MOSES LAKE — An exhibit opening Friday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center is a team effort.

“'Lost and Found’ brings together the work of Robin and Scott Mayberry in an exploration of loss, renewal, and rediscovery,” the museum wrote in an announcement of the exhibit. “Through layered abstract and representational works, many of which are created in encaustic, the artists consider what is obscured, what is revealed, and what remains as we find our way back to ourselves.”

The husband-and-wife artist duo have noticeably different styles to their painting, but the pieces in “Lost and Found” fit together, Scott Mayberry said.

“We’re both process painters,” he said. “We’re both into landscapes and abstraction. I’m more of an imagist than my wife is.”

Both artists work in encaustic, which is a technique dating to antiquity that uses melted wax and varnish in layers, according to the Encaustic Art Institute. 

“I really enjoy (encaustic),” Scott said. “You get happy accidents in the process; things just happen out of the paint itself.”

Scott Mayberry takes his inspiration from the Northwest artist Edward Kienholz, the Renaissance painter Hieronymous Bosh – famed for his vivid depictions of heaven and hell – and children’s author and illustrator Dr. Seuss.

Many of the pieces on display at the museum depict loss and recovery, the source of the title. Isolation and mourning are another theme that shows through in the show, Scott said.

“A lot of the pieces have lighthouses and boats,” he said. “The ships are being wrecked and sunk, and the lighthouse is mourning the boat, in a way.”

Robin’s work is also lost and found, Scott said, but in a different way.

“Her process is uncovering images underneath the encaustic and scraping away until she gets a nice surface quality, and she finds elements that make the complete composition,” he said. 

The pieces in “Lost and Found” represent a period of about eight years, Scott said. Besides the encaustic, there are some acrylics and pen-and-ink drawings. This is the largest show the Mayberrys have done, he said.

The show will kick off Friday with a free reception at the museum, including light refreshments and a chance to meet the artists, the museum wrote in the announcement. At the same time, the museum will host Art After Hours, an all-adult art session that lets participants create collages with playing cards. 

“Lost and Found” will run through Oct. 23, according to the museum’s website. “Their work is so fun and distinct,” Museum Gallery Coordinator Veronica Talbot wrote. “It is pretty neat seeing the art literally jump off the wall.”

‘Lost and Found’

Opening reception 4 p.m. Sept. 18

Moses Lake Museum & Art Center

401 S. Balsam St.

www.moseslakemuseum.com

    Robin Mayberry’s encaustic painting “Breakthrough” is part of “Lost and Found,” the exhibition opening Friday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.
  

    Scott Mayberry.
  

    Robin Mayberry.
  

    Besides the opening of “Lost and Found,” the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center will host Art After Hours, an opportunity for grownups to create art. Friday’s project will involve making images with playing cards