Clay and canines

You may not see the dog in Wendy Gingell's mural-like "Atlas Unfettered." At first perusal, the assembly of black and white ceramic clay tiles composed of angles, wavy lines, swirls and the repeated use of the word "tree" may seem abstract and chaotic.

Not until you back off from the piece does the wide-eyed image of Atlas -- the artist's real life yellow Lab -- pop into view.

Atlas is more than just the subject and inspiration of the piece, part of an exhibit of new work by Gingell now on display at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. In a way, he's also the reason that Gingell finds herself working in Alaska, the reason why this show is happening where it is.

Originally from Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Gingell went to college in Toronto, planning on majoring in international studies. But she found herself enjoying art classes so much that she just kept taking them "for many, many years."

When she finally got her bachelor's degree, she moved on to Montreal, where she took French and more art classes. Eventually she had to "learn to pay the bills," she said, working in social services for some years to pay off her student loans.

"I finally paid that debt off three years ago," she said, with a note of relief.

In the meantime, among other adventures, she had relocated to Vancouver, met and married Eric Lazo, moved to Guemes Island near Anacortes, Wash., and adopted Atlas and Taupin, a black Lab. Gingell described them as "dropouts from a local assistance (companion) dog program."

She also got into tile. Among the neighbors on the tiny island -- Guemes is off the state ferry grid and depends on a county ferry to connect with the mainland -- was Sue Roberts, an experienced tile artist.

"I helped her with her garden; she let me use her kiln," Gingell said.

They had grown a little bored with the island after finishing a house there, she said. But neither were they chomping at the bit for another move when fate stepped in.

Or rather Atlas did.

"Our dog needed some very expensive knee surgery," she said. More than they could easily afford. But, fortuitously, 11 months ago, Lazo was offered a marketing job in Anchorage.

"We moved so we could afford to have the surgery," she said. "Honestly. And I stayed back there for two months after Eric moved just to help (Atlas) with his rehab after the surgery. That's the kind of people we are."

Arriving in Alaska this year, she wanted to continue with tile work but didn't have access to a running kiln. Instead she spent her time doodling "images of the north, woods, the environment" and baby-sitting the Labradors.

She connected with the local arts community. She found support at the Upstairs Studio in downtown Anchorage and the International. She met other "ceramic, fine arts and craft junkies."

And she won one of the most coveted art awards in Alaska -- a Connie Boocheever Fellowship. The prize, named for the former president of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, is given to people the council considers to be significant "emerging artists" in different disciplines each year. In 2011 it went to visual artists. Other winners were photographers Ben Huff of Juneau and Michael Conti of Anchorage and painter James Adcox of Nome.

The Boocheever Fellowship, which included a cash award of $2,500, made the current show possible.

The show includes a number of functional dishes and bowls -- Gingell said they are microwave safe -- and numerous tiles displayed as wall hangings. Some are single pieces, others use six or nine separate tiles pulled together to form a single picture.

The images include wildly animated faces, anatomical designs and fanciful critters like a narwhal, a walrus with a fish tail and something bug-like.

"I'm always interested in what people tell me they see," she said.

Even when the title suggests a narrative, as in the nine-tile "Parable of the Whale and the Starfish," its specifics are elusive. "I can't tell you what it means," she said.

But the single-tile "Man Attacked by Giant Mosquitoes" is pretty self-explanatory.

And "Atlas Unfettered" is an undisguised tribute to the happy dog's new life on new knees in Alaska.

Gingell said she was "shocked" to win a Boocheever award. But the judges weren't alone in their estimation of her talent. Almost as soon as she arrived, she began displaying her work during the First Friday openings at downtown's Upstairs Studio and, more recently, was included with local clay masters Paul Dungan, Gina Hollomon and Ahna Iredale in a show at 2 Friends Gallery in midtown.

She had her artwork juried into the statewide Earth, Fire and Fibre competition, now on exhibit at the Anchorage Museum, and her tableware is sold in the museum gift shop. Beyond Alaska, she's had work accepted for shows next year at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Wash., and at the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C.

Despite the success and numerous semesters of art classes, she's not shy about being called an "emerging artist." She acknowledged that she still has a lot to learn.