Autumn is in the air, but there's still a little summer left! Here are a few of our current favorites to help transition into fall - excellent art from favorite artists, introducing exciting new friends, and a peek at our collection of ikats and batiks. Don't forget to click on the links to view individual items in our extensive online shop, and enjoy!
Without further ado, we showcase a beautiful piece of
art from a most wonderful artist, Roselle Abramowitz from
Stowe, Vermont. It is a short jacket in silk, hand-painted in soft
tones of tan, heather/purple and white/cream with a horse motif
on the back.
We are sad to report that Roselle passed away
in June but has left us with memories of many outstanding
works of art and our sincere gratitude for her talent.
In the next few days we will be adding a blog post dedicated
entirely to Roselle. Please visit us again soon
and get to know the artist a little better through the story of her
art and her fascinating life.
We should note that the Gallery has received several special pieces
from her studio. Roselle's family will donate the proceeds for
these sales to the art foundation set up in her name
Bainbridge Island artist Irene Yesley describes herself as a geometric
abstract
minimalist, designing flat, hard-edge patterns against a
relatively flat
background. Physical textures, such as brush strokes,
play a minimal role
to the interplay of positive and negative shapes,
and the emotional impact of
color.
We've featured her here several times, but this is something a bit different:
These pieces are 12" x 12" acrylic on wood panels and are four of
twelve available pieces in what was originally a 16-piece work titled Topology II.
Shown above,clockwise from top left:
They can be viewed singly in the online shop with Irene's other work here.
About the artist:
I earned an MFA in printmaking from Arizona State
University.
After graduation, I bought two floor looms and started making
rugs
and tapestries. Eventually I grew frustrated with the restraints
of weaving,
the warp and the weft and sold my looms. Freed from
fiber, I have explored pencil,
pastel and oil stick on paper, done
reverse painting on Plexiglas, acrylics on
wooden panels,
gesso board and canvas.
The
outdoors is the biggest influence on my work. The first landscape
I knew was
Spokane, Washington, where I grew up. That was followed
by the cactus of
Arizona for 5 years, the urbanscapes of Boston and
Washington, DC, the
chaparral of Topanga Canyon, and 22 years in the
desert of Santa Fe, New
Mexico. For six years until 2004, we had a
condo in Kas, Turkey, on the
Turquoise Coast of the Mediterranean
where I spent six months a year.
Now I live
on an island across the sound from Seattle in a temperate
rainforest. Without
even being aware of what was happening, each
new location has changed the
shapes and colors in my work.
We're excited!
A new line of basics just arrived in the Gallery, and has
so much going for it: comfort, styling, great price point.
What more can we say?
Well, that these pieces make great travel clothes, come in a range of
interesting colors and patterns, are proudly made in the USA
(Los Angeles, to be exact) from a high-tech fabric that is supple,
wrinkle-free, soft and yet defined, machine washable, and in
sizes from XS to XL. On top of that, we're expecting
more in this week, including tops, jackets and pants.
Here's something about the artist:
Katrin Noon, the creative force behind Spirithouse, offers
collections that
explore proportions and combine modern edginess with romantic
detailing,
combining an unconventional twist on traditional
design with a dedication to comfort.
Noon studied painting at the San
Francisco Art Institute, and pattern drafting
and draping under Simone Sethna.
After graduation, the artist traveled
throughout the British Isles, Europe and
Western Asia, an experience that
would solidify her love and interest in
textiles.
What sets Spirithouse designs apart are
the details. Once Noon has a color
palette or texture in her mind, she will go
to great lengths to find the perfect
fabric to represent her vision.
“As I am a practical person by nature, I don't care much for the
superfluous...
I don't like fashion that is too 'high
concept' or so overdesigned that you
can't imagine a person wearing it. I like
function over form, where the
clothing works in a practical way inside an
existing wardrobe, and can
be worn again and again… I try to place emotion at
the center of my
work so that the designs connect to how a person might feel
when they wear the clothes."
(Also shown in the above photograph: Necklace by NEO.
See her shop section
here.)
We have a confession to make.
We are wearing a pair of Robin's wonderful
semi-precious gemstone post earrings as we write this.
We make no excuses. We love these earrings.
These lovely stones are faceted 5mm blue topaz set
in bright sterling silver and will not be here long!
(We are trying to control ourselves.)
(Which may or may not be working.)
Robin also sent us more of her fabulous narrow sterling
silver bangles, perfectly priced at $25.00 apiece. Some are
hammered, some are smooth, all are wonderful.
They aren't up in the online shop yet, so if you're
interested, come into the Gallery to see them or give us
a call and we'll send you photos.
(They'll be available online soon.)
*(Assuming we continue to control ourselves.)
Sumptuous indigo paired with white makes a magnificent
double ikat weaving from Sumba Island, Indonesia. A man's
garment, the hinggi is traditionally an important item in the life
of a Sumba Island native, who might own one to be worn only on
ceremonial occasions. Created on a backstrap loom in two pieces,
the lengths of dyed, then woven cloth are sewn together and can
take up to two years to complete.
This piece has been in the Gallery's collection for some years
and is one of our favorites. We have a few more hinggis in this
size and quality but unfortunately, as the old artisans
leave us with no one equally skilled to replace them, we worry
that we may never see similar items again.
The same could be said of the following splendid sarong:
Many of the sentiments expressed above apply equally to the
stunning contemporary, vintage and antique batik sarongs
currently available in the Gallery. Shown here is a most
striking example of the art of Cirebon, Indonesia, from the
artist Shella. The motif is the megamendung or "cloud"
motif, which draws much from the Chinese influence on
this part of the country. The fine gradations of color in the piece -
in this case, pink slowly turning to white - are quite fascinating.
The creation of a piece like this can take up to two months;
other very complex motifs might take six months - to
produce one sarong!
The piece shown was acquired by the owner of
The Island Gallery personally from the artist's studio.
Please contact the gallery for further information on
these and other items in our collection, and keep an eye
on this blog for a soon-to-come post with in-depth discussion
of these precious, disappearing art forms.
And at the very end of this August-into-September blog post
here's a little something extra, which although we didn't show it
on the e-card, we include here simply because we can and we must:
Oh, my!
Another spectacular wood-and-paper lamp by Portland
artist L. Wendy Dunder. She has sent us several more of her
popular lamps which are about to go on display in
the Gallery (we should have them up by First Friday,
September 5th), so come in to visit them in person!
This is a table lamp, and it is FABULOUS!
Goodbye, August, and onward into fall! Come visit us next time for another spectacular line-up of beautiful art. If you'd like to receive advance notice of our Newsletter posts directly in your inbox send a note to
sr@theislandgallery.net and we'll sign you up.
Enjoy!
