The Colorful, Sweet Art of Traci Bixby

Kenmore's Traci Bixby can barely remember a time without crayons or some other drawing instrument in her hand.  Some of her earliest memories are coloring at her little bedroom table with her mom and dad.


Drawing and coloring continued through her school years, and took her to Seattle's School of Visual Concepts.  SVC began in 1971, at which experts in the field do the teaching.  These experts had a huge positive effect on Traci, who studied there for four years.  She says " I took everything from figure drawing to pastel, oil painting to color theory. But when I took the watercolor class, my heart just soared. I had found my medium."

Moonlight Picnic

Traci's paintings have an illustrative approach, and seem to lend themselves to telling a story.  She tries to capture the images and feelings she sees in her head and her heart.  According to Traci, "sometimes I'm overwhelmed with those images and feelings and the best way to express them is through my paintings."  Her most successful works lead viewers to dive in and participate in the story, adding their own imagination to it.  

Studio Set-up: easel, light, laptop, straight edge,
and color options

Sweet 16

Traci finds herself surrounded by inspiration on a daily basis.  She's always got her sketchpad at the ready, waiting for that vision to appear so she can capture it.  But rather than simply drawing a scene, Traci draws how the scene feels, taking it into a whole new realm of emotional value.  When asked about her sources of inspiration, Traci said "Inspiration can be as simple as sitting in my car on the darkest of gray Seattle days and a woman will walk across my path with a bright red coat and yellow umbrella. All I see are shapes and colors. It's the contrast of that one moment in time that inspires me."

Traci at the drawing board, at the table seen
in the image above in her studio

Magnolia

One of my personal favorite pieces of Traci's was, she says, inspired by a visit to Seattle's Discovery Park - a favorite place of mine to visit.  The many magnolia trees there inspired Traci to paint this work, with the view of the water in the background.  This card has words on it, with the front saying "Wish Upon A Star and..." inside it says "Dream Big Dreams."  If you've ever visited Discovery Park, and been awed by the trees, the water and the mountains beyond, it truly lends itself to dreaming big dreams!


Meet Traci in person on Thursday, June 21, from 5 - 8 pm!  She'll bring along her paint and paper and do a demonstration for us, too.  You can purchase prints and greeting cards, and perhaps some other little lovelies, too.  And if you can't make it, find her cards on hand at the gallery any time!


Hope to see you,
Manya Vee


ManyaVeeSelects.com

 

Emily Hickman's Timeless Hammered Silver Jewelry

Sometimes, an inclination toward something takes hold very early in life.  For Emily Hickman, jewelry was just such a thing.  Picture it if you will: little Emily, forming rings out of aluminum foil, and trying to figure out how to make them even shinier by adding rhinestones!  I bet you can just see a cute little blonde girl walking around, proudly holding out her hand for all to see her gorgeous "diamond" ring!

"Moondrops" bracelet from
new 2011 summer collection

Emily was lucky enough to have a metals program in her high school, where she took classes and got her first taste of using a torch and working with metals a little more precious than aluminum foil.

But as happens with so many, she believed the starving artist myth and felt she had to pursue a career with a stable paycheck.  Many dreary years later, and now in her 50s, she returned to her first love by taking jewelry-making classes at North Seattle Community College, and Danaca Designs in the U District.  As she describes it, "I had too many design ideas floating around in my head."  Apparently, they wouldn't be ignored!

Emily Hickman Designs

Emily took as many classes as possible, while maintaining a full-time job.  She wanted to get her skills down quickly so she could focus on making those designs floating around in her head become a reality.

And thus, Emily Hickman Designs was born!  Emily is inspired by her love of the water, as well as ancient hand-forged jewelry.  Simple yet classic shapes are the hallmark of her sterling silver jewelry.  What sets her work apart from the crowd is her use of various hammer tips to create different textures on the surface of the silver.

Earrings from 2011 collection

She also likes to use two different finishes.  One is a highly polished surface that glistens and dances in the light.  The other is a brushed finish that is very subtle and contemporary.  She created the tool she uses to make that brushed surface texture, so it is unlike others out there.  Whatever your personal style, Emily's classic designs is likely to have some choices for you.

