May 24th Featured Artist: Rod Giffels

Artist Statement: I have had a long and varied background in photography, dating back to childhood. But the seed really began to sprout sometime around 2003, when I found myself in the middle of a wild horse herd. I have always been around wildlife and animals but this was so different. I took pictures until I ran out of film. When I wasn't shooting, I was marveling at the beauty of the horses, watching the mares and foals, the way the stallions protected the families. I remember thinking that it would be nice to spend a week, following the herd and taking some pictures. Looking back, I think I had that confused with following the cows down the path to the pasture when I was a kid!! That thought stayed in the back of my mind as I worked and played for several years. I even thought about it occasionally in the middle of some long distance kayaking trips. About 5 years ago, I started dedicating most of my spare time to several herds of wild horses here in the Northwest. The focus has improved my skills and I cannot think of anything more enjoyable than tramping around the side of a mountain, spending as much time as possible near the Mustangs. When not working around the wild Mustangs, I spend time filming other available wildlife. When not working or chasing Mustangs, I try to spend time with my own horses on a ranch in eastern Washington. My work can be seen online at Fine Art America under my name, at Kriseanhorses.com and is presently displayed at the Proctor Art Gallery in Tacoma as well as the Florida headquarters of the Nature Conservancy. My hope is to share the beauty and grace of these magnificent animals

April 26th Featured Artist: Marquita Hunt

Artist Statement: I was born in Tacoma WA and grew up in Lakewood. I'm proud to say that I'm definitely a local artist. After attending California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, I returned home to marry and raise a family. For many years, I worked as an interior designer for Greenbaums in Bellevue, WA. I left to start my own decorative painting business called Illusions. Faux finishing, marbleizing, and murals of all kinds. Every job was entirely different from the previous one, requiring a lot of versatility which suited me just fine. At this time, I am spending my time in my studio creating work that is satisfying to me and exciting to others. I enjoy the non-objective or abstract pieces. They are original and exist no where until completed. I feel you must have the courage to follow your intuition. My work is currently at Proctor Art Gallery and Lakewood Art Gallery.

April 26th Featured: Grace Youn, Violin

Photo Courtesy of Consider Chromatic

"My name is Grace.  I was handed a violin at age 7 after being told I was too short to play the cello and started piano lessons shortly after.  Now 21, I'm finishing up my music degree at the University of Puget Sound, studying under Dr. Maria Sampen.

As a soloist, I have performed with the University of Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and String Orchestra, and the Tacoma Youth Symphony. I am currently concertmaster of the University of Puget Sound Symphony and am also a member of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. I have attended summer music festivals, including The International Festival
Institute at Round Top, Brevard Music Center, Innsbrook Institute and Music Festival, Northwestern Summer Violin Institute, and the Icicle Creek International Chamber Music Festival.   I was a prizewinner at the Beatrice Herrmann Young Artist Competition and was a national finalist in the 2012 Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition. I have performed in master classes for Miriam Fried, Bill Preucil, Kenneth Goldsmith, Blair Milton, Robert Chen, Cyrus Forough, and Janet Sung.

I had always considered myself a classical musician, but all that changed when I was thrown headfirst into a singer/songwriter showcase, asked to improvise string parts on the fly. Since then, my life has never been the same.  I mange my own YouTube channel, graceyounviolin, where I explore various musical genres, combining classical traditions and techniques with other music traditions.  I have been incredibly blessed to have been able to work with and learn from some of today's greatest crossover artists, including The Dueling Fiddlers, Alex DePue, and Mike Block.  I won the 2012 Rockin' Fiddle Chalelnge hosted by Adam DeGraff of The Dueling Fiddlers with a cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believin' and had one of my covers featured in Katy Perry's documentary, Part of Me.

