As promised here are some of the images from Dianne Gardner’s
monthly gathering at her south Kitsap studio. Artists who attended
this month were, Donna Trent, Terry Sceli, Karen Wisley, Sheila
Anderson, Sid Cloud and Loretta Anderson. The models were Tina
Hagedorn and Diane Asplund. Gardner says painting from life is the
best way to learn, but during the summer her group gets out of the
studio for some plein air painting as well. Learning is good, but
getting outside sounds so wonderful right now. The spirit of
turpentine has permeated the walls of my studio/guestroom. I could
really use some plein air.
Oil painter Dianne Gardner has a monthly gathering at her studio
for several South Kitsap and Gig Harbor artists. The next gathering
will be Thursday, January 14, which is tomorrow (sorry about the
short notice). It’s from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be two models
available to paint, draw or sculpt. The models will hold one pose
for 20-minute intervals with time-out for lunch, which Dianne says
is potluck. The cost is $15. Her studio is located at 9385 Olalla
Valley Road, Port Orchard. You can reach Dianne at
gardnersart@wavecable.com, or check out her Web site here: http://gardnersart.com I’m
particularly fond of her piece “The Poultry Keeper,” not just
because it’s a stunning piece of art, but the Artful Blogger has
just finished painting a chicken — they’re not easy subjects.
Dianne says she will send me some of the results of January’s
gathering. I can’t wait.
Richard Nelson, owner of Oil
and Water Arts, and Arty ready to "elevate art" to the top floor of
Winslow Mall.
Artists on Bainbridge Island wondering what happened to Oil &
Water art supplies just need to go to the old location and look up.
They’ve moved on to the next story.
I talked with Pam Christiansen, who is the head of the Creativity
Center there associated with Oil & Water. She tells me that they
made the move upstairs not because it’s a bigger space but because
it’s a more focused space. Now it’s located right next to the
Creativity Center classrooms. Christiansen started the Creativity
Center three years ago; in June the center merged with Oil & Water.
“We had the same vision and ideas,” she said. Moving downtown to
the Winslow Mall was “great because people can come over from
Seattle. It’s centrally located,” she said.
The Creativity Center now has 16 faculty members who teach
classes in most mediums, including oil, watercolors, acrylics,
pastels, multimedia and drawing for both adults and children. They
run labs with nude models every Thursday night, and even have an
off-site sculpture class.
I work on the Kitsap Sun’s design desk, which means I normally
work very strange hours. If you send me a message during the day,
and I don’t get back to you right away, it’s because I normally
don’t fire up my computer until after 4 p.m. Reader Dianne Gardner
points out that there is no way for people to get in touch with me
other an by posting a reply to my blog entries. That is a
problem.
Although I would encourage people to post replies to the blog
entries, you can also send me information and images at
jdwilliams@kitsapsun.com, or jon.williams@kitsapsun.com. They both
work. I switched my byline to J.D. because there was another Jon
Williams in the company. I kept getting his e-mail. For some reason
the problem cleared up and I don’t get his mail anymore, so you’re
welcome to use either address.
Former Kitsap Sun artist Jessie
Randklev did this pen and ink drawing of Pearl Django a few years
ago. She did it on a piece of illustration board and it's been
hanging somewhere near the wall next to Arts & Entertainment writer
Michael Moore's desk. The band has since added an accordion
player.
GYPSY SWING: If you want to get in touch with
me this Friday night I will be at the Collective Visions Art
Gallery, along with a lot of other art lovers, and lovers of Gypsy
swing. The great Seattle Gypsy jazz band Pearl Django will be
playing at the gallery located at 331 Pacific Ave. Bremerton. What
a show that’s going to be! And what a great place to see them
play! I’m thrilled, and so is my 9-year-old daughter. I took
her to a Django Reinhardt festival in San Francisco a few years
ago, where we saw a guitarist named Durado Schmitt. She was about
5-years-old and had the attention span of a five-year-old, so I was
expecting her to lose interest real fast. To my surprise, Schmitt’s
Gypsy swing performance captured her attention through out the
whole show. Now we’re looking forward to Friday’s show. You can see
Pearl Django too by calling Collective Visions at (360) 377-8327. I
just called over there, and they still have tickets available at
$20 each. However, I’m told they’re going real fast. The show
starts at 7 p.m. See you there…
The Artful Blogger: Just replace the the first “g” with a
“d” and turn me into The Artful Blodger.
That’s right, it’s a horrible pun… a real groaner. So right off the
get-go I can tell you’re not impressed with my ideas. And that’s
OK, because I’m not going to use this space to promote my
ideas.
What I would like to do with The Artful Blodger is pick your brain,
not your pockets. I mean that figuratively, of course, although I
may use that image sometime in the future. I want to use this space
to showcase KItsap’s visual artists, and I need your help.
With your help, we can turn this into a place in cyberspace
where people in the visual arts can gather to see what others are
up to, or to find out what’s coming up in the community. I’ll try
to stay on top of who’s offering classes, presentations and gallery
openings. That kind of stuff I can handle, but I’m going to
need some help with suggestions about who to highlight here. So If
you know someone who is doing interesting things with paint, clay,
pixels or even potato prints, and you think others would enjoy
seeing their work, please send them to the attention of The Artful
Blogger.
This is a composite photo of
local artist Derek Gundy surrounded by some of his work at Artists'
Edge in Poulsbo.
Anglers and artists have a lot in common when it comes to
drawing inspiration from the nearby streams, rivers and the Puget
Sound. Watching the huge salmon wiggle up tiny streams is like
watching a very tall man stuff himself into a Yugo and drive off.
It takes a lot of determination to get those big bodies where they
need to go in those small spaces. Artist Derek Gundy might agree.
Gundy became inspired by the salmon after he moved to Washington
from Rockland, Maine six years ago. He started reading about them,
then he began to paint them. “It’s really a supernatural
thing. That’s why I started painting them flying.” It’s even a
spiritual thing, says Gundy. Spiritual, yes, but his work is also
very whimsical. His latest piece, Holy Mackerel, seems to capture
both of those themes. In some of Gundy’s paintings, the
salmon are flying through the air, relieved of their watery
confines. Almost all of Gundy’s work contains fish, or water.
Sometimes the fish are in the air, and sometimes the water isn’t
water: it’s wine, or flowers. His work illustrates just how much
fun it is being an artist. On canvas anything can happen.
Perhaps it is because he’s been around the water his
entire life that he makes it such a theme in his work. Gundy grew
up in coastal Maine, where his parents ran an art supply and
framing store. Their shop did the framing for many local artists,
including Andrew Wyeth, who had a summer home near Rockland. He
attended the Portland School of Art, now called The Maine College
of Art, then made his way to Washington after his wife grew tired
of the Maine winters. She grew up in the Northwest, and wanted to
move back.
The apple apparently didn’t fall too far from the tree, because,
when he’s not working in his studio, he manages The Artists’ Edge
art and framing shop in Poulsbo. Like many art stores, The Artists’
Edge offers classes taught by qualified local artists. Gundy says
he’s going to return to teaching some of those classes this month
after a long hiatus. In the past, he’s taught watercolor and
drawing classes, at the shop. Later this month, he’s going to be
teaching acrylics. He says says he enjoys helping people develop
their skills, and he’s had some requests to begin the classes
again.
