I was impressed and mesmerized by Kristy Kun's art when I walked into her booth. I couldn't stop looking at this piece and feel completely taken in by the depth and shadows created in wool. I met Kristy at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival this year and I knew that I had to put her work in the spotlight. She gave me permission to take these photographs and I'm so happy that her subtle use of color comes through in my photo below. Her wool creations are 3-D and often spill out of the frame that houses them.
Bravo, Kristy. I hope your artistic journey is satisfying and successful. You are a real talent. #northwestflowerandgardenfestival #NWFGS #2018 #woolart #feltedwool #artist #seattleshow
Are you all decorated for the holidays? Can you imagine having the vision to arrange a village that is this intricate? Look at how the icy steps lead your eye from the children building a snowman at the bottom right, up past the Christmas carolers, on to the church and its nativity scene and then all the way up to the grand building that overlooks the city. The display is enormous - this is just one section that I framed and photographed. I just love it! My friend's Aunt Pam is the artist extraordinaire that created this masterpiece. She and I see beauty in so many of the same things and when it comes to decorating for Christmas, she is a kindred spirit. For more than twenty years, Pam has been collecting buildings, townspeople, trees and ice rinks (many by Department 56) with the sole purpose of delighting the eye. A display like this is meant to be seen and I am grateful that Pam allowed me to photograph it so that I could show you. My picture above captures only one tenth of her display, which runs the entire length of her living room and is a multilevel masterpiece.
Now take a moment and study this second picture - the scene from a different angle. If you look way to the top you will see the same grand building and the church just below it to the right...See? That is the same area shown in the first photograph, just from farther away. Now do you get a sense of the scale of her work? I could stand here for hours and let my mind wander. This is a different kind of story-telling, don't you think? Where your mind is allowed to wander through each vignette, gleaning what it can from the visual clues. In my mind, I walk around this magical little town. I skate on the frozen pond and then buy hot chocolate in the candy store. I always climb the steps to the greenhouse and walk inside to smell the humid air scented with potting soil. I always have fun and I never want to leave. Sometimes stories are best left in your imagination - you can add to them and change things around every time your mind wanders around a Christmas village. Thank you, Pam, for inspiring us all. #gifttoall #holidayinspiration #christmasvillage
My favorite local TV show, Seattle Refined, has put me in the spotlight as their Artist of the Week! Isn't that great? The link takes you to a gallery of my cigar box purse designs and an interview about my creative life.
Long before I got to town, I started surfing the internet, looking for interesting events and activities that I could attend while I was in Seattle. This art event jumped out at me: the Kirkland Artist Studio Tour (KAST). I love to see artists in their element and I was looking forward to seeing another area of greater Seattle. This free event is a self-guided tour that invites art lovers to follow a map and explore private home studios, as well as artists' displays within the shopping district of Kirkland. When touring an artist's home studio isn't practical, participants are given space within a retail shop to showcase their work. We drove to Kirkland in the afternoon, after giving the West Seattle Community Garage Sale a whirl that morning. We found a Kirkland Artist Studio Tour map and ducked into Zoka Coffee Shop to see what we could see.
Jacob Grahn was the artist assigned to the Zoka space and he had a large canvas set up that he was actively painting. When I walked in, he was talking with customers and explaining his creative process. I didn't want to interrupt a potential sale, so I just snapped this photo (above) to give you an idea of his work and what an artist's space looked like within a retail store. Thanks for participating, Zoka Coffee, this artist seemed very happy with the space provided - plenty of natural light and right by the door where he could be easily found. We wandered in and out of some of bustling stores, when Dan reminded me that it was really the home studios that I was interested in and that we only had a limited time to explore. He was so right! I was lulled by the map and what I really wanted to see was where artists create.
We plugged an address from the map into Google and off we went. Our first stop was to Joy Hagen's house, home of OJOY Studio. Beautifully situated in the woods, we drove up the steep incline of her driveway and parked our car. She was hosting two other artists, Katherine Wright and Daya Astor, who had tent spaces set up on the property. It was a beautiful day and everyone seemed happy to be exploring Kirkland and having the luxury to talk to one another about art and what moves them. Joy Hagen is an encaustic painter, which means she works with hot melted beeswax and pigment to create her dramatic nature-inspired images. This display of her work, below, showcases just how at home her paintings are in the wild.
Joy was kind enough to take a moment and demonstrate her technique, using a torch to blast colored beeswax into patterns across her wooden base image. It was very interesting to see the texture appear and recede as she directed the heat. This picture of her studio is a favorite.
The best part of this entire day was our last stop on the tour. We arrived at Mini Griffin's home, just down the road from the previous studio and I liked her immediately. She is happy by nature, talented for sure and was absolutely tickled to be a part of the Kirkland Artist Studio Tour.
Her personality is infectious and we spent so much time chatting about the concept of delight, hope, color and art, that I neglected to take a photo to represent her home studio. Luckily you can see her art and contact her on her website. (*Update: Mini saw my post and supplied a few images for me. Now my post is complete. Thanks, Mini!)
When I described her to my mom, I said that she had sunlight streaming out of the ends of her blonde hair. How's that for a description? That is what is fun about this world, you never know who you will meet.
My advice for today: Get out there and talk to people!
Ooh la la...Olana! I was able to route our day of exploration in the Hudson River Valley to the estate of the famed American painter, Frederic Church.
