THREE ARTISTS, THREE WOMEN, THREE FRIENDS

Since my two dear friends and very talented artist comrades, Shane and Helga, and I hang out together regularly to talk about art, our careers and how to support one another we thought it would be fitting that we create a show as a trio. Our work compliments each others so well it felt like a natural. We came up with the title THREE ARTISTS, THREE WOMEN, THREE FRIENDS as it described our relationship so simply . We will exhibit at KOBO in Seattle's International District through July 19th with the opening reception on Saturday, June 21st, 6-8 p.m. You can read a bit about our work and backgrounds here on KOBO's web-site. KOBO has a very interesting history and I encourage you to read about it. We are looking forward to see many familiar and unfamiliar faces at the opening, so hopefully you live nearby and can come by and say hello.

PAINTING THE NIGHT SKY

This photo was taken at Childhood's End Gallery in Olympia where this piece was in a grouping of several I was showing. The theme of the show, as you may have read on a recent post, was Stories, Myths and Legends. It was a wonderful show full of exceptional work by very talented artists from around the region.
This piece has a story about an artist . . .

She lived near a small village at the edge of the thick woods on Constellation Lane. Being an artist of versatility, the notion of residing on a travel-way named after clusters of stars and planets inspired her to start painting the exterior of her house with her own constellations. Late one evening while she was painting, her brush slipped away from the side of the house and swept skyward into the black vastness . . . to her amazement new constellations began to appear. It was like magic or wizardry. She kept moving her brush against the sky like she was conducting an orchestra. Each stroke brought new stars to the life of the night sky and would forever remain.

Along with the other exhibitors were my two artist comrades, Helga Winter, with her sensuous, tactile turned wood vessels, and spheroids and Shane Miller showing her photo-etched metal, narrative boxes that will captivate you. Here are some examples of their extraordinary work.




PAINTING THE NIGHT SKY was created with foam chore board, dress pattern tissue, aluminum tubing, make-up brush wrapped inaluminum tape, hammered aluminum sheeting, mica, beads, tacks and o-rings.

BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON

Though the light of the beautiful silvery moon by herself will not be enough for the Ice Bears to find their way home, at the very least, they are now listed as threatened, but not necessarily protected . . . so, our work continues to do what is needed to keep their home land safe and free of the drilling rigs of the hungry oil-mongers. Learn what we can do to help. In tandem I will continue to hold onto a vivid image for a positive future for our arctic friends - that they all will dance again BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON. It is, however, up to us to make that vision true . . . thank you for your participation and support.

This magnificent being is created on heavy illustration paper with ink, acrylic paint and colored pencil. The silvery moon is hammered aluminum with metal pins, protected behind glass in a maple frame embellished with discs and beads and crowned with a maple wedge also embellished.
(click photo for larger image)

THE CHAIR AFFAIR AUCTION

I spoke about this fun event two posts ago (see below) and now the excitement is building. May 24th is the date of the auction and all, or at least a high percentage, of Port Townsend and the outlying communities will come to view and bid on these fun creations painted and/or made by local artists. The proceeds go to support great arts programs. To learn more visit PT ArtScape. If you live in the area please come by and join in the festivities. See you there!

THIS OLD HOUSE HAS MANY STORIES

As years pass and occupants come and go and family members move on in different ways, a house can gather numerous stories, on various levels, and store them within it's walls. If we are still enough we may be able to hear them or, as it is said, read the writings on the walls. What stories will your house tell?

THIS OLD HOUSE HAS MANY STORIES was built on and with metal gears, found objects, handcrafted paper, patinated metal, mica. An old wood stove element was used for the finial. (click on photo for larger image)

THE CHAIR AFFAIR

In the fall of 1998, a group of interested teachers, school administrators, and community members came together to apply for a grant from WSAC that offered funding for arts in the public schools. Visual arts, music, and drama were offered as electives only in grades 7-12. Limited levy funding supported one-shot arts activities in the elementary grades on a monthly basis. There was not a climate of collaboration between the arts specialists and classroom teachers, and arts lessons were not integrated into the curriculum.

The Consortium fostered a different kind of collaboration than had ever happened before. The Port Townsend Community Consortium, now known as PT Artscape, has transformed arts education in local schools through eight years of advocacy, programming and creative problem solving. The Consortium began to take shape almost a decade ago, when a team of arts advocates saw potential in linking local resources with the school district, and launched this effort with a Consortium proposal to the Washington State Arts Commission.

The annual fundraiser, “The Chair Affair” will be held on Sunday, May 25, from 5:00-7:00 pm at the American Legion Building in Port Townsend. Local Artists’ unique hand painted chairs will be auctioned off that evening. You can get a sneak peek at the chairs by visiting the businesses that showcase student work. All proceeds will support Arts programming in the Port Townsend School District, K-12th grade.

