“BACKSTORY” – show
More work is at the gallery, below is a sampling.
The stories are intriguing and enlightening !
Artists: Mike Adams, Danielle Bodine, Penelope Crittenden, Suzanne Head, Claire B. Jones, Jan Koutsky, Randal Leek, Karla Matzke, Christopher Moench, Barbara Osborne, Ann Chadwick Reid, Patricia Resseguie, Inge Roberts, Bergen Rose, Lauryn Taylor, Chris Theiss, Donna Watson, John Webster.
Curated by Patricia Resseguie and Karla Matzke
Mike Adams
“Heil dir, Sonne!”
(“Hail to thee, Sun!”)
Lost-wax Cast Bronze
$3,750 SOLD
The Time Machine
My friend Susie stored this sculpture for me for several years in Idaho (where it was made). When I drove there to get it in July, I had the uncanny sense of going back in time. I don’t recall if I mentioned it to Susie when I arrived, but both of us—when we talked about it later—could not help but think that when I moved to Idaho in 2008 to get my MFA, the loved ones—people and pets—that we had lost in the intervening years were still living. Maybe it wasn’t the feeling that I had gone back in time, but that time had never moved on that struck me. Driving more than 700 miles to Pocatello—some of it in dense wildfire smoke that obscured the sun and made it seem like a gloomy fall day (except for the heat!)—contributed to a sort of disorientation that made it hard to tell what season it was, or the time of day. You can’t turn back the clock, though, and it’s not to say that many good things haven’t happened in the intervening years.
This sculpture is based on compilation of Viking longboats—a kind of dreamscape of the ship form. I worked for several years as a builder of wooden boats, at Nexus Marine in Everett, and there was something magical about being inside the boats as they were being built. Typically, they were constructed upside down and righted when the hull was finished. Being inside one was like being in a church—the word nave for the main hall or sanctuary of a Christian church has maritime roots since it looks like an inverted hull.
I wasn’t consciously thinking about death, or loss, or time when I made this sculpture. The title, “Heil dir, Sonne!†is what Brünnhilde sings when the hero awakens her from a magic sleep in Richard Wagner’s opera, Siegfried. The English translation would be “Hail to thee, Sun!†It’s a glorious, joyous moment, although peculiarly, it seems to be in a minor key, perhaps reflecting Brünnhilde’s conflicted emotions. Her almost two-decade long sleep, unaware of the world around her, acts as another kind of time machine.
I hadn’t seen the actual ancient Viking ships at museums in Norway and Denmark until about a year after this sculpture was completed. Maybe I was subconsciously thinking of how the Viking ships slept, so to speak, until they were dug up in the 20th century. The three vessels in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo (for which I created a sculptural installation while on a Fulbright grant in 2012) were funerary objects. They were interred, with human remains, in burial mounds almost a thousand years ago. It’s hard to see them in that context. A museum sanitizes meaning. The ships take you back in time without having to share the grief.
Mike Adams
Danielle Bodine
Wild Hare I, II
17†H x 3†D, 18†H x 4â€D
Mulberry papers cast on coiled
basket, painted, printed. Plastic
and wooden tongs.
$285 each or $500 for both
Backstory of “Wild Haresâ€
My fascination with ancient Egyptian culture began in childhood with family visits to the Burke Museum where I soon discovered “the mummy.â€
I later learned about tombs and Anubis, the mysterious jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the protection of the dead in the after-life. I became intrigued with the mysterious world of ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses and how the Egyptians often used animal heads to depict the animal like characteristics of that god or goddess.
The “Wild Hares†in this show were inspired by “Wenet†the long eared Ancient Egyptian Hare Goddess, venerated for hares’ swiftness and keen senses. I had great fun going through my collection of antique and contemporary “tongs†to find the perfect set of ears for each hare.
Little Guys
5-7†H x 2†W
Coiled linen/cotton forms, collaged,
mulberry papers, painted, prints,
stamped, golf tees, misc. embellish-
ments. Wooden handmade honey
dipper, Japanese brushes, fork
$225 each
Backstory of “Little Guysâ€
I find great joy in searching through hardware and antique stores, flea markets, garage sales, recycled centers to find “found objects†to use in my artwork. I am also gifted many wonderful “treasures†from friends and family that arrive on my doorstep. One of these was a bag of wooden golf tees from my sister. I had been working on a grouping of small, coiled baskets for a show and set the bag down next to them. I took a few of the tees out of the bag and began playing around with them and the inspiration came to elevate the little baskets with golf tee “legs.†I then collaged and painted the baskets and searched through my collection of objects to find the perfect “head†to embellish each figure. Thus the first grouping of “Little Guys†came into being.
Like many other artists I have had more time to organize my studio this last year and was delighted to find many “treasures†I had forgotten about. Each one brought back memories of past trips to Japan and other travels. They inspired me to create the new series of “Little Guys†that are in this show. I once again chose the ancient basketry technique of coiling to create them, a process I find both meditative and relaxing – a perfect choice for these unique times.
Danielle Bodine began her journey into Fiberarts as an artist, teacher and lecturer over 40 years ago. Her unique sculptures have been exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group shows in museums, galleries, colleges, and art centers and included in numerous books and periodicals. She studied at the University of Washington, Bowling Green University, and received a BFA from the University of Michigan in Weaving and Textile Design. She began experimenting with paper after a trip to Japan in 1996, combining it with a variety of basketry and surface design techniques. Her imaginative pieces and installations range in size from 1†to 10’ and always have a story to tell.
