Darby Guerechit

Darby is a self taught landscape painter based in Bremerton, Washington —a ferry ride across the Puget Sound from Seattle.

Her art practice is heavily focused on process and exploration.  She continuously examines the relationship between color, saturation, shape, texture, and line to create a balanced yet unconventional painting that draws the viewer in and reveals unexpected details and depth.  Darby works with acrylic and gouache paints, with occasional incorporation of alcohol inks, chalk, gel crayons and oil sticks.

Her recent works are a collection of abstracted landscapes of the Pacific Northwest–some imagined terrain while others are specific and meaningful places, from Rosario Beach at Deception Pass, to the wilds of the North Cascades and the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge.  Through intuitive use of color and layering, Darby’s work references the vivid sensations of some of her best childhood memories - running through the forest under dappled light, marveling at the smooth grooves of a riverbed or reveling in the silence of a fresh blanket of snow.  Like memory, her landscapes embody a certain distortion.  They are simultaneously familiar and dreamlike as she seeks to revisit that childhood experience of finding unending wonder and possibility in nature. 

In addition to working as an artist, Darby is a school based occupational therapist, a mom, and wife. When not painting or working with kids, you can be sure to find her hiking and camping with family and friends, gardening, or thrifting.