Emily can't imagine leaving the house without some jewelry on.  She wanted her own jewelry to be the kind that a woman could wear with jeans, or feel confident wearing to a special event as well.  Her classic shapes with their wonderful textures achieve that goal brilliantly!

Very long necklace can be worn singly, doubly,
or even tripled

Please join us Thursday, July 21 from 5 - 8 pm when Emily will introduce her newest collection, which features open circles and coin-shaped silver elements in a variety of combinations, as seen in the pictures here.  You'll be the first to ever see them!  Wearing them is sure to elicit comments from your friends, and even complete strangers, giving you yet another opportunity to share a moment of beauty with the world.

Manya Vee
www.ManyaVeeSelects.com

I'm a fairy godmother?

Yesterday, an artist came into the gallery to say hello.  Cheryl Waale paints lovely impressionist paintings inspired by nature, with lots of texture and intense colors.  Several years ago, she submitted an application to our Third Thursday Art Walk.  It was near the beginning of her career as an artist, as she had recently left behind the hectic and soul-killing life of the corporate world.

She was quite flabbergasted when first one, then two, and then more and more of her paintings were sold to Edmonds Art Patrons.  She found a home at the downtown Edmonds shop Housewares, where you can still see and purchase her paintings. 

Just recently, she decided to submit a proposal to the Edmonds Mural Society to see if perhaps her work might be chosen to be one of the 5 murals they plan to mount this coming summer on the many blank walls of downtown Edmonds.  And much to her amazement, her proposal was indeed selected.

Stunned at this exciting turn of events for her, Cheryl reflected on her growing career as a fine artist and asked me if we ever felt like the fairy godmother of artists, because of all the emerging artists we've nurtured over the years as the founders and directors of the Third Thursday Art Walk, now in its 9th year.  She told me about the April 15 Art Walk, which she was attending as a patron.  A visit to Bluefish Designs, an Art Walk participant, had another emerging artist showing colorful and whimsical paintings of cats.  This artist, Fran Downs, had just sold one of her paintings.  In fact, Fran had told me of this exciting sale.  What Cheryl added to the mix was that this was the very first painting of Fran's to sell!  The sale of an artist's first piece is one that remains in their memory forever.

On that same April 15 Art Walk, we got to hear about the two photographs sold at the Resident Cheesemonger by Finn Gaaras.  And Howard Frank came by to thank us because he sold one of his impressionist landscapes while being hosted by Edward Jones Financial Services.

And not least, Joel Patience has found great satisfaction and joy over the success of a painting career that began as art therapy following two car accidents.  After nearly a year of encouraging him to participate in the Edmonds Third Thursday Art Walk, he finally took a deep breath and dove in.  Since that time, his art career has flourished with many paintings sold, a recent TV exposure and news story, and one of his paintings chosen to be the cover of the Daniel Smith Art Supplies catalog.  He regularly comes into the gallery to thank us for believing in him and his art.

It is both exciting and humbling to hear about how these artists are encouraged to get back into their studios and continue painting - all because they took that scary step of putting their work in front of our Edmonds art patrons, and sold something!  Art requires an energetic exchange between the artist and the patron.  What more wonderful result can be had when those two things come together!  The artist continues to grow and expand.  The art patron continues to evolve in their tastes and exposure to a wide variety of art.  It's truly wonderful!

I feel so happy and honored to be the fairy godmother of all those artists!

Now, where's my wand...

Manya

My Head's Exploding! (counting noses)

I just got asked why we count Art Walk exhibitions instead of artists.  Actually, we count both but, yes, we put greater emphasis on the number of exhibitions achieved each year.

Why?

Well, simply put, each time an exhibition takes place, that means, yes, that an artist has been juried in to display her works.  That also means that a downtown Edmonds merchant has willingly agreed to provide the exhibition space for free and to pay for the advertising.  (Usually they cough up the dough for appetizers and drinks, too.)  All this, at no cost to the artist.

That's why so many art walks ultimately fail.  The merchants just get worn out.  They get tired of providing all that for free, month after month.

Not our Art Walk, though!  Last year 497 exhibitions took place.  That means, 497 times, a merchant put up the cash to make that exhibition possible.  Why would they do that?  Well - and I think that this is the true secret of our Art Walk's success - the merchants put up the cash because they believe that investing in the Art Walk will increase traffic to their store.