Claire B. Jones
Directionless 2: An Ode to Escher
Free Motion Embroidered Thread
10†H x 10†W x 6†D
$2900
OFF BALANCE – This work happened during the coronavirus pandemic. I was struggling, the longest period that I had ever gone without producing. Sluggish, apathetic, I finally started working. Progress was slow but happening, when, BAM, a technical difficulty with my machine resulted in everything grinding to a halt while I awaited parts. What to do. I had another sewing machine but was unwilling to switch machines part way through the process. I knew I needed to forge ahead with what little momentum I had managed to muster, but how. Each work is a steppingstone for the next. Since Directionless 1 was unfinished it meant I still hadn’t learnt what it was going to teach me. Did I really want to make a 2nd piece which would potentially have the same imperfections? I stepped back, retrenched, and started work on a less ambitious project. My primary goal was to keep moving forward. I challenged myself to use my industrial machine which is less forgiving and harder to control. I tried to be kind to myself and just be pleased to be making it to my studio and stitching
Whorl 1
Free Motion Embroidered Thread
10.5†H x 9†W x 4.5†D
$3600
CHALLENGED – Sometimes I just need to shake things up a bit. My work centers round a methodical, problem-solving process, each piece a steppingstone to the next. Moving too far from what I know can result in disappointment after many weeks of work. Controlling the process is what I have found to be most successful and what I enjoy. But when thinking about what my next work would be, in this case I was overcome with a desire to just let loose. I allowed myself to run with it. A new shape. A new pattern. The rarely explored technical challenge of making one side a different color from the other. Taming the beast of my industrial machine, that often sits neglected in my studio, daring me to use it. Challenging myself to draw perfect circles to give an illusion of depth. I jumped off the cliff edge without the experience of knowing it would all come together. The freshness of everything kept me motivated, resulting in an interesting piece, and me a step closer to being friends with the beast in the corner.
Curves 2
Free Motion Embroidered Thread
10.5†H x 6†W x 9†D
$2200
JOYFUL – This came from a place of unexpected joy and excitement. Each new work leverages what has gone before, I had just finished Curves 1 and it was successful in moving the work forward, motivating me to jump right in and start the next project. This work formed quickly due to my enthusiasm and excitement. Mentally I was in a good spot. Most work starts with a single question. How would switching the light and darks around from Curves 1 change the work. This piece evolved quickly and was a delight to stitch.
Jan Koutsky
Mist
38†H x 30†W. Light-fast colored pencil on museum board.
$1800
Mist
Haibun:
The color palette represents water, reflections, mist, fog, gray and blue skies – all common in our winter months. The long narrow shape represents several things: When I row out to check the crab pot I am looking back at the wake and path I leave in the water. When looking across a body of water, there are reflections coming back at me – as linear shapes across the water. And when I am up in one of the tall buildings in the city, I can look at the water as a narrow slice between buildings. The strokes are suggestions of movements, currents, wind and rain.
Haiku:
Puget Sound weather
mist, water, reflections, fog
quiet, clam, mystic
Basalt
40†H x 36†W. Light-fast colored pencil on museum board.
$1800
Haibun:
The water seeping from the sandstone cliffs in Zion National Park is 400 years old. Looking into the thermal pools at Yellowstone is like looking back in time at organisms just now reaching the Earth’s surface.
Nature’s drama is obvious in canyons, lava tubes, and in basalt pillars. How did they form that way? What forces caused their shapes? As an artist, I am intrigued by their sculptural forms. I have added my own drama and artistic voice to this rendition of basalt pillars.
Haiku:
strong, sculptural forms
honorable sentinels
centuries old friends
Tribute
38†H x 30†W. Light-fast colored pencil on museum board.
$1800
Haibun:
All creative juices stopped flowing with the onset of COVID-19. With our new “stay at home†orders, I was not gaining inspiration from nature as I normally would do. I felt lost in the studio; uninspired and perhaps a bit depressed. And then I came across a quote by Georgia O’Keeffe I had seen years ago: “I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things that I had no words for.†I have always felt the same. I decided to trust those shapes in my mind, and perhaps during this time of isolation, I could put something down on paper; make some marks and rekindle my voice.
I feel gratitude towards the women artists who came before me (Georgia O’Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, Emily Mason and Joan Konkel) for their tenacity and creative voices. They have nudged me along many times – including during the isolation of a pandemic.
The gentle curves in this piece are found in several places in my life: sailboat sails, bird’s wings, tulip petals, etc. These gentle curves seem to be a part of the “saying things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way.†The color palette, to me, is calming and hopeful.
Haiku:
artists before me
strong voices, tenacity
stimulate my work
Garden Shadows
30†H x 40†W. Light-fast colored pencil on paper
$1800
Garden Shadows
Haibun:
This is a garden view; from above, below, and looking out across. I like to represent the feel of a place, more than a realistic drawing. Can you make out the structure of this garden – the pathways, borders and fences? Can you feel the weather – a warm sunny day – with the light filtering through the leaves overhead? Do you get a sense of abundant blooms mixed with grass and foliage? My hope for the viewer is to feel the calm a garden can provide.
