The Art of Arranging

Denise Shives

Mixed Media Artist

April 2 - April 26, 2026

Opening Reception and Artist Talk - Friday, April 3, 4–6PM
Artist Talk - 5PM

Combine Art Collective is pleased to present an exhibition of current work by mixed media artist Denise Shives.

“Whether it be furniture in a room, items on a shelf, clippings from nature in a vessel, I love arranging things. For as long as I can remember, I’ve gathered and collected things that I love and enjoy finding ways to put them all together to create something interesting and beautiful. Making beauty in this messy world is the only thing I can control, and I am fulfilled by creating things that bring joy and inspiration to others. It’s the way I live my life and the way I approach my mixed media art.”

AWAKENING COLOR

Last weekend, ends Sunday, March 29, 2026

Awakening Color celebrates the return of light, warmth, and possibilities as we welcome spring. In this exhibition, artists explore how shape, light, and fresh energy reflect the season’s spirit of change and renewal.

Thursday, March 5 - Sunday May 31, 2026

Please welcome this spring’s two guest artists –
Katherine McDowell and Terri Rice

Katherine McDowell

Katherine McDowell is a Portland artist currently focusing on printmaking. Over the past 18 years, she has created over 500 one-of-a-kind abstract monotypes. Prints from the "Lake Monotype" series have been selected for a dozen solo regional shows and accepted into over 60 national juried group exhibitions.

Her work is represented by The Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery and the Coos Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery. Her prints can also be found at The Josephy Center for Arts and Culture. Katherine is a juried artist member of The Boston Printmakers, Print Arts Northwest, Monotype Guild of New England and Los Angeles Printmaking Society. She has taught at Oregon Society of Artists and Wildcraft Studio School.

Terri Rice

Terri - I used to paint exclusively in watercolor, but I am now so drawn to the intensity and the permanence of oil paint that I seldom return to watercolor. My skyscapes and landscapes are exclusively oil. I like the slow-drying nature of oil paint that allows me to come back, even the next day, to blend in a new color or soften a line. The trouble with oils is the cleanup, but even that has become, for me, a ritualistic contemplation as I rub the bristles between my fingers coaxing the color out of the brush and then rinsing the brush in warm water. And just because I want to make sure the brush is truly clean, I swirl the wet brush in a bar of leftover soap from a hotel stay.

My goal in painting is to paint with enough realism to portray the moment but abstract enough to invite the viewer to interpret.
www.terrijrice.com

Welcome New Member Artist

Kassandra Fluckiger

Kassandra is a self-taught printmaker, painter, voracious reader, and curious investigator of nature and all her oddities. With a background in psychology and human development, her creative practice is grounded in a deep belief of the healing power of art. For Kassandra, making art is a form of exploration — an intuitive process that invites reflection on our emotions, memory, and a constant pursuit for that spark of delight.

Drawn to the arts as a way of navigating identity, transformation, and joy, Kassandra’s work is ever evolving. She experiments freely with technique and medium, viewing each new method as an opportunity to better understand herself and the world around her. Her pieces often emerge from a desire to connect — to ourselves, to the world around us, and to each other.

Through her work, Kassandra invites others into that same space of creative self-discovery. She believes art helps us figure out who we are, what we love, and how we want the world to be.

Kassandra lives in Walla Walla, Washington with her two domestic cats and two feral children. When she's not teaching or making art, Kassie can be found hiking, foraging mushrooms, or playing roller derby with the Walla Walla Sweets Rollergirls.

Artist page