West Seattle Art Tour — September 19 & 20, 2026
This September, I’ll be showing 16 original paintings at the West Seattle Art Tour, and I wanted to do something a little different leading up to the show.
The collection brings together work from different periods, subjects, and styles—from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest to Costa Rica, wildlife, portraiture, and some of my larger recent oil paintings.
For two days, all 16 pieces will be shown together at Site #14, see map below.
September 19 & 20, 2026
10 AM – 5 PM
West Seattle Art Tour — Site #14
16 Original Works
One of the things I’m most excited about is seeing these paintings together in one space.
The collection includes pieces like Tokyo Koi, Costa Rican Jungle, Sunset Over Seattle, Encounter, Squared Up, Mountain Climbers, Hawaiian Cliffs and several others.
Some are large-scale oil paintings. Others come from my PXLSM series. The subjects and techniques vary, but each represents a different place, experience, or idea that caught my attention enough that I wanted to put it on canvas.
Rather than narrowing the show down to one particular theme, I wanted this exhibition to be a broader look at what I've been creating.
But Which Ones Should Become Prints?
That’s where I want your help.
I’ll have all 16 original paintings at the Art Tour, but I’m only going to turn five of them into prints for the show.
Instead of choosing the five myself, I’m letting everyone else decide.
Leading up to the Art Tour, I’m putting all 16 paintings into a head-to-head tournament on Instagram.
Think March Madness, but with paintings.
THE PRINT TOURNAMENT
16 paintings.
Head-to-head matchups.
One vote each day.
5 become prints.
Every day, I’ll post two paintings against each other in my Instagram Stories.
You vote for the one you would most want to see as a print.
The winner advances.
After the first round, 16 become 8. Those eight go head-to-head again, with the four winners earning a place in the final print collection.
Then there’s one last opportunity: a Wild Card vote to determine the fifth and final print.
By the time the West Seattle Art Tour begins, the five prints available at the show will have been chosen entirely by your votes.
Why Do It This Way?
Art is incredibly subjective.
A painting that I think will connect with people isn't always the one that does. Sometimes it's a piece I never expected.
That's part of what makes showing work in person interesting—you get to hear what people see in a painting, what it reminds them of, and why one piece connects with them more than another.
So rather than guessing which five paintings people would want as prints, I thought:
Why not just ask?
And make it a little competitive while we're at it.
Come See the Originals
The tournament will determine the prints, but all 16 original paintings will be on display during the West Seattle Art Tour.
If you've followed my work online, this will be an opportunity to see many of these pieces at their actual scale and experience the texture and color that can be difficult to capture in a photograph.
WEST SEATTLE ART TOUR
September 19 & 20, 2026
10 AM – 5 PM
Site #14
And before then, follow along on Instagram and cast your vote.
16 originals. Five prints. You decide which ones make it.
— John de Mars