In the last few years, I have learned that "musician" merely scratches the surface in describing what I do.  I have learned more than scales, staples of the violin repertoire, the fundamentals of violin technique, styles of different music traditions, or even how to make my violin sound like an electric guitar on distortion.   Music is a language and I seek to be fluent in all of its dialects.  I hope to bring as much rock and roll to the Sibelius Violin Concerto as I do classical precision and refinement to a cover of The Black Keys.  Ultimately, I seek to become a genre-proof artist, someone who pushes boundaries and brings a high level of musical artistry and excellence to anything I do."

March 22nd Featured Artist: Carolyn Burt

“Versatile” describes Northwest artist, Carolyn Burt.  Her skills include work in a variety of mediums including watercolor, acrylic, ink, photography, and chalk pastels.  Carolyn studied art throughout school and received her B.A. from University of Puget Sound after spending a year studying French at the University of Rennes, France, and attending the Ecole Des Beaux Arts.  She continued her education at U.P.S. receiving her M.Ed. in administration.   She has taught art at all levels of education and after retiring from 24 years in education, fulfilled a dream of opening Proctor Art Gallery and re-entering the world of art after a hiatus.  Over the years, she has won numerous awards and recognition for her work.

Having been born and raised in Washington, Carolyn is inspired by the beauty of nature as well as the local architecture of the area.  Her renderings of buildings in and around Tacoma have a freeness and freshness, instead of the rigidness of contrived mechanical architectural drawing.  She incorporates tessellation patterns into her ink drawings and paintings that morph into realistic images. Often her paintings focus on lighting, textures, and patterns that create a mood or tell a story.  Visiting vintage car shows and the Le May Car Museum inspired her creations called “slices of history,”  paintings of cars, but focusing only on a part with its lines, angles, and reflections.

Photography is a recent addition to her repertoire.  She has already won a purchase award from Multicare Health Systems and an award at the Washington State Photographer’s Exhibition at the Puyallup Fair.  Carolyn uses her art background and knowledge of composition, color, texture, pattern in choosing and shooting her subjects.

A fairly new medium is chalk pastel.  Along with drawing landscapes, she has already been commissioned to do several pet portraits. However, her newest addition is that of Scratchboard Engraving.  Boards are prepared with a layer of white china clay covered with India ink.  Engraving tools are used to remove the black ink for the white to come through.  It is reminiscent of the scrimshaw engravings.

 

Carolyn believes “Art feeds the soul” and that mankind is born to create.  It is overcoming the fear of what someone else will think of your work and fear of rejection that is the difficult part of process.

Her work may be seen at Proctor Art Gallery and on line at CarolynBurtStudio.com.

March 22nd Featured Musical Group

Ivory Trio Performing at 7 pm in the Civic Building Atrium

The Ivory Winds Trio was established in 2007. The ensemble has performed at concerts throughout the Puget Sound. Rose Johnson (flute) is a freelance musician, ensemble coach with the Bellevue Youth Symphony, and has a private studio in Issaquah. John Halvorsen (horn) coaches with the Tacoma Youth Symphony and has performed with many bands and orchestras in the Puget Sound region. Robin Watson (piano) is an accompanist in the vocal department at Pacific Lutheran University and maintains a private studio in Tacoma.

Nov. 30th Featured Artist: Bonnie Cargol

Watercolor Artist Bonnie Cargol will showcase various subjects including landscapes, waterscapes and floral designs. 

Nov. 30th Featured Artist: Kelsie Bahr

Since graduating from Pepperdine Universtity with her vocal major and studies in piano and composition in 2006, Kelsie Bahr has worked Pierce and King county as a session singer and a pianist with her vocal work appearing on radio station IDs, jingles, a host of movies, film trailers and video games including DreamWorks productions MerryMadagascar in 2009, Shrek the Halls in 2008, as well as the Tudors Tv show, Forbidden Kingdom featuring Jackie Chan, Letters to God, Halo andWorld of Warcraft. Kelsie has continued her wide diversity of work, performing back up for Eric Benet at a private event in honor of acclaimed author William Young hosted by David Foster in 2009, in the most recent gospel album by recording artist Phil Driscol, and with the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s fall vignette of West Side Story in 2010.

