ALL THAT AND A BAG OF ROCKS by artist Mary Coss is one of 16 outdoor sculptures located on First, Second and Commercial Streets in LA Conner. Eight of the sculptures are for sale, ranging in price from $1,000 (for the one pictured here) to $20,000. The sculptures will be displayed through November, 2009.

Judy is pictured here in one of three park areas on First Street overlooking Swinomish Channel. The parks provide excellent viewing of the boating activity in the Channel and are great spots to eat a relaxing lunch or dinner, or to hang out and feed the sea gulls. Behind her are the San Juan Islands to the North.

For My birthday on March 18th we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to do a day trip to LA Conner, Washington, about 60 miles north of Seattle. This small, Victorian-era town, founded in 1869, hugs the banks of the Swinomish Channel in upper Puget Sound, and is home to approximately 800 residents.

Swinomish Channel is LA Conner’s gateway to the San Juan Islands for tug boats, fishing boats and pleasure craft, and has always played a big part in the town’s history. Rainbow Bridge, the ‘Golden Gate of LA Conner’, connects the town to a small peninsula of Fidalgo Island, the reservation and community of the Swinomish Indian Tribe.

LA Conner's famous Rainbow Bridge crosses the Swinomish Channel at the South end town.

LA Conner is a tiny town - 0.5 square miles, and 0.1 square miles of that area is water! Nonetheless, it is loaded with historic buildings, galleries, museums, restaurants, inns and shops. Time seems to slow to a crawl in this quaint little village when you walk along First Street, which is where most of the action is. ‘LA Conner time’ is a welcome counterpoint to ‘Seattle Time’!

On top of that, LA Conner is nestled in some pretty spectacular scenery, and this is especially true around April, when the acres and acres of tulips, daffodils, irises and lilies are in full bloom and provide a veritable feast for the eyes.

Judy is sitting in front of the Calico Cupboard at the South end of First Street. Most of LA Conner's galleries, inns and shops are on this street.

We’ve always enjoyed our occasional trips to LA Conner, and this one was no exception. This time we visited our favorite galleries, the Museum of Northwest Art, and did the self-guided Walking Tour, an outdoor sculpture exhibition consisting of 16 pieces made from a variety of materials including granite, concrete, steel, aluminum, stone, bronze, cedar, glass, vinyl, limestone and more!

The Fire Engine pictured below is housed in the ‘LA Conner Volunteer Firefighters Museum’ (formerly the Wainwright Livery Stable) on First Street, presented to the town in 1963. This is the smallest museum I’ve never been in. In fact, no visitors are allowed inside – you view the three vintage fire engines through the front and one side window. The sign partially visible in the image below states:

This vehicle was manufactured by Ramsey & Co. of Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1850. It was the most modern firefighting unit in service at the time. Shipped around Cape Horn by sailing vessel in 1861 to San Francisco, this pumper was used during the great fire in 1906. Later it came to Olympia, WA, and then to LA Conner. After many years of yeoman service in this community, it was finally retired as a historical unit. May Its memory of nobler days linger on evermore!

The Museum of Northwest Art is currently hosting two shows:

‘FINDS REFINED’, March 14, 2009 – June 14, 2009 – Group show features 15 artists who use found matter in their work as intrinsic elements.

‘PHILLIP LEVINE SURVEY: Sculptures, Drawings, Paintings’, March 14 – June 14, 2009 – The exhibition features smaller-scale sculpture in groups that explore the human form in terms of balance, mythology, movement, and abstraction, and rarely seen drawings and paintings.

The La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum is currently hosting two shows:

‘ALL THINGS NOT QUILTED: A Look at the World of Textiles’, January 16 – March 29, 2009; includes works by local, national, & international fiber and textile artists.

‘FARM LIFE: Treasures from Pakistan and India’, January 16 – March 29, 2009, with guest curator, Patricia Stoddard.

Skagit County Historical Museum

‘HARVESTING THE LIGHT: Images of Contemporary Skagit Farm Life’, now through September 27, 2009

‘THE WAY WE PLAYED’, featuring Skagit County sports and recreation, 1880-1960, now through September 10, 2010

If you are planning a trip to LA Conner, check out this website.

