New Beasts

Eva Funderburgh, one of the three artists involved in our "Beasts of the Kiln" exhibit last May, brought us a few new ceramic pals last week. Meet "A Monster for Todd #2" (2 views):

This little guy is wood-fired porcelain, has several rows of tiny pearly white teeth, and is frankly delighted with his pull toy.

Irresistible? We think so!

Early Warning!

Here's a quick list of some of our upcoming events this fall:

Now through August 29th: "Fiber Face" Batik Exhibition.

August 30th: Gypsy Jazz! Sizzling hot Bainbridge Island quintet Ranger and the Re-Arrangers returns for their final performance in our popular Summer Jazz Series. 7:30 p.m. at the gallery. E-mail us for more ticket info. (On the right you'll see Ranger on fiddle, Dave Stewart on mandolin.)

September 5th - 28th: South Sound Fire: Wood Fired Ceramics from the Benn/Gallagher Harstine Island Kilns. Artists: John Benn, Colleen Gallagher, John Harris, Chris Knapp, Andrew Lewis-Lechner, Susan Lochner, Reid Ozaki. (That's John Benn on the left, with lots of pots.)


September 13th: Returning by popular demand, The Geordie Kelly Jazz Quartet. 7:30 p.m. at the gallery. E-mail us for more ticket info.

October 3rd - 31st: "3 x 3: Wood Furniture & Sculpture - Three New Works by Three Area Artists". Cecil Ross, Robert Spangler, Howard Todd.

November: TBA

December 3rd - 31st: Annual Wearable Art Show.

Back by Popular Demand!

We're very happy to announce that the fabulous Geordie Kelly Jazz Quartet is adding a concert date to our 2008 Summer Jazz Series! The group will be back in the gallery on Saturday night, September 13, at 7:30 p.m. If you haven't heard them yet, don't miss out - this will be their last performance before Geordie goes back to Washington, D.C., to his new post with the Navy Band there.

Something Completely Different. . .

There are many wonderful artists in our region - the Pacific Northwest - who produce beautiful art in all sorts of different disciplines. Since its inception in December of 2002, The Island Gallery has focused primarily on wearable art (textiles, jewelry), wood fired ceramics, wood sculpture and furniture, and basketry. The Northwest is particularly known for its glasswork, so we've often been tempted to carry it. But we've resisted, in hopes of discovering Something Different.

Here's what we found.

Introducing to the gallery: Ted Jolda.

Ted is one of Canada's best known glass artists and has been called the nation's preeminent ornament maker. Working primarily in glass since 1985, Ted has received international recognition for his work. As well as being in the collections of the royal houses of the Netherlands and England, his work is in the collections of the Canadian Craft Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass, and has been exhibited internationally in numerous group shows representing the finest of contemporary Canadian Art. Ted was chosen to create the goblets for the formal table of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and later was asked to expand the set to accommodate the eighteen heads of state attending the 1999 APEC conference in Vancouver. His work has been presented to presidents, prime ministers and heads of state around the world.

Ted comments on a recent brush with retail nirvana:

This is one of the things I get asked most about . . . No I didn't meet Oprah. Nor did I send her any of my work. I had an agent, who for a couple of years took my stuff to the big Gift Trade Shows out east. In New York some of Oprah's personal shoppers saw my ornaments at the booth and liked them. Bought some and took them to show Oprah. She liked them and put them in her magazine. I knew nothing of this until about a week before the magazine came out. It was great. It was amazing. It was an incredible year. I made little else for the next year. My income (for that one year only) more than doubled. We were able to buy a new washer, a new - to us - car, and a new refrigerator. Paid a bit off the mortgage. That's it, that's all. The next year I was no longer the 'new thing' and sales went back to their old - well actually slightly worse than their old levels. I had lost some clients that I couldn't supply with other work while I was making pears. I'm not complaining. Variety is good. But it was amazing while it lasted.

In the year following the appearance of his Golden Pear ornaments on The O List, Ted personally hand-blew 10,000+ ornaments for which he had received back orders. Happily, he has lived to tell about it, and we welcome Ted as the first glass artist to be represented by The Island Gallery.

I'll post more of his designs - but if you are already thirsting to see them, here's a cutie, available just in time for Christmas:

Lumps of Coal. . .

Stay tuned!

- Susan R., sales manager

We're Blogging!

Welcome to The Island Gallery's Art Blog!


We're excited to take our first step into this enhanced (and fun!) form of communication, where we will be able to post images and impressions of the wonderful art work that comes through our doors, and where you can send us your thoughts and responses. We'll keep you posted on our upcoming shows, our concert series, and introduce you to great new artists. You can also go to our extensive web site, http://www.theislandgallery.net/, to view past and present exhibits, press releases, artists' statements, essays, and our artists' pages.



So check back often. The Island Gallery is always a work in progress, as is this site, and I know we're going to have a great time together.



- Susan R., sales manager