Haiku:
sunlight filters through
spotlights on flowers, grass, paths
relaxing spirits
Randal Leek
Through Point
16 x14 x 6
Black Walnut on marble base (rotates)
$820 SOLD
Symmetry
48 x 9 x 8
Black Walnut & orange alabaster
on marble base (rotates)
$2,100
Natural Passages
22 x14x 6
Redwood on Marble base
Value: $1,125
Wind and Fire
62 x 8 x 6
Redwood on marble base (rotates)
$900 SOLD
“Mother Nature”
43 x 22 x16
Redwood Root on padouk base
(rotates)
$2,800
“Mother Nature”
Randal Leek: The Backstory
My sculptures are intended to be an important and intimate compliment to the art viewer’s life. My career has been rather frantic, managing projects in foreign, war-torn countries, implementing assistance projects for refugees and displaced families. My art began during those years of refugee assistance and emergency disaster response as a kind of spiritual therapy for myself and my colleagues; as an expression of solace and grace amidst the harsh reality of disparate times.
Certainly I have political views and a huge interest in social progress, in justice and human rights, but I also have the certainty that in order for those of us who grow through the love of art, that my work does not need to be representative of our Human Condition. I want that expression of “other†to be abstract, and gentle, meditative and fundamentally inspirational. I want some aspect of my sculptures to excite imagination, and maybe even engage in empathy for a more insightful consciousness. I want to land somewhere above the fray of our collective reality. I want to be an agent of growth, not an agent of repair of our perception of a struggling existence.
“Art Objects!†is a command, not a noun. I want my art to not be “normalâ€, certainly not to be predicable, but rather to take you home, in a sense. To a home where you are exploring something comfortable, and yet new and challenging and interesting to live with today and always, that you can discover something new with each new perspective as time goes on.
My backstory is and has been throughout my life, about growth from experiential learning. I continue to explore and question and observe. A bit of that comes out in my art.
Randal Leek
October 2021
Christopher Moench
Reaping the Whirlwind
28†H x 10†diameter
Stoneware ceramic on cast-iron turntable
$3,500
Back story: The complex chaos and confusion of the years encompassing the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq and continuing today. Marked by vast global disparities of abundance and scarcity. Some scrape a living from desiccated earth with rudimentary ancient tools while a fortunate few float in outer space through miracles of technology and concentrated wealth. Some seek heaven through devotion to religious code even to the point of brutal acts of violence. Some find identity and meaning in the history of their tribe or nation. We see our lives through a veil woven of story and belief. Yet, all are governed ultimately by the same timeless round of birth, life and death which is essential to the birth of new life. All our human striving of no more significance than the tumbling dance of a wind-blown leaf.
For more than twenty years Chris Moench has focused his ceramic practice on creation of collaborative narrative sculptures he calls “prayer wheels.†The first was made in response to the June 1999 gasoline pipeline spill and fire in Bellingham which incinerated a mile of river corridor and took the lives of three children. Since then he has created more than 1,600 of these moving sanctuaries for reflection on the memories, traumas and hopes that touch us all. You are invited to write your thoughts on the provided paper. Then gently lift the lid and drop the paper inside. Replace the lid and give this fragile vessel a tender spin. Through the contribution of such writings the sculpture becomes a collaboration. The prayer wheel becomes a symbol of the connections that weave us to one-another and to the world.
Barbara Osborne
Audrey Hepburn Crosses The River
15.3†H x 10.5†W x 10.8†D
Coiled pine needles
$1800
Audrey Hepburn Crosses the River
My studio is cluttered. I start projects then set them aside to work on others, or because I have dreamed up something that I don’t know how to do yet and need to think about. So, on every available table top
and shelf space there are unfinished and not-started projects because I want to see what 2 colors or 2 shapes will look like next to each other, or something.
Sometimes I stack pieces; several times I have had to stop abruptly to answer the doorbell or turn off the oven buzzer, and when I return, there is an interesting shape or combination created by the stack and I try to figure out how to build that stack.
As I made the Audrey piece, I kept thinking about shapes that expanded horizontally. When it was finished, it looked to me like Audrey Hepburn’s hat in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the tight waisted full skirts of her
Paris movies that I only knew from posters. Then — my photographer came by to pick up some work and said: this one looks like the 50’s fashions of Audrey Hepburn, so I named it Audrey Hepburn Crosses the River because the external design lines look like river symbols.
5 yen Parallelograms
9 x 5 x 5
Coiled pine needles, coins
$ 700
I visited Japan 3 times while my son and his family were living there, working, learning the culture and the language.
My grandchildren all attended Japanese schools and my grandson was excited that the language was sensical as in: the word for triangle was the word for three + the word for corner, and the word for square was the word for four + the word for corner. On my last trip I stocked up on 5 yen pieces by going to a bank, where everyone gets an appointment and sits while waiting for one’s turn and service, then when I got back built a vessel using the coins to create 5 Yen Parallelograms with diagonal lines in 2 directions.
3 Trains to Mount Takao
12†H x 7†W x 7†D
Coiled pine needles
$1200
One day when I was in Japan I went to Yakuo-in, the 1400 year old Buddhist monastery on Mount Takao outside Tokyo. To get there, first you take a regular city train, then transfer to a trunk line, then a trolley that
climbs straight up the mountain. Shortly after I got home I started making this piece as an exercise of a stack of shallow cone shapes and 3-D sumie painting lines. The continuous coil of the body of the piece is anchored on a slice of rock, and it makes a journey, like I did, around and up the mountain, taking 3 Trains
to Mount Takao.
