Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Friday, June 24, 2016

You're Invited: July 2016 First Friday Artwalk

Our wonderful textile exhibit, Dialogues in Fiber, continues through July 31st, and will be front and center once again for the upcoming July Artwalk.  Joining us again will be eclectic duo Jon Crane and Abraham Neuwelt: Rainforest Journey, whose exceptional performance with such musical instruments as tabla, handpan (hang drum), gong, singing bowls, flute and more when last at the Gallery was a real crowd-pleaser.  Highly recommended; don't miss them!

Please come to downtown Winslow for another lovely evening of wine, friends, and art, with some exceptional musical offerings!  Details below:





Dialogues in Fiber

Continuing Exhibition
Through July 31, 2016

Suzanne Hubbard ~ Tom Johnson

Suzanne Hubbard, Vashon Island, shows weavings from an ongoing series entitled
Silent Oratory, a Weaver Speaks.
The series explores weaving as language

Tom Johnson, Kansas City and Bainbridge Island, creates geometric fiber sculpture as
wall pieces and furniture


First Friday, July 1, 6-8 pm

In Concert on the Plaza:

Jon Crane & Abraham Neuwelt
Rainforest Journey


Images shown:

Top:  Suzanne Hubbard, Planting the Thread, weaving, 60 x 70 inches

Below: Tom Johnson, Storyline, fiber sculpture, 38 x 36 inches


About the Artists: 

Suzanne Hubbard learned how to weave from Swedish master weaver, Marguretta Grandin-Nettles on Nantucket Island in 1971.  Pattern, structure, and texture are elements that feature prominently in Swedish weaving, and this was what attracted Suzanne to this particular technique.  She travelled to Sweden where she continued to study weaving and textile design at two well known handcraft schools, Sätergläntan in Dalarna and Capellagården on the island of Öland.  

Suzanne’s career has included weaving commissions, participating in decorator show houses, and exhibiting in both galleries and museums.  Over the many years of weaving however, her interest in pattern, structure, and texture has persisted.  She has developed a deeper appreciation for the craft, the understanding of which are the themes of her current work.  Weaving’s patterning process resembles a life-patterning process.  Therefore, in addition to its visual aspects, it also creates a non-verbal language that graphically expresses Nature’s world of interdependent relationships.  

Pattern, structure, and texture are the elements that she uses in her work and the themes for her tapestries each express something important when seen from the integrated perspective of the whole cloth. 

Tom Johnson:  This body of my work - which is created by taking multiple layers of fabric, manipulating, sewing, cutting, and washing them to make the fibers “bloom” - had a serendipitous  beginning.  I had fabric remnants from a variety of architectural and interior design projects.  I started experimenting with layering, sewing them in lines at close intervals, cutting and washing, in an effort to create a soft, tactile, dog-friendly throw for our sofa.  The results got my creative juices flowing.  I quickly saw lots of possibilities, determined which fabrics worked best and how this newly created “Ridge and Furrow Chenille” could be used.  Benches and ottomans soon followed.  “Ridge and Furrow” designs for the wall, as well as a “quilt,” developed simultaneously.

After seeing quilts at the Modern Quilt Show in Austin that had graphic messages, and wanting to commemorate the death of a couple of close friends, I started creating pillows with a message. The pillows led me to explore color applied in strips to the top layer.  My most recent piece, “Passage,” utilizes this technique as well as washed and unwashed layers. 

The process continues to excite me and take me in new directions.  I am influenced by the tradition of quilt making as well as by modern and minimalist quilts (and on some level by the randomness of Jackson Pollock). I’m inspired by the surprises that come from the layers beneath the surface, the interplay of color, interpreting what I see around me in this medium of fabric and threads, expressing a message that grabs me, and the endless possibilities.

About the Musicians:

Jon Crane & Abraham Neuwelt:  Rainforest Journey
Using the exotic sounds of the tabla, handpan (hang drum), gong, singing bowls, flute and more Jon Crane and Abraham Neuwelt weave together rhythm and melody to create a soundscape that will bring us on a journey. Along with our instruments our musical journey uses the sounds of rivers, streams, rain, and other sounds of nature, transporting us into a environment that comes alive. For this evening we will be using sounds recorded in the Hoh Rainforest here in Washington.  A CD recording, Hoh Rain Forest Journey, will be available summer end 2016.




