Friday, July 6, 2012

Firworks, Floods, Demolition and Exhibiting with Greatness


 



Well, it’s been an exciting and fun filled week of art and art adventures.

On Sunday in honor of the Tour De France I nursed my first injury of the season by only riding a few miles and taking the time to gather some more pre redevelopment photos of the Pybus Building from, of all the places, the roof of the building next to it. I was so lucky to have found someone there on a Sunday to let me in and on top of the building. Great views were to be had up there to be sure. Views of not only the outer structure of the Pybus Building as it will never look again, but also of the river and the park along the bike path.

Having taken some really good angular and scenic shots from up there, I went on over to Walla Walla point park as I had taken notice the day before of how high the water was there when I rode through with the ‘B’ team… readers who have followed this blog since last summer will recall that the ‘B’ Team is a great bunch of bike riders that includes Ed Farrar the father of world class bike sprinter and winner of a stage at the Tour De France last 4th of July.

When, I got there I was not disappointed. In fact though the water seemed slightly lower than the day before, scenically it was much better for photography as the sky was a gorgeous blue and there was just a hint of clouds here and there. The water as it was formed a nice little water fall of sorts just below the foot bridge to the little island which normally forms the swimming area. All in all some nice photos were to be taken. I noticed there were quite a few others taking photos that day as well- including some Japanese tourists. I did my best to get up close and personal with the water to get the kind of shots that I really like to get.

Later in the week, I was called to come over and get some more photos of the work beginning at the Pybus Building. Little did I know that they had worked on it on the 4th of July. Had I known that I would have been there… at least for bit mid-day before the party started. Oh yes, there was a party and it involved playing all the games we used to play in the yard when we were kids and of course a video of the same… with fireworks I might add. The video is now on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJD_4MuFjyI&feature=youtube_gdata . If you don’t like fun and the 4th of July, don’t watch it.

Back to the Pybus project… I went on over on the 5th and got to ride up in a lift with Rusty McDonnell the Vice President of Production with Blodgett Construction, to get some good shots of the demolition work that had been done to that point and some video as well, which will eventually go into a video documenting the transition of the Pybus from a rusted looking hulk that once was a steel plant to a hip and cool public market with all the bells and whistles that will make it quite the ‘happening’ place to be and to go to on a date I am sure.

I also got video from two of my favorite local vantage points of the guys working with their heavy equipment taking out the glass and other materials which will be replaced with all new artsy stuff. And, while I was in that neck of the woods, I stopped by Two Rivers Gallery to get a sneak peak at the art work for the new show before the First Friday Reception which will be tonight. I got some good shots that and it looks like it will be a nice show. We’ll have a guest - Deborah Ann who does Original Fabric Art from Yakima there with us tonight. We met Deborah at the Peggy Lewis Gallery in Yakima just a few weeks ago when we went there for the reception for the 45th Annual Juried Arts Show put on by Allied Arts of Yakima.

Later, after a morning of photo and video taking for the ongoing Pybus project and getting that sneak peak at TRG, it was time to load up the car with some of my large photos to go on exhibit over at the Confluence Technology Center. Laura Jaecks the Manager had met me at one of the Pybus Building meetings I attended and photographed the week before and asked that I come down and meet with her Administrative Assistant Tricia Degnan to scope out the facility to see how it looked and if I would like to show some of my work there. Having done that before the 4th, I had decide to show there and so, yesterday I took some of my larger pieces over and installed them with a little help from Martha Flores.

Martha and I were really in awe of the art there by Jan Cook Mack. A few of the smaller pieces we had seen before or at least prints of them. But, the large pieces were new to us and just amazing. I hope my work shows well there in the presence of greatness. We also like the pieces there by photographer Frank Cone.

Back home at the studio Martha has put a few minor finishing touches on her Hotel Girls from the old Siloam Hotel based on a photo from the heyday of the mineral bath / sanitarium / hotel era of Soap Lake. And, I have made some further progress on my painting of one of the old mud bath buildings from that same era along with a model T pick-up traveling along one of the old dirt roads leading to the mud bath building. It’s coming along… a few smaller buildings in the mid-ground and some further work on the main building and it will be done. And, of course the painting of my pride and joy little Adriana is getting closer to completion. I can’t wait to take it to her on my next visit to California.
                                                                                                                 



We, enough for now as I have work to do, clients to see, and places to go. Have a good and very artful day.




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