Meet the Artists on the Tour - #81 Mary Burks

Mary Burks
Email: maryburks@verizon.net
http://www.blogger.com/www.maryburks.com
60 N. Willard Way, Coupeville WA 98239

Type of artwork: Textiles

Length of time: 12 years

Artist statement: Fiber is a very accessible medium. It is all around us. Fiber especially engulfs women. We wash it. We sweep it. We wear it. We look through it. We iron it. We sit on it. As a woman, it is natural to be interested in using fibers creatively - stretching the normal use of fiber, by using its physical properties aesthetically. Thematically I am exploring micro and macro landscapes, both physical and mental, and the natural world. Textiles and I continue to have a daily dialog about these themes.

What is distinctive about my artwork? My use of color and texture in the creation of beautiful cloth.

Why do I create? I create because I can't help it--whether it is in the studio, the garden, or in planning an event. Bringing harmony out of chaos fills me with joy and makes me feel alive.

Current projects: I am experimenting with new textiles and yarns, creating cloth that has texture using "new millenium" fibers.

What will guests see during the tour? They will find me at the loom weaving or making felt (artists need some leeway) and there will be samples of new yarns and felted, woven and dyed textiles to play with.

One particular piece for sale on OST: The work in the photograph online is fleted--wool laminated to nylon, and is entitled "Crossing Over." It is part of a series "I Felt Like It." I wanted to play with light-weight felt as an art form. The series took a year to produce--there are 15 pieces. I will also have light-weight felted scarves--very thin layers of luxurious merino wool laminated to silk--available for purchase--Perfect for the Pacific Northwest climate.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #31 Island Art Glass

Island Art Glass
islglass@whidbey.com
2062 Newman Road, Langley WA, 98260

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified? Handblown and cast glass, functional and sculptural. New: Garden Art

How long have you been an artist?

It’s a team: Robert Adamson, working in glass for 39+ years, (wife) Janis Swalwell, working in the business of glass design for 20+ years.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork? We make affordable, quality handblown giftware in a rainbow of colors – vases, bowls, paperweights, ornaments, and more. We also make custom lampshades for home and office in a wide range of shapes and designs. You can find handblown sinks at Island Art Glass. And new this year, art for the garden in glass.

Why do you create? What are you passionate about? Glass is a lifelong learning process – if you like working with a molten medium and lots of color, always refining your skills and experimenting with design, it’s a most rewarding medium.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows? We have finished a productive first half of the year filling orders for lighting – now we are working on experimental casting and engraving projects. We are open every weekend throughout the year, folks can call or email ahead and we’ll let them know if we’re blowing glass so they can watch.

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)? We will be making handblown glass objects in the studio.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #89 John Olsen

John Olsen
jno337@cablespeed.com

http://www.johnolsenphoto.com/

729 La Cana St., Coupeville, WA 98239

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified?

Photography, film based, B&W

How long have you been an artist? I’ve been serious about my photography for 25 years, including six years as a commercial photographer.

Artist’s Statement:
I have photographed widely in Asia, Europe and Mexico, as well as in my long-term home state of New Mexico. Since relocating to the Northwest I have explored this new environment and radically adapted my camera techniques for the softer light and deeper foliage of the Puget Sound area. My work often has social or historical interests as a primary motivation, but I also find a rich vein of local scenery to explore here on Whidbey Island. I work in all camera formats, but favor infrared and very high-speed films for interpretive images.

My current photographic work is all black and white, printed in my own darkroom and sometimes hand-colored with oil paints. Featured work on the Tour will include mystic places in Japan, China, Mexico, and England. New work since arriving on Whidbey Island focuses on Fort Ebey, Fort Casey and Deception Pass, in both scenic and political interpretations. My web site at www.johnolsenphoto.com gives a broad sampling of interests, part of which is on display at Artworks Gallery on Greenbank Farm.