On the way back to Seattle, we drove across Deception Pass Bridge, which spans a deep and wildly turbulent channel connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Saratoga Passage. The bridge is 180 feet above Deception Pass and more than a quarter mile long, and the views from the sidewalks on either side are breathtaking (literally). We then proceeded down the length of Whidbey Island, stopping off in Langley to rest and recuperate from the arduous walking we did in LA Conner. Life is tough.

"Jul 31, 1935 - The Deception Pass Bridge, and its island-hopping neighbor, the Canoe Pass Bridge, were dedicated on July 31, 1935. There aren’t many bridges in this corner of the country that do a better job of inspiring motorists to park their cars and get out for a walk over the water" Quoted from the Bellingham Herald (Note: Canoe Pass Bridge is visible in background)

Yours Truly hanging out with 'Boy and Dog' and gazing out over Saratoga Passage - (sculpture by artist Georgia Gerber was installed in First Street Park in Langley in 1986)

I’m not quite finished with the interactive sculpture I blogged about in my post on February 3rd, but I’m close. In that post, you saw a great white shark, meticulously crafted to scale in 16 gauge wire with tin fins, a jointed wooden man and his partially completed head, as pictured above.

In the photo below, I’ve remounted the chair to a temporary base the same width as the final base (shown above), to work out the placement of the crank and guide supports. The articulated shark is attached to the headless man’s arms, and I’ve removed his left leg so I can work on the cranking mechanism. The man’s head and partially completed jaws are visible at top right.

In the photo above, I’ve painted the man’s head, tongue and upper and lower jaws, and added coat-hanger mounting wires down the back of the head and out through the neck opening. I’ve since adhered the hinged jaws to the head over the exposed wire area with Golden Heavy Molding Paste and am waiting for it to dry. This rather thick application of the paste will add strength to the head and mounting wires and hold them securely in place when the head eventually bobs back and forth on the completed sculpture.

I fabricated this tin baseball cap yesterday, and now have all my components, though I have more sculpting to do where the head meets the jaws. Once I complete that, I will finish assembling my automata sculpture and post images. Stay tuned.

The Twenty-seventh Annual Letters of Joy Calligraphy Conference takes place on May 1 & 2, at Edmonds Community College, in Lynnwood, WA. This is always a fun conference and Judy and I have taught classes at lots of previous LOJ’s.

This year, Lisa Englebrecht, internationally acclaimed artist, calligrapher and instructor, will deliver the keynote lecture and teach classes. Lisa’s an amazing lettering artist, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing her vibrant work and her students’ work at various conferences over the past decade or so. She is the author of ‘Modern Mark Making – From Classic Calligraphy to Hip Hand Lettering’ and is the featured artist on a DVD titled ‘Hand Lettering on Fabric’. More info on her website.

When you sign up for the 2009 LOJ conference, your all-event package includes admittance to the trade show, slide lecture and reception Friday evening, and three 2-hr classes on Saturday plus lunch! Click Write On Calligraphers for details about LOJ.

Even if you don’t sign up for classes, you can attend the trade show, lecture and reception on Friday night for $5!

I’ll be teaching the following classes on Saturday:

TRIANGLE BOOK • 9-11 am

LETTER BOOK • 12:30 – 2:30 pm, and again from 3 – 5 pm.

Think about it - in just two hours you'll make fabulous LETTER BOOKS like these, from a pattern I provide. They're fast 'n easy, and you can send them through the mail in their own wrap-around covers.

TRIANGLE BOOKS are almost magical in the way they open and reveal and hide text. You can make them in any size, with multiple inserts, and house them in elegant (or funky!) paper portfolios. Don't be square - make TRIANGLE BOOKS in my 2-hr class!

I often design projects specifically for a workshop. I enjoy the whole process – concept, sketches, rough models and finally, making the finished samples. I explore the project in different sizes and proportions, and the possibility of hinging multiple structures together or combining units in unusual ways.

Generally, the class projects come about from playing around with materials, or from a self-imposed assignment to create a new class. My goal is to design open-ended projects with lots of possibilities. But the bottom line is that the project was basically designed for a class.