Left: Jon Crane
Right: Abraham Neuwelt

Jon Crane has a deep passion for sharing his excitement and love of music and how it can bring a greater sense of loving awareness to our lives. Since 2005 Jon has been studying classical Indian music with renowned tabla player Ty Burhoe and with Sarode maestro Steve Oda. Jon loves to share his music in ways such as classical, kirtan, blue grass, sound baths and more. For five years Jon has worked closely with the yoga community providing live music for yoga classes. Diving deep into the present moment Jon sculpts and improvises the music to each yoga class, weaving together the sounds of nature with many instruments such as the hang drum, gong, singing bowls, native flutes and tabla. Jon has learned and worked with many teachers over the years such as Ram Dass, Krishna Das, Steve Gorn, Jack Kornfield, Zakir Hussain.

Abraham Neuwelt is a percussionist who has been deeply involved in the NW music scene for nearly 20 years. While continuing to perform on a regular basis, Abraham has begun teaching students and volunteering at hospitals in his community.  His true calling is providing healing and entertainment via his rare collection of melodic percussive instruments from all over the world.

Event Location: 

The Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E., #120, Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Underground parking is available at The Winslow off Ericksen Avenue.  (Parking is monitored; please use Visitor spaces.)


Saturday, May 30, 2015

You're Invited: June 5, 2015 First Friday Artwalk

Our beautiful exhibit continues over from May and Ranger and the Boys are back for what we hope will be a full-band musical extravaganza on the Plaza.  In other words, we're hoping for clement weather on Friday!



In addition to Jen Till's gorgeous oil paintings and our favorite gypsy jazz band, we will be featuring new summer clothing collections from Carol Lee Shanks (her new black and whites are fabulous!), Katrin Noon for Spirithouse (ivory, blue and colorful pants and top sets), and Sandra Holzman (luscious summer-colored mobius capelets and scarves).

We are also greatly honored to have just received several jewelry pieces from the estate of Lou Zeldis.  These are so special; if you aren't familiar with Lou's work, please take a look:

Earrings:  Triple-drop Aquamarine, Sterling Silver.  Lou Zeldis

Earrings:  Triple-drop Rubellite, 22k Gold.  Lou Zeldis
Rough stones, rustic metal treatment, pure magic.

These and others are available in the Gallery now and will be listed in the online shop very soon.

See you on Friday!

In the meantime, we are now Tweeting!  Follow us on Twitter: @islandgalleryBI.

***UPDATE:  The Zeldis rubellite earrings shown above have been sold.  There is another pair of large single-drop rubellite available in gold at time of writing.


Saturday, February 28, 2015

You're Invited: March 2015 First Friday Artwalk

It's cold outside, but that beautiful sunshine is warming our hearts.  Could we be in for an equally vibrant First Friday?  Stroll around downtown Winslow and see, with friends, wine, appetizers, and naturally, great art.

Here at The Island Gallery we are presenting a textile exhibit:




Sumbanese Ikats

From the Gallery Collection

March 6 – 29, 2015

Opening Reception:

First Friday, March 6th
6 – 8 pm

In concert:

Ranger and the Re-Arrangers

Featuring ikats from the Gallery’s Collection of traditional Sumba Island ikats
by noted Sumbanese weavers and a “magical” double ikat from Tenganan, Bali,
with more contemporary designs from American textile artist Lou Zeldis,
who also worked in Indonesia with Sumbanese weavers and dyers.


Event Location:  The Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E, #120, Bainbridge Island, Washington.


The laborious weaving and dying process used to create traditional ikat textiles is a fascinating and ancient craft, its roots stretching deep into history.  Here's a little information:


In Indonesian and Malay “ikat” means, literally, to knot, and describes a tie-and-dye process employed by the archipelago’s weavers.  Using cotton thread, a mock-up of the warp (horizontal threads) is constructed on a frame.  Neighboring strands on the frame are then bound together using lengths of raffia-like palm-leaf fiber. The length of each knot seals a section of thread and the pattern of knots forms the intended motif.  It is from these knots that the technique gets its name.

Two sets of knots are used to produce a three-color design.  All knots resist the initial indigo dye and only unknotted areas become blue.  After one set of knots has been opened the threads are re-dyed red: this dyes the newly exposed white sections an earthy red, and over-dyes the indigo with red to produce a brown-black.  Opening the second set of knots reveals sections of thread that have received neither dye and will be white in the woven textile.  A pure blue is obtained by tying a third set of knots over the indigo work before the red dye process begins.

The indigo blue is from the young leaves of the leguminous indigo plant (indigofera tinctoria).  The red is made from the bark of the roots of the morinda tree (morinda citrifolia).  Further refinements of shade and hue are due to successive immersions in the dye baths and the inclusion in the dyes of other plant materials to recipes often held secret by a dyer.

