BIRDS OF A FEATHER

From July 2nd through August 1st our local art center, Northwind Arts Center, will host an invitational show: BIRDS OF A FEATHER. Myself, (Linda Jarvis) Rae Belkin, Ellen Reichart and Kathleen Snow are presenting works in a variety a media. All four of us share an affinity for using imagery and themes related to animals and the natural world exploring various ideas often conveying a sense of mystery and humor. I am looking forward to my work hanging out, so to speak, with these other wonderful artist's work.

If you live near or around the Olympic Peninsula area I hope you can join us for the BIRDS OF A FEATHER Walk-Through, Friday, July 2 at 10 a.m. and the Opening Reception, Saturday, July 3, 5:30 - 8 p.m., at the Northwind Arts Center - 2904 Jefferson Street, Port Townsend.

The image of the piece above the map is titled IDENTITY THEFT. It has always intrigued me how blue jays can mimic various bird's songs and/or calls in the attempt to fool the other birds and scare them from their nests. It stirred up in my mind this image of a blue jay trying to steal the identity of a crow. It always puts a smile on my face when I hear a blue jay mocking other birds and I think to myself, how clever is that! But, then again, how deceiving. That being said, crows are very clever and intelligent in their own right. Seeing this piece in person will give you the full monty and energy of what it is depicting and the embellishments on the frame. Perhaps you will have the opportunity to get by the gallery during the shows duration through July. Remember to click on the image for a larger view and don't forget to stop back to find new posts now and then. Thank you for your interest.

POST BARN SALE

This is the complete crew from our 2010 Artist Studio Barns Sale. From left to right:

Shirley Moss, Kristi Templeton, Shane Miller, Beverly Saito, Carrie Eckhart (our cookie maker), me (Linda Jarvis), kneeling in front of me, my dear sister Wendy (who helps out wearing many different hats-we couldn't do it without her!), and Diane Gale. We had a blast all weekend, made new friends and visited with our previous visitors and loyal patrons. Thanks to all for making it a wonderful 2nd Annual,

2nd ANNUAL STUDIO SALE AT GREYBIRD BARN

SAVE THE DATE!!! June 26th and 27th

Mark your calendar for our 2nd ANNUAL STUDIO SALE AT GREYBIRD BARN in Port Townsend, WA. Five wonderful artists: Diane Gale....Linda Jarvis...Shane Miller...Shirley Moss....and Beverly Saito will be featured in a variety of mediums.



Our good friends at Diana Cronin's Egg & I Pottery Studio in Chimacum, WA will be celebrating their 5th Annual Open Studio & Pottery Sale. Once again GreyBird Barn Studio Sale will coincide with the Egg & I Pottery Sale. Read more info about Egg & I Pottery Sale here.

Bring your friends and family and come for a delicious day of art and fun.....Port Townsend is beautiful in June.

(remember that you can click on any image to see it larger)

Have questions?...Or would you like to be added to our email list?...
Contact Shane Miller

CHAIR AFFAIR 2010

It is time again for the Chair Affair.
The ArtScape web-site is not currently updated when I last looked today, but you can read about ArtScape's vision and mission.

My chair this year is a retro piece I did back in '94. It was a time when I was emerging myself with a spiritual affinity for the Native Americans and the reverence they share for nature and Earth. I titled it Strong Heart.

I hope those of you who live on the Olympic Peninsula can come by to see all the wonderful chairs and tables donated by our local artists Saturday, May 1st in the Mt. Baker Building,
2nd floor, 5:30-8pm. Live music and refreshments...
Don't forget to bring your wallets...this is a great cause...
Thank you

STRAIT ART 2010

This is my first year to jury for Strait Art at the Port Angeles Fine Art Center.

Above is my self promotional email announcement that I sent out to my e-list. The show is diversified and encompasses 29 artists from the Straits of Juan de Fuca area. This year the exhibition merged with the new PUB (Pirate Union Building) Gallery at the Peninsula College campus which expands the exhibition space considerably, giving each artist the opportunity to show four pieces each. The opening reception was yesterday afternoon with generous attendance. There were delectable delights for nibbling on while mingling with guests and other artists.

