spring journal 2019

Our frozen February and March have thawed into buds and blossoms. Spring awakens hope - an expectation of something fresh, a sense that was was impossible may now become possible.


Click here and photo to see more spring blooms

In our climate (same as Monet's garden) perennials seem to grow by the inches daily. Some show color. Others will soon. Newborn calves frolic on mima fields. The acrobatic hummingbirds and swallows have returned here to the lake. Days grow longer. Visual inspiration abounds.

Allergies aside, who doesn't love spring in the Pacific NW?

spring


mini watercolor nest painting - about 6 inches square
...part of a spring series of paintings - coming forth one-by-one like buds on the bushes. 
 

spring art show and sale

you, your family, and friends are invited to my lakeside studio...
 

saturday, april 27  -  10am to 9pm

sunday, april 28  -  1pm to 5pm


spring - come discover

fresh spring decor,
ink-painted glass eggs,
mouth-blown glass cloches
art greeting cards,
hand-painted silk,
new watercolors (small and affordable),
oils, stone impressions, drawings, and more...filling the rooms
sign up for an art workshop in dye-painting silk, or alcohol inks on glass...
(scroll down to see more photos)


all in my home-studio on the north shore of Offut Lake
at 4137 116th Avenue SE, Olympia WA 98501

all major credit cards accepted

 

south sound studio tour

saturday, may 4, 10am-4pm

Two artist friends will join me in my Offut Lake Studio as part of Olympia's South Sound Studio Tour where 26 independent artist’s studios will be open to the public.
 

three artists at my studio

 

 

 

 

 

 

bonnie

Bonnie Belden-Doney will demonstrate watercolor painting and will display her poetic, soulful paintings. Click on photo left or her name to visit her website - bonniebelden-doney.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 


dave

David Pierce, a talented illustrator, will feature a fresh series of spring paintings in oil on canvas. View his brilliant illustrations at www.davidpierceart.com (click on photo right or his name). But to see his oil paintings, you'll have to visit the show.

 

 

 

steve

I plan to demonstrate dye-painting of silk in the serti technique. It's a bit like painting in watercolor, but on steroids because the colors migrate continuously until dry. Come watch. You may want to sign up for a workshop to join in the creative fun.

 

 

 

I'm eagerly anticipating hosting our first show together, the first South Sound Studio Tour, and seeing my friends' newest artworks.
all in my home-studio on the north shore of Offut Lake
at 4137 116th Avenue SE, Olympia WA 98501

event map

To visit other studios, see the event map at https://southsoundstudiotour.wordpress.com/2019-map/

Or directly view the pdf file: https://southsoundstudiotour.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/south-sound-studio-tour-v2.pdf

My studio is number 7 in the “South” section.

facebook

Also see and share at http://facebook.com/southsoundstudiotour/
 

 

 

spring ~ new paintings


mini watercolor nest painting - about 6 inches square, March 26, 2019

These are part of a spring series of paintings - coming forth one-by-one like buds on the bushes.

 
march 25 and 26 watercolor painting of varied thrush - They love our madrona tree berries!


colored pencil - on 7x10 inch cotton mat board, April 5 2019


watercolors on Aquabord panel, 6 x 6 inches, April 11, 2019


work in progress


dove nest in watercolor on 6 x 9 inch Arches cotton 140lb paper 6 x 9 inch, April 15

 

 

classes

spring silk workshop

Participants in the March 9 & 10, 2019 silk workshop each effectively created two beautiful silk scarves--one abstract, and one with drawn design elements. The class was small and time allowed for their masterpieces to come forth. I'm so pleased with the outcomes, as well as pleasant company, good weather and abounding beauty here at the lake.

 

 

2019 silk dye-painting workshops

An outing or activity together makes a memorable gift. Consider giving a silk class to a friend (and yourself) in 2019. If a date isn't set, classes are by arrangement. Click here or on the "classes" tab at top to see schedule...

 

 

 

 

dye-painting silk workshops

 

 

experience silk painting in a lakeside studio

Consider a silk painting workshop for yourself and/or as a gift.

ease

At the age of eight or nine, my twin nephews painted a beautiful dragonfly silk. To this day it is one of my favorite silks, likely because children create freely and without inhibition.

the dyes do the work

Dye-painting silk in the serti method is something most anyone can do. The richly colored dyes migrate through the silk weave creating lovely patterns. A very "forgiving" medium, these dyes won't make muddy color. Even if you mix up a brown, the silk's sheen will create a metallic bronze version of your brown.

