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As I talked with a friend recently I was thinking about angels, wings and what they all represent.  I also was giving thought to how we lift ourselves out of trouble, angst or general unhappiness.

All of us are presented with different challenges as we grow up, and it’s up to us to determine how we react to these challenges.  Too bad we never get to pick what challenges come our way!  I believe we can each be our own angel it’s just a lot of work and really hard.  I suppose most things worth having are hard work and difficult (excluding chocolate mousse, that’s easy and really good).

In preparing for this blog I did a tiny bit of research into the definition of angels.   Apparently there are a wide range of definitions but I consistently found several similar concepts.  The first is that angels are either superior humans working for the greater good or superior beings created by God.  The second is that with a few exceptions, angels are associated with good.   Thirdly, they are regularly associated with messengers.  My question for this process is, do the wings make the angel or to visually represent an angelic thought should I go with something else.

When I think of winged beings I generally imagine something lifting up, maybe lifting me up.  Historically angels have usually been depicted as winged beings though oddly enough they are not described as winged beings in the bible.  In times of trouble I have often found the image of an angel lifting me up or wrapping me in the comfort of his/her wings very soothing.  As I grew up, I realized that no matter how soothing that image may be the responsibility is mine to raise myself out of the dark or out of a difficult situation.   I believe we are all given the tools to do so or given access to the tools do lift ourselves out of difficulty.  And this is where wings come into play.  My friend has a tattoo of some wings on her back and I thought it was such a beautiful symbol of self-saving that I had to write about it and think about art projects/paintings I could do based on wings.

My initial plan is to sketch out some wings then I intend to go to some more figure drawing sessions on Tuesday nights and work through my rustiness with human figures.  Too bad a course for figure drawing isn’t in the books!

I was raised on the East Coast near Washington, DC and for the most part was blessed with a fun and happy life.  I had one of those remarkable early childhoods my parents were in love, I had security and although we never had much money I never felt the lack.  I believe that my entire world started changing around 5th grade, maybe I should blame my increasing awareness of the world but I somehow became aware that I was different.  I was raised to think different is good, but in school different isn’t always as fun.  It didn’t help that I was in my awkward phase of life.  I was gangly, I had huge glasses and a very unfortunate perm.  I think of the awkward phases as ‘character building’.  I might sum it up by saying I built a lot of character during my last years of elementary school.

In Junior High my parents were still in love but they were starting their own company and working most of the time.  Money was still tight but we definitely had more than we did when my dad worked for the Air Force.  By the time High School came around I realized that I wasn’t normal for the DC area.  I never really partied hard, I was into every sport I could play and I was in some of the advanced academic classes (not math though!).  So looking at myself stereotypically, I was a geeky jock who managed to be relatively clean cut at the same time.  In my grade this was not cool, I may not have been on the bottom of the high school totem pole but I definitely wasn’t at the top.  That being said, I made good friends, to whom I’m still grateful.  I believe that I continued to build character in high school and as an adult I’m grateful for the sensitivity and awareness that I developed in High School.

By the time I graduated from college I was still a geek who thoroughly enjoyed sports and international relations.  This diversity of thought got me a wonderful career with the government.  I have never worked so hard or been so challenged intellectually by a job.  I loved it!  I was finally in a community of people that were like me, we were all a little nerdy, all intellectually curious and most of us had a good sense of adventure.  It was like a dream come true.  But it is still the DC area and politics infuses everything.  I was never really suited for politics and it began to take it’s toll.   Soon after I began pulling my resume together our country was hit by Al Qa’ida.  This day changed many people’s lives and I am no different.  After we were hit I could no longer leave my job, so I stayed on.

I’ve done my best to serve my country but after a year in Afghanistan I decided it was enough.  I looked for other jobs in the service industry and applied for a bunch but just had a hard time getting a job that was a good fit.  When I came home I opted to take some time off and drive around the country.  I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to drive around the country by myself because it was cathartic, therapeutic and frankly a lot of fun!  I realized as I was driving around that I felt lighter and happier but I felt the best when I reached Seattle.   So, when I finished my drive around the country I packed up everything I owned, put it in storage, put my house up for rent and drove back across the country for a new adventure.

It sounds simple but it was by far and away the scariest moment of my life.  I knew one person when I arrived in Seattle and although he was nice I needed to make friends, find a place to live, find a job and generally figure out how to live in the Pacific Northwest.  It was still scary, intimidating and generally a wild ride but I have found more friends, met my now husband and now we will have a little boy in June.  I keep asking can it get any better?  I can’t believe that it can get better but life is full of surprises so who knows!

And finally my happy place…

Leaving the Corner Gallery and Studio and getting the hang of this whole blog thing.

I’ve been saying it’s almost time and living in denial for a while but it’s true I am leaving the Corner Gallery and Studio. It’s been a wonderful time to work with and around Janet and I enjoyed being around Janet during the short time we shared a space. However, it is time for me to spend some effort on different aspects of my art career, my second job and most importantly our growing little family.

In the last year and a half I’ve worked at getting involved in the Everett community and have spent some energy on a couple of shows, but it’s not enough. I need to try and get into additional galleries and to spend some time working on things like this update or increasing my online presence. Additionally, although I’m lucky enough to have a second job I need to spend some time dedicated to it! All these things should keep me pretty busy for the next few months but hopefully this means you’ll be hearing more about interesting projects and new ideas.

The Jewelry extravaganza starts tomorrow… a lot of fabulousness will be happening at the corner gallery and studio!

Linda Huffman is an incredibly talented jewelry artist who creates memory pendents and amazing lampwork jewelry.

This is what Linda has to say about herself!