It was an opportune time to meet new artists and reconnect with others I had not seen in a lengthy time. The local PA paper, the Daily Peninsula News, did a cover story in their Spotlight section last Friday, 3-12-10, if you have access to this publication you can learn about the participating artists.

RETROSPECT REFLECTION

From time to time, as with writers, artists get blocked, too. We lose our voice, so to speak. Those inspirational juices just don't flow through our blood as per usual. I have had one of these dry spells of late. You may have noticed if you have visited these pages within the last five months or so, I haven't had much to share. For a while I was in a period of experimentation, shifting my direction. I was really enjoying the creative process, but I didn't feel grounded in it, thus a bit off balance for a time. I wasn't sure of my expression which in turn silenced me in that uncertainty. I was groping, but grasping nothing. This empty phase gave me pause to review how and where my creative endeavors have assisted me.

This piece shown above was something I drew 35 years ago. I have to say it struck a chord in me when I came across it while I was thumbing through my old portfolios, struggling with this lack of inspiration. I've always felt close to this piece because it speaks with a whisper and offers a moment of tranquility, indicative of where I was in my life, living on the Big Island, Hawai'i. In that way it slowed me down by offering me quiet time to breathe and infuse intention into how I want to begin again as I move forward in my newest work and meditation.

During this retrospective ritual I saw with remembrance where I have been with my work and a small glimmer of light appeared guiding me to move forward. This meant it was time to call on my muse again and hope she would oblige with an appearance. Thankfully she did show up and with grace and calmness to help move my brushes and pencils and stir ideas and visions around in my head.

Though heavy moods and doubts accompanied this creative drought, I learned that patience was key - to be with what may be keeping me without expression and journey through it by reflecting on where I have come from.

This insightful journey was of immense support to help carry me forward to explore new creative horizons. It is good to be back, to have my voice again and I am most grateful for this quiet, yet stimulating piece...and my muse, of course. I close in gratitude.

Stay tuned.

This illustration was done in graphite pencil, colored pencil and acrylic paint back in 1975.

All rights reserved by the artist.

CVG 2010

Once again I have been caught up in a capsule of time that kept me from tending to positing. I have finally broken out and have returned to these pages to catch you up on recent goings-on. Two of the 3 pieces I entered for jury, BeeFriending and King of the Towed, were selected as part of the CVG show (Collective Visions Gallery) in Bremerton, WA. Only 128 entries were selected from nearly 800. The juror was Jake Seniuk of Port Angeles. He is director and curator of the Port Angeles Fine Art Center. Numerous artists from the Port Townsend area also have pieces chosen for inclusion in this show, two of which are friends, Shane Miller and Diane Gale. This 3rd annual juried show will run through February 26th. If you are in or near the area stop by the gallery to see this show of talented Washington artists.

Click on the piece titles above to view my accepted images.

The Collective Visions Gallery is located at 331 Pacific Avenue, in the heart of downtown Bremerton, on the corner of 4th and Pacific and are open Tuesday through Saturday 10am-5pm, and other times by appointment.

STUDIO TOUR REFLECTIONS

Well, time has lapsed since my last post . . . my apologies for the delay. However, this is a follow up to my last post.
This Artist Studio Tour was another adventure in presenting ourselves and our work to our community. Here I am standing at the open barn doors during the early pre-tour hours. After completing our set up, we were all contemplating what the weekend would bring as 3 out of 4 of us had not participated in the Port Townsend Artist Studio Tour before other than our own Barn Sale previously this past summer in June.

Here we are witnessing the quiet before the storm, a view of my work after set up before the crowds arrived.

Here we are getting our signage all together so our visitors can find us easily.

The sun came out after a night of drizzle and a morning of cool fog. Walking into GreyBird barn was like walking into a gallery of sorts. We were, once again as with our June sale, very happy with our set up as it welcomed visitors into a very creative space.

