Pacific Northwest Sculptors

Sculptors share knowledge and resources

Blog

Who’s Doing What: May 2022

Not a lot of new work surfaced this month. Here’s what’s going on.

Tony Furtado – This is #8 in a series of Orca whales I’m creating. All different textures and different states of disappearing. This one (as well as all the others) is ceramic with a non-fired metallic coating. I’m still playing with the light inside…just trying to highlight the separating plates. I was originally scheduled to show these whales at the Columbia Center for the Arts but they recently closed their doors to change up their model and of course had to cancel my show. Working on a new situation for the pod..

Chas Martin: Wire armature for next piece. All begin with one or many sketches before I move to 3D. I have mounted the armature on a marble base that is angled to add more instability to the gesture.

President’s Message – May 2022

Our monthly meeting for April included an interview with stone sculptor, Art Wells. His insights included a perspective on selling through design centers. These are private showrooms where interior designers seek unusual art pieces for their clients and commission artists to create site specific pieces. For Art, this has been a far more lucrative channel for sales than his gallery affiliations. See the whole story.

Our show schedule now includes Oregon Society of Artists for May 2023. This will be a juried show of PNWS and OSA members. Details to come as we get closer to the date. We are also scheduled for the Newport Visual Arts Center in May-June 2023. We are trying to push that date back a month or two so it won’t conflict with the OSA show. Finally, work for our Creative Collaboration show continues. Most projects are still at the conceptual stage, but visible progress should be available soon.

Another upcoming opportunity for PNWS members is our demo booth at Art in the Pearl. We have been active participants in this event every year since its inception. It is always a great source for connections with potential students and sales. To be included in this Labor Day weekend event, contact Andy Kennedy.

Finally, our social media activity has been in hibernation for the past few months. This is usually a significant source of new web traffic and connections. Shelly Durica-Laiche, one of our previous social media champions has offered to assist getting one or two new people up to speed. This is a project that takes little time, but produces important results for all of us. It’s an ideal task for members in remote locations. As an all-volunteer organization, the only way things get done is through contributions by members. Please contact me if you can assist. 

Spacial Connections

My obsession with space continues. I have mentioned previously that in sculpture, space can create suspense. This month, I’d like you to consider space as a connector.

Here’s an analogy. An atom is about 99.9% empty space. All we really see is the remaining .1% of the atom. We are aware of matter, but not the void it encompasses. That void is full of information. Think, for a minute, about the space you fill during a day and what portion of that space you occupy with your body. Similar to an atom, your form takes up a small portion of your overall sphere of influence.

That sphere of influence is critical whether you’re an atom or a member of an organization. Your impact on the community around you is far broader than your physical presence.

So when we describe PNWS as a knowledge sharing community, we’re really talking about how we fill the space between us to share what we know, who we know, where to find, who to find. These are the kinds of topics we used to cover informally during our face-to-face meetings. Until those days return, which I hope is very soon, we rely on each other to bridge the space – to ask or respond to questions from fellow members.  

The pandemic introduced us to a series of new habits. I am asking you to revive an old one. Connect with another member this week. Find someone whose work interests you. Send them a compliment and a question. Leverage your membership in PNWS to learn something new. And never underestimate the value of what you know. It might be exactly what someone is trying to figure out.

RACC Grant Awarded to PNWS!!

We’re thrilled to announce that PNWS has been awarded a RACC Make/Learn/Build Grant to fund Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Training for our arts organization!  Yay!!!

2021-22 Make|Learn|Build Grant awards (Round 4): https://racc.org/2022/04/01/2021-2022-makelearnbuild-grants-round-4/

We are incredibly grateful to RACC for providing this needed funding that will move our organization forward in creating a more welcoming space for BIPOC and under-represented sculptors, and will lay the ground work for developing long lasting partnerships with BIPOC artists, arts communities, schools and arts organizations.

We look forward to collaborating with diverse groups of artists to create a more cohesive art community, enriched by learning from each other and building together. Our intention is to build a framework for incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion throughout our organizational structure and membership.

PNWS board and committee leads will train with Nicole Lee Consulting (NLC) and their partner organization, Inclusive Life (IL), combining group training and deeper course work, beginning in May, 2022.

If you would like to learn more, or be part of this training, please contact Alisa Looney, DEI Committee Chair at alisa@alooney.com.