Linda Huffman’s work can be seen in oil paintings, cartoons, glass wall art and glass and silver jewelry. For almost 8 years, Linda has been specializing in making memorial jewelry, which consists of fusing cremation ash into each piece of custom glass jewelry. Her clients consist of a broad audience both in the USA and abroad with customers are far away as Austria, England, Spain, the Cayman Islands and Australia. Her custom memorial jewelry can be viewed on her web site at www.memorypendants.com and her dichroic glass and silver jewelry can be seen at www.huffmanstudios.com.

Hello fun friends.  I’m sorry to say that Monica has elected to remove herself from the jewelry extravaganza…

today I’m going to highlight another talented artist that is coming to the show this weekend.  Monica is talented on many fronts and until now has focused on raising children and running a small business.   We’re glad she’s decided to join the show with all her talents.

This is what she says about herself:

When I was going to high school my favorite class was always art.  So much so, that in my Senior year I took three art classes in a row.  My teacher would say “Monica you can do anything you want,”  she knew I would busy myself and stay out of trouble.  As an adult I have dabbled in everything from making my own glass beads, creating jewelry, scrapbooking, photography, and sewing, just to name a few.

hello all,

We have some fabulous artists coming in this weekend and I’m going to post some information about them throughout the week.   Then next week I’ll be posting about my new tiny treasures!  I’m going to be making wee paintings for x-mas presents and ornaments.   Can’t wait for the holidays!

Let’s start with fabulous Roxy.  She’s incredibly talented and a wonderful person. This is what she has to say about herself!

Hello, my name is Roxanne Beckman and I am 34 years old. I am originally from Havre,

Montana, but I have been an Everett resident for several years now. Everett has a charming population with a nice community outlook and I am proud to be part of it.

At about the age of 16 or so, I set out in the world to be and artist. I have spent every year since, doing just that. For many of those years I was a bartender to pay for my art habit. Now, I primarily do art work. I am not even a little medium specific. I try to be open to try anything at least once. Nothing is more exciting to me than a new substance, style, or process. Drawing, acrylic painting, sculpture and pastel work are my most commonly known works.  Lately I have been experimenting with, metal work mono-printing, the ancient art of mosaic and jewelry. Jewelry has always been a hobby of mine, but lately I have been focused more on it- and what a blast it is! I hope you will pop by to take a look-see at all the shiny new trinkets.

Thank you for your continued support of the arts in Everett.

Hello all!

I just wanted you to know that the Corner Studio and Gallery is hosting a fabulous jewelry show this weekend!   come see what it’s all about from 11-7 Friday and Saturday at the corner of Wetmore and Hewitt.

The piano I painted with Josie Wise has been on the street and is being enjoyed by many who come by to have a mini jam session. The other day I was treated to a wonderful concert by a young but very talented pianist named Devin. He’s young and is super talented. Apparently when he’s worried about life or otherwise distracted he sits down and plays. If only this worked so well for the rest of us we’d have a symphony on the streets of Downtown Everett.

Check out Devin jamming.

Street Tunes is in Full Effect

Last Wednesday the painted pianos made their debut. They were launched, set out and ready for play time to begin and the community has stepped forward and protected the pianos. I’ve had numerous people come by the studio to express their joy at the pianos or have people smile as they walk down the street. I had one businessman take a break from his day, sit down and give a concert to the neighborhood. He even started singing! What was the most incredible aspect of it all was that the people walking by had huge grins on their face and were so receptive to his spontaneous concert.

I’ve heard rumors that we made the CNBC news and here is a clip from our King5 news 20 seconds. I’m gathering videos of people playing my piano and will be joining them all together over the next week… stay tuned! hah pun totally intended.

Just Click on the below link to see our news clip!
Everett_Street_Piano_Project_News_Clip_8-4-10s

It is simply inspiring to be surrounded by such fun! So I’ve started two paintings, finished one today and am working on a second that I should be able to finish tomorrow. It’s the kind of thing that makes me grateful to be a part of this wonderful corner studio!

Check out ‘here’s lookin’ at you’

The Corner Studio and Gallery is now hosting a finished musical painting by Liz Lund and Josey Wise. We have created “Pacific Sound” and enjoyed every minute of the creation process.

When we were offered the chance to paint the piano I was ecstatic and a little intimidated. I’ve always been confident of my artistic abilities but I’ve never used house paint for anything other than a house. And the piano was huge! That being said I also have never had more fun creating a large piece of artwork.

A painted piano is approachable and somehow calls to the kid inside. I’ve had small children run into the studio with their hands outstretched to plink the keys and adults come in and start playing chopsticks. At the same time I’ve had talented teenagers meekly walk in and just start playing beautiful tunes. All of this has happened while I tried to create a painting that reminded people of the beauty in our region.

My favorite moment is when this enterprising 1 and 1/2 yr old came into the studio at top speed and made a beeline for the piano. He squealed and had to start making noise. Unfortunately the paint was super wet so I had to warn his mom that unless she wanted a blue kid she might want to redirect. I can’t wait to see what he does with the Orcas I painted on the bottom!

The process of creating playable art is definitely hard work. Josey and I elected to create a series of paintings more than a ‘decorated’ piano. We knew that this would be more complicated but it seemed more fun for us. I have found that as long as I’m having fun my artwork is much better.

I also enjoy the fact that this project has opened up new venues for me. I had no idea I would enjoy creating artwork on large pieces of furniture.. and now I can’t wait to do it again. I have been debating taking a trip to ikea for some unfinished furniture and creating fun but approachable artwork to live with. Let me know if you want a kid’s art chair or a unique but fun coffee table.

At the end of the day I’m super grateful to have had so much fun creating something that the community can enjoy.