In addition to her session work and coaching in both vocal and piano disciplines, she recently released her first EP of all original music last November "Out of the Blue" which is available on itunes. In it she fusses her love of soul, funk, gospel, jazz and pop into a fun, throwback mix of dance music as well as ballads that she has begun to spread in venues around pierce county. With her appear drummer Jason Bahr, artist Osama Afifi on bass, and saxophone aficionado and arranger Cliff Colon. More information as well as access to her music may be found on her website www.kelsibahrmusic.com.

Oct 26th Featured Artist: Kimberlee Wilson

Glass Artist Kimberlee Wilson’s repertoire includes handcrafted vases, bowls, jewelry and garden designs featuring her signature 24K gold Dragonfly decal fused into the glass.

Artist's Statement:

I have always appreciated and collected glass art pieces, in a variety of forms, from cut and stained glass, to blown glass, and to my chosen medium of kiln-fused. Soon after I took my first basic fused-

glass training, I started making glass jewelry, and gradually moved onto larger and more complex projects. As my understanding of kiln operation and material properties increased, I took additional advanced training for specialized techniques.

I design and handcraft each glass art piece in my home studio in Enumclaw, Washington. I take a tremendous amount of pride in the quality and workmanship of every item. I love creating functional fused-glass pieces, such as vases, bowls, and serving trays for the home. My other passion is garden design. I love to create garden- themed pieces like birdbaths, and a wide variety of interesting and customer-specific outdoor landscape décor.

Each item I produce includes my “signature” of a 24k gold Dragonfly decal, fused into the glass.

www.dragonflyglasscreations.com

Oct. 26th Featured Performer: Nick Stokes

"From Real to Surreal: A Reading of Short Plays Seldom Encountered"

Includes:

Toss, Catch, Fetch

Was Is Will Be, Music

Puttin' Him Down

Sing

Jacob's Rape

Have and Have Not (Or Cornucopia)

Six one-act plays by Nick Stokes never before seen in the South Sound. Ranging from funny to tragic and real to absurd, the plays will be read by an ensemble of three actors.

Age:

PG-13. Nothing graphic (sex, violence, language), but mature subject matter.

photo - Jason Ganwich

Bio:

Nick Stokes’ plays, shorter (JACOB’S RAPE, THE CHORE, AN/OTHER) and longer (DUELS, ROCK AND RIVER, DUSK,) have been seen and heard with Northwest Playwrights Alliance, 14/48 theater festival, Brownbox Theater, Arts Crush, Spark and Echo Arts, Blood Ensemble, Open Circle Theater, Probably Forgettable Productions, iDiOM Theater, and others. Artist Trust, the Tacoma Arts Commission, and Richard Hugo House have awarded him for his playwriting. His novel AFFAIR is currently in serial publication online at The Seattle Star and his short writings can be found in stray literary magazines such as Mixer, Waccamaw, Prick of the Spindle, City Arts, Word Riot, Opium, and KNOCK. Of his plays THE SOUND WE MAKE and WHITEOUT, staged in Old City Hall in 2009, the Tacoma News Tribune said, "Two great new plays from a Tacoma writer, about Tacoma issues, staged in a Tacoma landmark with great originality -- this is a show that deserves a full house, every night." He lives with his burgeoning family in Tacoma; he packs mules in the backcountry of Montana; he's virtually at nickstokes.net.

Sept 28th Featured Artist: Jaynce Sukow

Janyce Sukow is best known for her realistic renderings of wildlife, pets and nature. A highly-commissioned artist for over 3 decades and recipient of numerous awards, she also finds great joy in portraiture as well as still life paintings. Her media of choice is pastel and oils. She is dually gifted in art and music having recorded

and won several awards for her compositions, and has taught piano for almost 30 years. Art education includes University of Nebraska, Scottsdale Center for the Arts (AZ) and Portland School of Art (Maine).

