Awesome evening.Great helpers.I I promised the stalkers I would post a paper-cloth how to so will play with that later in the week.
My biggest priority this week will be getting ready for an Artist Amongst Us sharing at BAM. This give me the opportunity to share my work and consider whether I should set up in business.
This year example.
This week is the annual Pacific Northwest Garden show and this years Arboretum Foundation Garden won a Gold Medal.I got involved chinking moss,cleaning stones and gluing plant labels onto posts.I think after four years of construction I kind of in the grove of working with this team to create an educational inspirational garden.
I always love snail mail and this little bundle of Marimekko cards arrived from E in Norway.The designs are truly inspiring.
Outside the cloud is hanging in the trees and the rain is dripping from the gutters after an icy start to the day.
E tells me she has been listening to Henry Ibsen plays and looking forward to seeing A Dollhouse with her Grandma.I think have things to look forward to helps us so much in the winter-time.
This morning was interesting I attended the walk through for a new show “Future Machine” by Electric Coffin.Due to one of life little quirks we had a power outage and had to do a Q&A by day light in the atrium.I’m look forward to exploring the exhibit in day light tomorrow.
Found the ruler.It was in it’s special place in the tool store I created that hangs down the side of the bookcase but turned at a 90 degree angle so it was hiding with a paint brush.
Yesterday was such a cool one.Yep it was -5c and we were out on the deck looking at the crescent moon,Mars and Venus in the snow.
We walked on Alki Beach in the morning and had lunch at Alki Cafe ( awesome spot). To full too go home we headed up I-90 to Snoqualmie Point Park.The park was full of young families sledging and enjoying themselves.We hiked ( i.e walked across the field to the overlook) it reminded me of Wantage Park.
There was a young couple in their thirties with a very old dog.A big old grey muzzled family friend with a beautiful Fish bandana. He was rolling around in the snow like a puppy eating great mouthfuls.Eventually they asked me to take a photo I was more than happy to capture this moment of family fun.
As I turned away I noticed these hand prints on the wall.They reminded of Steve and my Reinvent adventures in Las Vegas.We saw ancient hand prints on the canyon walls.So I added my hand print.Forget foot prints in the sand in Oxford I’ll be doing hand prints in Seattle this year.
Well what a weekend.I am really tired so this will be short. Marillion shows in SFO and LA were awesome.I have a new back set of music to listen to and a few new stories to tell.Need to rest up for a second leg of following the band.
The previous post describes my little trip to Port Townsend.One of my favorite little haunts is Wynwoods Gallery and Bead studio.I found this little space needle charm hand cast from the original space needle charm bracelet by Lois Venarchick in Britannium.
Britannia metal (also called britannium or Britannia ware) is a pewter-type alloy favored for its silvery appearance and smooth surface. The composition is approximately and typically 92% tin, 6% antimony, and 2% copper.I had never heard of it before.I love learning new materials so we chatted about how she come to own a shop in Port Townsend and I should be so far from the Britannia.
The space needle charm makes a great addition to my long keyworking necklace.I’m currently deeply involved in research for docent duty tomorrow.The current exhibits include 49 artist representing Metalmorphosis the current biennial at Bellevue Arts Museum.
Loving the bricks
Saturday was very special.I got to ride 4 short ferry hops and visit Port Townsend a Victorian little town that can be accessed on foot from the Couperville ferry.Just down the road from our regular short eared owl / marsh harrier spot.We had the company of a Bald Eagle sat in the marsh waiting out the squalls of our first fall winds on our return.
Port Townsend has a fantastic vibe even has it’s own Steampunk scene.There was a kinetic sculpture hat festival going on in the morning and some amazing sculptures passed us on our way into town.I love the combination of stores and vintage galleries where I can collect new bits and bobs.My best buy was 2 for a dollar vintage match boxes for my Day of the Dead pieces.
We found an honesty child’s wagon full of Victorian bottles on the street.In the early days people buried their rubbish in pits and some very enterprising local now digs them up and sells them for two dollars a go.I choose 2 iridescent and one advertising Bartell our local pharmacy.As a child we collected clay pipes from Pitsea an area that gets it’s name I always think as being down river from London on the Thames estuary.We rarely found similar glass bottles but rarely whole bottles.They are currently in the process of being cleaned and I’ll share when the process is complete.
Have been very busy in the the last week.Returning to docent family and starting to learn the new Metalmorphosis show which I will be touring until Feb 4th 2017.We had an lecture from Nick Statius. Nick makes metal tapestries on her houseboat anchored on an island off Portland,Oregon.Her technique is awesome using a vintage knitting machine to create copperwire cloth which is then adorned with different types/colors of gold.Her connection with nature is amazing and her love of gold made me reflect back to our visit to Mary Lee Hu’s home. ( Mary Lee also has a piece in the show)
Wednesday saw my student return to the studio.She has been travelling in Europe and had brought a new artist to share with me and a venue Jupiter artland.
My student also brought back her textile journal which I look forward to filling over the fall days.We bound it using a new technique to her.This took some patience from both of us but we were pleased with the end result.When the computer and phone will talk to each other I’ll post some images !
So during a F1 slow race I ideally made this piece to add to my patch series.The poppy was sourced earlier in the year it commemorates the Battle of the Somme.I grabbed it as we arrived and used the colonels wife hoop to work the embroidery.
I still need to catch up from my Pilchuck experience.We also had an out of town guest who always leaves our household in a spin.
English garden
I’m just back from Pilchuck Glass School having taken a 4 day residency with Hannah Smith exploring.The class was small and very diverse.Probably my favorite time was Saturday night when we were all rocking out in the print shop.Peeps were on the computers making masks to sand-blast and printing our plates-team work all around.We had a print exchange and created prints to swap.I’m looking forward to finding a place for around our home.
I managed to squeeze a limited print run with a blended brayer . I also picked the most amazing t-shirt from the store left over from session 2 of this summers class
:o)