I have six years of experience as a commercial photographer in New Mexico and Colorado, doing mostly architectural and product work. Over the last 25 years I have installed 10 darkrooms for myself, resisting the lure of digital systems for a more hands-on relation with my work.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork?
I prefer to work in strong contrasts and graphic forms, often with an underlying message. To this I bring image-making skills and equipment from commercial photography.

Why do you create? What are you passionate about?
Sometimes I want to convey my feelings about historical or political problems that mean a lot to my personal worldview. This is the background on my projects in Mexico, China and local gun batteries. At other times I want to condense touristic clichés to classic compositions that just express my own wonder.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows?
I have two new projects: (1) strong-feature B&W portraits and (2) documentation techniques for 3D artists, which will become a workshop soon. In addition, I continue to expand most of the topic areas that I feature in my web site, which I update pretty frequently. For instance, I just scouted an abandoned Cold War site in Eastern Washington that just begs for exploitation. I think that I need a generator and an accomplice – any takers?

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)?
Visitors may experience use of large format cameras and studio lighting equipment in a portrait experiment. I will explain film-based darkroom techniques, as well. The use of hand-tinted photos in shrines may also inspire others in their work.

Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through.
“Coupeville Fronts” is a B&W portrayal of the Coupeville waterfront shot from beach level at high tide. I worked on this same setting in 35mm, medium format, and large format cameras and with normal B&W film and infrared film in varying weather until I could print an image that conveyed the historic strength that should be captured. It is less than pretty, but very honest, reflecting more of the hard-scrabble, old times than the current touristy scene. This, I think, does the scene historic justice.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #9 Zia Gipson

Zia Gipson
http://www.ziagipson.com/

zia@whidbey.net
3465 E. French, Clinton, WA

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified?
Mixed Media

How long have you been an artist?
Since the 1970s

Artist’s statement:
Fiber art and mixed media
Much of my work during 2008 has been an exploration of gicleé printing (pigment ink prints from a digital source) of my altered photographs onto hand marbled watercolor paper . These prints are finished with collage and surface pigments. In addition I make work using surface design techniques on fabric of all kinds including handmade felt. A love of color is a unifying element in my work. Nature is a consistent inspiration.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork?
It combines the a very old craft tradition (marbling on paper and cloth) with a very new one (digital manipulations and printing).

Why do you create? What are you passionate about?
Art has always been the organizing principle around which I live my life. The creative process, whether experienced solo or in a group, is something I crave. I believe that real magic happens in the creative moment. My art subjects come from nature and the world around me, the process comes from the spirit.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows?
Four shows coming up....Penn Cove in late Fall 2009, Museum of Quilt and Textile Art Spring 2010, Show and Sale at Bayview's Open Door Gallery + Coffee July 2010, and more!

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)?
Talking about feltmaking and demonstrating the process.

Describe the process you go through to create your artwork:

I take a picture of something, alter it using Photoshop and save it. I will print it out later.
I then treat paper I plan to marble and later print on with alum, let it dry, put it in the heat press. Then I prepare a marbling bath of methylcellulose, marble the paper, let it dry, put it in the heat press again. I then print the image created originally onto the hand marbled paper.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #17 Sarah Wallace

Sarah Wallace
E-mail: artstdio@whidbey.com

http://www.art-in-transition.com/
3697 Rivendell Rd, Langley, WA 98260

How long have you been an artist?
40years

Artist’s Statement:
Although dealing with Alzheimer’s I was able to complete with the help of my partner Ivan Neaigus 32 works of abstract colored pencil drawings. My previous work was done in colored pencil and watercolor illustrating floral arrangements, various still lives, and beach compositions. I have also worked in photography, and mosaic framed designs. I continue to work with colored pencil.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork?
See http://www.art-in-transition.com/

Why do you create? What are you passionate about?
It’s the process of being in the moment.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows?
I continue to work with colored pencil. Yes, some local ones.

