Get Ready!

Don't forget: 

the second day of our event--Sunday, December 18th--is the Red Ticket Drawing.  

'Some lucky dog' is gonna win $1000! 

Start hedging your bets right now: for every $20 you spend at one of the businesses listed below, you'll get a Red Ticket.
That equals one more chance to be a big, big winner--& you'll have fun shopping & buying locally!

Come see us on Sunday--and run over to the Island County Historical Museum at 1:00 pm for the drawing. (you have to be present to win...)
There will be four winners--and YOU just might be one of them!

Kay Parsons

 

"Painting is my ongoing conversation with the world: listening, seeing, interpreting, translating" Kay tells us.


In recent years, the focus has been in the garden--one that she designed & tends with devotion. Her current pieces are very much about her interest in light & color--the changes in color facilitated by each movement of light.

Kay's passion for gardening was a gift from her grandmother--a farmer in rural Alabama & Georgia. In addition to providing food for the table, her grandmother nurtured a flower garden. "The wonder I felt as a child for flowers & creatures of her garden is still a central element in my life & the touchstone of my artistic pursuits."

Dave Breining

Dave is a man of few words when describing his work:
"Whimsical,
intriguing,
useful
metal art."









After a life-long metal working career, Dave made his first piece "on a whim." Each unique piece reflects two fundamental desires: solving the question of how to make things work & making people smile.
Mission accomplished!

Katrina Hude: Glass in Amazing Form

Katrina tells us--"process & technique are fine & well but the most important act for me is to have a vision & bring it into being."

"I enjoy the learning that comes with object making & most importantly I love to bring objects together so they can develop into a series. It seems to me very similar to having a thought & sharing with others that it might become a worthwhile conversation."

Jandellyn & Johnathan Ward

  Jan & John design & create functional art pieces for the home & garden. Each piece is created from new & recycled steel--which is cut, ground & formed into components that are welded. Although steel is the primary medium, works also include aluminum, copper, stainless, brass, fused glass & cast cement components of their own design.

The couple participate in about 25 art festivals annually and both feel right at home on the art 'circuit'. John "grew up in a family of artists" & accompanied his dad to festivals when he sold wooden toys.
Jan also went to art festivals with her mom until she graduated from high school. "I grew up with a family of seamstresses. My mother taught me a lot about designing & building works of art from fabrics." It would seem art has become a family tradition, as Jan & John's two young children now accompany them throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Mariana Shawver

Mariana describes herself as a 'product' of a very artistic family: "art is in my genes."
She explored a variety of artistic mediums until the 1990's, when she discovered that colorful abstract & collage were her forte--&, as they say, 'the rest was history.'  "The vibrant colors of acrylic paint & a wide variety of textures excite me."

She's successfully experimented with materials ranging from PVC to fabric interfacing.
Mariana's current medium is reverse painting & collage on glass--with some stunning results.

Denis Hill

The work of award-winning photographer, M. Denis Hill, spans several decades & a wide variety of subjects.  

In the 90's, Denis took up panoramic photography & was one of the first to earn the Qualified Panorama Photographer (QPP) designation.

Since 1998, Denis has developed a body of work representing the unique nexus of land, sea, sky flora & history of Whidbey Island. "My favorite subjects are the landscapes & structures found within Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve."

In recent years, he's worked with various encaustic painting techniques, utilizing pigmented beeswax. Regardless of the approach Denis uses, the color, texture & unique view of his photographs are breathtaking.

Judy Moore - So Much Fabric, So Little Time!

Judy thinks there's no better meditation than a few hours in the quilting 'studio'. "My closet of anxieties gets closed up, & I'm 'in the moment'--all the color & texture consume me". 

Judy learned traditional quilting when she was very young--from Mom, Grandma Hilda & many aunties. Sewing & tailoring actually paid college tuition expenses & helped her hone her skills.

It wasn't until the 90's, though, that Judy rediscovered quilting--as a personal expression & an emerging art form. "I can work alone, but also with others--learning from them in the process. In many ways I'm still a novice, but the challenge of adding other media & moving beyond two dimensions is exciting!" 

 
"Ink, paint, dye, metal, wood, other fibers & thread all offer great additions. I'm also starting to explore 'found objects'--re-use, re-purpose, re-think those discarded items."

Linnane Armstrong

"My artwork is consistently inspired by the natural beauty of my surroundings, particularly here at home on Whidbey Island.
I look for interesting shapes & patterns within the landscape & translate them into dramatic compositions in my scenic images. I try to capture intense light & dark values, as well as patterns that transition between them."--Linnane Armstrong

Linanne begins by making rough sketches at the location of the scene she plans to capture. She may also take some photos to refer back to in her studio as she works on her finished design.
In the studio she makes a detailed drawing--incorporating those elements of value & pattern--to be transferred on to the "block" in a mirror image. In that way, the print will be in it's original non-mirror orientation. "My medium requires me to think of everything in 'negative' as I plan my image."
Because of the variability in hand-printing, each print in an edition is truly unique.

Jim Short

   

Jim Short has always been interested in the potential beauty of abandoned wood. He's been a woodworker for many years, but in the late 90's he began exploring the possibilities in turned wood.

Essentially self-taught, Jim uses only local, island wood--often left behind--for turning. "Pieces of tree" he calls them. He frequently looks for the history of the wood he salvages--was it from a fruit tree in a farm yard? Maybe a great climbing tree shared by local kids? How old was this tree?

 From that viewpoint, each piece has it's own story to tell. Jim feels he's rescued his found pieces--at least temporarily--from hungry bugs, gravity, or the wood stove.

Mary Ellen O'Connor

"My love of nature & wildlife is the foundation of all the art I create." Mary Ellen starts with photographs she takes of gardens, frogs, birds & landscapes & then makes sketches.  She lets those sketches take her to the medium that best expresses her design.

Sometimes the concept will be used in a silver belt buckle. At other times a hand painted scarf will be the right material. Mary Ellen also views architectural etched glass as a wonderful medium for expressing the lines & patterns inspired by nature.
"Color & nature will always be the constant in my work."