President's Message

It’s fall. The pace of life/work quickens as summer doldrums yield to fall activities.

Our next meeting is at Portland ADX on Wednesday, September 28 at 7pm. See the description for more details.

We ended the summer with our annual appearance at Art in the Pearl. Traffic was moderate. Demos were excellent. Although we had fewer than usual demonstrators, we were well represented. Thanks to Andy Kennedy for coordinating and to Jerry Woodbury, Russ Ford, and Jonas Hartley for their time and effort.

Our Creative Collaborations Show went live on our web site at the end of last month. We lost a few collaborators along the way, but the final list is an interesting mix of imaginations. Take a look.

Our Annual Picnic was held at Oregon Society of Artists on August 28. Maybe it was the timing, maybe the weather, maybe the location, but turnout was light. Those who did attend were rewarded with plenty of food and good conversation. Special thanks to Ulrich Pakker and Pamela Pakker-Kozicki for making the trek from Seattle to connect face to face. Also check out their article: Origin of a Successful Design.

This past month, Scott Price resigned from our Board for personal reasons. We appreciate his contributions. We will miss his wise perspective and organizational skills. He remains an active member and welcomes our participation in the Price Sculpture Garden.

Additions to the Board in the past few months include Bob Deasy and Katie Sallos. Look for a few changes in committee assignments to rejuvenate member interaction and volunteer participation. After a few years of pandemic pandemonium, it is time to return to our more social and less virtual interactions. Be prepared to get involved again.

In an attempt to build a stronger relationship with Oregon Society of Artists (aka Oregon School of Arts), we are invited to participate in an all sculpture show in May 2023. We helped define this show. Our members may submit images at the member entry fee rate of $35 for two entries. Although this is a juried show, Rip Caswell, the juror, will identify recipients of cash awards. Acceptance of at least one, and more likely two entries is consistent with their usual procedure. More details will be shared as soon as dates are finalized. I hope everyone will consider participating.

Annual picnic will be Sunday, August 28 from 1-5pm at Oregon Society of Artists, 2185 S.W. Park Place, Portland. A sculpture by Olinka Broadfoot will be installed in honor of one of our amazing members who died this past year. See details.

Creative Collaborations continues with about 18 sculptors collaborating in pairs and trio to produce a virtual show that will be posted on our website by September 1. Details in the next issue.

The recording of our July meeting at Marty Eichinger’s studio is available for viewing. Please excuse the quality of the video. We’re trying.

Group show at Newport Visual Arts Center is confirmed for June/July 2023. This will require many volunteers to make this work. If you plan to enter, also plan to contribute some time. We will collect, load, deliver, set up in June.Contact Katie Sallos to volunteer.

We are always looking for interesting places to hold our monthly member meetings. If you are interested in hosting a meeting, contact Bob Deasy.

We are always looking for volunteers for a variety of tasks. A small group of dedicated people make everything happen. A few more volunteers would help us make more things happen. Contact Chas for details.

A quick reminder of upcoming activities:  

Our July meeting is scheduled at Marty Eichinger’s studio. Marty has been exploring 3-dimensional images in 2-dimensional space using epoxy and a variety of additives. This is a bold departure for one of our most successful sculptors. Plan to attend this live event. We plan to Zoom it as well.

Annual picnic is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 27. Location and details to come. This will be a face to face with some refreshments provided.  

Burning Gnome Party July 16th from 3 pm till the last gnome standing hosted by Joe And Lupita Highfill

Creative Collaborations continues with about 18 sculptors collaborating in pairs and trio to produce a virtual show that will be posted by September 1.

Group Show at Oregon Society of Artists is confirmed for May 2023. If you have an idea for a theme, contact Katie Sallos.

Group show at Newport Visual Arts Center is confirmed for June/July 2023. This will require many volunteers to collect, load, deliver, set up in June. Contact Katie Sallos to volunteer.

We are always looking for interesting places to hold our monthly member meetings. If you are interested in hosting a meeting, contact Bob Deasy.

There’s a lot going on in the next few months. Here’s a quick list of what’s coming up:

We are partnering with Oregon Society of Artists for a May 2023 sculpture show. This will be an open call for entries. Rip Caswell will be the Juror. Cash awards will be given in several categories. Watch the monthly Calls for Artists. The listing will be added soon.

We still have a tentative show scheduled for May-June 2023 at Newport Visual Arts Center. We are trying to reschedule that for a slightly later date since it will conflict with our OSA show. Details to come as we learn more.

We have a new member sculpture on display in the garden at OSA. Shelly Durica-Laiche with help from Andy Kennedy have installed a large steel sculpture. See “Who’s Doing What” for a photo.

Our relationship with OSA continues to expand. Proposals for workshops are open now. Download the overview for course proposals. Their goal to include more sculpture in their shows and classes is an open opportunity for us. We also share a goal of expanding the diversity of our membership.

Creative Collaborations continues with about 18 sculptors collaborating in pairs and trio to produce a virtual show that will be posted by September 1.

We have tentative plans for an Annual PNWS Picnic. Pending confirmation of a location, the date is Saturday, August 27. This will be a real face-to-face event with opportunities to share experiences, ideas, stories, food and drinks. Mark your calendar. Confirmation to come soon. Contact Terri Elioff to help organize.

We are always looking for interesting places to hold our monthly member meetings. If you are interested in hosting a meeting, contact Bob Deasy. As pandemic restrictions loosen, opportunities for more hands-on demonstrations become much easier to create. Our goal is to fill our calendar for the year with interesting presentations. Sculptors in all media are welcome. You do not have to be an active member to host an event.

Our June meeting with be with Ulrich Parker. His work is bold and dynamic. His works in steel and water are impressive. It should be an enlightening meeting.

Our July meeting is scheduled at Marty Eichinger’s studio. Marty has been exploring 3-dimensional images in 2-dimensional space using epoxy and a variety of additives. This is a bold departure for one of our most successful sculptors. Plan to attend this live event. We plan to Zoom it as well.

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. 

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 2^nd 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.

There has been a lot of activity for PNWS this past month. We have an interview with George Heath who retired from our Board after two separate extended terms as President. The big news is the recognition awarded him by our Board. I hope all will read the interview.

This month we announce “Creative Collaborations,” a new virtual show for active PNWS members. Pair up with another PNWS artist to explore new ideas and new media. If you don’t have a partner identified, register anyway and we’ll try to match you up with another sculptor. There is no fee to participate. Register by March 15. The show will be on our site beginning September 1.

Several members have shared examples of recent works and works in progress. See Who’s doing what.

Finally, I am happy to welcome Alisa Looney and Scott Price to our Board. For Alisa, this is a return engagement. She’s served on our Board before. Her immediate focus in on diversity and inclusion. She has submitted a grant proposal to the Regional Arts and Culture Council. If approved, our Board will participate in training that hopefully will move us toward a more aware and inclusive organization. Read more.

Scott Price founded the Price Sculpture Forest on Whidbey Island. He is not a sculptor himself, but brings a business and organizational perspective to the Board that will help set a more strategic approach toward our future. Their bios will be on the site soon. Take a minute to connect and get to know them.

Unfortunately, Jonas Hartley, whose name was also on the ballot had to withdraw. We are looking for at least one additional Board member. If you are interested in knowing more, contact me.

And finally, at our Annual Meeting, we had a discussion on upcoming shows, formats, venues and outreach. A lot of ideas came up. This is a discussion that hopefully will result in several shows this year and next. Shows take a lot of effort and a lot of people. Members interested in participating in shaping our future show strategy should contact Andy Kennedy.