Suzanne Head
Rabbit Mask
Fused Glass Powder and Enamel
13†x 10â€
$1,600
Coyote Mask
Fused Glass Powder and Enamel
12†x 11â€
$1,700
Fused Glass Powder and Enamel, 18†x 12†$2,100
(right) White Rabbit Mask
Fused Glass Powder and Enamel, 18†x 12â€, $2,800
White Rabbit Mask
Fused Glass Powder and Enamel
18†x 12â€
$2,800
Deer Mask
Fused Glass Powder and Enamel
12†x 13â€
$1,700
My work assesses the nature of internal and external struggle, and presents a context in which one is powerful, vulnerable, or both. In determining these qualities of strength and weakness, my characters are often presented within a binary of predator and prey.
The natural characteristics of the chosen animal species, and their relationship to human society, serve as symbols of human behavior. The mask series includes three animals: a rabbit, a deer, and a coyote; two prey animals and one predator who dwell within the same geographical landscape.
I find myself wearing these masks, metaphorically, at different times in my life: not only in relationships with others, but within my own internal dialogue. I created a white and black rabbit, which further accentuate themes of duality. Both darkness and light are necessary to be human; just as predator and prey are vital to our earth’s ecosystem.
These masks are made entirely from glass. Each detail is drawn and fused within the glass by hand. This process allows me to control the amount of transparency within the work.
Concealing and revealing vulnerabilities as I see fit.
Ann Chadwick Reid
Plaintive Thrush
14.5†H x 15.5†W , framed
Cut Paper $500
Birds are important in my life. Our home on Padilla Bay has led me to monitor heron populations for the FOSB Heron Foraging Study. We also have an active feeder which with the active raptor population keeps us entertained. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology* the net bird population in the US and Canada is down 2.9 billion breeding adults and forests have lost nearly 1 billion birds since 1970. Many of these are birds I see every day at the feeder like Warblers and House Sparrows. Some of the most threatened are marine and shore birds including the Western Snowy Plover. Others are rarely seen like the Marbled Murrelet and Spotted Owl who build their nests in dense old growth forests that have disappeared at an alarming rate. Climate change threatens all these birds by creating:
• Wildfires that incinerate habitats.
• Drought that destroys water and food sources.
• Heat waves that endanger young birds in nests.
• Heavy rainfall and rising water levels that flood nesting sites and consume coastal habitat.
• False early springs that trick plants into flowering early upending bird cycles.
Fir
22†H x 26†W
Drawing and Cut Paper, framed $1000
Climate Change is a personal challenge when it feels like there is little you can do as an individual to make meaningful change. Hope lies in the ability of younger people to learn about and carry on the fight to save the planet. Many young people have already been inspirational as exemplified by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. In 2019 I decided to offer free drawing lessons to my ten-year-old neighbor, Elsie Light, with the idea of passing on an appreciation for local drought or diseased tree species to a young person through the expression of drawing. My hope was that she would understand the beauty and complexity of the natural world and the importance of saving these species from a threatened habitat. We spent six weeks in my studio first collecting, then studying and finally learning to draw three local tree species: a Western Red Cedar, Douglas Fir and Pacific Madrone. When Elsie was finished, I took her drawings and cradled them in cut paper borders to reflect the collaboration we shared in the making of the work. I then gifted her a choice of one of the pieces and she choose the Cedar, a hallmark species threatened by drought on our Samish Island home.
Frogs Gone
23†H x 27†W , framed, Cut Paper
$700
A home to the Samish Tribe, Samish Island is wedged between Padilla Bay to the south and Samish Bay to the north. Padilla Bay is one of twenty-nine estuaries in the United States and provides habitat for important species in the Skagit River Watershed. Moving here in 1998 offered me a chance to experience the natural world in new ways. Seasonal cycles in flora and fauna became more apparent and each year I anticipated the raucous announcement of Spring by the Pacific Tree Frog. Living in the woodlands around our home a loud chorus of males would call to attract females in the breeding season. Over the last few years, the loud “krr-eek, krr-eek” sound has diminished as woodland, stream and shoreline habitat is challenged with pesticides, invasive species, and predatory American Bullfrogs. More disturbing is a rise in temperature which can harm frog reproduction and physiology and lead to amphibian diseases that are emerging worldwide. Although diminished the croaking is still here but I can’t imagine Spring could come without the song of the Pacific Tree Frog.
Madrone
22†H x 26†W , framed
Drawing and Cut Paper
$1000
Ann Chadwick Reid
Hand Cut Paper 2020
$500.00
Four years ago I wanted to know more about the ecological challenges to the place where I live on Padilla Bay so I took a class called Salish Sea Stewards at the Padilla Bay National Reserve in Bayview. The class provided educational lectures, hand on activities and training on a variety of environmental topics that are associated with the Padilla Bay Estuary. I learned about the amazing environmental value of the estuary and as a response to the class I signed up volunteering for two programs. Once a month I monitor and record for the COASST program at the UW for medium and small debris (garbage) found on beaches close by. From May to September I monitor for a Skagit Heron Foraging program which allows me to do the work on Samish Island where I live. Both programs have influenced themes in my work. One such theme is the constant shifting of birds in migration over the Salish Sea. Bird Flight is a small nod to the amazing feat of migratory birds in their annual migrations.
