Letters to Home

It's official, I've sent in my submission for Letters to Home!  If you're in New York, you can see this collection of letters from artists around the world on exhibit April 5 at the Brooklyn Art Library.  If you're not in NY, a boxed anthology will join the 2012 Sketchbook Project Tour.

Brooklyn Art Library

103A N. 3rd St

Brooklyn, NY 11249

This letter to a wooded lot from my childhood (now an apartment complex) recalls a fort my brother's friends made to keep me entertained while they did grown-up things.  It's one of my first memories of the outdoors.  This act of recalling and recording the experience reaffirmed just how powerful an influence nature is in my work.

Anxious to start their own adventures, my brother's friends invent a world just for me.  And with my hose of twigs and leaves complete, they leave me with this directive: see how quiet you can be - how long can you go without making a sound?  Peacefulness washes over me.  I know that I will excel at this.  My soft smile lets them know I understand.  My vow of silence has already begun.  
I lay supine.  Though the roof thatched with fern fronds, through the sea of tiny green fingers shielding me from it all, I watch shadows of the real world passing by.  I want this to last forever, to simply be held by the loamy ground.  My senses are heightened in this hideaway.  
The fragrance of the forest nourishes each breath.  
Light dances for me, slipping stealthily through the woven roof.  
Surrounded by green and brown, I am quiet.  
So quiet.
Done with their outing, my brother and his friends return for me, calling my name.  I can't bear to break my silence.  this is where I want to be.  

I seem to think that I refused to make a sound, even when they were looking for me and calling my name.  Which may have gotten me into trouble.  Since I was right where they had left me, and I was instructed not to make a sound, it made no sense to the four year old me.    

Letters To Home

I'm currently working on a piece in response to Art House Co-op's Letters To Home project.  They've asked artists to write a letter to their childhood home.  It's a hard task to think back to the home that witnessed your evolution to adulthood.  You're confronted with all the secrets those walls hold - that secret crush, the mean things you said when no one was listening, a stolen dram followed by obsessive teeth brushing to avoid getting caught.  It's amazing to think we survive the journey and that our loved ones, well, still love us. 

Most of my memories return to the outdoors - the pussy willow tree that was cut down when I was 4 (I was devastated and briefly became the Lorax), the cherry tree I would climb time and time again in search of the next gift it would create for me, the apple trees that I watched grow to bear fruit.  You sense a pattern?  Yes, most of all, my home was not my house at all.  It was in the trees, and the woods surrounding the housing development I grew up in.

Stay tuned for the story of how my love affair with trees started.  It's due on the 15th!   

Hot off the Presses!

The Mighty Tieton Chandelier Festival catalog is now available.  As you would expect, Ed Marquand created a lovely work.  The binding is beautiful, courtesy Maria Solorio.  The collection of lighted works is fun to leaf through.  If you just can't wait to see mine, skip to page 29! Copies are available from marquand.com.

Saturday 11/12: Turn for Troops

If you're a Satellite (or Seattle adjacent) and have 20 minutes to spare on Saturday, stop by the Seattle Woodcraft store.  They'll have volunteers on hand to guide you through turning a pen, and they'll send that pen and along with a note from you on to support troops overseas.

Here's the info from their site, or follow the link above to their event listing:

Please don't forget that this coming Saturday, November 12th, is our annual "TURN FOR TROOPS" event and you are welcome to come to the store between 10 am - 5 pm and turn a pen for free - and the pen and your note of support will be sent to our troops overseas! This is a terrific way to thank them for their courage and let them know they are thought of by those in the homeland. (Even if you have never turned before...it will only take about 20 minutes of your time, thanks to our team of dedicated volunteers!) Your partticipation will be valued and appreciated, and we'll look forward to seeing you! 

Letterpress printing is awesome!

Last night I tried letterpress printing for the first time, and it was fantastic.  In four short hours I learned to set type, how to run the press, and came home with this fantastic print!  I was fortunate to share the class with a group of enjoyable people, full of creative energy, and for Lisa Hasegawa's expert instruction.

Each fall and spring, Pratt Fine Arts Center offers mini-classes so you can try different disciplines.  A teriffic deal, and a great way to try something new.  The fall offerings run through the 17.

RecyclArt: Opening Reception 9/30

Please join me at artEAST on September 30 for the opening reception of the RecyclArt Exhibition, and celebrate the work that went into curating the show.  You'll get to experience exceptional work produced by Puget Sound artists using reclaimed materials.  And there'll be food and drinks too! 

For more information see the artEAST website.
artEAST Art Center & UP Front Gallery
95 Front Street North
Issaquah, WA 98027

Carla Dimitriou

Carol Ross

Diane Kurzyna

Esther Ervin

Greg Bartol

Mary Ellen Bowers

Nia Michaels

Nikki deRelle

Pat Tassoni

Ren Lis

Surya Gaertner

Suzanne Tidwell

Thendara Kidda-Gee

V Blast

And there was such an abundance of quality art, we secured additional space for a special exhibition 9/30-10/2 including:

Cynthia Gerdes

Ed McCarthy

Dave Parker

Greg Boudreau

Stephen Lestat

Collective Works Exhibit at Auburn City Hall

Save the date for the Collective Works exhibit at Auburn City Hall April 7-May 2, 2011

The opening reception is Saturday, April 9 from 5-7.  At 6 o'clock the artists participating in this group show will give brief artist presentations, and will be available for further discussion.  This event will also be an Artist Trust Networking opportunity.

