Tile installation at Cougar Ridge

I keep wanting to rearrange the tiles.  All 640 of them.  And 192 filler tiles.  That’s 832 tiles on 8 boards, 3′ x 5′ each.

Big thanks to the many volunteers who helped us install the tiles on the boards.

Next step will be grouting and then the boards will be framed.

It brings so much color to a gray hallway, which now has become a beautiful gathering place as parents and children walk to and from the playground.  They stop and look at the tiles.  I hope they will continue to look closely and discover not only their own tile, but the beauty of all the children’s patterns in nature.

For more about our process, see here and here and here …

The Flock Moves on to the Audubon Center at Seward Park

Plumage at Gallery 4500 was a great success!  What a nice mix of artistic styles and media, all celebrating birds.  The show comes down May 9, so go see it if you haven’t yet.

Next, the flock moves on to the Seward Park Audubon Center May 13 – June 14.

I will be showing new work!

Hope you can come to the Artist Reception June 6, 6 – 9pm

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Artwork title: “Songbird”

Mixed media on wood

22″ x 24.5″

PLUMAGE Artists reception was magnificant!

Reblogged from Funky Fibers:

Curating this show of 10 artists has proven to be one of the highlights of my art career thus far! Planning the reception was equally exhilarating. We were honored to have 3 high school student from Roosevelt High for our musical pleasure, Omari, Nan and Alix . The art spoke to those who came and people engaged with one another over lovely food and wine!

Read more… 38 more words

Thanks everyone for a fantastic opening reception at Plumage! In spite of a rainy night, lots of folks came out to celebrate. (You know who you are!) Big thanks especially goes to Mary Peterson and Kim Brayman who curated and organized the show, hung the art, etc, etc, etc. It's a ton of work putting together a show like this, and Mary's energy in connecting all of us artists and lining up multiple showings for this group is so inspiring. Here are Mary's reflections on the event and photos from the show.

garden of light

A thing of wonder at West Woodland Elementary.  Can you tell what it’s made of?*

The artist at West Woodland had this piece installed high above the entry, in a bright window.  It catches sunbeams and casts coloful shadow patterns like Dale Chihuly’s glass sculptures.

(*Plastic water bottles!)  What a beautiful use of recycled materials.

Riders on the Wind Series

Reblogged from Funky Fibers:

These bird Avengers are back from  fighting the war on waste! Battle worn they have lost limbs but not courage!  Made from recycled plastics that friends have passed onto me rather than the earth! I call this series 'Riders on the wind'. They are defenders of the earth!

Check out Mary Peterson's super fun "Riders on the Wind" series! See this and more at Plumage, a group show of local Seattle artists at Gallery 4500.  Come to the University Artwalk on Friday and check it out!  

I call this painting doghair

 It’s the deadline for submitting my titles for the upcoming Plumage show.  I’ve been trying out different titles on post-it notes and putting them up by the paintings.  Sometimes I have to keep changing them out until I find the right title.  I think I may have. (see below)

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Now that the varnish is dry, and the titles have been sent off (no changing it now!), it’s time for the portfolio photo shoot.

Artwork documentation is not my favorite part of working as an artist.  Thank goodness the art world has finally entered the digital age, but even so, it’s hard to take portfolio-quality pictures of artworks.  It’s quite a technical skill, compared to my artistic process which is loose, free, and spontaneous.  I’d be brilliant at it if it could be blurry, in-motion, extreme glare, out-of-frame, etc.  Unfortunately, artwork photography has to be precise, in-focus, centered, no weird shadows, neutral backdrop, accurate colors, etc.  It has to be exactly right.

But, no matter how great the photos are, it’s always better to see mixed media artworks in person.  This series, inspired by trips last summer to Yosemite and the Enchanted Circle in Northern New Mexico, is soon to debut at Plumage, a group show celebrating birds.  If you’re in the Seattle area, the opening reception is part of the University District Art walk, April 19 at Gallery 4500. 6-9 pm.  Hope to see you there!

Following Wide, mixed media on clayboard, 14″ x 18″

Any number of things, mixed media on clayboard, 14″ x 18″

Above Tuolumne Meadows, mixed media on clayboard, 14″ x 18″

Carry On, mixed media on clayboard, 14″ x 18″

Finding Tioga Pass, mixed media on canvas, 24″ x 36″

Tile layout at Cougar Ridge

We’re looking at the finished tiles from Cougar Ridge for the first time.  I can imagine what it must have been like for the artists working on the original Wizard of Oz, once the colors were painted onto the films.  You’ve been working with the absence of color, and voila! Like magic, the colors appear and bring the artwork to Technicolor life.

We are in the process of designing the layout and preparing for installation.  Stay tuned!

For more on how we made the tiles, see my earlier posts, Glazing Tiles at Cougar Ridge, and Cougar Ridge Elementary.