Ann Chadwick Reid
Hand Cut Paper
2018 $600.00
Because I am originally from Spokane I have spent time walking in and driving through the Sage Brush-Steppe habitat of Eastern Washington and Oregon. For a while my work focused on endangered and threatened species of this area which is often maligned for the lack of forested beauty but rich in many spectacular species of flora and fauna in amazing Basalt geography. I was privileged to see the mating ritual of the Greater Sage Grouse twenty five years ago and the memory left me wondering why I never valued the unique species of this area. Today the plant habitat of the Sage Brush-Steppe is endangered due to human development, farming and non-native plant invasions. Other threats include degradation from over grazing and trampling by livestock, fragmented populations with delicate growing cycles, wild fire regimes, off-road vehicle use, and herbicide spraying. One such plant is Selene Spaldingii whose growing cycle requires up to a six year dormancy period. I selected to do a piece about it because of it’s many sub species, it’s vulnerability and it’s distinct beauty.
Patricia Resseguie
Reborn
31†Diameter x 4†D. Cotton, polyester, and polyester metallic thread.
$2750
About 11 years ago, I collapsed in a Zumba class at the local community center with my heart stopped from a cardiac arrest. No one, not even my doctors, saw that coming. An emergency cardiac nurse taking the class gave CPR and zapped me with the newly installed defibrillator hanging in the hall. The ambulance was five minutes away. That all those factors lined up seems nearly impossible. Still, I lingered in an induced coma for four days before my eyes fluttered open. I was assessed to have no brain damage and with all limbs fully functional. Unbelievable.
At that time, I was creating a piece for Karla’s gallery that was a 12-foot-high hanging sculpture of hundreds of long strands of the embroidery work that looked like moss. There were about 123,000 yards of thread in that piece. It was â€oh my†dramatic in size and sheer volume. I hated the work from the moment I saw it hanging in the gallery. It seemed a fruitless, egocentric gesture in the face of nearly dying.
I dismantled the piece, storing the material for about 5 years. I made another installation piece for Karla consisting of several nests using the embroidery work. It was called “Sanctuary.†I liked that installation better, but again dismantled it.
Reborn is the third, and final, generation. It is about the personal renewal that comes with seeking unity with all things. The red bindi signifies many things, but the most important to me is that it symbolizes the 3rd eye, a reminder that a power greater than self is at the center of one’s thoughts. It took a 10-year journey to process my near-death experience into art.
Wisdom
20†Diameter x 2†D. Cotton, polyester, and polyester metallic thread.
$1850
In The Beginning
36†H x 28†W x 2.5†D
Ink, watercolor and mulberry paper
$1850 SOLD
Sometimes things just line up.
One afternoon drowsing dreaming in the utter isolation of the pandemic, I visualized the white slips of paper tied to every possible surface at the Shinto temples in Kyoto. They flutter in the breeze as prayers waft heavenward.
“That’s what I can do to help when I can do nothing else,†I thought. So every day for months, I wrote invocations of the Lord’s name – 21 different mantras from the Hebrew, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Christian traditions on to 9†x 1†slips of white mulberry paper. Each slip was tied to a hog wire grid on the back fence. They fluttered in the breeze and flattened in the rain as the mantras wafted heavenward. When I untied them, they were beautiful. Colored by the weather, spotted by insects, faded and wrinkled, they felt ancient and mystical.
During the months of writing, I used watercolor paper under the mulberry slips as a soft writing surface on my scarred worktable. The writing bled through the thin paper, leaving a vestige of illegible marks on the watercolor paper. It created unexpected pattern, also ancient and mystical.
There came a day when I was impelled from the lunch table into the studio. I had to paint a big red bindi. I had to. The red drew me in and soon the mantra slips began to wreath the bindi. And the mantra patterns became the anchoring element. Sometimes things just line up.
Unforgotten
19†H x 15†W x 2†D
Ink, watercolor
$800 SOLD
Tangible Evidence
19†H x 15†W x 2†D
Ink, watercolor
$800
Ancient Witness
19†H x 15†W x 2†D
Ink, watercolor
$800
Sometimes creative direction changes. It’s beyond reasoning.
Every day for months, I wrote invocations of the Lord’s name – mantras from the Hebrew, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Christian traditions on to 9†x 1†slips of white mulberry paper. Each slip was tied to a hog wire grid on the back fence where I hoped the mantras might float heavenward to help people in the time of Covid.
But something else happened too. During the months of writing, I used spare watercolor paper under the mulberry slips as a soft writing surface on my scarred worktable. The writing bled through the thin mulberry paper, leaving a vestige of illegible marks on the watercolor paper. It created unexpected pattern, ancient and mystical.
I already had a plan. It involved circles of watercolor swirling over the vestige of marks, a light ethereal wafting heavenward. I couldn’t execute. I had neither the skill nor the will to succeed. I thought about stitch because I have spent thousands of hours using for stitch to create. It didn’t work. I started to design with scraps of paper, and came up with the idea of heavier, blacker, vestige writing in blocked patterns. That seemed right. Except, please understand, I don’t think in geometrics. I am a person who thinks and creates in organic forms. So why geometrics? I don’t know. Someday it will become clear, but not just yet.
Inge Roberts
Tea with Medusa’
12 x 8 x 2.5
Porcelain and wire,
partially clear glazed and stained
$750
The texture is an impression of an embroidered French linen sheet from Albi; the lid’s face, my first ever impression:; The faces on the lid: on one side an imprint from an angel on a child’s (Augustine’s) small grave in a Hérault village Medusa’s. The hair: burned-out kiln elements.
‘Henna Hand T’
11 x 7 x 3
Porcelain cone 10, oxidation
$650
The texture an imprint from a card bearing a henna hand decor; the lid: face and hands from a Viking chess set at the British Museum
‘Embroidered T’
Porcelain cone 10, oxidation
10 x 8 x 3
$750
The texture: antique French linen sheet from Albi, South of France; the lid from antique wrought iron French bedstead, I could not take home from a Brocante in the South of France. Instead I took home its impression. The hands from Viking chess set at the British Museum.
