We're ushering in the year with another selection of our artists' amazing work, including paintings, wearable art, sculpture, ceramics and jewelry. For good measure, we want to make a connection with the previous blog post, which celebrates the accomplishments of several of our artists at a local statewide juried art competition (one of which took 1st Prize for 2-D art, by the way! More about that later, and please take a look at the older post for info).
We hope you enjoy this selection, and be sure to click on the links, which will take you to our online shop for more information, and the artists' pages.
Oh, and don't forget about Valentine's Day - give the perfect gift: Art!
VISUAL ARTS
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| Twitter. Esperanza Grundy |
Do you Tweet?
If so, you probably connect with the feelings evoked by this
acrylic and collage painting.
Thoughts:
Images, bold and diaphanous, rush between
solid earth and fantasy sky in this provocative piece, detached
staccatos in a landscape of constant movement. The colors are bright
and enticing, sometimes soothing, drawing the eye into a universe
of slightly contained chaos, just beyond one's true grasp.
See other works by this marvelous Seattle artist in the Gallery
or on her page here in the online shop.
SCULPTURE
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| Leap. Alan Vogel |
A piece of salvaged yellow cedar makes graceful art indeed.
Buttery yellow cedar, minimally finished, reaches like an elegant tidal wave
from floor to above side-table height. This is one of our favorite woods; with a
soft color and texture that is hard to find, it is considered one of the
finest timber trees in the world.
It is of interest to note that Yellow Cedar is actually the nickname of this
wood, its true name being Nootka Cypress after the First Nation Nootka people of
Vancouver Island, British Columbia. (Western Red Cedar is also a cypress, incidentally.)
It has grown from Alaska's Kenai Peninsula to the Klamath Mountains in
northernmost California. The Caren Range on the west coast of British Columbia,
Canada, is home to the oldest Nootka Cypress specimens in the world,
with one found to be 1,834 years old.
Once abundant, extensive research has been conducted into large-scale
die-offs of yellow cedar stands. Studies conclude that the tree
has depended upon heavy coastal snowpacks to insulate its
shallow roots from cold Arctic winters. The impacts of climate
change have resulted in thinner, less persistent snowpacks, in turn
leaving the trees increasingly susceptible to freeze damage.
A look from above:
What can we say?
Soft flame.
Beautiful and fascinating.
Soft flame.
Beautiful and fascinating.
See more of Alan's art here.
TEXTILES & WEARABLE ART
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| Juncture Cardigan, Muse Pants. Spirithouse |
Elegant and stylish clothing, to be sure; but these pieces from
Katrin Noon For Spirithouse are also extremely comfortable
and perfect for travel and everyday wear.
See more from this line, plus full descriptions and size availability
of those shown above, by visiting the Spirithouse page
in our online shop, here.
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| Neoprene Necklace, Red and Black. AR64 |
Shown above with the Spirithouse clothing, we're delighted
with these jewelry pieces from AR64 that are very modern, feminine and
romantic. Lightweight and lacy, this piece combines soft plastics with even
softer neoprene beads for a lovely choker-style necklace.
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| Blue Topaz Stud Earrings. Robin Hominiuk |
They're baaaa-aack!
Just in, more of Robin's wonderful gemstone and
sterling silver post earrings. These are blue topaz; we
also have a pair of very red garnets, and white topaz
(that look very much like diamonds. Yum.)
(p.s.: Those ruby-red garnet earrings? Think Valentine's Day...)
CERAMICS
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| Martini Cup. Robin Hominiuk |
Speaking of Robin Hominiuk, who is a truly multi-talented artist,
and speaking of Valentine's Day, her wood-fired porcelain
martini cups are perfect little gifts. The main danger with these
pretty things is falling in love with them yourself and
finding they never reach their intended destination.
Not a huge problem, however - we have a number
available at the moment and they are very nicely
priced, so buy two and toast your sweetheart.
By the way, these are pretty on the inside, too...
...and each is different, making them one-of-a-kind
works of art.
In conclusion, in honor of her recent 1st Prize entry at the
2015 Collective Visions Gallery statewide competition and exhibition,
here is another look at a wonderful piece by Bainbridge Island artist
Irene Yesley:
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| Sprite 2. Irene Yesley |
This lovely piece, which is water base and acrylic paint and gold leaf on
three layered pieces of plexiglas, is currently on display in the Gallery.
We featured it in our October Newsletter and Blog, and are delighted
to show it here again. Because of the shadow effects created
by the layers, light becomes a major factor when viewing
these pieces - arguably a part of the art itself - and should be
seen in person to fully appreciate the beauty of the piece.
Please refer to the previous blog post for information on
the Collective Visions competition and exhibition.
Once again, our congratulations to Irene.
January 2015 is done! Thanks for visiting, and please come back soon.
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