PNWS Launches the NEWS PNWS for Member Conversation and Information Sharing

Bob Deasy proposed we develop a text-based forum for members to share thoughts, ideas, and discuss topics, pose questions, and seek advice. It’s a great way to stay connected and informed. This month, we launch our new NEWS PNWS. All members have access. Conversation topics will be member-driven. In addition to improved communications we will also be able to document knowledge for future reference.

Conversations for our upcoming Creative Collaborations should be visible soon so everyone can follow the progress and contribute to the development of these pieces.

— Here are the key features of the Idea Exchange. 

— Your forum tab is accessed through our website

— See your topics and replies under the forums tab

— See a count of topics and replies from your profile

— Control subscriptions and favorites from your profile

To access the NEWS PNWS conversations, choose the “Visit Forums” tab on your profile page. It’s just below your photo and description.

Price Sculpture Forest Guided Tours on International Sculpture Day

In celebration of International Sculpture Day on April 30, Price Sculpture Forest is offering guided tours of the park’s sculpture collection by its founder.  The backstory behind how the Sculpture Forest was created will be provided and then highlights from the story of every sculptor and sculpture in the park will be discussed.  The stroll is intended to be interactive by encouraging questions and discussion with participants.

The Sculpture Forest is set in a century old native forest habitat interspersed with sculptures by artists from the Pacific Northwest, across the nation, and international.  It is both a sculpture park and wildlife preserve, where art enhances nature and nature enhances art.

The tour will travel 0.7 miles on a smooth forest walking path, half flat and half on a slope.  Appropriate attire for outdoor walking in the day’s weather is of course recommended.

Participants must be pre-registered at https://scufor.org/guidedtour.  To learn more about Price Sculpture Forest, please visit https://SculptureForest.org.

President’s Message April 2022

Here’s a quick overview of recent and upcoming activities for PNWS Members. See “Who’s Doing What” for an update of recent work, work in progress and member shows.

Our Creative Collaborations virtual show participants have started their journeys for their September 1 show. We have over 20 participants. You can monitor their conversations on our NEWS PNWS forum. Not much to see yet, but as the ideas, issues and solutions are discussed, you will be able to participate and even contribute your opinions.

Check out another collaboration currently in progress with Andy Kennedy and Russ Ford: Kiln Loading.

Our March meeting included an amazingly informative and insightful talk with sculptor, Sam Cobb. The video is available. It’s worth a look. Our next meeting, April 27 will be a conversation with Dan Fine. Dan’s knowledge of NFTs will include overview and advice.

Our informal Zoom conversations continue every 2nd Wednesday at 7pm. Hosted by Alisa Looney, every session is driven by the interests of whoever shows up. Join the conversation! Share work in progress, ask advice, find resources, and more.

We are happy to welcome Toni Parque to our Board. Toni is a retired school teacher who has worked in education for 40 years.  She has been a lifelong artist, drawing, painting and printmaking.  She plans to help with connections to arts organizations and schools to hopefully expand the membership and provide some educational experiences through those connections.  Toni is also interested in working on diversity.

Who’s Doing What: April 2022

Here’s what our some of our incredible members are doing this month.

Bob Deasy and Connie Colter are collaborating for the Creative Collaborations show. Here’s the starting point, a brown onyx stone starting weight 127 pounds. The plan is to place Connie’s figures into the space Bob creates in the stone.

Cobalt Designworks, aka Dave Frei and Jennifer Corio installed their latest piece, “Golden Connection” in Ashland recently. Dedication will be April 23. All are invited to attend. Read the first part of the story of this incredible piece.

From Carole Murphy is one amongst the 15 to 20 other pieces that are in process. Recycled paper clay, bone, nature, steel and wood is a partial listing of components. Carole speaks to the incredible variety of pieces we are made of and go through to get to where we are.

Maria Wickwire’s simultaneous solo show opened at the Smith and Vallee Gallery in just in time for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival! The show runs through May 1st. See the virtual tour.

New work from Phil Seder – welded steel, wood, copper and stone.

Karen Russo along with Jason Green have a show at Uno E Richter Atrium Gallery in the Coos Art Museum from April 29 through June 25. In sculpture and painting, Karen Russo and Jason Greene express energy and emotion through texture and mark making that reverberate a call and response collaboration with nature.

The City of Olympia has selected two pieces by Robert Gigliotti for installation at Percival Landing for their 2022-2023 season. The work will install in late June. The two are Germination and Quantum Leap. The outer ring of Germination represents the earth, the stainless ball a seed, the upper blades are sprouts and the curved shapes at the bottom are the roots. Quantum Leap is a depiction of an electron moving from one space to another.