In a friend's words, "dyes in silk is like watercolors on steroids."

 

 

may

In May 2017, my studio was graced by four talented and inspired ladies. None had dyed or painted silk before,yet they all created beautiful silk artworks. Click here to see photos of this beautiful day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

april

Click here to see photos of a studio day in April.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

july

Click here to see photos of a previous summer silk workshop.

 

 

 

 

classes info

Click here or on the "classes" tab at top to see upcoming classes schedule...

re-invented

Always improving the creating experience... I've revised my silk class size to three to five (max) students. And because the excitement of creating, the learning, and standing can become physically tiring, I've split the day into two half-days--Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

exhibitions

  
 

come to the table

Come to the Table, features thirty-five carefully selected works including everything from historical pieces by Albrecht Durer, to modernist work by Jasper Johns and Sadao Watanabe, to fresh contemporary pieces created by CIVA-member artists. My artwork "Because We Can't Eat Rocks II" is included among the thirty-five artworks in this travelling exhibition (since 2014). And its tour is now wrapping up as of spring 2019. I'm honored to have had my work included in this rich, travelling exhibition.

Click here to see the show in Boston.
 

 

spring art show and sale

You, your family, and friends are invited to my lakeside studio...
 

saturday, april 27  -  10am to 9pm

sunday, april 28  -  1pm to 5pm

more infomation above in this page
in my home-studio on the north shore of Offut Lake
at 4137 116th Avenue SE, Olympia WA 98501

all major credit cards accepted

 

south sound studio tour

may 4, 10am-4pm

The following Saturday - two artist friends will join me in my studio, for the first South Sound Studio Tour
      at visibleinvisible - Offut Lake Studio
      Saturday, May 4, 10AM to 4PM.
      more info above on this page

 

 

select past commissions

 

 

silk-in-glass commission

I'm pleased to announce my first completed installation of silk laminated within glass. The artwork fills the spaces between open trusses of a residential interior. The photo at right two of four panels. Click to see more.

 

 


Land and Sea Passage

As students, faculty, and visitors enter Gilson Middle School in Valdez, Alaska, they are greeted by a vibrant suspended mural--over 26 feet wide. Read more...

 
 

 

Macroscape Slides

Three new glass artworks resembling over-sized microscope slides measure two feet high by six feet wide. Each artwork is uniquely created in mouth-blown art glass laminated onto dichroic float glass. They are installed in the Margaret Murie Life Sciences Building at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
 

  

 

Illuminated Passage

This suspended mural of dye-painted silk measures over 300 square feet. For Liberty Middle School in Spanaway, Washington, it depicts junior high years in a metaphor of a river passing through a canyon.
I love it. It turned out to be all I hoped for and more. Read more...

 

 

Experimental Image Glass

I continue to collaborate with Seattle glassblower Jim Flanagan to create gently abstracted imagery within colored glass. Click here or on the photo at right to see our most recent sheets of blown glass (and scroll down, as the newest work is near the bottom). 

 

 


Tree of Life

Commissioned for a thriving church in the town of Dunwoody, near Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

 

 

Discovery

This mural in dye-painted silk was commissioned for Katchemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College of the University of Alaska. Discovery was installed in Homer, Alaska, in June of 2012. Read more...

 

 

Generations: Incubation

Kenai Peninsula College etched mouth-blown glass public art installation

Click here to read about Generations.

Here is a link to KPC installation photos

 
 

 

 

studio and story

 

 

 

 

2011 nest images on cotton paper

Click here to see photos of ten images completed in January 2011

 

 

 

stone impressions - watch the art-making process on video

People often ask me how I create a stone lithograph. It's hard to explain in words so I have a short video that shows the process.

Click here for photos and video on stone impressions.

 

 

 

silk rivers

These river silks were inspired by and modeled after the beautiful Fremont antique glass we used for the Kenai Peninsula College installation.

 

 


flowering

My Grandma's name, Florence, means "to flower" as in the sense of a blossom. And 2012's flowers were an explosion of color. See photos in her memory...

 

 

 Be silk scarves


Links...
gallery of Be silk scarves
significance in Be-ing
silk care
displaying silk

 

 

past journals