The stone lithograph of a camp on the tundra doesn't look like a typical piece by Jon Van Zyle, the Alaska artist most famous for his images of the Iditarod Trail. For one thing, no dogs.
A black and white image of ice by Byron Birdsall, whose signature flat, sharply defined shades decorate thousands of Alaska homes and businesses, is also oddly unfamiliar. So are the black and white prints by Rie Munoz, best known for her color-filled illustrations.
The unexpected abounds at a new Midtown gallery named 2 Friends. The shop, which had its grand opening on Thursday, is owned by Jacqui Ertischek and Georgia Blue. Ertischek is a former school counselor turned artist and Blue recently retired from 20 years of managing the Anchorage Museum gift shop. They hope their "most unusual gallery" will fill a niche in Anchorage by reselling previously owned art, generally by consignment.
Ertischek said the idea hit her when she needed to get something out of her closet and had to move a number of paintings she'd stored there. "Art needs to be seen, shared, loved," she said. "That so much art is out of sight is just horrendous."
Blue -- whose long career in retail art has included work with the old Visual Arts Center of Alaska and Stonington Gallery -- was somewhat reluctant to leave her long association with the museum (especially with a "wonderful new office" in the recently expanded facility). But when what she considered an ideal location for the gallery became available, she realized it was time to act.
2 Friends shares the Benson Center Mall with other niche businesses like Classic Toys, the Quilt Tree, Flypaper and Cafe del Mundo. "I didn't want to be downtown," Blue said. "The parking's too much of a problem."
Once they had their space and concept, the two went to work, visiting people who had art stowed away, in some cases for decades. From closets, attics, crawl spaces and under beds came prints, paintings, lithographs and such. The women carefully evaluated each piece and "juried" the ones they felt had the best fit for their shop.
The result is an array of early work by many Alaska artists who have since revised their style. Hence the double take a knowledgeable viewer might give the van Zyle and Munoz pieces. You suspect you know who did them, but there's something just a little different about them.
The walls include work by names who were once in the dominant ranks of Alaska artists but haven't been found much in galleries recently: William Kimura, Dale DeArmond, Robert Mayakok, Saradell Ard. There's pottery by Al Tennant and a silver bracelet by Ronald Senungetuk.
To show all of the art they've taken on would require a much bigger space than the storefront affords. So a giant television screen displays images of work by Fred Machetanz and others on a rotating basis.
A few days before the grand opening, not all of the work on display included a price. That's because they were still in negotiation with the owner about pricing, Blue said.
"We're trying to look at what the market will bear, what we can expect to sell it for, not the value given in an insurance appraisal," she said.
"One of the things we hope to do is make art affordable for young people," Ertischek added. "A lot of pieces you see here are priced at about half of what you'd pay elsewhere."
Consignors enter into an agreement that is as one-of-a-kind as some of the art on the walls. The gallery and consignor split the money from a sale 50-50, but each gives 10 percent of their share to a non-profit organization. The recipient changes from month to month; this month, for instance, it's local public broadcasting.
This "45-45" proposition requires a little additional bookkeeping; the seller needs paperwork to receive a tax deduction from their sale. But it's part of how 2 Friends expects to do business.
"Anchorage has been my home for so long," said Ertischek, who moved here in 1974. "The time comes when you need to give back."
A sense of social consciousness is also evident in some of the items from Africa, South America and Israel that share the shelves with the artwork. Like bracelets from Burkina Faso, made from recycled plastic prayer matts by a women's co-op.
Fabric art, vintage jewelry, custom cookware, stuffed animal doorstops and curiosities like solar-powered chimes are also sold.
Not all of the work is by Alaskans. There are pictures by Marc Chagall and Salvadore Dali, in addition to the decorator pieces. But Lower 48 artists are asked where else they show in Alaska, said Blue. She and Ertischek are cautious about carrying someone who's carried by another shop in the same area.
As time goes on, Blue said, they'll probably spotlight featured artists from time to time, or arrange themed exhibitions. They also hope to use Internet outreach including Facebook and Craig's List.
During the slow winter months, they may curtail operations to hit the big arts and craft shows in the Lower 48, where Erischek has exhibited her work before. This time, though, they'll be scouting for fresh names and ideas.
"We want fun stuff," Erischek said.
And she doesn't think there will be any shortage of prospective material. "There are so many creative people in this world, it blows my mind," she said.
Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.
By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com