Well, a lot has transpired in our art world since our last blog
post.
For starters just after our last post we had a very nice
visit with Nicole Benoit a 26 year old dancer and singer come home to Wenatchee
from New York who is creating a multi artist event called LEAP to take place
August 23rd. We were very interested in the whole concept but
unfortunately the next day August 24th is the day I am scheduled to
ride the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in Colorado a ride for which I will need to be
there a few days ahead in order to acclimate to the altitude.
A few days into the
month my photos were installed at the Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce office just
in time for the June First Friday Art Walk. When First Friday came around Martha and me
were of course going to stop in there to see the show and visit with folks
there. But first we stopped in at the Tumbleweed Bead Co. to see the art there
and visit a bit. Visiting with the owner
we were surprised to discover that it is her husband who owns the Ila Yoga studio
and who does the slack line in the park which some readers may recall I tried
awhile back in the middle of one of our bike rides on the Loop Trail. And, speaking
of bikes, while there we spotted these cool bicycle themed coffee cups, two of
which Martha was so good to buy for me. Thanks Martha.
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After our stop at Tumbleweed we went to the Chamber where it
was so nice to have so many questions about my photos: where they were taken
and what was the story behind each of these mostly Nature photos. Some folks came in asking to see my abstracts
which I originally thought I would place in one of the two rooms there, but had
instead focused on nature forgetting that I submitted an abstract for the Chamber
to publish. OOPS. So; by popular demand I will change out all or some of the
work there for abstracts in time for the July First Friday show. Thanks by the
way Jerri Lea for the chance to show at the Chamber. After the Chamber we headed
to Two Rivers Gallery to see Reed Carlson and his high School Students show
there. It was a really good show and we
had a great time there visiting with all the artists and friends there.
A few days later I received the word that two of my photos
were accepted into the upcoming show on the theme of ‘Home’ at the Orange County
Center for Contemporary Art in California. And; so between getting Martha’s
prints and paintings matted and framed at the Nu-Art Gallery and Frame Shop ready
to take to Moses Lake for her show there, I printed up the two photos and got
them matted and framed as well. That reminds me today is the day I need to send
them off to Cali.
And, speaking of Martha’s show, on Thursday the 12th
of June we hauled 80 count them 80 paintings large and small, including this one of a mother and children in Guatemala, in a rented UHaul
and still had to use the bed and back seat of my pick-up for several bronze and
clay sculptures and a number of prints to be installed for the opening on June
20th to the Moses Lake Museum and Art Center in beautiful downtown
Moses Lake… and what a beautiful facility it is. In fact some folks who had
never been there before who came from Wenatchee commented at the opening
reception that they were amazed at the quality of the facility that it is
probably the best facility to show art at between Spokane and Seattle. And,
that just might be the case.
The opening reception just this Friday past was by all
measures a success. Martha was so happy to find that one of her newer works
which included a poem by Martha had sold even before the opening and it was
nice to see that so many younger folks mostly local business professional were
there and enjoying the art. Thanks, by
the way ,to Freya Liggett and Ann Schempp for everything and especially to
Ramon Cerna for the great installation.
Talking with Ramon I was surprised to learn that he lives near Laguna Beach CA. and comes up here to set the shows... WOW! Thanks again Ramon.
Martha had a great time at the opening dancing, talking and
visiting with friends old and new and meeting and talking art with local folks
from Moses Lake like Tiffany Sukola and Shawn Cardwell who are with the
Columbia Basin Herald. As it turns out Shawn has been to the Iguana Perdida Hotel
on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala at which Martha painted a mural a few years back
while I was scuba diving in the lake. Small world indeed.
Meanwhile, I took
lots of photos and got to visit with graphic artists Michaell and Jeremy Boetger
while tasting the very enjoyable wines of Camas Cove Cellars. As it turns out
Jeremy rode in the Apple Century Ride as did I on June 7th. That was
a great coincidence and we had fun talking about rides coming up like the STP
which he is riding soon and rides past like the Century Ride which I rode with
our governor Jay Inslee. Speaking of which Jay, who is a bit of an artist
himself, did a drawing of me leading our group through the woods near Lake
Wenatchee shortly after the Century Ride. Thanks Jay.
And, of course nothing stops when it comes to art. Just yesterday
while riding with friends in Wenatchee I learned from Majka Sadel, who rides
with the ‘B’ team, that she is having her paintings and ink drawings in one of
the venues of the Third Thursday Art Walk in Edmonds this week. Congratulations
Majka and good luck with the show.
Also, yesterday, while Martha was on the phone and looking
out the window she spotted two squirrels having fun playing in the front yard.
So; I grabbed my camera and took some
pics and shot
some video from which I
published a short, funny and cute video called ‘Squirls Gone Wild’ (yes squirls
with one ‘r’ as there turned out to be another video with that title) which includes
music which can be seen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXPMiksgQ8k. Just for shiggles and gets, I discovered today as I was preparing this blog that our blog page has recently been discovered by Germany and that over the past month there have been more views from Germany than from the U.S. ... go figure.
Well all in all it’s been a great month for the art and art
activities of Rod and Martha and the month is not over yet. So; bye and back to
work for me as I think on the words of Pablo Picasso who said, “Inspiration
exists, but it has to find you working.”
Well, it’s been a busy couple of weeks for Martha and me
since our last published blog. First and foremost was the judging of the Congressional
High School Art Show on May 2nd at the Green River Community College
by Martha and two other artist / instructors from the west side. That was a
great treat to be part of and Martha was given a special medal from Congressman
Dave Reichart for her effort. That was completely unexpected and really added
to the day for Martha. The artwork was varied and quite good. The winning
piece, a painting by Bonney Lake High School Student Chelsie Conroy, was unanimously
chosen by all three judges and I think they got it right as well. Good job and
congratulations Chelsie.