‘More T’
Porcelain cone 10, oxidation
8 x 8 x 3.5
$600 SOLD
The texture is printed from a sheet of handmade paper, bought about 30 years ago at the San Francisco Art Institute and used on many pieces; various hands and feet from Victorian brooch, mediaeval ivory, Winchester Cathedral keystone. The lid’s face had nestled in the wrought iron of a bed I could not take home from a Brocante in the South of France. Instead I took home its impression.
‘Pearl and Punch T’
9 x 10 x 4
Porcelain cone 10, oxidation
$850
Texture, a piece of metal from our kitchen construction. The lid-face impression, the obverse face was imprinted from a choir chair carving at the Chartreuse St Sauveur in the Avery, outside Villefranche de Rouèrgue.
‘Tea in Bed’
9.5 x 7 x 1.25, wall mounted
Porcelain cone 10, oxidation
$850
Bergen Rose
A New View Was All She Needed
12 x12, 2021
oil & cold wax mixed media
$800 SOLD
Feeling The Joy Again
12 x12, 2021
oil & cold wax mixed media
$800 SOLD
Remembering The Future
12 x12, 2021
oil & cold wax mixed media
$800 SOLD
This Is Where It All Began
12 x12, 2021
oil & cold wax mixed media
$800 SOLD
The “Backstory†– Bergen Rose
Of course, living on an island surrounded by the beauty of nature inspires my work every day, but it is the sky and sea, the lagoons and lakes with changing shades of blue that excite and motivate my senses in the studio… The blue – horizon, sea, sky and state of mind, blue eyes, blue moon, blue planet, blue paint…
My work leans toward the abstract and continues along a fuzzy view of land and seascape. The figure, a self-reflecting observer, often travels within the journey, sometimes with a dog noting a love connection… I don’t begin with a definite idea of what I am about to paint – instead, I daydream out the window of my studio and let the paint guide me each step of the way… Each stroke of color or shape informs the next, and the next, and so on… My art is just a mirror and reminder to step back, reflect, reset, and step forward to find some deeper understand of it all…
Also, the process of painting can take one into a slipstream of the unknown, to eventually wake up in a flow with the work, which may take a week, month or year. This process is orchestrated outside the brain, well into some other sphere, evolving on it’s own into the work it becomes. I may only be able to articulate at a later time what the imagery means, or not…
I use oil paint combined with cold wax and may add gold or metal leaf and sand to create texture and light, which often gets scraped away and reapplied again, then repeating the process, as some internal voice moves me… Like an archeologist, I dig into the work for discoveries… I paint because I have deep feelings for nature, beauty and humanity – but there is a deeper mystery that opens if I am willing…
The painting titles are often inspired by poetry I read or music I hear while I paint… The titles of paintings in this exhibit were inspired by Cat Stevens song ‘Morning Has Broken’…
Lauryn Taylor
Larch March
6â€x 8†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225
Colchuck Lake
6â€x 8†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225 SOLD
Autumn Meadow
6â€x 8†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225
Snow Creek
6â€x 8†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225
Treeline
12†x 16†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$475
Isolation Lake Moonscape
10†x 22†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$550
Isolation Lake
10†x 22†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$550 SOLD
Moonlight Falls
16†x 20†layers of acrylic on Wood Panel
$750
Perfection Reflection
18†x 24†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$850
Aasgard Falls
12†x 16†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$475
Larch March
6â€x 8†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225
Azure Pool
6â€x 8†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225
Canyon Glow
8â€x 6†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$225
Soaring Peaks
18†x 24†Acrylic on Wood Panel
$850
Perfection Lake
6â€x 8â€, Acrylic on Wood Panel $225
Lauryn Taylor – The Back Story:
My mother always told me, you’re like a cat, you’ll always land on your feet. As I clung precariously to the side of a jagged cliff high above a pristine High Sierra lake, I began to wonder if she meant it literally. Maybe she was foretelling a secret superpower I could use in a pinch?
I took a deep breath and inched along the razor-thin edge, berating myself for my wanderlust and need to seek out adrenaline-fueled risks. As I cautiously stretched my foot toward what appeared to be the widening of the ledge (thank God!), my other foot slipped, sending a cascade of granite plummeting into the inky depths of the lake. Panicked, and desperately hanging from the cliff as my feet flailed wildly beneath me, I promptly peed all over myself — proving definitively that I’m the person you want next to you in a crisis. Well, maybe if the crisis is a jellyfish sting…
Since you’re reading this, you’ve probably concluded that Moms are (almost) always right. I regained my foothold and escaped an untimely death at the appropriately titled Graveyard Lake, albeit rather breathless and shamed at a lack of bladder control. I have thought about that moment often, and although the experience helped me make more reasonable choices in my wilderness explorations, that wild hair is still very influential in my creative explorations.
When I first started painting, I had no idea my passion for wilderness adventure was influencing my creativity. It wasn’t until someone else pointed out that although my artworks are abstract, they are filled with distant horizons and colors that suggest turquoise alpine water, sun kissed open spaces, and the subtle striated texture of wood or rock. It was an enormous “ah ha†moment — a startling realization that all my journeys, wilderness and otherwise, are right there in every painting.
Then I started thinking about my process….nothing traditional there.