If moving clockwise through the space my work appeared, then
Diana Cronin's wonderful, colorful pottery at the right and below.

This tour gave us the opportunity to show our process first hand as to how we create and answer questions visitors may have had. Above I am explaining my drawing and painting technique and the use of found elements.

Diana at work demonstrating painting glaze onto a piece of pottery and Shane documenting the affair. Shane's photo-etched metal narrative boxes and jewelry are on the panels behind her.

Here again you can see more of Shane Miller's work and in the foreground is the display of Diane Gale's earthy and imaginative ceramic works.

Diane had her wheel on site to give a hands-on demo of how she builds her various ceramic pieces and discussed the wood fire process.

Though I could not partake in these yummy looking goodies, I had to share this artful plate that was so generously gifted to us by our friend, Carrie. She baked these and much more for our tour guests. We were the talk of the town, not only for our great artistic barn presentation, but also for these delicious offerings.

My dear mom (90 years old! would you believe) and sister. They were 2 of our many happy guests warming up with hot cider that we also offered our guests.

Here we are. The troupe. From left to right is Shane Miller, Wendy Jarvis (our angel and my sister who helped us again with giving so much of herself during setup, the weekend and striking), Linda Jarvis (that's me), Diane Gale and Diana Cronin.

Over all we were very happy with the weekend, the 11th annual Port Townsend Studio Tour. The tour encompassed 47 different studios open to the public and again, Shane's GreyBird Barn turned out to be a perfect venue for the 4 of us to present our works to the community and out of town visitors. The turn out was fantastic with 265 visitors coming through during the two day studio tour. I also want to thank 2 out of town friends, one who I have known since kindergarden, who came all the way from Redmond.

We are looking to the future to next June on the solstice weekend for our 2nd Annual Artist Studio Barn Sale at GreyBird Barn. Stay tuned.

ARTIST STUDIO TOUR

Art Port Townsend's 11th Annual Studio Tour

I will be sharing studio space with 3 other artist friends, Diana Cronin, Diane Gale, and Shane Miller, at Shane Miller's GreyBird Barn Studio during the Art Port Townsend Studio Tour. We invite you to come by to visit the studio, watch us demonstrate and engage in conversation with us during this studio tour weekend. We each have artist ID numbers that will correspond with map 1 and map 2 and within the brochure and on signs directing you to the studio. I hope you can get by to visit.

Preview Show October 3 -11 at Northwind Arts Center
The Studio Tour Preview Show displays samples of artwork from most of the 47 plus artists in the studio tour. Come by the Northwind Arts Center to get your Tour map, and to preview the studios you can visit. The Preview Show will be open Saturday evening, Oct. 3rd for Gallery Walk, and will remain open with extended hours through the Studio Tour ending on Oct. 11th, Sunday. Pick up a brochure and plan your art studio visits! Northwind Art Center will be open Monday through Sunday, noon to 5pm for this special week.

The Eleventh Annual Artist Studio Tour is scheduled for October 10 and 11, Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 4 pm. The popular Art Studio Tour will be enjoying it’s eleventh year with forty-seven studios. Visit studios and see work in progress including painting, sculpture, metal casting, jewelry, furniture, glass, weaving, book making, printmaking, wood and more.

For more information, see artist images and statements go to the Art Port Townsend website

Linda Jarvis: A Window of Opportunity

Diana Cronin: Shot Glasses

Diane Gale: A Quiet Conversation

Shane Miller: Daedalus as a Boy

MOON BEETLE

MOON BEETLE is the last in the trio of pieces realized for the BUGS show. To learn more about this exhibit scroll down to the 3 previous posts.