Janyce has been an active member in Oil Painters of America, NW Pastel Society, Music Teachers National Assoc. and Aglow International. Her work is represented by the Proctor Art Gallery in Tacoma. She and her husband have resided in Washington State the past 25 years and are proud parents of 3 grown, gifted children.

http://www.janycesukow.com/

Sept. 28th Fall Arts and Concert Series featuring: Washington Contemporary Ballet

Founded in 1987, Washington Contemporary Ballet is dedicated to the pursuit of educating our students in the understanding and appreciation of all forms of dance.  WCB has trained more than 2000 dancers since its inception, many are enjoying professional careers in dance as performers, instructors and directors.

The Washington Contemporary Ballet School is a Non Profit 501(c)(3) organization. WCB admits students of any race, color, creed, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available at the school.

http://www.wcbdance.org/

Meet our Artists - The Eclectic Jazz Quartet

The Eclectic Jazz Quartet is playing March 30th, 7pm in the Civic Building Atrium.

The Eclectic Jazz Quartet began as a jazz workshop in University Place. Its members, Peter Adams, Osama Afifi, Brian Smith, and Andrew Sherbrooke, have individually played jazz, latin, and rock for decades, and have now come together to present a repertoire of modern and traditional jazz, featuring interpretations of standards from the American Songbook, as well as elements of Pat Metheny, Cedar Walton, and more.

Meet our Artist - Hale Bill and the Bopps

Hale Bill and the Bopps will be performing April 27th at 7pm in the Civic Atrium.

Hale Bill & the Bopps, a group that hales from and bops around the Puget Sound region, plays traditional Scandinavian dance music in mostly traditional ways, and includes some original tunes in every set. Anticipate a variety of sounds coming from fiddles (including the Norwegian hardingfele and the Swedish nyckelharpa), keyboards and voices.

Playing this night are: Leslie Foley, Irene Myers, Bill Boyd, Gina Boyd, and Mary Nelson.

Meet our Artist - Jim Sheasley

Jim Sheasley will be showing his work May 18th 7pm in the Civic Atrium.

Jim started his serious art career in the fall of 1997 when he began studying with Eric Wiegardt, a signature member of National Watercolor Society and the American Watercolor Society. Jim has also studied with Tony Couch and well as Frank Webb; both of who are former students of Edgar Whitney, another nationally known watercolor artist.

Jim has previously shown his works at the Roche Gallery in Port Townsend, and Gallery 607 in Tacoma. He has been a featured artist at the Hank Taylor Gallery in Montesano and the Steilacoom Community Center.

He is a member of the American Society of Marine Artists and the Northwest Watercolor Society. His paintings have been juried into the Puyallup Fair Art Show, Ocean Shores Art Show, Edmonds Art show, Coos Bay, Oregon Art Museum and Ventura County, California Art Museum.

Jim is considered as a contemporary realist. His venue includes such subjects as ships, lighthouses, seascapes, landscapes, architecture, flowers and portraits.

Meet our Artist - Peggy and Karla

Peggy Thorndill and Karla Epperson will be performing cello and piano music 7pm May 18th in the Civic Atrium.

Margaret (Peggy) Thorndill, cello, received her Bachelor of Music degree from Washington State University and completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in cello at California Institute of the Arts. She free-lanced in the Los Angeles area for four years prior to becoming a member of Singapore Symphony Orchestra for three years. She plays in Tacoma Symphony, is a member of Seattle String Quartet, and South Sound Trio.

Karla Epperson, piano, received her Bachelor's of Music degree from University of Puget Sound and spent her career teaching in the Olympia public schools before beginning the string program for the Bethel School District in 1994.

Karla is an accomplished vocalist and pianist as well as a cellist. She played with Tacoma Symphony Orchestra for many years. She conducts Tacoma String Symphony and String Philharmonia groups for Tacoma Youth Symphony Association, and since 2001, she has conducted the Debut and Encore orchestras for Peninsula Youth Orchestra.