The 2007 event raised over $6,000 for the arts in the schools program.
(above verbiage is excerpted from the PT Artscape web-site)

ArtWave 2008 and Chair-Affair-ing began last night with Gallery Walk. Student art has been placed along with all the artists creations in 40 participating venues!

Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers who work so hard to make this happen for two years now and to the artists who have joined the fun to help generate funds for this great program. I had such a good time being a part of last year's event and I am participating again this year. The photo at the top of this post is of my 3 contributions. The 3 photos below are these chairs individually. (click on each photo for larger images)

CAN'T SIT STILL
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME

AS MY MUSE MOVES ME


The following photo is of my contribution last year. This photo was taken before it was completely finished. I gave it the title of FIND YOUR ART. The winning bid went to a very nice couple I know in Port Townsend who are both professional artists themselves and have it hanging above a small cabinet in their home (bottom photo).

TOUCH for the last time

TOUCH once again and again and again

ALMOST to the end of the series, but first . . . from The Beginning. These three pieces above were the first in this series I've been posting below. I was cutting small glass pieces myself before I went to using glass slides. (click on photos for larger images)





I was going to post the various pieces from this series by number, but I have discovered that the numbers in my photo archives are not corresponding correctly, so I am just going to add a few now and then to this post without numbers. Some of these pieces are available at Raven Blues in Poulsbo so they are not in my possession to reference the numbers. If you can check back every few days to see what I have added to this post (they will be above all of this text) over a few weeks. Thanks for your continued interest. For more details about this series read previous post. (click on photo for larger image)

TOUCH

I feel Spring today!!! So much activity. The sounds and sights and energy of Spring are all around me, on my morning walks, especially. All the bird's love songs echoing through the trees and all their scurrying about busily in the process of nest making is such a gift to watch and be a part of. It is an experience that brings to mind a series of small pieces I made of young children's hands with birds resting on or near their fingers. These are pencil illustrations on watercolor paper fronted by found feathers or other fragments from nature. Then the bird is drawn on vellum and sandwiched between glass slides. I covered the mats with handcrafted paper. I gave them numbered titles preceded by the word TOUCH. Young innocent life merged with the liveliness of Spring's life force. There was a sweetness there that surged up, as hope and trust, compassion and our connectedness to the natural world and each other. This piece is TOUCH #5. (click on photo for larger image)

STORIES, MYTHS & LEGENDS

STORIES, MYTHS AND LEGENDS - This will be a telling exhibit. All works are created with a story, a myth or a legend that may be from the world's rich literature or creative narratives made up by the artist. My fellow cohorts and artist pals, Helga Winter and Shane Miller, will be accompanying me in this show with their inventive creations along with 8 other artists from the NW Region. It will hang from April 25th through May 31st. The opening reception for the artists is Friday April 25th. (click on photo for details)

This exhibit and many others will be part of Olympia's Spring Arts Walk, a 2 day event, that will stimulate your whole being. All of Olympia is in festivity with their biannual Arts Walk. Plan ahead and come enjoy the Arts of all kinds.

TIME SUSPENDED

TIME. How does one have a friendly and copacetic relationship with time. Can we stop time? I think when we are in a zone, like doing something we get lost in or is meditative we can suspend time as though it did not exist, where only we exist within that one moment, and then the next and the next...


Here time is put into a place of presence where it has no force or effect...TIME SUSPENDED...sits waiting within a structure of paper, metal street cleaner bristles, aluminum tubing, tacks, poly-board, vintage clock face dangling on threads, with a beautifully patina'd piece of metal for the back wall and other mixed media.

ROMANCING THE SALMON MOON

Does bear sing to the moon when she is full to lure the salmon to bear's feasting place? Only bear knows, as does the moon. But the salmon, do they know and simply gift themselves to bear so she/he may be sustained? All is in balance as it is until we try to balance it the way we think it should be . . . and what we are doing to them and to our planet, we are doing to ourselves. An insightful, profound and soul felt expression from our own wise man, Chief Seattle. He understood. They/we are all precious.

ROMANCING THE SALMON MOON is a window into a vignette where I use my illustrated salmon swimming in a sky of handcrafted paper and disc bead for a moon. Onlooking and singing is my illustration of bear all under glass, surrounded by a maple frame that I embellished with more flat disc beads and a wedge of maple wood. (click on photo for larger image)

WHERE I OFTEN FIND MYSELF

One could say, as we journey on, that we find ourselves somewhere that makes us feel at peace, a place where we often find ourselves to be. Or we become aware of ourselves in a place that feels like home, where we find our being, where one often finds one's self...That place of being connected to it all, to nature, to each other.