While studying a borrowed book on the wonderful world of bugs and beetles my eyes fell upon a beetle that, in my vision, appeared to have moons within the patterns on its back. From there MOON BEETLE manifested when I followed my creative instinct to use that moon illusion I had pictured in my mind. I started with cutting out the beetle's body from masonite with a bit of carving and, of course, some sanding (personal note: my skin and eyes do not like the very fine dust that results.) Moving on . . . After 2 or 3 coats of black gesso the beetle birthed itself via acrylic paint and colored pencil. I had done a few doodles in my sketch book so there wasn't too much of a query as to how to apply this beetle, now in hand, to a piece. It felt only natural to follow through on my sketch and add a moon somewhere within the piece. Probing through my found object accumulations I placed my hand on a small sphere that was the perfect size to paint forming relief craters on its surface. It then took its place in a cut-out window on the back surface within a box fabricated to create depth beyond the background the beetle would rest. The legs of the beetle are emulated by using parts of dentist tools and the antennae are the tiniest of springs with alternating beads slipped onto a thin wire. Voila!

MOON BEETLE measures 9-1/8H X 8W X 3D. Click on photo for larger image.

BEEFRIENDING

BEEFRIENDING is the second of three pieces I created for the BUGS exhibit. As I view this piece I reflect on my approach to my work it seems I don't often know what is going to come forth creatively so I just let it show up with each moment. Then other works come from an illustration I develop in a sketchbook or I may go further with a simple study to get more of a sense of the piece.  BEEFREINDING came somewhat spontaneously. I first applied several coats of black gesso to the small, short-legged chair for a base ground to work on. Then after sanding and removing any residue I painted the imagery that came to mind.  Once or twice or more I go digging through and gather up a few of my various collected objects. I then added longer legs to the chair made from turned dowels plus the addition of the balls at the foot of each leg. Colorful discs were placed where the legs meet the chair giving them a more interesting transition as they connect. These were all treated with numerous coats of gesso, then acrylic paint and colored pencil. The child's block and all the attached elements on top as well as the spheres, discs and feathers on the chair's back risers were all embellishments I affixed to add further character and whimsy.

Here is a closer look at BEEFRIENDING. The occurrence of the bee landing atop the bird's head could have been one of annoyance or even an opportunity for a snack . . . hmmmm . . .  perhaps not. My feeling was that this could be a moment for a friendly and harmonious exchange, an instant for pause and tolerance.


BEEFRIENDING up close and personal . 

The chair stands 23H X 5-7/8W X 5-5/8D. Click on the photos for a larger images.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER

The image above is the full view of the cropped version of CLOSE ENCOUNTER I used to create the announcement for the BUG show posted previously, August 5th. I drew and painted the young coyote using graphite and colored pencil and acrylic paint on heavy, acid-free stock then cut it out with an Xacto knife. It is layered away from the background which I painted using acrylic paint, colored pencil and pastel over black gesso. The wonderful BUG creature sitting in the foreground "windowsill" is a handcrafted glass bee created by an artist friend. The entire frame and matt were also painted with several coats of black gesso then finished with a matt varnish.


CLOSE ENCOUNTER close-up

CLOSE ENCOUNTER measures 10-1/2H X 8-7/8W X 1-1/4D. Click on the photo for larger image.

BUGS

I am a bit behind on my entries, time has flown and life this summer has been busy, but here is a quick note to let you know of this BUGS show that opens Friday August 7 at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery.
If you are nearby please stop in for the opening evening or sometime during the shows duration, August 7 - September 1, 2009. Thank you for your continued support.

THE FIRST OF MANY

GreyBird Barn hovering in the calm before the welcomed storm.

In my previous post I mentioned that a group of five artists birthed the idea of an Artist Studio Sale at Shane's GreyBird Barn. After much preparatory work Shane's barn was transformed into an intimate gallery setting. The art-enthused visitors flowed through in a steady stream both days. We are all so pleased with the results of this event. It has grounded itself as the first of many studio sales we will present at Shane's GreyBird Barn. The weekend was full of art collectors as well as those who came to observe and offer their valued words of appreciation and praise. Thank you to all who stopped by over the weekend to help make our affair have a favorable outcome. AND to all who helped weave it all together and offered help throughout the weekend. There are not enough words to express our appreciation and gratitude.
A personal note of thanks and huge amounts of gratitude to my dear sister, Wendy, who was at my side helping haul, hang, and break down the show as well as making and bringing me lunch and preparing other various meals. Wendy, you brought lightness and laughter, love and support to a task that would not have been as much fun without you. THANK YOU from the wholeness of my heart.


