Last Word Books

Last Word Books is hosting several local artists for Spring Arts Walk including Billie-Gwen Russell, Ravenna Beck, and Owen Scott Taylor.

Billie-Gwen Russell is an accomplished watercolorist who worked for Washington State Parks for many years, spending much of her time outdoors studying horizons and light. She paints with those concepts in mind using watercolor and ink to create visually stunning works in her own unique style.

Ravenna Beck is a painter based in Olympia, specializing in acrylic and oil. Her work explores emotional states and societal observations through texture, color, and depictions of figures, landscapes, and structures. She has exhibited throughout the South Sound, including Olympia Arts Walk, Shelton Arts Walk, and group exhibitions at The Copper Wolf Gallery and the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, and has worked as an illustrator for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. Beck is a 2025 Olympia ArtSpace Alliance Grant recipient.

Owen Scott Taylor is a veteran turntablist, musician, journalist, lifelong activist, dock worker, art handler, show producer, photographer, filmmaker, poet & curmudgeon. He was the DJ for Olympia-based rap group Saints of Everyday Failures, and wrote the politics column El Vacio Moral for the Weekly Volcano. His photography explores urban life, social upheaval, and the intimacy of the individual in modern life.