and cling to the old roadway. Some say a 600-pound King Octopus was trapped and buried in the wreckage. Others say the creature caused the disaster and now tackles divers into the depths below the reconstructed bridge.
This myth of a singular, grand creature is blurred by the fact of the Giant Pacific octopus, the largest known species of octopus, which inhabits the Puget Sound.
In 1957, one of the first reported octopus wresting events took place in the Puget Sound near Tacoma, Washington. Two hundred people gathered to watch a team from Portland, Oregon win by catching an eighty-pound octopus. In April 1963, 111 divers competed in the World Octopus Wresting Championships. Skin divers without breathing devices who discovered the largest octopuses were awarded the most points. These events quickly died out from lack of interest as a culture of protecting marine wildlife grew. In 1976, Washington state making it illegal to capture or harass an octopus.
In reality, these events, while sounding dramatic, were anything but. Given that Octopuses are gentle creatures that would rather burrow than put up a fight, what took place was a highly intelligent and dismissed creature being taken advantage of in the name of pathetic spectacle.
16 × 16 inch painting on panel
“I made an abstract version of the mysterious of the nature in PNW. You can find an octopus fighting under the sun if you close your eyes”
12 × 12 × 12 inch wall sculpture with mirror backing
Capitol Hill’s historic Volunteer park is one of the longest standing cruising spots in the city. It is a beautiful park in the Gayborhood, and home to Noguchi’s monumental sculpture, “Black Sun”. Also known as the “The Butthole of Seattle”, “The Donut”, or the “Giant Cheerio”. The artwork inspired the popular Soundgarden song, (Black Hole Sun) and the piece itself has its own lore. But what I’m about to tell you is some classic gay cruising lore…
Some daddies met cruising in the park and went off into the night to indulge in carnal earthly delights, all the while leaving their sweet pup chained up to a bike rack. Now, Capitol Hill is home to all of the gays, LGBTQIA, and a butch dyke going through a break up with her girlfriend came along seeking solace in the park. As she made her way she came across this little doggy and noticed him panting. She got him water and after a while decided she would just rescue him. She was about to whip some bolt cutters out of her truck and take the neglected dog home, but just in the nick of time, the daddies finished their business and returned to their pet. The dyke gave ‘em a piece of her mind about how they shouldn’t have left their dog chained up for so long. She was soft but fierce and the exchange was amicable. They were parting ways when the dudes got to their car and realized they had left the dome light on. In true super dyke fashion, our heroine had jumper cables and gave the guys a jump start. Moral of the story: Leave your pets at home when you go out cruising. And by all means, keep Seattle the great city it has always been, and don’t stop cruisin!
12 × 12 painting and wall sculpture
For centuries, small schools of these mythical half-woman, half-salmon beings have been spotted along the coast of the Salish Sea. The first documented sightings were made by Spanish explorers, although the Lummi tribe’s oral traditions reference similar figures long before European contact.
While eyewitness accounts have mostly been aquatic, there have been occasional, unreliable reports of sightings in the dense forests of the Olympic Peninsula, particularly during the wetter months.
These creatures are typically wary of humans, yet they appear to have no natural predators. Notably, several well-documented instances describe them taming Orcas and other sea mammals for transportation. Despite this remarkable ability, it is strongly advised not to approach them. The Salmon Sisters are not docile, and many shipwrecks—both whaling and fishing vessels—are attributed to encounters with these elusive being