Auburn City Hall
25 West Main Street
Auburn, WA
 
Participating artists:
Greg Bartol
Debra Calkins
Nikki deRelle
Ren Lis
Glenda Powers
Joan Schlicting
Larkin Jean Van Horn

First Viewing!

My sketchbook was viewed for the first time today, and before the tour even left Brooklyn!  Thanks, New York for starting the tour off with a such a great turn out!

Sketchbook Project Opens Saturday

The Brooklyn Art Library has received over 29,000 sketchbooks for this year's tour. So many that they've extended the Tour's launch:

To accommodate everyone at the exhibition here in New York, we are expanding our opening at the Brooklyn Art Library. Please join us anytime on Saturday from noon until 10pm and on Sunday from noon until 8pm. And please note: we'll be welcoming visitors to the Library every day except for Mondays until February 27, so feel free to visit over the next two weeks and experience this year's incredible work in a more relaxed setting.

For complete tour dates and other info, please visit the website. And stay tuned for the launch of the digital library, coming later this spring!

Thanks again for all of your wonderful sketchbooks. We couldn't have done it without you. We'll see you at the Library or out on the road!

Off to La Malagua

I'm off to study with Collectivo La Malagua.  Check out some of their wildly fantastic book arts here: http://www.libroarteabierto.blogspot.com/

It's ready!

I'll be heading off to Tieton tomorrow to deliver my chandelier for the festival.  Opening night is Friday: here's a sneak peak of mine!

 

Dia de los Meurtos Festival at TAM

Sunday, November 7, 10 am-4 pm is Tacoma Art Museum's annual free festival celebrating Dia de los Meurtos.  Volunteers have made over 1,000 Calaveras for you to decorate, a traditional tapete fills the lobby, and over a dozen alters have been created by local artists, come honor the cycle of life with us. 

Tieton Washington

I'm pleased to announce that I've be selected as one of about 20 artists to fabricate a chandelier for the 2010 Annual Mighty Tieton Chandelier Festival.  This festival and their annual and craft bazzar will be in full swing December 3-5:
Friday, December 3 preview: 5 until 8:30. $10/kids free.
Saturday, December 4, 10 until 4. Free admission.
Sunday, December 5, 11 until 4. Free admission.
Mighty Tieton Warehouse, 608 Wisconsin, Tieton

After the festival the chandeliers will be on display in storefronts throughout Tieton through March 2011.  Check back in early December for pictures of the completed work.  

Welcome Totem: an addition to Tacoma's public art.

For those of you who weren't able to make it to the blessing ceremony, here's a picture of the work. The ceremony was lovely.  The sky was clear, members of many Northwest Tribes were in attendance.  The Puyallup Tribe of Indians honored Sean Peterson's work and shared song, dance, food, and stories of his commitment to family and how the strong women in his life have shaped him, and how his commitment to family and love has shaped him and his work.  Thanks to everyone who contributed to the event, it was a treat to share in it.  Congratulations, Sean, in making beautiful work and sending this message of hope and love to our community. 

Jewelry Metalsmithing

I'm taking a fine metalsmithing class with Sara Gascoigne, here are the first fruits of my labor.  As you can imagine, I'm loving it: I get to use a torch, a saw, beat metal into submission with the help of an anvil and hammer!

Hammered copper bangle:

Hammered copper ring:

Phase one of a hollow core ring, this one's going to be extra neat:

Museum Day - September 25, 2010

Museum Day is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian Media in which participating museums across the country open their doors for free to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket. Follow the link, print a ticket, and head to your favorite Musée!

Museum Day

Welcome Figure Blessing - Tacoma

Tacoma is unveiling their news public art piece carved by Puyallup native artist Shaun Peterson (Qwalsius), and it's Tacoma's first Indigenous monument. Join the blessing ceremony this Saturday, 9/18, in Tollefson Plaza from 10am-noon.
The figure will welcome all who visit and stands in tribute to the Puyallup people who were the first to occupy the city now known as Tacoma.

www.tacomaculture.org

Website!

Hi everyone, my long-awaited website is now up and running! Check it out here: www.renlisdesigns.com

artEAST Studio presents Collective Works September 3-October 20

Please join the Studio at UP Front [art] for an artists reception, Friday September 3, 2010 from 6-8pm, celebrating the Collective Works exhibit To the Edge. This exhibit features Winter 2010 EDGE graduates. The EDGE Professional Development Program is a curriculum created by Artist Trust designed to help artists expand short- and long-range goals for their artistic careers. These Puget Sound artists amalgamate photography, painting, fiber/textiles, wood, and metal sculpture, the result is compelling. The exhibit runs September 3 - October 20, 2010.

Charcoal Portraits with Gary Faigin

Recently I modeled for a portraiture workshop taught by Gary Faigin, founder of Gage Academy of Art and author of The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression, after hearing his simple discussion and seeing the transformation in the participating artists' work I'm excited to read this book and see how it influences my sketching. After witnessing him teach to a class including all levels of artists I'm not the least bit surprised that he had a hand in founding Gage Academy, and it's commitment to all levels and ages of artists.