To some that might sound mercenary.  Not to me.  Manya and I've always demanded that when it came to our Art Walk, we're only interested in win-win scenarios.  We chuck anything else.  If it's not simultaneously a win for the artist and a win for the merchant, we won't do it.  And, since the Edmonds Art Walk is in its ninth year, I suppose that's been the right decision to make.

Final thought:  This was pointed by a friend yesterday.  We did almost 500 exhibitions last year.  We did almost 250 exhibitions in 2007.  You know what that means, right?

Yep!  The Edmonds Third Thursday Art Walk doubled in size these last two years.

(Yikes!)

--Jeff

My Head's Exploding! (Art Walk exhibitions)

Anybody remember the first Art Walk?  Nine years ago?

Legend has it that we began, after much hand-wringing and nervous sweating (but not by me, of course), that first fateful evening almost a decade ago with five exhibitions.  (Or was it eight?  Nobody can remember.)  And we felt downright lucky to get 'em, too!

Clearly the Art Walk has grown a bit.  I've been going over the stats for the Edmonds Art Walk and, while I suspected the figures impressive, I never thought I'd see something like this!

Last year, 2009, alone, saw 497 art exhibitions and live music performances during the Art Walk!  (Well over 600 artists, musicians and authors were featured!)  What were the favorites?  Well, as you might expect, among the top five media are mixed media paintings and acrylic paintings and color photography.  Then, too, you also find oil paintings and watercolors, as well.

What else shows up at the top?  Mixed media (including group exhibitions).  Also jewelry and, surprisingly, fabric/textiles.  How about that, eh?

How does 2009 compare with previous years?  You guessed it!  The Art Walk is growing bigger every year!
Here's the breakdown, below. 
2010:  112 exhibitions (so far)
2009:  497 exhibitions
2008:  316 exhibitions
2007:  242 exhibitions
2006:  12 exhibitions (the first year we began recording stats)

I know what you're thinking.  (In fact, I can hear Bonnie H right now:  "Jeff, you fathead!  You only began recording stats in 2006!?  What were you thinking?!")  Well, the truth is that we honestly didn't expect the Art Walk to grow so large when we first began it.  In fact, we figured it would sputter on for a couple of years and, then, like most art walks, run out of gas.

Clearly, Edmonds' Art Walk has not!

--Jeff

What's Next?

Yes, let the work begin!  (Or is that: Let the work continue?)

From a wee gallery featuring Manya's jewelry designs, to an Art Walk that grew to be one of the largest in the state, to the newly celebrated Mural Society, to my latest, most artistically ambitious play: Teacup Tipsy (my fourteenth produced!).  That's an awful lot in just ten years.

What's next?  If anyone had told me a decade ago that our lives would be so full, I would have dismissed him as a crank.  For, I know that when you look at Manya today, you see the sober, responsible, arts leader.  Nevertheless, I can safely assure you that the Manya we all know today bears little resemblance to the girl I met in Asia twenty years ago.  Indeed, that winsome lass was equal parts reckless hellion and effervescent party girl.  Hardly the type we would expect to sprightly jump through all those logistical hoops, smilingly endure the seemingly endless committee meetings, patiently harmonize all those clashing tempers, or tirelessly rally the troops to the cause again and again and again; in short, all the ingredients needed to found, say, an Art Walk of acclaim.

Still, we did that.  We do that.  How?  Why?  I know that part of the answer is the public service bone that I inherited from my mother.  Yet, sometimes I have to scratch my head and wonder.  There's no luster in it.  And there certainly isn't any lucre.  And, yes, there are those moments in the hard times, during the darkest hours of the night when I wake thinking, "I can't go on."  

More fundamentally, though, I know why we do it: You.  That's why we do it.  That's why we keep working hard to help build this art scene in Edmonds.  Some things we do for you, that's true.  But I always love it most when we get to do them with you.  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than a delightful conversation at the gallery about some aspect of the growing, fertile arts scene with someone who truly cares.

Let this blog serve as a new clearinghouse for shared ideas.  Let it become a beacon of inspiration on those dark nights.  Let it become a central focusing point as we all move forward mounting those five murals next summer, celebrating the Art Walk's ninth year, and watching the summer exhibitions top fifty artists on that evening each month.

And whatever comes next, we'll do it together.

--Jeff