Nicholas Knapton uses a wide range of mediums to create art inspired by his childhood, such as this collage. Submitted photo

“Koffee Kup,” ?an exhibit of new works by Astoria artist ?Nicholas Knapton?, will open with an artist reception from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at the Commodore Hotel, 258 14th St., in conjunction with Astoria’s Second Saturday Art Walk.

The monumental reality of the natural place occupied by this rusty little town has inspired generations of souls to create. For residents and visitors alike, the river has offered entertainment, escape, limitless inspiration and often judgment. More pertinent to this event, the Columbia River has been an influence in the life of Knapton since his immediate family returned to the Pacific Northwest from his birthplace of York, England.

The fact that Knapton is exhibiting his current body of work at 258 14th St. (aka The Commodore Hotel), is a serendipitous gesture of fate. Knapton’s grandmother, Helmi Mellin, raised her two daughters in the rooftop apartment on the building directly to the north of the Commodore. Mellin emigrated from her native Finland in 1929 and after stints in Canada and California she landed permanently in Astoria in 1950. Shortly after taking up residence in this edgy little port town, she unexpectedly found herself a single mother of two young girls. Being of resourceful and independent spirit, she opened a diner, the Koffee Kup, at 225 14th St., directly across from the building in which she lived. For the next 28 years she served meals to locals and travelers who arrived by ferry, left by train and lodged in the Commodore Hotel.

This show of Knapton’s current work is dedicated to the memory of his grandmother, who died June 21 at the age of 100. The exhibit will feature an extensive array of drawings, collages and oil paintings.

Stories of his grandmother’s life, as well as experiences of her significant presence, have always infused Knapton’s world. In keeping with the familial adventurous, independent spirit and cultural world view, it is not surprising that after a tumultuous adolescence as one of Astoria’s usual suspects and subsequent tenure as rebel artist at Portland State University, Knapton shed his status as longtime Oregon resident and went in search, eventually taking up something like “residence” in the gritty concrete-scape known as East Berlin. Whatever it was that Knapton was in search of, he found in the squats and comrades of the post-Wall community, where he made his home for the next decade. It was here that Knapton entrenched himself in “cause,” living a life of evolving purpose: indulging, rebelling, as well as working, creating and building a cache of indelible lifelong friendships.

In 2003, when the Eastern European starving artist’s existence had almost taken its ultimate toll, Knapton journeyed back to his American stronghold – Astoria. Here he found the solace of family and garnered renewed inspiration from the haunts and stomps of his childhood. Fighting head-on with feelings of isolation and solitude, Knapton threw himself back into the life of a pristinely passionate artist. Through this course, he continually addresses, works and reworks the visions and questions that taunt us all, and that the creative soul is both blessed and cursed to wrestle with – in formats so accessible to the unsuspecting and often unprepared public.