Myra Mae Platt has been a professional artist for most of her life. She grew up in Colorado, but moved to the Seattle Area almost 40 years ago. While continuing to focus on her art, Myra ran Book-It Repertory Theatre as Founding Co-Artistic Director with Book-It’s founder Jane Jones in Seattle for 32 years. (Although Book-It closed its doors in 2022, she and Jane are currently bringing Book-It back to life “one show at a time.”)
After many years in Seattle, Myra and her husband, singer songwriter Dave Ellis, decided they wanted to move from an urban lifestyle to somewhere rural. They purchased a home in 2016 on Whidbey and moved to the island in 2018. They feel they have easily adapted to Whidbey Island life, loving every minute of it.
Myra describes herself as having “always been an artist.” She notes “It’s in my genes.” Her father, Walter Blakelock Wilson, was also an artist. She also has several other talents including being a playwright; writing a novel; and directing a show at WICA. She also teaches a class in drama at the University of Washington. This summer she and friend Hilary Pickles are launching a podcast celebrating the power of women over 40 called Just Before We Go – featuring interviews with prominent women making a difference in our world.
She worked out of her home in Langley until she discovered a growing artist’s community in Clinton. Her special style reflects her love of nature and particularly trees “I have an affinity for the beauty of trees and sky.” At her studio in the Clinton Arts District, there is an entire wall of beautiful paintings of different sizes that display her 2024 project of painting 50 Roads in 50 Days. All of her paintings show her love of contrast, color, and form in nature. She has a dream that more artists will make Clinton their home and that it will become a busy art district.
Myra has made a living as a professional artist, and she has donated several of her paintings in the past as well. But she says “Art and commerce is tricky. An artist claiming their value in today’s market is especially difficult. And sometimes I have a bit of a spiritual conflict in running a business and marketing my work while maintaining a healthy creative output.” Looking at her paintings one does get a strong feeling of her love of nature.
She hopes that more people will discover the Clinton Arts District, and that its reputation will grow as more people appreciate this special community of talented artists. And she hopes more people will also discover Myra Mae Studios and stop by to see the variety of paintings that fill her walls.
If you are looking for something special, or if you just want to be sure she will be in her studio, you can visit her website or stop by her studio gallery located at the Clinton Shopping Center just up the hill from the ferry, or send her an email: myra.mae.studios@gmail.com .
