For watercolor artist Tim Rossow, opening a new art gallery in Ocean Shores all started with building a shed – and then a house. In the first year of operations as Tim Rossow Watercolors & Associates, the former Lutheran minister has proved to be adept at building community as well, creating a warm gallery filled with an array of North Coast artists showcasing their diverse talents in a spacious setting highlighted by natural Northwest woods and driftwood display designs.
Originally from the Midwest, Rossow moved with his wife, Phyllis, to Ocean Shores about six years ago. The move seemed to reinvigorate his artistic passion, and he soon had new paintings piling up in the custom house he built.
Seeking a place to construct frames and contain his artwork, he ended up opening an art gallery last summer at 171 E Chance a La Mer N.E., in what is now known as Sunset Plaza. Rossow makes his own frames, display tables, and even crafted the wooden floors of the gallery.
As a young boy, Rossow’s first inspiration in art came when he saw a photo in the World Book Encyclopedia that looked like the family cat. He asked his mother, a teacher, for a pad and pencil and started drawing. “It wasn’t bad,” he recalls. “And that was kind of the beginning of it.” He also credits his junior high and high school art teachers with his lifelong love of art.
“I was mostly a designer and could draw real well,” Rossow says. At Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska, where he met Phyllis, Rossow majored in humanities, and went on to earn a master’s of divinity degree, a master’s of arts degree in philosophy, and a PhD in ministry. “I enjoyed studying. So, God was good to me.” In the 30 or so years before moving to Ocean Shores, Rossow estimates he might have produced one or two of his own paintings a year. “I really didn’t need the art. But the year before I came out here, I must have done nine or 10 paintings.”
“I paint from photos, and 90 percent of them are my photos.” Some of his Northwest scenes include Cape Disappointment, Lake Quinault Lodge, razor clam digging at Iron Spring, waves crashing at the North Jetty, and the sailing ship Lady Washington in the Harbor. The gallery is promoted as a “Pacific Northwest beach and rain forest-themed gallery.” Other artists include Barbara Sampson, Cheryl Stevenson, Lynda Nolte (watercolors), Lora Malakoff (oil paintings), Sharon Gochoel (fused glass), Bryan Isaacson (blown glass), Titus Capoeman (coastal Salish Quinault art), and Moda Mark (photography). Most recently this year, the gallery has highlighted the photography of self-portrait artist Jade Black and wildlife photographer Skip Radcliffe.
“Since we opened, I’ve had people come up and say, ‘We’re so glad you’re doing this in Ocean Shores.’ We have tried to do an upscale gallery, although we have art that’s priced for pretty much every budget from $10 to $5,000,” he says. In addition to the Tim Rossow & Associates Art Gallery in Ocean Shores.
