Painter Rosalyn Powell, 78, excelled at floral still lifes

Rosalyn Gale Powell, a Bainbridge Island artist known for her proficiency with still lifes, died Tuesday at her home. She was 78 and had recently been honored with an exhibition at the Chicago Botanical Garden.

That 2004 exhibition couldn't have been a more appropriate culmination for Ms. Powell's long career. The native of England loved to paint flowers: in intricate, pristine bouquets or individually, the petals delicately nibbled by insects.

For many years Ms. Powell was represented by the Foster/White Gallery, and her works hang in homes throughout the Northwest and beyond. In 1979, King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia commissioned Powell to do four paintings representing the seasons for his private airplane, said Dennis South, a former Bainbridge Island theater director and close friend who has followed Powell's career for 40 years.

"We've both gone through the terrors of opening night together," South said. "In her case, it was 'Will anybody come? Will anybody buy?' "

Ms. Powell was born March 6, 1929, in England and began drawing at age 5. At 19, she went to Paris and studied portraiture. In 1952, Ms. Powell moved to Seattle to be with her sister, planning to get work as a nanny.

She studied art with Kenneth Callahan and Jacob Elshin before continuing her painting lessons for two years at the University of Washington.

She married physician Archie Powell, and the couple moved to Bainbridge Island. They eventually divorced, and Ms. Powell stayed on the island. Since 2001, Bainbridge Arts and Crafts has awarded a $1,000 scholarship each year in her honor.

Despite her fervent interest in liberal politics, Ms. Powell never became a U.S. citizen. "She liked her English heritage," said her friend Harriet Davis, a former board member of Bainbridge Arts and Crafts.

And despite her many honors, which include a Washington State Governor's Award for distinguished service in the arts in 1984, Ms. Powell remained insecure about her painting. "She would agonize before every show for fear people wouldn't like what she was doing," Davis said. "But her shows always sold out."

In a 1997 exhibition at Foster/White Gallery, Powell shared the bill with sculptor Tony Angell and glass artist Dale Chihuly.

Ms. Powell's paintings are in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum, The Frye Art Museum, Seafirst Bank, Paccar and the Bainbridge Public Library, among others. Beginning in the 1980s, she was commissioned to create several posters for the Pike Place Market.

It makes sense that someone who loved flowers the way Ms. Powell did would also like to grow them. She was a gardener in the English tradition, Davis said. "She knew all the Latin, the proper names for everything. She had a pond and would feed the birds. She loved every aspect of nature. She was a delightful woman."

Plans for a memorial service will be announced. Ms. Powell is survived by nieces Caroline Ellison, of Burien, and Jacque Lantz, of New Mexico; and her nephew Christopher Nyhus of Seattle.

Sheila Farr: sfarr@seattletimes.com