The Burien Arts Gallery is starting up the new year with a mixed media show featuring paintings by Mia Schulte and tin assemblages by Nia Michaels.

You can meet Mia and Nia at the Gallery’s gala opening reception on Friday, Jan.2, 5-8 p.m. The Gallery is located at 826 S.W. 152nd St. in Olde Burien. The exhibit runs Jan. 2-Feb. 1.

The Burien Arts Gallery is the only fine-arts gallery between Tacoma and West Seattle.

Mia Schulte was born in Turkey and grew up in a family that traveled and lived in many Middle East and European countries.

Her careers have ranged from corporate work in Washington, D.C. to art teacher to full time artist.  She moved to Washington State 11 years ago, and currently resides in Olympia.

Inspired by the natural beauty of the state, she incorporates many of the landscapes in her abstract compositions.

She is now working as a full time artist. Her art has been shown in exhibitions throughout the state since 2007. She was selected as one of the featured artists for an exhibition at South Puget Sound Community College entitled: “Drawn to

Abstraction:  Four Artists, Four Visions.”

Her work has been shown in the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle Design Center, and galleries and exhibitions in Seattle, Bellingham, Edmonds and Olympia.

She was recently selected by Artist Trust to participate in the Edge Program.  In addition she was juried into Women Painters of Washington, an organization of professional painters representing the state.
Nia Michaels is originally from the East Coast, but has been living in Seattle for more than 25 years.
After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and then working as a painter for many years, she became obsessed with old decorative tins and tintype photos and began to work exclusively with those materials.
She has exhibited widely in galleries and juried exhibitions, including The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston and ArtsWest Gallery in West Seattle. She also won an award at the 10x10x10Tieton.
Mia Schulte says her artwork is a combination of abstract and expressionist styles.

“Each painting begins with strokes of ink that influence the direction and emotion that the painting will take,” Mia declares. “ The forms derive from nature, and the expression evolves to capture my thoughts and impressions at that moment. Like the process of creating a painting, each painting is layered with meaning.  

“I strive to represent the complexities of daily life mingled with the beauty of nature.   The themes of time, change, movement, transformation, joy and introspection are ever present in my work.”  

Nia Michaels reveals that a long held obsession with decorative tins took over her studio and about six years ago, she began to work exclusively in tin.

“I am drawn to the intricate patterns, the range of colors, as well as the effects of aging; the rust, dents, scratches and fading,” Nia noted. “The tins are flattened and snipped and then assembled into works that combine appropriated commercial imagery from the past into small visions, layering the past and the present.

“I am fascinated with the seemingly endless possibilities and stories that I can coax from these small pieces of metal.”

The Burien Arts Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon-4 p.m. and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.

For more information, visit www.burienarts.org or call 206-244-7808.