Check Please show!

This Friday, September 24th, come on out to the New Frontier. We will be joined by 

SEAN ALEXANDER!, TALLEST TREE!, and HUMBLE CUB!

$5

9pm

The New Frontier Lounge

301 E. 25th Street
Tacoma, WA 98421
(253) 572-4020

West Seattle pics!

A great night in West Seattle. Thank you ArtsWest, especially Nichole DeMent, and thanks to all that came out...







Me with the beautiful Erika Eckert, Carrie Barker and Teriscovkya Smith (all the way from NYC!!)!









Abe Beeson and Drew Schot buddying.










Ms. Janice Sigurdson doing her James Brown dance for Teriscovkya Smith and Julia Cummings...AMAZING!!!








Some gallery goers...
Loved seeing Kristi Nelson and her gang, here with my gorgeous sis,
Carrie Barker

AND a total surprise Aaron Cayko! So glad he came, here with myself,
Teriscovkya Smith, and Erika Eckert

Artswest opening tonight!

Just a reminder ( http://www.artswest.org/?q=node/158).

Hope to see you!

Reception: Aug. 12, 6-7:30pm

Where does creativity come from? What gets artists started on an idea? ArtsWest Gallery explores that enigmatic creative spark with artists Martha Brouwer, Dr. Mark Morgan, Mindy Barker, and Anita West in the exhibition Inexplicable Allusions running July 27 through August 21. The four artists featured in this exhibition lend answers to these questions by letting go of all preconceptions to create clever, quirky, sometimes surreal, but always delightful imagery.

Photographer and digital wizard Dr. Mark Morgan collects all the moments of his life to build his surreal digital montages. Morgan draws on inspiration ranging from a stray remark from a stranger on the street to a particularly moving song lyric. He can spend months at a time on a single image to build these wonderful, conceptual artworks. Morgan’s digitally collaged pieces include his photographs, watercolors, and graphic textures for layered ideas and images.

Mindy Barker draws outside the lines in her series “Mixed-Up Media.” Beginning from a photograph, Barker creates unique worlds of allusions using ink and acrylic paint. For example, a simple snapshot of a dog transforms into a colorful roller-skating worm with a prehensile tail and the words “SLURP,” “BLINK” and “YES” playfully intertwined within the piece. Barker studied art at Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Copenhagen.

Alive with creative spark, Anita West is an artist as well as an educator for an all-girls school in Kuwait. Reminiscent of Seurat’s Pointillism, West’s images of wobbly kneed camels, cats, and goats contain intricate designs from Persian culture. Her contrast of black ink on white paper suggests the stark desert landscape which can also allude to the cultural restraints throughout the region. Her art ultimately represents a wonderful flight of her imagination.

Martha Brouwer is a multi-award winning artist holding a Master’s degree from Harvard University. Utilizing intricate surface texture and technique, Brouwer’s inspiring works convey a delicate and nurturing display of human life intertwined with the animal world. Her imagery celebrates the interconnectedness of all life and its’ interdependent mysteries.

Please join the artists for an opening reception during the West Seattle Art Walk on Thursday, August 12 from 6-7:30pm.

Show with MAE, this Saturday

What is MAE?

Madera Architectural Elements (MAE) is a collective of Pacific Northwest artisans all of whom design and fabricate exceptional building components and furnishings. Members include: Ixia Tile – custom ceramic tile, Shape 3 – custom metal and artwork, Mindy Barker – mural and painter, Pacific Rim Tapestries – contemporary tapestry, Turner Furniture and Upholstery – upholstered furniture, Lynn DiNino – concrete and mixed media artist, Burnett Forge – artist blacksmith, Jennevieve Schlemmer - architectural mosaics, Steve Lawler – reFurniture, Diane Roberts - fused/stained glass, Christopher Hoppin - mixed media artist, Northwest Refinishing - wood refinishing, and Madera Fine Decorative Furnishings – furniture and cabinetry, Two Ravens Studio- metal casting, Design Tech Artglass- glass. Future participants will also include a custom blown glass sink and lighting fabricator and cabinet refinishing.
“What we’re creating is one-stop-shopping location for all of your architectural element needs,” said Madera owner Carlos Taylor-Swanson. “Whether you’re a homeowner or designer you’ll be able to visit our showroom and see what is new and exciting in contemporary furnishings and artisan-made building components,” he added.
The showroom, located in downtown Tacoma, will be open to the public Monday through Friday and by appointment. Each artisan-member will also use the showroom as a meeting place for clients.

http://www.maderastudio.net/

August 5, 2010 at 1:20pm

Peepshow coming to Tacoma's Puyallup Avenue

By Michael Swan Comments (1)

This preview photo includes the work of MAE artists: Jennifer Weddermann-Hay (mirror), Jennevieve Schlemmer (peacock), chess table by Diane Roberts, pillows by Cecelia Blomberg, lamp by Carlos Taylor-Swanson and silhouette cut-outs by guest artist Wade Ma

PLAN AHEAD: DON'T LOOK AND ACCESS DENIED ART SHOWS WILL BE WORTH A PEEK>>>

"Is ... Is that a peephole?" you whisper under your breath, halting your walking tour of Tacoma. You look left, then right. It definitely looks like a peephole.

