Showing at Zola's Café

I'll be showing a few of my art pieces at Zola's Café in Auburn thru January. Besides great coffee and food they host local live music on Fridays and support the local arts scene. Stop by and check it out.

www.zolascafe.com

Kirkland Art Center

Donated a piece for Kirkland Art Center auction.

http://kacredux.org/

My band was invited to play Living History Day at Mary Olson Farm. Fun day with my band Root 5.

Piano Is Tuned and Ready To Go

The piano is tuned and ready to go. Master Tech Eric Mau got it dialed in this morning. Stop by Zola's and play it. And be sure to bring your friends.

She's

Piano On Display at Zola's Coffee

My piano is on display at Zola's Cafe in downtown Auburn. It will be there all August.

Zola's Cafe
402 East Main Street
Suite 120
Auburn, WA 98002-5549

Bauhaus Studio Challenge

Working on my Bauhaus Studio Challenge piece. A book on the Bauhaus I read in 6th grade was one of the biggest influences on my art. The idea of craftsman as artist is appealing. The reality is challenging. The piece is titled "Vorkurs" which was the preliminary course at the Bauhaus school everyone had to take before being allowed in the workshops.

Piano ready

Should hit the streets first week of August.

Piano project

Working on the Dios de los Muertos themed piano.

Day of the Dead Piano

Working on my Dios de Los Muertos piano carvings. Piano will be on display downtown Auburn in August.

Pianos On Parade

Got chosen to transform a piano for Auburn's "Pianos On Parade". I'll be having a Dios De Los Muertos theme. It should be lots of fun.

Teaching Art

Had a wonderful morning yesterday teaching sculpture to a 5th grade class. We did two projects. One a wire sculpture and the other a basic relief carving. The kids were so well behaved and open to new ideas it was refreshing. Kudos to Lake View Elementary.

Auburn Art Walk this Friday May 10

Auburn Art Walk Friday May 10. Weather looks great. Please stop by and say hello. I'll have a number of pieces on display.

Auburn Ave Theater Art Poetry Music

I'll be displaying my art, talking about my art, and my band will be playing.

National Poetry Month in Auburn culminates Tuesday evening with a reading featuring poetry by Elizabeth Austen and Peter Ludwin, artwork by Michael Taskey and music from Roots 5.



Poetry, Music, &Art

Auburn Art Walk May 10th

Looking forward to May 10th. Auburn Art Walk 5:00-9:00pm. I'll be there.

Auburn Art Walk

My Residency Is Over

Today was move out day. Lots of hard work.  Its bittersweet.  Sad its over but happy with what I got done and all the new connections I've made.

My plan to follow the tangents paid off. Met a bunch of great people, learned a lot about my community,  had a lot of fun.  The challenge now is where to take what I've learned.

Open House Tonight-Downtown Auburn 6-9pm

Open House Tonight

FREE-No Cover

Peg finally finished

This piece took a lot longer than I thought it would.  The subject matter may be a bit too much close.  As a father it is so easy to relate to these events. The residency has been a great experience. I learned more about my craft, my art, and myself. I'm looking forward to the open house on Sunday.

Flora, Fauna, and Franklin: Reflections on the Green River

Looking forward to my open house later this month.

Connections to the past

Using the woodcarving tools of my late Great Uncle Stanley today.  Between the local history I've learned and the connections to my late father and uncle's tools, this residency has exceeded my expectations.  Letting myself follow tangents as they were presented I've learned alot more about local history and my family history.

Marbled murrelet

Working on a piece featuring the marbled murrelet, a threatened bird species which nests in upper branches of old growth trees. Using oak, cherry, plexiglass,  and brass.

Interurban Center for the Arts

Did a "shotgun artist" appearance at the Paintng With the Stars event for the Interurban Center for the Arts last night. Had one hour to do a carving in front of an audience before it was auctioned off. Lots of fun. What a great group of people working to bring arts to local school children. Proud to have been part of the event.

Still working on Peg

Working on "Peg "

Next piece started. Using some gorgeous reclaimed Douglas fir. Beautiful to look at but very difficult to carve. My son visited and did some csrving of his own.

New piece inspired by Evan John known as "Peg".  He died in the Franklin Mine disaster August 24, 1894.

FATHER AND SON PERISH.