Imagine opening a door and all we find are stairs or a ladder that takes us to a place of calm, a place where we go to feel quiet and peaceful or to contemplate, somewhere we can frequent regularly just to be.


If we were to keep going we might find that place called nirvana, perhaps, where there is no myself. Hmmmmmmm
(click on photos for larger images)

MOMENTUM

MOMENTUM is another one of the three pieces for the DOORS show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. It started with a salesman's sample door that my husband brought home to me a couple of years ago. When I was asked to be apart of the DOORS show this miniature door came directly to mind. But how to use it. I covered it, as you see and the rest grew from numerous ideas in my sketch book. With the use of the pewter wheels I felt it needed the illusion of movement . . .
Slanting the house backwards was inspiring - how to do the rest of it . . .




A clock to me represented movement, not only in how it works, but the passing of time, being here and now with the knowledge and inevitability that we are moving forward to the next moment.


The egg in the nest is nurtured now as a precious life, right now, within. And the potential for a new life in a different form, what it is going to become. Nature, life, there is always momentum if we stop for a moment. This moment turns into the next. We move from this now, right now, to the next now, which is always, now . . . Momentum. (click on the photos for larger images)

BIRTH OF AN IDEA

When the idea of a small trailer (see previous post) came to me for the DOORS show, it was a vision in my mind's eye. Then I went to my sketch book where I plant seeds and started to doodle - I love to doodle - and played with shapes for this piece. The first one was a bit crude and I thought I would title it HOME GROWN, which is still on the "pieces to do" list. The second sketch was getting closer and the third one was drawn in photoshop to get the curves to transition smoothly. The next step was to scour my studio for materials I could use. Aluminum sheeting, yes. Wallpaper, I created in photoshop. Flooring, scraps of marmoleum. Wheels...hmmm. My husband went to a box of goodies in his workshop that had some parts from a very old radio...alas, there they were, tuning pulleys, the perfect wheels, down to the little "tire valve" to which I preceeded to add black paint to simulate a valve cap. And the rest evolved as I went along. Thus it was birthed.

By the way, the opening last night was a success. The exhibit was displayed beautifully. Once again, kudos to the staff at BAC. I GO WHERE I'M TOWED got lots of smiles and attention and happily found a new home to park itself. It is, often times, bitter-sweet to see one's creations depart, but much to my delight this piece is going to live with 2 dear people whom I know. They love it very much. So it remains in the extended family, so to speak. I hope you can get by to see all the wonderful and creative ideas that sprouted from the artists who participated...

I GO WHERE I'M TOWED

This piece is one of three from a show that opens tonight at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery. The title of the show is DOORS.
Having a love for vintage travel trailers I thought it would be a fun project to create a small trailer with a little door. Lost in the idea I didn't know how challenging it would be. I had to enlist the talents and strong hands of my husband to help at particular junctures while I put this piece together. I also had some help from my artist friend, Shane Miller, as we wrestled with her metal shear and the piece of metal we successfully cut that wraps around the circumference of the trailer.
While out on a travel about a year ago my husband and I came across a small tear drop trailer with the words I GO WHERE I'M TOWED printed across the back bumper. We had such a great laugh over it at which point were determined to use the phrase on our little pop-up trailer. That has not come about as yet, but once I created this piece there was no way I couldn't use it as the title.
Then came the task of what would be the surprise inside the trailer once the door is opened.


It took me a while, but Voilà! Of course, put a toad inside.Then came the search for a really appropriate toad. Nowhere in all my rummaging hither and yon, including the internet and letting my fingers do the walking could I find the perfect toad that fit the personality of this little trailer. Well, a local Port Townsend garden shop was out of small toads, but they graciously suggested I try a new shop downtown PT.


Sure enough they had the perfect toad, a Christmas tree ornament, that I gathered up, took home to my studio and proceeded to paint it to look realistic. Meet the perfect toad. He goes where he's told, I mean towed.
(click on photos for larger images)


Originally I had designed the graphics on the plate to look like a vintage plate, but my husband said, "oh no, you really should have it look like a Washington license plate", so I said, go for it, and he came forth with these graphics for the plate...perfect. You can't see it in this photo very well, but the date on the license plate is the date of the opening of the show. Then I proceeded to craft the license plate holder. More fun. More smiles.

THE RECURRENCE

I have often wondered if birds ever return to the same nest the following years to repeat their instinctual ritual of raising the newest generation. I have a feeling they do not from the various old and weathered nests I have found. I do, though, like to think that some may and with some research on my part I might discover that it does occur in some species. Or perhaps the dance of collection and the artful arrangement of the gathered materials is part of the internal process that begins the manifestation of new life. This piece, THE RECURRENCE, was my vision of a visitation that takes place every spring and/or more than once a year. A regular, a come and go resident with familiarity.