Supporting your body weight with your hand you peer through the hole, drilled into a building along Puyallup Avenue. Your eyes adjust. You believe you're gazing at ... yes, it's some sort of boudoir. Yes, most certainly - with carefully posed shadows and selectively chosen props occupying a brightly illuminated but shallow space surrounded by mood lighting. The tightly staged vignette in a single scene suggesting a certain narrative and thematic possibility, but resists being reduced to one storyline.

You pull away from the peephole. Then lean back into it. You repeat several times. "This is bizarre," you think to yourself.

A bit dizzy, you carefully continue down the sidewalk only to stop again a few feet later when your eye catches a space full of... what? Seriously? chastity belts!?! This is getting ridiculous.

"Good lord," you say to no one in particular. "What is going down in my city?"

And then you remember reading this post. Ah, yes. The Madera Architectural Elements artists are behind the boudoir vignettes, combing their artisan interior and exterior building skills into single scenes as part of the Don't Look group show. And the chastity belts are actually another round of the Denied art shows at Mineral gallery, with new artists - the original of which drew rave reviews last summer as Entrance Denied at the same gallery.

You turn the corner onto Pacific Avenue and head north, processing what you've seen. You've peeped into ladies dressing rooms. You've ogled ladies underwear. On an unrelated note, you also saw a young couple making out at the Sound Transit stop across the srteet.

Then you come to a halt - having reached some sort of epiphanic conclusion over what you have witnessed. And an opportunity has presented itself. You slowly spell out your thoughts for all to see in Tollefson Plaza.

Don't Look

Saturday, Aug. 14-Sept. 14 anytime from the sidewalk
Preview events: Saturday, Aug. 14, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday Aug. 19, 5-8 p.m.
Gallery 301, 301 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma
253.396.0774

Access Denied

Saturday, Aug. 14-Sept. 14 noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Preview events: Saturday, Aug. 14, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday Aug. 19, 5-8 p.m.
Mineral, 301 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma
253.396.0774

http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/entertainment/spew-blog/2010/08/tacoma-art-dont-look-access-denied-puyallup-avenue/

New show at ArtsWest...this Thurs, the 12th

Join me for an artist reception in West Seattle at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery. This is a group show featuring Martha Brouwer, Anita West, Mark Morgan and myself.

Hope to see you there!!

Artist Reception
ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery
4711 California Ave SW
Seattle , W 98116

August 12, 6-7:30 pm

Artist Opening

Join me tomorrow night for a "Meet the Artist"

Thursday, June 17th

5-7 pm

The Harmon Hub
203 Tacoma Ave South
Tacoma, WA 98402

253. 683. 4606

Work will be shown for the months of June and July

Just finished mural...

Finished this mural on Monday. A lake scene on the back wall of main bathroom:




Placement of the scene in the room:


A shot of opposite wall with mural reflecting in mirror:

Quiet Shoes, the movie

Quiet Shoes is a "local" made movie...one that even included this "local" as an extra. I had a great time watching Isaac and Kurt, in all their creative glory, wow all the extras with their inventiveness. Can't wait for the premier! Please read on and if you feel so inclined, support this South Sound effort! I guarantee it will be wondrously worth your participation.


About this project:

Quiet Shoes is a classic noir set in an unidentified time and place. Rick Savage, a down and out private dick, struggles to piece together his latest case, all the while nursing an obsessive gambling habit. Hot on his tail are two threatening thugs out to collect his massive debt. He has just purchased an intriguing new pair of shoes; shoes that will take him down a path littered with mysterious strangers, dead end leads, the sound of gunfire and the stench of something very very fishy. The bodies are starting to pile up. Can Savage solve this case before the next one on the pile is his!?....he'd better, he still has overdue library books to return and the fines are outrageous!

Painkillers podcast

Last Sunday, March 15th, the Painkillers were interviewed on the Northwest Convergence Zone!

With a few hours left of recording our last two songs at Uptone Studios for our next album, James, Billie, Drew, Rick, Ava, Hunter Lea (he plays amazing mellotron tracks, yes...mellotron, on one song and was with us for these last two days of recording...a youngin' with buckets of music making knowledge, known as part of Mono in VCF), and myself headed over to the NW Convergence Zone studio.

Big D, Big Joe, Double D, Wonderboy, Squeeze welcomed us warmly and made us feel comfortable right away. As you can hear on the podcast (link below) great time was had by all. These podcasters are all about the south sound and promote what's going on around here. A real asset to this area!!!

AND, as a real tantalizing tickler, Girl Trouble finished an interview just hours before us, so we share this podcast link with our good buddies!!! How did we get so lucky?!!!!

So, here you go:

http://nwconvergencezone.com/wordpress/2010/03/girl-troublecharlie-land-and-the-painkillers/

A girl's mural

A mural I recently finished for a sweet little girl. She liked lots of pink, so pink she got! Along with the many flowers and distant landscape I also painted little fairies among the foliage and butterflies here and there to tie in with the room's window treatments (butterfly print).







This room shares a bathroom with another bedroom. Rooms I also painted. This shot shows how the three rooms work with each other.