What will your guest see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour?
My studio and process.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #88 Karen Schroeder

Karen Schroeder
karenschroeder@coupeville.net
654 La Fiest, Coupeville, Wa 98239

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified? Soft pastels, oil bars and mixed media

How long have you been an artist? 15 years

Artist’s Statement: 15 years ago I started painting landscapes and seascapes full time with soft pastels on Wallis sanded pastel paper Painting nearly every day, visiting galleries, reading art books and taking workshops is my art training. In addition to pastels I am using oil bars and mixed media in a more abstract way, and maintain a landscape quality in the finished work.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork? I am considered an intuitive painter which allows me to paint loose and without a lot of detail.

Why do you create? What are you passionate about? I have always loved nature and paint how I feel about nature and try to show the beauty in the everyday texture and shapes displayed.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows? Currently painting for the Karlson Grey Gallery in Langley and the Serendipity Gallery in La Conner.

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)? They will find over 100 landscape and abstract paintings. Most will be on sale 25% to 50% off in order to lower my inventory. My studio will be set up to give them an idea how pastel paintings are created.

Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through. I really do not think about how I feel when I paint. It is just a response to what I see.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #15 Andrea Comsky

Andrea Comsky #15 on the Tour
http://www.comskyphotography.com/
info@comskyphotography.com
2785 Nightfall Lane
Clinton, WA 98236












"Deer Lagoon"

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified?
Fine art photography. Colour landscape with no digital manipulation. Artist only works with film.

How long have you been an artist?
I began as a professional musician as a young child. I have been involved in the professional arts for over 50 years. I have been a professional photographer for 11 years.

Artist’s Statement:
As both musician and photographer, I find that composing a photograph materializes when a moment converges visually, musically, and emotionally. The arts are intertwined both in my life and in my creative work, and it is this intersection of medium- visual, musical, and literary, that is woven into the images.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork?
I only work with film and do not digitally manipulate the photographs. Music and literature serve as inspirations and fuels the intention behind each image. I specialize in colour photography of remote locations with an emphasis on distant, isolated landscapes and surreal seascapes, from the haunting moors and island of Great Britain, to the outposts of Antarctica. I particularly capturing winter light conditions.

Why do you create? What are you passionate about?
As music can evoke an emotional response, so too can images resonate feelings. When performing a concert, I want to move the listener and to convey the composer’s feelings through my interpretation. Similarly, I hope to portray my feeling of a landscape through my photographic compositions, which are illuminated not only by the landscape itself, but also by the music that inspires me. I am passionate about life. I feel that it is the ultimate gift to be accorded a human life with all of the senses to perceive it. I am grateful for the opportunity to discover, to inhale, and to capture this most beautiful Earth in images and to share , through the many textures of sight and sound, my view of our magnificent planet.

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)?
Discussing the influence of music in my work as a visual artist.

Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through.
“Deer Lagoon” was created when I was commissioned to do a series on Whidbey Island and I was first discovering the island. This image was taken during unusual weather and light conditions and I was quite moved by the area and the perspective. I was quite alone in that place and felt that I had discovered a beautiful gift.

Meet the Artists on the Tour - #75 Robbie Lobell

Robbie Lobell #75 on Your Map
robbie@robbielobell.com
www.robbielobell.com
640 Patmore Road
Coupeville, WA 98239

Type of artwork – what medium, how is it classified?
Pottery—functional, elegant & sculptural cookware & tableware
Fired in my 70 cubic foot propane-fueled soda/wood atmospheric kiln.

How long have you been an artist?
I have been working with clay for over 40 years. Clay has wended its way in & out of my life since high school, taking a front seat in 1990 through studio assistantships & residencies, becoming my primary passion, life focus, & partial livelihood in 1993, and then my sole livelihood in 2004 (along with teaching weekly classes & week-long workshops)

Artist’s Statement:
I love to make utilitarian pots --- pots for lovers of fine food, slow food aficionados, appreciators of quality kitchen tools, cooks, chefs, and all of us concerned with the industrialization of our food systems. I make pots to encourage the ideas of using handmade objects to prepare and present locally grown foods from our gardens, barnyards, and nearby farms. I make pots because I am convinced cooking and serving in handmade pottery brings connection and beauty to the simple act of sitting down to a meal with family, friends, and neighbors. And so, in a sense my commitment to making cooking, serving, & table pots is a dedication to a way of life that goes hand-in-hand with working in clay.