Every painting is a layered story in adventure, complete with missteps, mishaps and accidents. (Today I accidentally flushed my favorite paintbrush down the toilet, and then tried to get it back. Don’t ask…) Yes, it’s like a veritable shitshow of creativity haphazardly inching its way toward completion. Once finished, I’m always ecstatic to have ultimately given birth to luminous work that transports me, and hopefully my viewers, to my happy space… somewhere, out there, where distant horizons beckon with the call of the unknown.
This body of work is titled Enchanted, inspired by an amazing backpacking trip into the Core Enchantments region of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The solitude and beauty was unspeakable; the terrain intensely rugged and challenging. My past cliff crawling skills were put to good use. And this time I held it all together, and maybe most importantly, all in.
Chris Theiss
Zig Zags
11.5†H x 11.5†W x 3†D
Cast ceramic
$300
Mod Triangles
6.75†H x4.5†W x 4.5†D, Dimensions Vary
Cast ceramic
$300 SOLD
“Mod Triangles†really for me takes advantage of the idea of “playâ€. The notion that one could interact with the work and rearrange the individual part and pieces and create completely different compositions and patterns. The forms were made to fit within each other securely if stacked vertically, and they can also be set side to side in any direction. The black and white triangles on sides connect to form bigger solid shapes or zig-zagging lines. Anything goes!
Dos (Blue Vertical)
8†H x 4†W x 4†D
Cast ceramic
$100
Dos vertical followed the same idea of connecting two modules but did it in an upward direction. It was a totem-like composition, stacking and repeating the same form. I stopped with two modules because the footprint is small, and I thought that stacking more in this fashion would make the form too precarious and unstable. At the time, all of my colors were warm hues like reds, yellows, and oranges, so I wanted to add a cool blue as a contrast. I enjoyed how intense and vibrant it was. I’m not an artist that uses a lot of color and generally I work with the limitation of black and white. Applying a single color to the entire surface seemed like it was something that I could handle without feeling overwhelmed by color decisions.
Orange Star Cluster
4†H x 8†W x 8†D
Cast ceramic
$300 SOLD
The “Orange Star Cluster†is a piece that came about through playful discovery. Going into the modular series, I knew that I would be rearranging a single module in various ways to come up with different forms, but this was one that surprised me. I had already made a three- module combination, and it was sitting on my studio table next to a couple individual modules, and I noticed that if I mirrored the three-cluster. The six-module combination would create a circular composition resulting in a five- pointed star when viewing from above. I was also excited by all the lines that merged towards a center point. It was also Autumn when I designed this piece, and my wife and I spend a great deal of time at a local pumpkin farm. The overall form reminded me a bit of a french pumpkin, so I went with a vibrant flame orange as a color choice. I also didn’t connect the modules, so to encourage others to play with the modules and find other arrangements.
Tres (Black)
4†H x 8†W x 3.5†D
Cast ceramic
$150 SOLD
Combining three of the cast modules created a semi-circular arrangement that had a flat side that could sit flush against a wall if space was limited. Another option would be to turn it on its side, but the openings would then be at the sides of the forms, making anything that was inside pour out. So essentially not very functional if liquid was involved like in the case of a vase. It could still however hold other non-liquid items in a sideways presentation. Even though I think about these objects as sculpture, I also consider their practical use. I carefully seal the interior of every form with glaze so they can hold water. You may not want to eat or drink from them but displaying cut flowers would be lovely in these functional art vessels.
Form Over Function
10†H x 5†W x 3†D
Cast ceramic
$200
“Form follows function†is a famous quote by the modernist architect Louis Sullivan. It’s a phrase that I think of often, and when I was a young student of ceramics coming from an illustration background, I found that I was often struggling with the idea of making functional objects. The curriculum required me to do it, but my heart wasn’t completely into it. I found that I was dealing with the idea of the functional object rather than its practical use. In thinking about the form of a cup and how to merge it with my interest in planar forms, I made a cup body that was inherently flawed. The non-circular lip was a huge flaw of function. But playing with the cups in my studio and stacking them in an alternating inverted way, reminded me of Brancusi’s “Endless Column†and sparked my interest. So, my attempt at a functional cup failed, but created pure sculpture, hence the name “Form over Functionâ€. Form won.
Quattro in Red
7†H x 13.5†W x 4†D
Cast ceramic
$200
“Quattro†is a piece that I put together attempting to use exactly four cast modules. As I built, I discovered that four could create an arched form with a single opening at the top. I loved the open space under the arch that gives the form a light almost gravity defying feeling. The color red on sculpture always reminds me of the work of Alexander Calder. My wife, who is an artist and textile designer, was printing a pattern at the time of red arches. This probably was the reason for the red arch idea. She has good ideas!
“Zig Zags†was one of the earliest pieces in my cast vessel body of work. I went into designing the form with the idea of conserving as much space on my studio shelves and also within the kiln during firing. I thought that if I could make a form that would fit like a puzzle into itself as it stood in any direction, I could take complete advantage of every available square inch. I’m limited to a small studio space and small kilns, so this was smart and practical. I also thought it had an interesting almost “Escher†like feel of stepping up and stepping down. I was also thinking about the negative space in between each form.
