excerpt from
In The Galleries: June
by Regina Hackett

After David Hockney, few painters dare tackle the subject of swimming pools. Hockney is so good on the allure of chlorinated blue that he strands everybody else in the shallow end -- except Rachel Maxi.

Seattle's Maxi is best known for palm-size portraits of lawns, trees and houses. Her new paintings opening Saturday night, 6-9 p.m., at Artemis Gallery (3107 S. Day St.), are larger and rely less on the dappled effects of shaded daylight.

Her "Pool II" (oil on masonite, 34 1/2 inches high by 45 1/2 inches wide) is a world unto itself, the water bleaching white in blue, like clouds in the sky, surrounded by velvet darks and nobody there.