Dipping Our Toes in Gallery Waters

January 28, 2024

As a child, I was always making art. Whether it was painting, drawing, or crafting, I found solace and joy in the creative process. I was fascinated that within this solo activity, I somehow found  a sense of connection. It’s where I go, where I’ve always gone I guess, to process & explore my connection to the world around me. However, I never thought that one day I would share my art, let alone develop a collaborative art process with someone or have our work displayed in a gallery.

 When I first met Craig, he had never really gotten into art… until we decided to take a wheel throwing class together in Santa Cruz (shout out to Clay Creation!). Having thrown before many, many moons ago, I thought I might have a leg up on him for once. However, as I continued to cone & dome, centering my clay, Craig had already figured out how to pull walls on his own. It's quite a joy watching someone you love fall deeply into a craft and completely thrive. It just seems to click for him, as if this was the missing piece to his whole. We connected over a new shared passion for art and decided to collaborate - Craig took charge of throwing all the ceramic forms, while I focused on glazing them. It was a match made in heaven because we both feel as though we’re doing the fun part. 

Last year we set a goal to widen our reach & strengthen our gallery representation in the new year. To our astonishment, we have started the year 2024 with not one, but five gallery exhibits featuring our work.

The Jansen Art Center is located just a few miles from the Canadian border in Whatcom County, WA. The J, as it is affectionately referred to, opened in 2012 after a historic renovation project, rehabbing the old City Hall & Fire Station into a multi-functional art center. (See image left) “The library, jail cells, morgue, and council chambers have all been repurposed into an artistic community.” Their facility includes community studio spaces for  “Ceramics, Jewelry, Music & Theatre, Paint & Fine Arts, and Textiles.” (JAC) With a robust calendar of classes, performances & exhibits, The J continues to enrich the fabric of the Lynden & larger Whatcom County communities.

Currently, The J has five different exhibits on display - four solo shows & one group show. Two of our textured vases are included in their Annual Winter Juried Exhibit this year, which runs from Jan 11th - March 29th. 

Our next two stops bring us a bit further south into the Puget Sound, to the beautiful, picturesque Olympic Peninsula. Port Townsend is a cute little seaport town, known for its wooden boat building industry, old Victorian architecture & bustling arts scene.

Northwind Art has a few spaces in Port Townsend, offering both gallery space downtown and art education at Fort Worden State Park - a cool partnership that repurposed old buildings to bring art to the community. (See Northwind Campus Map right) Northwind Art is actually the covid baby/ love story of how “two established art organizations, Port Townsend School of the Arts and Northwind Arts Center, joined together as a way to weather the COVID storm and to support artists during difficult times.” (NWA)

We are excited for our second year at Northwind Art’s Jeanette Best Gallery, as one of their Showcase Artists - this year, we will be exhibiting our latest body of work, TEXTURE + FLOW, which explores materiality, pattern & the creation process. The 2024 Artist Showcase celebrates local artists through rotating exhibits, beginning February 1st - December 31st. 

Our next stop brings us south to the Kitsap Peninsula, further into Puget Sound, to Bremerton, WA. Collective Visions Gallery is the oldest gallery in Bremerton, as well as the largest commercial art gallery in Kitsap County.

CVG encourages a connection to the arts through a robust program of offerings - such as lectures, concerts & exhibits. "The [annual] CVG Show has grown to become one of the largest and most competitive juried art shows in the Pacific Northwest region.” (CVG) We’re honored to be part of this year's show & we’re humbled that one of our textured vases has also received a Purchase Award! The 17th annual CVG Show will be on exhibit from January 13 to February 23rd.

Our last exhibit brings us back to San Juan Island, a small island we've been calling home for almost five years, with gorgeous views of the Northern Cascades, the Olympic Peninsula & Canada. We’ve been calling this little island home for almost five years now & love our thriving artist community here.  

 
While this concludes the   LLS Winter 2024 Gallery Tour, this last exhibit is a great way to see a sampling of island artists, many of which also participate in the SJI Artists Studio Tour each June. Speaking of which, we’re excited to be at a new studio on the tour this year - Studio #23: Glenn Hendrick Art - which also happens to be home to our (three season) barn studio setup. We’re looking forward to connecting more deeply with people by sharing our work & process with you, from our own creative space. 

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