Donna Watson
Offerings 1
cold wax and oil with collage
assemblage
24â€x 24â€
$1200
Offerings 2
cold wax and oil with collage
assemblage
24â€x 24â€
$1200
Offerings 3
cold wax and oil with collage
assemblage
24â€x 24â€
$1200
Offerings
cold wax and oil with collage
assemblage
24â€x 24â€
$1200
Nature’s Cycles
cold wax and oil with collage
assemblage
20â€x 20â€
$900
Path
cold wax and oil with collage
assemblage
12â€x 12â€
$400
Title: Two Bookends
Donna Watson
I have been a mixed media artist for 45 years. I have been stumbling towards the light, in search of my personal voice for most of those years.
During my early years, I was a watercolor landscape painter, and I sold a lot of these ‘pretty’ paintings. I never gave any thought to who I was, why I painted landscapes, or why I chose the colors and shapes I used. I got caught up in all the sales and never gave any thought about anything other than selling the next painting. I certainly never thought about expressing anything meaningful or personal to me.
First bookend: I took a workshop from Alex Powers, an instructor, juror, author and mentor in the watercolor world I existed in. I could tell he was not impressed with my pretty paintings or my success with sales. I ended up plunging into a black hole where I even questioned whether I could even be an artist. For several years, I struggled with depression, medication and counseling as I tried to find my way out of the black hole. Then I took another workshop from Alex Powers. I watched him complete a demo painting of a model dressed in pretty colors with ribbons in her hair. By now I had become more observant and more thoughtful. I began to see that he was not painting the pretty colors we all saw. He was painting his muted greyed down colors he always used. Then this thought hit me like a bolt of lightening… paintings did not need to be pretty. Paintings could express something unique and emotional…in the artist’s own voice.
Second bookend: I was now free to search for my own unique voice, my own personal history and memories. I started to see a glimmer of light of who I would become as an artist today.
John Webster
Amber House
kiln cast, cold worked glass
lead crystal
$1,500 to $1,900 (RED HOUSE SOLD)
Beginning Sunsets End
kiln cast, cold worked
glass, steel base
7.6 x 7.6 x 7.6
$4,875
Facet Stack
kiln cast, cold worked glass
9 x 5.5 x 6.5
$1,800
Autumn Shadow Glow
kiln cast, cold worked glass
stainless steel base
7 x 6.5 x 5
$1,000
An Alternate Reality
I’ve always been a creative person and for most of my life it was aimed at practical and industrial types of things. I’m a problem solver at heart.
In the mid 80’s I’d been a critical care nurse for over 10 years. One night shift I had a light bulb moment – a new idea completely unrelated to nursing. I thought of way to build a video system that could cover a person’s entire visual field and have 3D images. This could be used to guide robots to explore remote places or do hazardous tasks.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) accepted my proposal and I received two contracts to build a usable full field of view 3D video system. I called my system an “Alternate Reality†system since it was based on real time camera images.
I knew the idea was a success when all the test participants, including government project managers, reported that they felt like they were somewhere else and they spoke as if they actually were where the robot camera system was.
In the beginning I spent 90% of my time creating the system. Eventually though, I spent 90% of my time on business activities, reports, accounting, selling the concept etc. I learned that I didn’t enjoy, and wasn’t good at any of those.
So, I went back to critical care nursing and began channeling my creativity into Art. I enjoy “solving problems†in the technical execution of the artistic vision. My glass work creates an “Alternate Reality†for the viewer by manipulating light, color and space in ways that were considered technically impossible by other artists.
Karla Matzke
Spooning
32 x 42 framed, soft pastel, Rives paper
$5,800
Embrace
38.5 x 30.5 framed, soft pastel, Rives paper
$5,000
Are you who you say you are
32 x 29 framed, soft pastel, Rives paper
$4,200
The other side of me
35 x 29 framed, soft pastel, Rives paper
$3,800
Karla Matzke: Living My Dream
During my formative years, I spent time at the estate of the sculptor David Smith in Bolton Landing, New York. My mother, Shirley Matzke, was the Director and Curator for the Smith Estate for nine years.
To understand my early exposure to David Smith’s outdoor sculpture fields is to understand my vision and subsequent courage to create my own outdoor sculpture park.
I lived and breathed art since birth. My mother, Shirley Matzke, was a gifted artist who created contemporary oil paintings. While most biographical attention focuses on David Smith’s sculptures, it was my mom who influenced my direction towards art.
I had the best mother in the world. She was always very inclusive. I grew up watching her create big abstract paintings. To keep my older sister Kim and me away from her more expensive paints and brushes, she set us up with our own space to paint. This got us painting when we were very young. She made it possible for me to have my own public art show when I was just 13 years old.
I earned my MFA from the University of New York at Albany, NY in 1983. There, I studied with painter Mark Greenwald whose colorful art depicts stark human nature.
For 33 years, I have owned an Art Gallery on Camano Island. In 2008, I opened the doors to the Matzke Fine Art Gallery and Sculpture Park.
I had to teach myself to operate a bulldozer to clear the 10 acres for the park. My mission is to promote, encourage, and serve as an advocate for fine artists and to make contemporary art a relevant part of our cultural experience. My hope is that this magical acreage will nurture the careers of many artists. I believe that any art that disarms you, makes you smile, or makes you think, is successful.
Karla’s art career includes being named Artist of the Year at the Schack Art Center in Everett; Artist in Residence at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood; art shows at the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle from 1997 to 2006; In 2013, Karla co-authored the book 100 Artists of the Pacific Northwest, with E. Ashley Rooney (Schiffer Publishing) and Artist in Residence at Carrara, Italy in 2015 where she carved an eight-foot-tall abstract sculpture (now being shown in Hamburg, Germany) out of the world-famous Carrara marble. Her other passions are skiing, sailing and kayaking.