Meet our Artist - Alexis St. John

Alexis St. John will be showing her work 7 pm April 27th in the Civic Atrium.

Hello. I'm Alexis. I create whimsical paintings and drawings using my
own unique characters. My intention is to drop the viewer into the
middle of a story. The art can spark imagination (especially in young
viewers) and stories emerge. Recently, I've been motivated to create
my own stories about the characters. With the book publishing industry
faltering, it seemed that high tech was the way to go. I am currently
working on several ipad games and books that feature my work.

Visit her website: www.alexisstjohn.com

Meet our Artist - Susan Massey

Susan Massey will be showing her work 7 pm March 30th in the Civic Atrium.

In 2005, Susan Massey received a Certificate in Drawing from the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle. Massey continued her studies from 2006-07 in the Drawing & Painting Atelier at Gage. Massey is an artist who works exclusively on paper, either in graphite or carbon dust. Her detailed drawings depict a deep interest in the surface and textures of objects found in nature. Massey's work possesses a stillness or quietness that is passed on to the viewer. She teaches drawing and has exhibited throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Her work can be viewed on her website: susanmasseyart.com

Come to our Fall Concert and Art Series

Come and join us for an evening of Art and Music!

Our Fall Concert and Art Series starts, Friday Sept. 30th at 7pm. All events are being held in the Civic/Library Atrium at 3609 Market Square. Admission is Free. Here is a quick schedule of events.

Sept. 30th
UP String Quartet
Artist Barry Crust

Oct. 28th
Edgar Allan Poe: The Poet's Journey
Artists Helen Hein and Anne Doumit Sparks

Nov. 18
Guitarist Andrew Sherbrooke
Artists Stacy Annon and Sally Favors

Dec. 9th
Duck the Halls Caroling Contest

See our blog for more information on the performing and visual artists.

Also Thank you to our sponsor: Skelley Piano
http://www.skelleypiano.com/

Meet the Artists - UP String Quartet

Meet the UP String Quartet performing on September 30th at 7pm in the atrium of the new Civic Building.

Rebecca Gehring, violin, teaches private violin, viola, and cello lessons in University Place. She also taught beginning strings in University Place Schools 4th grade enrichment program. She enjoys playing for weddings and other events in the community, and arranging string ensembles for her students and their friends.

Paula Westgaard has taught in the music program in the Puyallup School District for many years. She teaches in elementary school and has a junior high orchestra and an advanced high school orchestra. She is a graduate of the music program at Pacific Lutheran University.

Joel Westgaard ahs taught junior and senior high school orchestras at Curtis Jr. and Sr. for many years. His groups have traveled to many venues and have won many competitions. He has inspired many former students to follow in his footsteps in the music field.

Margaret Thorndill, cello, directs public events and University of Puget Sound. Margaret grew up in Tacoma and University Place, paying in Tacoma Youth Symphony. She graduated from Curtis High School, received her Bachelor of Music degree from Washington State University and completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in cello at California Institute of the Arts. She plays in Tacoma Symphony, is a member of Seattle String Quartet, and South Sound Trio.

Meet our artist: Helen Hein and Anne Doumit Sparks

NORTHWEST HEIRLOOMS: FOLKLORE IN FIBER

Growing up on a large cattle ranch in southwest, Washington, from one of the region’s pioneer families, Anne Doumit Sparks, M.S., M.Ed., and Helen Hein, M.A. embraced both Pacific Northwest traditions and changes. Inspired by the time-honored practice of quilting and fiber arts, nature’s themes are explored and interpreted using a multitude of fabric. By infusing the rich, gorgeous colors of native natural resources, a new fine art collection is created— “Northwest Heirlooms: Folklore in Fiber.”

View their work October 28th 7pm in the atrium of the Civic Building.