What is interesting and distinctive about you and your artwork?
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my career in clay is the fact that I do not have a formal education & yet have found, as a mid-career artist, my work sought after by collectors & sophisticated foodies as well as a teacher/instructor speaking, lecturing, & demonstrating.

I learned technique & skill early on, but it was when I found my teacher (in the classic, traditional sense of the word), Mikhail Zakin, now 89 years old, that I began the real journey as an “artist.” I developed a visual language & began to understand my personal aesthetic. This education took place not just in the studio, but on weekly trips into New York City to museums & galleries. But perhaps most importantly was the visual information & feel of that grand city.

My work has a strong sense of design. It is sculptural as well as utilitarian. My teacher’s voice whispers in my ear; “distill to what is absolutely essential & add back what is important.” This has been the core of how I think about & make what I do.

My flameware cooking pots have become my signature work. This “flameware” was passed down to me in a traditionally classic master/student, elder/younger (though I was in my 40’s!) form (this is another, perhaps interesting story. This was my second mentor, Karen Karnes, the grandmother of contemporary American studio pottery--- there is a beautiful film of her life & work . . .).

Why do you create? What are you passionate about?
As a ceramic artist, designer, and maker of utilitarian pots for use by chefs & cooks of all stripes, I am convinced that cooking and serving in handmade pottery brings connection and beauty to the simple act of sitting down to a delicious & lovingly prepared meal with family & friends.

What projects are you currently working on? Any upcoming shows?
I am in the process of taking a huge step in my work. I have a problem—a good problem, but a problem in keeping up with the demand for my handmade cookware. I have decided to “ram press” one of my forms in three sizes. Pressing the work will allow me to make more, faster. It is a manufacturing process that still allows the hand of the artist- my hand- to work on each piece as I finish, glaze & fire the pots. I will not only be able to make more, but offer them at a lower price. I am almost finished with the “models”. I expect to begin my first run of the nesting square bakers in July at a pottery in Snohomish.

I have a variety of shows & exhibits during the year throughout the country. Most of these shows are invitationals. The most recent one was the Dallas Pottery Invitational in April. I am currently working on orders for both my cooking pots & tableware as well as creating stock for the studio tour & a few other shows.

What will guests see you doing at your studio during the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (OST)?
We are going to demonstrate a few ways of cooking with the flameware pots. I sometimes find people are aghast to use “such a beautiful pot” to cook in or are afraid it can’t possibly work. I want to educate my public about cooking in clay – to both the beauty & health of it.

Choose a piece that you will have for sale on the OST and describe why you created it, your feelings when you created it, and the process you went through.
My nesting square bakers are immensely fun & complicated to make. Each piece has four parts that need to be assembled & sculpted, and then each completed piece in three sizes need to nest & become a whole-designed piece. --- kind of like the nesting Russian dolls. I have found these to be challenging, fun, & developmental.

Whidbey Telecom Directory Cover Art Competition!

Attention Artists!

Whidbey Telecom is holding it's 6th annual cover art competition. Go to www.WhidbeyTel.com to check out the details. This year's theme is " The Joy and Beauty of Local Life and Community". Enter now and you could win $500. The Deadline is 5/29/09

Beautiful Sculpture Display

Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour artists will be participating in a display of sculpture on the beautiful grounds of the Whidbey Institute, www.WhidbeyInstitute.org, during the 14th annual Whidbey Island Garden Tour. Attend the Garden Tour on June 27th, 2009 and get a preview of the artwork by talented local Open Studio Tour artists. Go to www.wigt.org for more information on this event and tickets.

Visit 90 Whidbey Island artists in their personal studios.

It's just a short drive and a ferry hop from Seattle - an easy day trip or a great weekend staycation! Painters, sculptors, photographers, potters, glassblowers, woodworkers, jewelers, weavers and more! Watch them work, discuss their processes and techniques. See what inspires them. Purchase art in the space where it is created. Don't miss this tour!