Well, the rest of November since I last wrote and the beginning
of December have proved to a busy and
artfully fulfilling close to 2013 - our 21st year in the Wenatchee
Valley.
As regular readers may recall when last I wrote Martha was
in the middle of welding class at Wenatchee Valley College. After that last
post I attended a couple of classes with her and together we completed her ‘Pony’
in a stainless steel ring. This was Martha’s second piece using the plasma
cutter. The first being the ‘Mother and Child’ piece featured in our last blog
and which has already sold. She was so proud of her pony piece... it really is
a joyful work that I’m sure someone, perhaps a horse lover, would love to have.
On Nov 23rd, we had our home art sale as a fund
raiser for the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center’s Youth Project
Room. This was a great success. Everyone who came had a great time whether they
bought something or not. We sold a mask, one of my photos, the ‘Mother and Child’
piece mentioned above and several of Martha’s oils and a small print by Jan
Cook Mack. All in all a great day and a great event and the Museum was very
pleased with the support shown by our local art community.
As we adjusted to the changing temperatures the views from
our retreat above the valley facing the Cascades was a joy to wake up to every day as winters white blanket approached ever closer.
Also, in November Martha continued her tile making and
glazing experiments and even these works have now gone to the horses as she
continues with her new found love of creating horse themed art.
Finishing off the month and leading into December, I picked
up my photos including 'en Vino Veritas' from the Wine Thief in Wenatchee, where I was featured artist for October
and November and Martha installed her paintings at Lemolo’s Café’ where she is
the featured artist for the month of December. The show looks good there and
when we stopped in people seem to be enjoying the
art. 
And, while Martha is featured in Wenatchee at Lemolo’s, I
have three pieces in the ‘Peace Through Art’ show at the Icicle Arts Gallery in
Leavenworth. On December 6th, we attended the opening reception
there. We really liked the work of Denny
Driver as well as a number of the other artists represented there. It was a
really good time there enjoyed by all. Martha really thought my John and Yoko
piece showed really well there, but it was my “A Land of Our Own” piece that
received a lot of attention and compliments from other artists and some good
discussion with a couple of young exchange students one of whom could read the
Arabic on the piece and thankfully confirmed that my computer translation was
correct… whew! That would have been bad if my translation meant something
different than what I intended.
To top it off that night in Leavenworth was a medicine wheel
circle complete with sage burning (at least I think it was sage as sweet grass
would be hard to find in these here parts) for spiritual cleansing. This was a
treat as I had not participated in one of these Native American based rituals
in over twenty years… perhaps closer to thirty years when I interned at the
American Indian Free Clinic in California during which time I attended a number
of Pow Wows including the giant Navaho Nation Fair at Window Rock Arizona. That
brought back some memories indeed. Thanks to Alicia McKee for organizing this
event.
This past Saturday I volunteered at the Icicle Arts Gallery.
It was great to see so many folks including tourists with kids come into the
gallery, enjoy the art and participate in the free ornament making class. While
there I learned about a French potter named Mijanou who offers studio time by
the hour at her studio next to the Tierra Learning Center outside of Leavenworth. It was great to find out about this and all the equipment and glazes available to use there.
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After I returned home it was back to work on my latest project… a commemorative piece in honor of Nelson Mandela. Look for more on this later.
As we approach the end of this year and come up on the next I am drawn to the words of my favorite classic French filmmaker Jean Cocteau, who said that “Art is not a pastime, but priesthood.” Well, that is all for now and till next year.
Farewell Madiba - blessed be the peace makers.
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