Art on the Beach, Part I: The Fusions Story

(Photos by Stuart May)

If you think Ocean Shores is a sleepy little town with no creative spirit, you haven’t met Kelly May, or browsed through her electric Fusions Gallery.

In eight years, Fusions has added a little cutting-edge and unpredictable flair. It has developed into a nice complement to Gallery Marjuli, which has long been the high-water mark in North Beach art.

The driving force behind Fusions is Kelly May, living proof of a few counter-intuitive things:

-Contrary to the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, you can have an Act II, in life.

-Contrary to conventional wisdom, a “different” business can succeed.

-Contrary, perhaps, to sanity, you can do something without the, so to speak, proper training.

-Contrary to medical advice, you can work your brains out with 60 hour weeks, and have fun doing it.

A vibrant, spunky blonde sporting chic glasses and a bright, contemporary outfits, Kelly May tosses off one-liners like a newsboy flinging papers.

“If someone would have asked me eight years ago if this place was going to be in my life,” she said the other day, from the gallery, “you probably would have had to pick me up off the floor. I would have been laughing so hard.”

(Disclosure note: The wife of the North Coast News editor is a Fusions employee.)  

Asked if she had any training in art, or even an artistic streak in her previous life, she shakes her head “NO,” laughing too hard to speak.

“When I met Stuart,” she says, when she catches her breath, “I didn’t know who Ansel Adams was. I didn’t know what pastel was . . . I just liked pretty things.”

Stuart is Stuart May, a professional photographer/real estate agent. They met in Tofino, a small community in Vancouver island, British Columbia, where Kelly went for “a sabbatical.” She had recently divorced and needed to get out of Spokane, where for 15 years she was a stay-home mom — “I was a Stepford Wife,” she cracks.

In Tofino, Kelly’s youngest son struck up a friendship with Steven, Stuart’s son. Kelly and Stuart eventually met, and hit it off so well, soon they were looking for “a small town on the coast.”

Hello, Ocean Shores.

Kelly and Stuart moved here and rented space in the Catala Mall. They first were selling only Stuart’s work, then decided to expand to a full, multi-artist gallery, and bought a commercial building at 834 Pt. Brown Ave. NW, next to Mike’s Seafood.

At the time, the Ocean Shores art scene was dominated by Gallery Marjuli, which you could say went a long way toward creating the Ocean Shores art scene.

“Marge and Julie both brought flowers to our grand opening,” Kelly May said. “They’ve been very gracious.”

In 26 years as the Gallery Marjuli owner, Marge McBride has seen scores of business come. And, sadly, most of them close, sooner or later. Yet she is not surprised Fusions has made it. “They do everything really kind of uptown,” she says. “I like their look.

“They have a unique look. That’s what we need.”

Kelly May has great respect for Marjuli, but never wanted to be an imitator.

“Gallery Marjuli is an established, traditional gallery,” May said. “We are a start-up, boutique gallery. Three-quarters of our artists have never been in a gallery before.

“What I look for in an artist is something that’s unique — different than I already have.”

 Kelly’s latest find is Walter Massey, a talented copper artist from Port Townsend. She recently sold a Massey mermaid ($1,500), and before that a copper sculpting of a bear eating salmon ($1,500). The latter was a replica of one of Stuart’s photos; Stuart May’s stunning, blown-up photos of Northwest nature have long been Fusions staples.

 “I’m his pimp,” Kelly jokes.

The youthful, energetic Kelly might not look it, but her oldest is 25. She has four children: Bryanne, the oldest; 20-year-old twins Christopher and Tony, both students at Western Washington University, in Bellingham; and 19-year-old Joe, a wrestling star at North Beach High, now working in construction locally.

Kelly and Stuart are regulars at near-by Galway Bay, partly because some of their artists play in Galway’s bands Ockham’s Razor and Maggie’s Fury.

You’ll not likely meet someone who is happier with personal and professional life on the North Coast.

Gazing cat-content at the sunshine peaking through her window, Kelly talks about walking on the beach, and life outside the big city.

“I like the laid-back pace of Ocean Shores. It only takes me being in a place like Spokane for three days to be ready to come back home.”

Though she considers herself an Ocean Shores resident, technically she and Stuart live in Hoquiam, just a few miles north of the city’s gates.

“I live out on 10 acres on the river, and after spending the day in public, I like to go home and enjoy the sounds of nature.”

Sometimes a place just feels right, and Ocean Shores has wrapped itself around Kelly May like a warming sweater.

This is no art snob: she plunges herself into the masses, talking to anyone about anything.

And, as the pulse of the Shores quickens, with another big summer looming, the Fusions diva is ready for the ride.

“I love the festivals in town. I love the parades! There’s nothing better than an Ocean Shores parade.”

Next week: The mother-daughter team behind Gallery Marjuli.