TELESCOPE BOOK class samples are visible on the Scor-it Board on the left and a tiny telescope, part of my miniature book titled 'Galileo - A Telescopic View', is displayed on the right. I made all the projects in the background quickly and accurately with my Scor-it Board.

Sometimes, often months or years later, a class project will inspire a full-blown book structure with text. Such is the case with TELESCOPE BOOK. I’d been teaching this class for some time, and one day – BINGO – I knew the telescope class project was perfect for a book structure I wanted to create.

The class project was the inspiration for a miniature book titled ‘Galileo, a Telescopic View’, in an edition of 100. The telescope is one of four components of the book structure and it’s a variation of the class project – it has four sections as opposed to three, and I’ve added a folding easel to the back so it can stand up.

Artists Jenn Pang (left) and Patricia McGovern with completed TELESCOPE BOOKS, ready for embellishment

I taught  my 3-hour TELESCOPE BOOK CLASS last Sunday as part of the Seattle Center for Book Arts series titled ‘Books that Pop, Move, and Go BOOM!’.

SCBA Mission Statement:

Our mission is to provide educational, technical, and creative resources for individuals in the pursuit of book arts. Our vision is to foster appreciation, understanding, and acceptance of the book as a contemporary art form and medium for self-expression. Our ultimate aim is to establish a facility specifically designed and equipped for bookmaking and all related art forms.

(Heads-up: Karen Vance Chickadel will teach FLAG BOOK on March 1, and Chandler O’Leary will teach JACOB’S LADDER on March 8 as part of the series).

Artists Patricia and Jenn using Scor-it boads to construct sleeves for their Telescope Books

Art Instructor Amanda Wood (left) and High School Senior Sarah Anderson with her Flexagon Card models. In this photo the cards are closed.

I’ve been teaching paper and book arts classes for sixteen years, mostly to adults, and it’s always a special privilege when I receive an invitation to teach younger artists.

On the morning of February 10th, with Lyle Lovett tunes emanating from the CD player in my PT Cruiser, I left Seattle and drove 16 miles to Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, Washington. As I walked through the door to the main entrance to the school at 7:15 am, I was greeted with a wonderful display of art work – beautiful prints on paper and tiled plaques, created by students in classes taught by Art Instructors Amanda Wood and D’arcie Beytebiere. Seeing this vibrant artwork made me happy and even more excited to meet my students. I logged in, received my visitor’s pass, and proceeded to Amanda Wood’s classroom.

This photo shows the same Flexagon cards opened.

Art Instructor Amanda Wood had received a Book Arts Grant to have me teach four classes – ‘Flexagon Cards’ and ‘Envelope Book’ to students and adults at Meadowdale High School, and ‘Fold’n Cut Books’ to two classes at Meadowdale Middle School (You can see some of the samples I made for these classes below).

Meadowdale HS artists work on Flexagon Cards in Amanda's elective art class titled 'Art Books 9-12' as Michael adjusts overhead projector in preparation for next step (photo courtesy Amanda Wood)

High school students, teachers and parents observe basic techniques at the beginning of 'Envelope Books', taught as part of Amanda's once-a-week after school Art Club class (photo courtesy Amanda Wood)

I met Amanda for the first time when I walked into her classroom to set up, and reconnected with D’arcie, who teaches right next door (we met in the mid-90’s at a workshop I taught at Coupeville Art Center). As I walked around the two art rooms, I got inspired by ceramic sculptures that light up and lots of sculptural bookworks made by Meadowdale High School students – yet another visual (and tactile!) treat!

Michael operates Alex Tindall's flexagon heart card while Julia Higbee reads the next step in her Flexagon Cards handout (photo courtesy Amanda Wood)

Meadowdale Middle School artists made several 'Fold 'n Cut Books' in the cozy art room while snow fell outside (photo courtesy Amanda Wood)

Thank you, Amanda, for having me teach at the Meadowdale schools (and for being so totally organized!). It was exciting to experience your passion for book arts and to see that making hand-made books plays such a big part in your teaching curriculum!

Michael's samples for 'Flexagon Cards' Class

Michael's samples for 'Fold 'n Cut Books' Class

One of Michael's samples for 'Envelope Books' class