My mom has long admired the paintings by the artists of the Hudson River School and she has several beautiful coffee table books on the subject. In this case, school in Hudson River School is used to describe the style and era, rather than an actual place of study. While I was in Upstate New York, I heard the phrase "fleet of sloops" coming through the phone receiver every time I called home. You see, a relative of mine was the Captain of a fleet of sloops on the Hudson way back when and my mom was trying to peak my interest.
When I asked more questions, I found out that my relatives were from Nyack, much farther south down the Hudson than I would be able to travel on this long weekend. But I'll be back, armed with a camera and a family tree and I promise to tour the area properly.
Frederic Church was a prized pupil of the Hudson River School founder, Thomas Cole and they both eventually lived and painted on opposite sides of the Hudson River. Our enthusiastic guide pointed out Cole's home, which is also a historic site, as we looked at the familiar view from Olana's porch.
I have a policy of stopping in the gift shop first, whenever I visit a museum or historic site. You see, I love to buy cards, posters and paper souvenirs at museum gift shops and it only took me "running out of time" once to set this important policy. Remember when I only had about 8 minutes to shop the store at Windsor Castle? I showed the teenage clerk what "power shopping" meant! Anyhoo, now I start at the gift shop and always I have plenty of time to explore my options. This is what I bought at Olana; framable cards of Church's major works.
I may scan one of these images and then print it on inkjet fabric and make it into a personalized souvenir. Remember how this painting-turned-pillow turned out? You can shop for postcards from Olana here.
The home, Olana, that Church collaborated on with architects, was heavily influenced by his overseas trip to Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Syria. The Persian-style home includes intricate woodwork, painted glass panels and mosaics. Church was even known to mix the paint color for the walls himself - creating just the right hue to complete his vision. His paintings hang in many rooms around the house and are all in place, just where he enjoyed them, during his life.
Photography is not allowed inside Olana, but I found this official video that talks of his life, inspiration and tours the inside of this famous home. If you are interested, you should watch this official video created for Olana, a State of New York historic site.
I was able to get a few great photos of Olana's exterior.
And this one of the grand porch, just off of Church's studio, overlooking the Hudson.
And the same porch, photographed from the outside.
One aspect of Church's work that I wish that I could show you are his sketches. There are few framed upstairs that show the landscape roughed out in pencil, then you can read his writing that says (something to the effect of): "deeper blue here, lighter than sky" or "moss green - A and B" and then you could find the A and B on the sketch, as if Church was building his own paint-by-number. I had never seen an artist's sketch like that, have you?
I am so lucky to have had a chance to go on a guided tour of Frederic Church's Olana and then wander his gardens on the estate.
While living at Olana, Church had the property planted with thousands of trees and plants to create a lush landscape to paint. It is an inspirational estate.
I have long admired northern Michigan artist Dona Kelly and this is the perfect time to put her in the spotlight. Her signature style is blending uplifting phrases with locally-inspired illustrations on furniture and mirrors. She was recently commissioned to make a "Leland" piece for the entrance to the newly remodeled Leland Lodge. In a word, it is spectacular.
She has brought a map of Leland to life on a beautiful sideboard with drawers (Psst...open the drawers to see more images inside!). If you have ever walked the streets of this charming town on the shores of Lake Michigan, you will feel right at home.
She has the Leland River winding past the Riverside Inn, the library, the Merc and over the dam to into historic Fishtown, just like you remember.
I feel like this will become "the art to visit" for generations to come - a trip wouldn't be the same without spending a few minutes studying the map. I know that young and old will enjoy finding their favorite stores, locating where their cottage is or pointing out where they had a picnic. This is art reflecting life in the best possible way.
If you love this piece like I do, you can contact Dona Kelly to get something for yourself! Her email is kellygirlart@yahoo.com She will also be selling her upbeat collection at the Leland Artist Market at the Old Art Building on July 13, 2013 from 10-5pm.
I was "up north" in Leland, Michigan when the Leelanau Community Cultural Center (at The Old Art Building) hosted their first Plein Air Painting Event. Artists were to register online and then on the day of the event, they were to bring their canvas to the Old Art Building between 9-10 am to be stamped (on the back) by the Plein Air committee to complete the registration process. Then the artists were free to chose a spot somewhere in and around Leland to paint or draw. The art was to be completed by 4 pm and submitted with a frame to the committee. At 6:30 that night, the artists and public were invited to a reception at the Old Art Building. The paintings and drawings were on display for the guests to admire and purchase. A portion of each sale went to support the Leelanau Community Cultural Center.
What a success! I was jealous of the talent and amazed at the landscapes that these artists were able to create in just one day. I was fascinated by the entire process. While Dan and I were out and about that day, I noticed several painters next to streams or on bluffs throughout the bright and chilly day, painting from their chosen perspective. We noticed so many, that I felt that I was pointing out rare birds. "Look! There's another one!" When we walked down toward Fishtown, I ran into Brenda J Clark. I had stopped to admire her work - her painting of Fishtown is shown on the easel above - and as we chatted, I realized that I had met her before. She taught my best friend, Kim in an art class at Michigan State University and they have remained friends. A few years ago, Kim had taken me into Brenda's art gallery, which is now located in Suttons Bay, Michigan.
I absolutely love Brenda's bold use of color. Her work table reminds me of so many of my projects mid-stream - you can instantly tell that big things are going on.
Viva la Plein Air! Bravo, Leelanau Community Cultural Center for bringing such a wonderful event to Leland!