LUNA

Luna, she comes up so much in my work. It is of no wonder as she is so captivating. I was awed and transfixed by the moon the other night when she was shadowed by our earth. My husband and I went out in the cool evening and set up our tri-pod. He took some pictures and then, due to the cold air and being underdressed, he went inside. I, however, stayed out and captured most of the event on my smaller digital camera, which is better for common day and macro photography, but to my surprise and delight, it did a pretty good job on expressing what I was experiencing, nonetheless. I was grateful that is was a clear and crisp evening, so we could witness this magical event. Though it is not rare, it is always enchanting to see the shadow of our earth against our beautiful moon.


This photo was taken while the eclipse was beginning to wane so the orange glow was fading. We live in the woods so we were having peekaboo views which this photo illustrates. I hope you were able to see this alluring phenomenon.

MOON IN THE WINDOW

I hope you all had an opportunity to see the moon last night. She created the most beautiful shadows, inside and outside, and silvery stars that glistened on the Madrone leaves. The Olympics were aglow also. Perfect for a walk, to be in the energy of the night and still see everything in the dimmed light, (as stated in my dictionary - a book that I love - " the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible "). What a gift at the end of a spring like day.


MOON IN THE WINDOW is another older piece created using metal street cleaner bristles, rusted pieces of metal, beads, wire, handcrafted paper, original illustration of the moon. (click on photos for larger images)

TWIN PEAKS

What can I say about TWIN PEAKS. It just evolved like most of my pieces do. If I remember correctly it began with making the pebble finials. I wanted to use them together somehow so I built the double peaked structure and the rest just unfolded. I am fortunate to live where I have a view of the Olympic Mountains in their grand stature, so TWIN PEAKS, you could say, reflects my good fortune.

TWIN PEAKS stands tall using handcrafted paper, metal street cleaner bristles, pebbles, hammered aluminum sheeting and wire, mica, and other mixed media. (click on photo for larger image)

MOVING DAY

When it comes time to pick up and move, we gather up all that we give value to. In MOVING DAY the important and valuable items readied for moving are those that are precious and have potential for life.

MOVING DAY gets going on wings of hammered aluminum sheeting with handcrafted paper, feather, beads, polymer eggs, square nails, and other mixed materials. (click photo for larger image)

THE ROCK COLLECTOR

My assemblage work started by creating them under glass within frames. This piece is one of a few that grew from my creating them freestanding in a 3D, sculptural fashion. I've always loved and collected rocks and I thought it would be fun to make a piece that depicted the dwelling of a rock collector. Are the rocks on display or are they about to take over the house as it swells and they all spill out?

When I went to photograph this piece I loved the way the light was coming through the back of it so I decided to do one shot of it this way . . . this is the result.

The 3D work has since evolved into using larger dimensions in every direction which, of course, increased the size of the pieces.

THE ROCK COLLECTOR consists of handcrafted paper, small pebbles, mica, metal street cleaner bristles, hammered aluminum sheeting, beads and whatnot. (click on photo for larger image)

LOON'S MICA MOON

Those haunting calls of the wild echo through the silence like the moon's reflective light pierces through the darkness. The moon with the black night resting around it shines brightly on the loon as she glides gently through the water coming to rest in a safe shelter where the moon has cast protective shadows.

LOON'S MICA MOON has a background of woven grass wallpaper, with loon's shelter consisting of handcrafted paper, metal street cleaner bristles, beads, washers, wire, tacks, sitting within wavy corrugated board, with the light from a moon made of black washer, disc bead, topped with mica, all behind glass within an embellished maple frame. (click on photo for larger image)

THE PERCH HOUSE

While I was out for this morning's walk I was accompanied by an exhilarating symphony of songs offered by happy, melodious birds. Their joy for the day gave me a reminder nudge to refill my bird-feeders for the beginning onset of incoming travelers. It brought to mind this piece, THE PERCH HOUSE, a refuge for the winged things to seek shelter and nourishment.

THE PERCH HOUSE is stilted on metal street cleaner bristles, handcrafted paper, tacks, brass metal sheeting, with an original sketch on vellum of a visiting cedar waxwing. (click on photo for larger image)

WILDERNESS CAGED

This piece was my commentary on the state of our environment and the habitat that is being destroyed and taken from our wildlife. I feel it is our responsibility to preserve these creatures and the habitat they live in with integrity and good guardianship before it is too late.

WILDERNESS CAGED is captured with an augmented, reworked print from an original I painted of a grizzly bear fishing for salmon, handcrafted paper, corrugated cardboard, rusted flattened bottle cap, in a 3/4" inset surrounded by street cleaner bristles, and tacks, enclosed over matt board with glass within a frame. (click on photo for larger image)