Dancing, Birds, Surfin' Dali, Hip Hop and Prades

Well, it’s been an eventful couple of weeks since I last published in our blog.  Since then, we have been working diligently on our own projects… Martha along with friend Cindy Reitvelt and an number of volunteers have created several giant birds

and large cloth flowers for the parade float project for this year’s coming Apple Blossom parade.

 Some readers may recall that we were very active in creating the Giant Puppets that were such a hit in last year’s parade and for which I produced a number of videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-JDMGAazDY&feature=plcp&context=C498021fVDvjVQa1PpcFO7Y7u6x-yNpk8__ObzFBysveri0Ou3Rss%3D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Qah4vItEI&feature=plcp&context=C4fd1a5eVDvjVQa1PpcFO7Y7u6x-yNpvwl_yzDOzDUM-Mplso7Lo0%3D

Besides the birds that Martha and the other “Embracing Cultures”volunteers have created so far to represent several of the nations of Central America, she has been  teaching a number of art classes and we have been firing small art pieces for them in our kiln.  

I am still to build my American Bald Eagle for the Float, but have acquired metal and have been practicing spot welding for the armature for what I am hoping will be a great and proud representation of this important American Symbol. I’m up against some stiff comparison as Martha’s birds are so good and colorful. I need to really make a splash with this…hmmm.  An eagle ‘splashing’ in the water after a fish… now there’s an image.

This calls to mind the trip we recently made up to the town of Twisp for an art opening at the Confluence Gallery.  Along the way we had spotted some eagles and I got some pics of them, although the one that that I really wanted of an Eagle in the water of the Methow River eluded me.

 I did get some good pics of deer and of a local bridge which offered some interesting color and contrast in lines and structure.

We arrived there inTwisp with plenty of time before the beginning of the reception which allowed us to have free reign to take in the art without the shoulder to shoulder crowd that would be there later. One thing that catches the eye as one enters the gallery is the large metal ball sculpture in the center of the room (anyone who has gone down to the Riverfront park area near the walking bridge will recognize the work of Bernard F. Hosey). Which reminds me that I did a photo shoot of a fellow in Wenatchee Just prior to heading to Souther California last week during which I photographed him at the the Hosey outdoor sculpture by the River Front Park.

Later when we returned to the gallery after a pleasant dinner further up the river in the Town of Winthrop the joint was jumping with people and we were so pleased to meet some of the artist such as Jenn Allen Tate who shared with me how she does some of her work with acrylic paint, plaster and cardboard and John Lucus who’s three dimensional wall hanging pieces really caught our collective eyes. I got a chance to visit a bit with John as well and learn a bit about what he does with his molded figures and stone in his 3d paintings. 

Although we didn’t meet James Cicatko, we couldn’t help but be very impressed with his skill and outlook as expressed through his large graphite on paper drawings. His take on the world is definitely his own and not like any others we have seen.

What was a real surprise was that we bumped into people we knew such as Allen and Rose Lundberg from Soap Lake. Readers may recall them from previous blogs about the Soap Lake Art Guild’s 3^rd Wednesday art Talks in Soap Lake. We, also met up with Rod and Jane Weagant.

The last time I had seen Jane was before she and Rod moved up to Alaska a few years ago. Rod Weagant, the well known and respected nature artist who is known for his large canvases which allow the viewer to enter into a resplendent alpine landscape or sense the refreshing splash of a mountain stream portray scenes from the Cascades, Alaska and other regions of the mountain west. Rod’s landscapes are vivid and sun-splashed, marked by the high contrast of dazzling light presented directly without pretense. Although Rod was not exhibiting in this show he has been involved with the Confluence Gallery since returning from Alaska and moving to the Methow Valley. It was good to talk over old times with he and his wife Jane whom I had known previously from when we worked in the same school together years ago. I really hope we see more of them and of Rod’s art in the near future.

While there we took in the work of Ann Osin, Yuko Ishii, Kay O’Rourke and others and I took a few more pictures of the artists and their work. That was a great trip and full of surprises.

Back in town on March 1^st, Martha and I helped Lynn Brown change out her artwork at the Wenatchee Senior Center and Martha Flores and then we installed some of Martha’s work in her place as the Featured artist there for the month of March. It’s a small venue and one not likely to produce any sales. But, it gives the seniors a bit of color and brightens up an otherwise institutional atmosphere.  And with older folks keeping; the environment fresh and changing has therapeutic benefits said to help forestall the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s.  So; it’s a good thing all the way around that the artists from Two Rivers Gallery freely participate in this community effort without any hope of personal gain.

Last week I traveled to Orange County, CA for family events and was lucky that while I was missing our local First Friday Art Walk in Wenatchee, though I did get our art in the Two Rivers Gallery before I left,

 I was able to take in the Fullerton, CA Art Walk as that is were two of my grand daughters were performing with their hip hop ‘crews’. The older granddaughter and her ‘Kmot10n’ dance group went on to win 1^st place the next day in Aneheim at the Urban Street Jam.   

That was great to watch, photo and video. The video can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuzpGZ9bRdY&feature=youtu.be

The artwork ranged from the quirky to the traditional and a whole lot in between.  Some could be described as where the surf meets Dali.

 One fellow will ‘paint on anything’ and had displayed a pair of Vans sneakers on which he had painted  ‘Venus’ by Botticelli. Other very youth oriented art, such as that by Brandon Gratner, was a bit ‘trippy’ for most over the age of 40, but non-the-less of good quality.

I met and chatted with a German born artist named Steffi Moellers who did a variety of things including a mosaic sculpture. She was very interested in learning about the giant puppet projects that Martha and I were involved in for last year’s Apple Blossom Parade and the international birds that we are making for this year’s parade. She shared that they do a big parade in her home town in Germany that she thought was like our Apple Blossom Parade and that she wants to make some giant puppets herself.

I also was taken in by artwork of an older artist named Sung Su a ‘California Impressionist’ who was more traditional than a lot of what was out there that night. His was the only display that I was not allowed to take direct photos of, but his daughter did allow me to take a photo of some of his post cards which gives an idea of his work.

 It was interesting to me that when I mentioned Sung Su to Terry Johnson the owner of Terry Signs where I have been working on some of my various art projects, he recognized the name right away adding that he’s in several of the art books and catalogues he has in his studio library.

And, speaking of art projects at Terry’s, Yesterday I picked up  my fired clay seal I had been working on prior to leaving town and took it home to begin the glazing process which will take several steps but is coming along fine. I’m hoping to have in our local dive shop Orca Scuba by next week.

And, so now it is time to do some real work and then get back to that seal and start on the armature for that Great American Bald Eagle. Wish me luck with that.

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