Of the rescuing party from the south sixth level was John E. Jones, a gas tester, who is now numbered among the dead. His  boy, Evan John, is also dead. The bodies of father and son were found lying side by side, showing that the father had remained in the gangway until he had found his son, but it was then too late and both died. Evan John, who was 18 years old, will be remembered as an ex-Seattle newsboy. He also sold peanuts in the Standard theater about three and a half years ago. He was commonly known as  "Peg," having but one leg and a wooden peg serving as the other. At the mines he was recognized as a bright young fellow, and was boss driver of the sixth level north. 

Painting With The Stars

Live auction of work by community leaders, including the Mayors of Auburn, Covington, and Kent!
Support the local arts for children. I'll be a part of the "Shotgun" showdown, as artists race each other to create live auction pieces. Wednesday, February 27, 2013
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Interurban Center for the Arts Fundraiser

Too much fun

Really enjoying my space in downtown Auburn.  Zola's Cafe, Sun Break Cafe, and Station Bistro all within walking distance. Lots of natural light and the movements and rhythm of a downtown.

Across the street  Auburn Ave. Theater has a variety of performance artists scheduled as well as showing some great classic movies. Recently Hitchcock's "The Birds" and this Sunday " It Happened At The World's Fair"

I'm excited to see a new business moving in. GirlDiver is moving in a few doors down from me. My family has been interested in getting scuba certified and we've only heard great things about Cindy Ross and her crew. Looking forward to talking with them about scuba.

Trying to make the most of this experience downtown. As my Dad used to say "People and experiences are what really matter, so try to keep them positive."

Visiting day

Had three visitors today. Mary Ellen Bowers from the Interurban Center for the Arts dropped by to say hello. Also my friends Jeannette and Katrin stopped by after their breakfast out at Sunbreak Cafe.

Started on my second relief panel. Got alot of inspiration from the story of the Franklin mine.

Franklin Mine Disaster

God is in the details

At least that's what Mies van der Rohe said. Finishing Fern 5. Something zen about detail work, so easy to lose yourself in the work.

Fern 5 almost finished

Finishing up on Fern 5 and getting ready for panel 2. The next panel's inspiration is the hanging gardens of the Green River Gorge.

Music Matters

Working on songs at the space. We have a group of kids who will be playing a school variety show later this school year.

Fern 5 detailing

Finishing detail work on Fern 5. Should finish this weekend.

Music and carving

Had Jeff stop by today. We worked out some acoustic parts for our music. He was rockin' the upright bass.

Working on the detail

Doing the detail work for my first relief panel. I'm using some woodcarving tools that had belonged to my late Uncle Stanley. He was a Marine who island hopped in the Pacific during WWII. It wasn't until he passed  that I learned of his woodcarving. He was a gentle, generous giant to me.  I love having a connection to the tools.

Rough Out 1 Done-Pteridophyta

The rough out of the first carving in the Green River Series is done. Pics to follow. I'm pretty happy with it.

Downtown Saturday

Built and installed display panel. Working on design and planning musical performances. If the sun breaks thru I'll be walking over to Zola's Cafe for refueling.

Workbench Installed.

Built the carving workbench today.Put it together at the downtown space. Wood and plexiglass. I think its pretty cool. Looking forward to using it next week.

Still Moving In

Brought some more wood to the space. Spent some time at the drawing table. Listened to Bill Frisell and Sara Watkins. Keeping it mellow today. Have two of the six panels planned and some good ideas for the others.

Day 6 Recovery

Spent 2 1/2 hours at the dentist today. Ouch! Looking for a productive day tomorrow.

Day 4-Building

Putting together a workbench for the space. Heavy work. Hope to have it installed this week. It should be really cool, trying some alternative materials that I'm trying to reuse-repurpose.

Day 3 Still moving in

Moving some big items today. Trying to get things dialed in. Had some help from my son and my daughter. Designing the Green River Series now. Carving being a subtractive process. Once the wood is cut away its gone. With clay or paint you can add more over your mistake or if you change your mind.

Met a new neighbor, Laverne from Liberty Tax Service. She welcomed me to the neighborhood and wished me luck.

Day 2 in the Space

Spent some time planning the space/projects, drinking coffee and watching the movement of people downtown. Opening the door to the space with my key this morning was wonderful. So excited to be here.

                            Still getting things together. Got some help from my daughter today. 

Auburn downtown looks great at night