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Before the event got started, we explored the large art piece
in front of the auditorium. It was interesting so many ways in its form and
texture as well as have a water feature that was not just an add on so to speak
but which was integral to accentuating and even recreating the look of the
piece as the water laced over the pattern of graded cuts into the stone formed
new patterns that were fascinating to me. I had some fun with a couple of the
photos I took of this piece creating some abstracts from close up photos and
some digital manipulation.
Having decided to spend the night on the other side of the
mountains, we took the time to explore some new areas to us that we weren’t as
familiar with which lead us to a great little area called Dash Point which
would be a great place to have a restaurant / art gallery etc… and right on the
water. We had fun there before heading up to Seattle where we saw some public
art that was new to us as well, like this giant lobster or was it a squid, and this crazy fun
abstract sculpture carved from one solid piece of stone. 
While there Joann Walker asked Martha to recite her poem
dedicated to her mother that Joann had seen / heard previously. So; after the
award ceremony for Ken Duffen (Congratulations Ken), who was honored both for
his long years of artistic accomplishments, and, for his design having been
chosen for the 2014 Pybus Public Market poster, Martha read her poem. Many of the mothers in the audience were
particularly impacted by the reading and came up to Martha and expressed their
appreciation for the sentiment and shared some of their own mother stories, thoughts
and experiences.
During this past week we continued working on preparation
for Martha’s show at the MAC in Moses Lake both preparing prints, but also,
updating the list of works to be in the show as some of the works listed in the
original proposal which was submitted a year and a half or more ago, have since
been sold, and there have been so many new creations since then. We also made a
trip out to Moses Lake where we met with Freya Hart and went over the dimensions,
configuration and design of the show and addressed some technology issues as
far as the video presentations components. That went well and we had a good
time afterward before heading back to Wenatchee. Upon returning to the valley, we
were a bit too tired to make it out to Leavenworth for the opening reception of
the Birdfest Art show in which Martha has two new works. But, we knew we would
be out there this weekend to volunteer, so we didn’t feel too badly about
missing the reception.
Also this week, I submitted four photos to the OCCC Gallery
in Orange County CA, for their upcoming show on the broadly described theme of “Home”.
I took it as ‘how people live’ and chose some photos of the way people in some
areas of Central America have crafted together means of having home and making
home a meaningful space spiritually and aesthetically. I also began making some
decisions as far as what pieces to include in my upcoming show at the Wenatchee
Chamber of Commerce.
Friday night, we attended the opening reception for the
River of Baskets show at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center. This
was a big production that took the combined efforts of several of our friends
and associates over the past two years to put together. Central to this event
coming off were the efforts of Susan Evans and husband Bill Layman as well as
the design and construction of the show by Bill Reitvelt and others. Kudos to
the Bill’s, Susan and everybody involved in this historic, informative and
enlightening display of the art of basket making by the various indigenous
groups that lived and continue to live along the Columbia River. Getting so
many Native American presenters, artisans, educators and leaders to participate
in the show made it all the greater.
First and foremost is the creative explosion of new works by
Martha in which she has taken her creative genius in some very new and
different directions. At the top of this list of new works in new directions I
would place her Marine themed art. These
works are crazy creative and a joy and pleasure to look at. As some readers may
know, I am a scuba diver and have a great and fond love of the sea and all its
beauty both above and below the surface; so these new works hit two or more joy
buttons for me as I am sure they will for many others as well.
Also, her new bird paintings, some of which are now at the
Icicle Arts Gallery in Leavenworth for the upcoming Bird and Wenatchee
Watershed show which opens in May, are also new in style and content. 
During the month of February someone requested some photos
of Martha’s sculptures which made us realize we were remiss in not having a
complete photo collection of her various sculptures both bronze and clay. So;
one day we spent a few hours gathering the pieces and creating a photo
catalogue of the works. 
interesting artwork in the Palm Springs
terminal like “Tang” the epoxy paint creation by Tom Holland, which I spied in
late March as I headed further south to Indio and the desert of the Coachella
Valley which I explored on foot and capping the trip off with a photo safari
along the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea which is
a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault,
offered some particularly enjoyable photo opts for wildlife of the winged
variety. The main reason for this trip I should say was to meet my newest
granddaughter, but the photos and the precious experiences related to her I
will keep to myself and my family.
Her newest
art work includes some of the most powerful and dramatic paintings that I have
seen from her for some time. One of these new works in particular just jumps
right out at you and hits you with a real deep since of importance. It just
screams out with a sense of awareness, thought and, I think, an emotion of ‘Isolation’,
even before one truly grasps the subject. And, she has just finished a similarly
powerful painting of a ‘Garifuna Woman’. Both of these works were inspired by
our recent trip to Roatan, Honduras in Central America.
These works right
along with and juxtaposed to some very pleasing and lighthearted horse
paintings, a painting of girl with flowers and several paintings of nurturing
mothers with children just goes to show the various styles and variety of emotional
expression that Martha is capable of depicting in her art.
This coming month
Martha will be teaching an art sculpture class, ‘Modeling the Human Form’ CED
585, at the Wenatchee Valley Community College on February 11th and
18th from 6 to 8pm each night and will be teaching a ‘Confidence in
Art’ class at the Icicle Arts Gallery in Leavenworth on February 8th
from 12-4pm.
