Samantha Fisher

from 2020 Almanac

by Daily Record

Kyle Bain

Learning landscapes

Samantha Fisher paints sweeping views and nostalgic memories

By MATT CARSTENS staff writer

If Samantha Fisher were to put together a quintessential collection of her artwork, it might include a diaristic style of pop art, drawing inspiration from her younger years. But ever since she returned to Ellensburg from a year in Ohio, she’s been known for something a little different.

Missing the open skies and sweeping views of the Kittitas Valley, Fisher started painting landscapes, and soon after she started getting more and more requests for similar work. Her friend still has one of her earlier renditions.

“It was like half of a loosey-goosey landscape,” Fisher said. “I did more landscapes than I thought, ‘Landscapes? That’s so traditional,’ but then when we moved back I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna do some landscapes.’”

That led to more and more commissions, and living in the Kittitas Valley, there’s plenty of inspiration all around. Fisher often takes photographs while out and about and brings them back to her studio in Ellensburg.

“I just have bunch of landscapes in my head from photos I’ve taken,” she said. “I kind of want to be a little looser... as opposed to tight and detailed. I like playing with the paint and keeping it loose and expressive. I like the idea of someone saying, ‘Is that done?’ Like you’re listening to a song that’s not so put together.”

See Fisher, Page 16

The heART of Kittitas County

Jacob Ford / Daily Record Ellensburg artist Samantha Birks Fisher dabs her brush in oil paint as she paints a landscape painting in her studio Thursday in Ellensburg. FISHER After gathering the materials, Fisher said she jumps in on all the Continued from Page 15 paintings at once, moving from piece to piece as she thinks of new ideas NOSTALGIA ON CANVAS artist, I always got in trouble for that now,” she said. “It was just more and lets old ones dry. Fisher said her

One of Fisher’s favorite styles is passing notes, passing pictures ... to creative back then. It’s creative in a Instagram (@samanthafisherart) is thinking back to her days passing me that just made it more interesting different way now, but it (used to be) a perfect place to watch her pieces notes and doodling in class, and to be in school.” more tactile.” evolve over time. translating those daydreaming Several pieces Fisher had on PROCESS “You could come back and these memories onto her canvas with display in her studio showed stacks Fisher earned her bachelors of paintings could be completely paint. of CDs and cassette tapes from some fine arts at Central Washington different,” she said with a laugh. “I

“My own kids are in school right of her favorite artists like The Pixies University before earning her change a lot, and that’s the nice part now, so I’m kind of seeing them and Nirvana, remembering fondly masters at University of California about painting. It’s so versatile and in school and seeing how they’re the hard work that went into hitting Davis. Currently, she’s working on you can change it. You can just wait responding to the boringness of record on the radio to capture it on a combining her landscape work for it to dry and you can go back — things,” Fisher said. “When I went, mixtape. with some of her older pop art it’s just a matter of having the guts to because I was always kind of an “We’re all so disconnected from styles. do that.”

almanac 2020

Jacob Ford / Daily Record Ellensburg artist Samantha Birks Fisher’s painting pallet as she paints a landscape painting in her studio in Ellensburg. Fisher’s style of painting varies with influences of neoimpressionism, pop art, impressionism, realism, minimalism. Fisher said she wants her art to leave something for the viewer to interpret.

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almanac 2020

Drawn to art

Tattoo artist works with a living canvas

By JACK BELCHER staff writer

Tattoo artist Tony Ritter’s canvas is unique, it’s alive. Working on human skin presents a number of challenges most artists will never experience.

“When you reach the ditch of somebody’s arm for instance, you know the bend and how thin the skin is up there, it gets super pissed and it bleeds and it’s gross to work on sometimes,” Ritter said. “It can be very tricky. Continually practicing how to work on different skin types because this particular part of the skin is so much more tender than other parts.”

Ritter works at The Roost Tattoo Studio on Main Street. He and fellow tattoo artists, Jared Carter and Clayton Merritt, started in Cle Elum but moved to Ellensburg after a year. The Roost was opened by Ritter, Carter and Merritt in July 2013. They have hired “a bunch of awesome guys” since then.

Ritter specializes in large, hyper-realistic tattoo art, working mainly in black and grey. For him, realism is a niche and something that has always drawn his interest. He has worked with color tattoos for years, but it was never something that he felt comfortable with. Today, Ritter avoids using color in his art if possible.

“Black and grey is really more my wheelhouse, it’s just a really enjoyable art form for me, I’ve always really liked it,” Ritter said. “Growing up, I spent a lot of time drawing that kind of stuff so when I got into tattooing it just came a little more naturally.”

See Ritter, Page 20

The heART of Kittitas County

Jacob Ford / Daily Record Tony Ritter’s client shows off his new tatoo at The Roost in Ellensburg.

almanac 2020

RITTER

Continued from Page 19

Growing up, Ritter would draw hyper-realistic artwork. He said he “would draw on the backs of just about every homework assignment you could think of.” When he wasn’t drawing, he was thinking about it. He was always coming up with new ideas and designs that could improve his artwork.

Ritter made the jump into tattoo art in 2012. He had friends in the business, and they convinced him to give the profession a shot. He was on the fence for a while, but they told him that they wanted to get a tattoo from him even if it was bad. He is really thankful for the “humbling” years where he learned how to become a master of the art.

He believes that tattooing has become such a social norm, that he can stand out as an artist just as well as someone who paints with oils or acrylics. “Sometimes even more so because our canvases can talk to people.”

A lot of advertising for his brand comes from word of mouth. People will show their friends the Tony Ritter tattoo they just got, and their friends will like the look of it. It is a piece of artwork that they always have with them and thus, can show anybody.

Juan Ramirez just finished getting his Tony Ritter tattoo, a Lion wearing a Crown that took just under six hours. Ramirez spent the day getting tattooed, with a couple 20-minute breaks.

Ritter works on one tattoo a day, four days a week. He takes time on his art and wants it to turn out well. Ramirez had to wait six months to get his appointment. This schedule works well for him, because he doesn’t want to get overwhelmed, and wants the art he makes to look its best.

“I saw him on Instagram, and I started liking his work,” Ramirez said. “When I saw him, I was like “Oh” I liked the black and grey. I gave him an idea and some reference and told him to go ahead and put his own spin on it.”

That’s how Ritter works. He wants to work on a job where he has some say in the final product, it’s his art after all. Someone will give him an idea of what they want, an elk in the woods for example, and he will make that into his art. This is what makes it a Tony Ritter tattoo.

To start, he will Photoshop real images together on his iPad, and then stencil something out.

“I will still spend hours putting something together,” Ritter said.

There are a lot of factors that can affect the price of Ritter’s work, including the time it takes and the difficulty of the piece.

At first, Ritter’s clients were almost all locals from Ellensburg or nearby. Now, he says that almost none of them are. Most people are coming from Spokane or Seattle to get some of his work. He thinks this is “totally cool,” because tattooing in just a small town can be a lot of pressure, it puts him under a microscope.

He knows that artists are always under pressure, and the critics are harsh. Ritter said that if an artist does a great work on a piece, everyone thinks it is OK, and the artist only receives a moderate amount of praise. However, if an artist makes a mistake, people will destroy them. What makes tattoos different, is that the most important judgment comes from the canvas itself.

“What it comes down to is trying do your best work all the time and not really worrying about what everybody else thinks,” Ritter said. “We are just making art you know? Just trying to do the best job we can and it’s something that we want people to want to rock forever.”

Tony Ritter , left, wipes down a lion on tattoo at his tattoo booth at The Roost.