Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Have I found my tribe?

Last Friday I went to the Best of the Northwest art show to see if it's something I want to be part of.  I arrived as the doors opened at 10 am, planning on getting through the whole thing by around noon.  Bwaahaaahaaaaa. I ended up standing up Bartosz for a 2:00 date (so sorry honey!) First thing when I walked through the door I gravitated to some sculptures by Dan, a lovely man whose business card I seem to have misplaced. He worked with metal, blocks of wood, and twigs.  He kindly let me take this picture of the top portion of one of his sculptures.



That gorgeous twiggy thing is from one of my favorite plants, corokia cotoneaster.  I love it so much, I have two! OK, one is dead, but can you not see why I still have it on display in its pot on the patio? The form of those crooked branches is sublime. Now, inspired by Dan, I'm afraid I'll have to hack up my dearly departed shrub and embellish something of my own with it. But, alas, that will leave me with only my living corokia. Maybe I'll have to buy another one and bump it off as a replacement.

Anyhoooooosie....
I had such a great time talking to Dan and many other artist/crafters at the show that it took forever to see the whole show. I found myself especially impressed by works of precision and obsession to detail, and the people who do this kind of work.

My overall impression of this art fair as a place for me to show (and hopefully sell) my work? I think my work fits in with the quality of what I saw there, so it's worth trying to get in. Yet I think I'd be most excited about meeting more people who love working with their hands.  I've been cooped up in my shop for 15 years!  I need to get out and meet other humans who make stuff, something I've missed doing since my time at Seattle Central's cabinetry program.

I am completely energized and inspired, and when this damn rain stops I'm going to go uproot that corokia and hang it up to dry in the shop.


Alright, then. I did it and here it is...



 What a cool dead plant. I removed one little branch that was halfway snapped off and took it into the shop to play, where I have been making a shelf of figured walnut.


 
Next time: I receive my lumber order from Gilmer lumber of Portland.  I'm going to make y'all look at my slideshow.

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