Entering GreyBird Barn Studio/Gallery



My work, Linda Jarvis



A little bit of me (foreground left), Lynn Anju, Shane Miller and Diane Gale (foreground right)



Again, a little bit of me (foreground left), Shane Miller and Diane Gale



Diane (foreground), Lynn (left) and Shane (back)



Beverly Saito



The Artists - Me (Linda), Lynn, Silas (Beverly's Husband/the zen man), Diane, and Shane

STUDIO SALE @ GREYBIRD BARN

For a number of years now the artists in my artist support and discussion group have passed the idea around about having a studio sale with a few artist friends in Shane's barn. So finally a couple of months ago the topic came up again in our art group about really taking the steps to actually make a studio sale happen in her barn. We hope it can be the kind of thing where we could have it year after year on the same weekend and create a following. After a lot of organizing and a lot of work pulling it all together the sale will take place this weekend! A wonderful group of 5 talented artists will be gathered at Shane's GreyBird Barn to display and sell their work.

All the participating artists have contributed hugely . . . Lynn, Diane and Beverly were in charge of making the sandwich board signs . . . I designed and created the postcard, flyers and email announcements and everyone helped in distributing flyers, especially Lynn . . . Marilyn, a friend of Beverly's wrote an article for us and Shane did some final touches and tweaking plus the distribution to the various publications. These are just some of the efforts we have put forth to create this event. Many generous friends have helped make this affair possible . . . unexpected gravel shoveled into the ruts in her driveway . . . homemade cookies and lemonade for the duration of the sale . . . help with chainsawing up a bunch of logs that were in the way . . . and many hands helping make her property look presentable. Many heartfelt thanks to everyone.

If you are in the neighborhood stop by for some cookies and lemonade and a chance to see some exceptional art for your home and/or office and don't forget your gift list.

We are doing this event in conjunction with another group of artists in Chimacum at Egg & I Pottery. 8 potters in various disciplines will have their goods on display and for sale.

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

This is the seat of a chair I have created for this year's fund raiser, The Chair Affair, that PT Artscape puts on yearly which I have participated in for the last 3 years since it's inception. You can see previous chairs on earlier posts.


The inspiration for this chair, WHAT'S THE BUZZ?, came from many sources, but mostly from a dear friend, the late Suzanne Henrion, who loved vibrant colors, was an artist, art collector, art appreciator and aficionado. There were many of us who were fortunate to have known her. She gifted this little chair to me along with most of the added elements with which I embellished it.

I continue to give thanks and gratitude to Suzanne for the endless support she graciously offered to so many artists and their arts. This chair is offered to The Chair Affair in her memory.


This chair was constructed of plain pine. I gave it a black undercoat with black gesso - 3 coats, sanding in between, then painted it using acrylics and colored pencils. Then I added all the elements at the top and the spools and wooden balls and metal, ball-headed pins to extend the length of the legs, painted them after giving them the same black gesso undercoats.
The chair is approximately 19" tall. Click on the photos for larger images.

The Chair Affair will take place at the Mt Baker Building – 2nd Floor during Port Townsend's Gallery Walk, Saturday, May 2, 2009. Most of our Galleries will be open till 8 pm with some serving refreshments. Come join in the festivities of the evening and celebrate the opening of Art Wave, showing students work in various businesses throughout our town. Entertainment will be by the Bruce Cowan Trio.
Come and support our arts program. The redesigned chairs and side tables by many local artists will be for sale, and student work will be on display. The Arts are a fundamental component of a basic education for our students. The arts are a core subject in Washington State.