All the News that's Fit to Print

Hello! Just to catch up, here is what is going on in the next little while. I will be at Art in the Park in Richland Washington this weekend the 29th and 30th (yes, it is a Friday, Saturday show). It will be very warm, even for Tri-cities Washington, so I will be opening the booth up early, as are many of the makers in the show. This show is open until 8:00 PM on Friday and 7:00 PM on Saturday, so late shopping is also an option.

Next week I will be heading off to Anacortes Washington for the Anacortes Arts Festival, August 5th, 6th, 7th. I hope to see you there.

I am teaching two eco printing workshops this year at Urban Art Cooperative. One is Sunday August 21st and the other is Saturday September 10th. You can get all the details at www.urbanartcoop.org click on "sign up for classes" and scroll down to the workshops.

It is a busy summer and I hope to catch up with you in person!

I will have shirts in additon to scarves at both Art in the Park Richland and Anacortes Festival of the Arts

Flower of the Month

 "Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith."

Margaret Shepard

Pincushion flower leaves on paper with copper mordant. 

Meet my Friend Kay West!

 Hello! It's already been a busy summer (once summer finally got started here) and I am trying to get back on this blog. My friend Kay West is having a one woman show at Pottery Place Plus and I thought you might be interested in meeting her, and, if in the area for the month of July, coming to see this special body of work she has created. Let's see what she has to say!

"I arrive today from a lifetime of creating and making. I've learned and loved working with many different mediums. Each has informed and fed the others as I progress. Years of experiences, plus a short attention span, find me painting impressionistic acrylics, fabricating silver and copper jewelry, and fiber-wrapping other jewelry pieces and coiled baskets. I leap-frog from photography to acrylic paintings, then stop to finish a pair of earrings to match my apparel du jour. 

My art experience includes formal and informal art training, living in Japan for four years, a diversity of art shows, teaching others in a variety of art forms, touring museums and cathedrals, and even owning and operating a fine art gallery supporting other artists in Spokane Washington.

It's all a very happy artistic stew, with new elements learned as I go along, I am a master of none, but thoroughly enjoy my mismash creativity."

Fish Inna Outta Water

"The idea for my July guest artist display at Pottery Place Plus started as a reaction to global warming and the effect on our global waters. Narrowing the whole situation just to fish, for example, rising water temperatures, drought, and water pollution are rapidly killing off fish and their spawning conditions. These directly and indirectly affect fish populations, which in turn affect commerce and human dependence on global consumption of fish. The dwindling fish populations also directly affects the cultural practices of indigenous cultures reliant on fish for their spiritual practices and life observances. 

Whoa! Way too deep for a guest artist display! So, I've chosen to put together a sampling of Fish Inna Outta Water: spawning salmon, trout, a few colorful koi, a few unidentifiable "fish". All of the painting and jewelry pieces are simply reminders of the important role of fish, whether for sustenance, sport, enjoyment, or cultural identification."

Come meet Kay at the First Friday reception this Friday from 5-6PM at Pottery Place Plus 203 N Washington; in downtown Spokane. Catch up with Kay on Instagram.

Monday Thoughts

"Gentle Reminder: If you feel "off track" please remember there is no track. This is your life. It ebbs and flows and twists and halts and speeds up. It all belongs. Stop trying to be a robot who is productive and perfect all the time. You're not a robot. You're a human. Be alive to it all."

Jamie Varon

Japanese Butterbur on paper. I did some remodeling on the blog and put up a list of shows for this summer, other things coming soon! Check it out.

Happy May Day!

 The flower for May (at least in my world anyway) is Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata). It is a member of Asteraceae or the sunflower family. It grows throughout the American west and is very prolific here in Eastern Washington. It just started to bloom and I have found that if I wait a few weeks the prints are much more vibrant and clear. And so we wait. I don't use the flowers (although sometime I should at least give it a whirl on paper), just the leaves. The scarf below was mordanted with alum and the print is anything from pale green to bright yellow. With an iron or rust pre-mordant it would come out olive green. It would also be possible to dip the yellow results in an iron post dip and achieve olive green also. As mentioned, the plant is very prolific here, but as with all plants in the wild, I approach harvesting with caution and common sense. I go where there is a lot of it and only pick one or two leaves off several plants over a large area; and harvest in a different area each time.

The pale green leaf down in the corner is the arrowleaf balsamroot, the bright orange is its malcontented neighbor spotted knapweed. 

All the Best in 2022

 "A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare to the jeweled vision of a life started anew."

Aberjhani

Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry

Coreopsis and salvia on Arches watercolor paper

Spring is on the way, although you wouldn't know it looking out the window here. I am plodding along preparing fabric for the coming eco printing season, working on pieces for a show I am having in April (more about that later), as well as catching up on things like this blog. Instead of sugar plums, show and class schedules dance in my head.

Take care and Have a Happy New Year. Onward!