A painting by Janet Wold, a Marysville artist, is featured on the poster for a new event presented Sept. 19-20 by the Snohomish County Arts Commission.

Arts Together celebrates all the arts in Snohomish County, from fine-art paintings to fine crafts, music and the written word.

“I have been working on a new series called ‘Girls about Town,’” Wold said.

“It includes gals with dogs, girls with purses, and other images of girls and women having fun.”

Wold was selected from a group of submissions in response to a call for art to promote the new event.

“I think I offered the arts commissions committee something that the other artists did not,” Wold said.

“I suggested to them that poster art for many events today is often so generic. The viewer wouldn’t know what the poster or event was about by looking at the art. My design related to the event itself.”

Wold’s painting features a mother with her daughter and the family dog heading toward a group of tents representing the festival up ahead.

“Knowing that the painting would later hang somewhere in the county buildings I wanted it to be something fun, something positive. I wanted the completed piece to make people happy.”

Wold’s painting will become a part of the growing collection of art the county is accumulating as a results of its new percent for the arts program.

“From the feedback I have been getting from those who have seen the poster I would say we hit a positive note. I’ve had many request for posters. I just hope this art piece helps promote the event in a positive light and gets people to the Arts Together creative arts festival,” said Wold, who is a very productive, self-taught artists who gave up her day job in 2000 to pursue art full time.

Wold has a bachelor of arts degree from Evergreen State University in Olympia with a focus on visual arts.

“I had originally thought I might become a teacher, but neither kids nor their parents were my cup of tea,” said the artist.

Through the years, she has worked in restaurants, she’s been an office manager and a real estate appraiser.

“But the art bug was persistent. It has been a rocky road, but an interesting one. Where the art road leads I don’t know, but I am ready for the ride.”

Wold works on a variety of themes, revisiting each one periodically. She does miniature sculptures, dog portraits, and Tuscan landscapes, among other things.

Locally, she was featured on a poster for Marysville’s first Poochapalooza last year. Now she is working on a series of five images for Flying House Productions’ 2008 and 2009 campaign for Seattle Men’s Chorus and the Seattle Women’s Chorus.

“The paintings will be used in posters, programs and in their magazine,” Wold said.

“It was a very exciting job. Knowing that my artworks would have talented musical stars posing with them.”

Wold said that one of her pictures was photographed with Debbie Reynolds. To see what Wold has created for Flying House, see the Web site at www.flyinghouse.org.

“I never fear a new art experiment. I have always been open to trying new things, new media and collaborating with other artists.”

Wold shows different lines of her work at many quality galleries and shops around Puget Sound. Currently she has her miniature sculptures at the Monte Cristo retail shop in Everett, Open Door Gallery on Whidbey Island and at The Venue in Ballard. She has little paintings at Art and Soul in Bothell and at Cattails and Dragonflies in La Connor, and she is showing a set of dog linocuts at Crow Valley on Orcas Island.

“I like to paint larger-than-life scenes in vivid colors of fun things, animals and places people have good feelings about. I try to catch that fleeting moment of contentment from lunch with the girls and giggles with the dogs or that small thrill over a new pair of overly-expensive shoes. I like my work to tell a story.”

Wold has a serious side too, and at those times she finds her work becomes more abstract.

She had an opening in West Seattle, Sept. 11, where her work is on display along with designer handbags and shoes. Wold is also excited about having two benches that she painted on display at the Bellevue Art Museum this month.

“The bench project was commissioned by a Camano crafts person who made the benches and I painted them. Most of my income comes through commissions from private citizens,” she said.

“The benches will be on display at BAM as a preview leading up to a gala event and auction to support the Performing Arts Center Eastside,” said Wold, who is an active supporter of the arts on many fronts, including the Arts Council of Snohomish County as well as the Arlington Arts Council’s Fall into Art Auction, which is coming up Oct. 18.

Wold will be at Arts Together Friday, Sept. 19. Look for her; maybe she’ll sign a poster for you.