Artwork by Gretchen Daiber at Icicle Arts Gallery

Icicle Arts Gallery presents “Ocean to Altitude - Animal Studies in Stone and Bronze,” featuring original artworks by Leavenworth artist Gretchen Daiber.  The show opened on March 11 and will be on display until May 8.  A “Meet the Artist” reception will be held on Friday, March 18, from 5PM to 7PM with free admission, refreshments, and local wines from Cascadia Winery, Vin du Lac, Icicle Ridge Winery, and Wedge Mountain. The gallery is located at Barn Beach Reserve - 347 Division Street in downtown Leavenworth. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11AM to 4PM and by appointment.

Working as a fine artist for over 35 years takes dedication, determination and a true love of the process, and that is what Gretchen Daiber has done. Her focus has never deviated from her keen interest in representing her personal Pacific Northwest experience. As the daughter of Mountaineering legend and Seattle Mountain Rescue founder, Ome Daiber, Gretchen has always been totally at home in the outdoors. A keen student of all living things, her work reflects a deep connection to nature and the living creatures that inhabit her world. Interested in printmaking at the University of Washington, she later apprenticed with sculptor Tony Angell, and made a career change to sculpture in the 1980s. Much like her mentor, subject matter includes birds, animals, lizards, and seals - which Gretchen has studied first-hand and in great detail during her travels. The past 15 years have been spent wrestling with huge chunks of Icicle Valley granite, battling jack hammers and diamond blades, dust and heat, to produce dozens of gorgeous sculptures of native species including bears, salmon, river otters, weasels, wolves and ravens, some of which inhabit the grounds of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth. Moving and installing the finished commission is the ultimate challenge!

A passionate supporter of conservation efforts on behalf of the snow leopard since her residency at the Woodland Park Zoo in 1977, Gretchen was commissioned by the International Snow Leopard Trust in 2006 to honor its founder, Helen Freeman. The resulting life-size bronze sculpture in now installed at the Snow Leopard Exhibit in Seattle. Additional public sculptures are part of permanent collections in Wenatchee, Moses Lake, and Puyallup. A great supporter of the arts locally, Gretchen has given her time and talents to the Icicle Creek Music Center since its inception in 1996. A hard-working advocate for the appreciation of original fine art, she has helped organize several local artist groups, and attends receptions and gallery openings in support of her artist friends. In 1999 the Watershed Art Project was initiated by Gretchen, along with her mentor, Tony Angell, and two local artists, Cynthia Neely and Gretchen Rohde. The project introduced the general public to fifteen internationally renowned nature artists who visited and recorded the Wenatchee River Watershed during 2001.  Their finished work returned to two local galleries in 2002, with a portion of the Watershed Art collection being purchased and gifted to the Washington Audubon Society in 2003. As representational art goes in and out of style, Gretchen has remained true to her inner voice and determined to work with the forces of granite and bronze to produce a body of work that is both inspirational and heartwarming.

Icicle Arts Gallery is a program of Icicle Arts, North Central Washington’s arts alliance since 2004. To learn more, join as a member, and support the arts in North Central Washington, visit iciclearts.org or call (509) 548-2278.