Saturday is the last night of the Portland Winter Lights Festival. It’s the last chance to see Marty Eichinger’s latest entry, “Star Catcher”. The structure is similar to his previous entry, but the projected imagery is all new. It’s worth a visit to see how his imagination has evolved.
February 2023 Newsletter
Into The Depths
Download the Call for Artists for our 2023 show at the Runyan Gallery in the Newport Visual Arts Center. This is a member only show.
Into the Depths has three potential interpretations: Oceanic, Sculptural, and Psychological. Your entries can address any or all of them. We are looking forward to what is hidden within us, going INTO THE DEPTHS psychologically.
Please download the show prospectus, complete the entry form and start thinking about what you will enter and what you can contribute to the success of the show.
The Rewards of Transition
There’s nothing more boring or less productive than stasis. Movement, whether in the stock market or the art market is an opportunity to gain something. Transitions are times of movement. As PNWS transitions to a new leader and new ideas, it’s time to attend to opportunities, obligations, and to reap the rewards.
Our new president, Andy Kennedy, has been considering the potential of our group of a long time. Not just what we as a group can do, but what we as individuals can do with and for each other. The impact of the pandemic has created obstacles that separated us. As a group that thrives on interconnectedness, that has narrowed our collective 360 vision to the problems and challenges immediately in front of us.
It’s time to move beyond those limitations and revive our inherent worth. We are idea people, problem solvers, makers of incredible things and most importantly, sharers of knowledge.
We can connect via Zoom. Now we can combine that with face to face interaction, our traditional strength. Random conversations when we gather as a group usually produce surprising “ah-ha!” moments. Andy is ready to initiate a number of ideas that have been percolating for some time. Don’t be a bystander. Don’t be shy. Don’t be stuck in stasis! It is time to get moving again as individuals and as a group.
I am anxiously looking forward to our upcoming show “in”Into The Depths” at the Runyan Gallery in the Newport Visual Arts Center this summer. This is an overdue transition back to public exhibition. It’s a great location. Great timing. And, I’m sure we will have a great showing of our members’ work. If you were not a participant the last time we did a show in Newport, be aware there is a lot to do to get sculptures to a central location, loaded onto a truck, delivered, and installed. I won’t categorize these tasks as work because, as you will see, it’s an invigorating social experience from start to finish. Conversation with the Newport Visual Arts Center started over a year ago. The exposure we will receive will be well worth the effort. I hope you will plan to participate.
Retrospective…Claudia Star Carter
The artworks displayed here are some of the many creations that Claudia produced at Clark College in the years preceding the Covid shutdown.
Claudia was deeply invested in telling the story of the Black community in Vancouver. Her goal was to create works that would inspire members of the black community to feel that this land was their land, that they were in no way excluded from the fabric of this community. She encountered little in terms of black art growing up and she wanted to help change that by working passionately in her chosen medium: ceramics and sculpture.
Clark College offered her an opportunity to do just that. For many years she could be found volunteering at the Frost Art Center, encouraging the many students that she encountered, and whenever possible, delving into the history of Black Vancouver. Claudia passed recently and left a lasting legacy for that ongoing work. She will be missed but would be happy to see another generation of youth continue the work of inspiring
and informing the community through art.
A retrospective of Claudia’s sculpture can be seen through the month of February, (Black History Month), at three locations:
- Geiser Hall at Clark College-in the display case just inside the West entrance.
- The Frost Art Building lobby, (south of Geiser Hall).
- A smaller sampling in the Vancouver Public Library.
Mask Making with Russ Ford
I will begin with the fact that the last time I worked with clay was in grade school so it was with both excitement and trepidation that I signed up for the workshop.
The first day was at the Oregon Society of Artist classroom with Russ. There were over 14 people in the room ! I saw many that I knew and saw many new faces.
My attempts to film that day did not go as planned so I made special effort to capture day 2. Russ collected our masks and took them to his studio for a bisque firing.
The video below begins with some pictures of the art surrounding us when we ventured into Russ’s studio. You will see where we glazed our pieces, the glazes I used for my pieces followed by video of filling the kiln, removing the hot pieces, placing them in the raku cans, then the pieces are removed to be cooled in a water trough.