Each set of threads receives up to a half-a-dozen applications of each dye.  Indigo is only collectable during the annual monsoon when new growth blooms.  Conversely, morinda root is harvested during the dry season when the dye-bearing sap retreats into the roots.  To achieve a deep saturation of color the dyer will often need to work though several seasons across a number of years.  Completed dye-lots are often stored for further years since the longer the threads are kept, the richer the final colors may become.

The weaving itself is done on a continuous-warp back-strap loom.  The arrangement of the warp on the loom, around the breast and warp beams, replicates its orientation on the warping frame and recreates the intended pattern.  A single-color weft is then used for weaving.

And what do we mean by a "magical" cloth, you might ask?  Read on.

Geringsing detail. Tenganan, Bali

Of all the spectacular textiles produced in Southeast Asia, the rarest and most intricate are the sacred Geringsings of Tenganan.  This eastern Bali village is one of only three places in the world where textiles are traditionally made using the elaborate double ikat patterning technique. Though other forms of ikat were probably imported from India, Geringsing textile weaving is thought to have originated solely in Tenganan. To support this theory, nowhere else in Indonesia is this intensely time-consuming and jealously-guarded process practiced.

The cloth is made of natural fibers and natural dyes, which are red and reddish-brown tones made of the root sunti, yellow made of kemiri fruit and blue or blue-black made of taum (indigo). The design is obtained by a double-tie process; that is, the threads of both the warp and the weft are patterned prior to the weaving.  Once the piece is completely woven on a back-strap loom, the geometric repetitive patterns must interlock in exactly the same place, in order for the fabric to have any aesthetic value or meaning. 

Only a very small number of woman weavers still know how to weave Geringsing textiles. Because of the intricacy of the work, to make a good quality Geringsing takes from five to eight years. Part of the reason for this time frame is that Geringsing can only be worked on during special days according to the wuku calendar (the wuku calendar sets out dates for festivals and has 10 different weeks, each from one to 10 days and all running simultaneously). Geringsing are worn as sashes in everyday wear; however, on festival days women dress in them from head to toe.  No rite of passage may be carried out without the obligatory wearing of Geringsing textiles. According to Balinese belief these rare cloths have protective powers, especially the ability to ward off evil and sickness, and to preserve the wearer from harm.  Indeed, the word ‘Geringsing’ is derived from the word ‘gering’, meaning ‘pestilence’ or ‘plague’, and the word ‘sing’, meaning ‘without’.

Come visit us to view these amazing pieces of art.  The exhibit runs through March 27th.

Friday, February 6, 2015

February 2015 First Friday Artwalk

It's tonight!

Peter Spencer and Friends opens our 2015 Concert Series tonight at 6pm, with their blend of rock and R&B.  Come downtown and enjoy a stroll through the Gallery (the sun - amazingly - is out and all we see are blue skies), a sip of wine, appetizers, great music and fabulous art.



Peter Spencer and Friends
First Friday, February 6th, 6-8 pm


Sunday, November 30, 2014

You're Invited: December First Friday Artwalk: 9th Annual Wearable Art Show

It's the most wonderful time of the year - and the most sparkling Artwalk of the year, with our annual December emphasis on wearable art.  So whether you enjoy the fabulous art, sips of wine, great music, or simply ambling about town with friends on this merry occasion, it's all here for you.  Please join us from 6 - 8 pm!


9th Annual Wearable Art Show 

December 5 – 28, 2014 

Bainbridge Island, Northwest
and
International Artists 

Opening Reception 
Friday, December 5, 6 – 8pm 

Music by 
Peter Spencer and Friends 
Featuring 
Orville Johnson 
Dobro/slide guitar 

Featured Artists:

Textiles:
Roselle Abramowitz, Kay Chapman, Fran Goldberg, Sandra Holzman
Bryan Johnson, Jane Johnston, Amy Nguyen, Katrin Noon
for Spirithouse, Isnia, Izukura, Mary Jaeger, Candiss Krummel
David Mendoza, Maggy Pavlou, Carol Lee Shanks, Carter Smith
Cyndi Wolfe, Muffy Young, Lou Zeldis


Jewelry:
AR64, 2byLyn&Tony, Bara, Maria and Bryan Chapin-Cao
Maia Evans, Robin Hominiuk, Woodleigh Hubbard, NEO
Virginia Paquette, Begona Rentero, Christine Sundt, Lou Zeldis
 

Other goodies are on their way to the Gallery, including

New pieces for Men by Mary Jaeger
Modern/Vintage Lamps by Nathan Christopher
New Ceramics by Maria Simon
Handwoven Beaded Shawls from Cojolya

And much more!

 See you at the Artwalk!!