Iskra Fine Art

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New Architectural Abstractions: The Scaffold Series

June 5, 2019 by Iskra Leave a Comment

"Cloud Scaffold" print by Iskra Fine Art
“Cloud Scaffold,” Limited edition print.

Today I am excited to show some new additions to the Scaffold series. At construction sites I am always drawn to the scaffolding around buildings. I am fascinated by their diagrammatic quality, and the way they point to geometric systems in simultaneous plan view and elevation. They layer a grid of abstraction over the landscape of the built environment, with infinite variation. They are both a structure and a space: mostly space, enclosed by tenuous lines that can hold up a fleet of construction workers or a wall or the hull of a ship on shore. They are filigree and lattice, ornament and infrastructure.

"Sari Scaffold" print by Iskra
“Sari Scaffold,” limited edition print

When construction projects are draped in tarps it is like a huge theater project. The massive fabric becomes an archetype of the feminine, laying an atmosphere of mystery and sensuality over the hard grid. As I worked on “Sari Scaffold” it began to resemble the silk threads of a sari.

"Night Scaffold," print by Iskra
“Night Scaffold,” limited edition print

What I love about the scaffold theme is not just its abstract qualities, but its metaphors. If you build anything, whether it’s a house or a life, you need a structure to hold it up as you go. The structure can be a set of words, a song, a belief, or a beam you actually stand on while you reach. Sometimes the scaffold is simply a question. What if I walk out on the edge? What if I fall? And what will I see as I grab the rope and hang out in space seeing things I would never see any other way?

 

The Fifth Step print by Iskra
“The Fifth Step,” limited edition print

You could say the stair is the birth of the scaffold. This particular stair lived for about a year behind the opera house as it was being demolitioned and rebuilt. One day it disappeared – or perhaps it gave birth to a latticework of stairs that reach to the sky. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Digital Collage, Prints Tagged With: abstract art prints, architectural abstraction, Aurora Bridge repair project, iskra fine art prints, scaffolding art, social media coaching for artists

Spring Shows & Notes on Travel

April 21, 2019 by Iskra 1 Comment

Travel Quote Airports by Iskra
Lost in dreams at the airport…..

Lots going on this spring! This post will share updates about spring shows, new work, and some notes on my recent trip to New York. Many pictures, so you may want to view in your browser if you receive posts via email.

The annual Garden Show at Whidbey Island’s Museo is lovely, and runs through April 28th. Open 11-5 Wednesday through Monday and Tuesdays by appointment. Sundays open 12-5. Shown here, Magnolia Eva, a mixed media print in a limited edition of 5.

 

Museo Garden show Iskra
Museo Garden show in Langley on Whidbey Island

Opening Saturday May 4th is The Arty Party, in the Barrel Room Gallery at Domanico Cellars. 5-9. 825 NW 63rd St. Ballard 98105. I will be one of 18 artists showing a collection of work meant to move you and move from the wall to your home: all work will be under $500 (!). The Barrel Room is a wonderful alternative gallery space on the ungentrified edge of Ballard. In the gallery Nancy Stentz and David Harto create an ambiance of elegance and fun. Visit the art, have a glass of wine, go out in the courtyard and talk motor parts or gardens with the eclectic mix of patrons. This should be a great party, just in case you were in need of one.

 

The Arty Party at the Barrel Room Gallery

On to New York:

Armory Show NYC

It has been a long winter of taking care of family matters and navigating the chop wood carry water part of life. As I’ve watched Absolutely Everybody on Social Media fly to exotic locales several times a year I’ve wondered if I would ever leave my zipcode or die from voyeurism. Late in February an email came in on Friday afternoon offering me tickets to The Art on Paper Show. A quick search showed that the Armory Show was running that same weekend.

New York! Now! Please! Best impluse I’ve had in a long time. The trip was a head-spinning five-day whirlwind, too much to fully describe, but I would like to share a few highlights of work that affected me and glimpses of my architecture journal of the streets. (If you are a true patron of the arts you are welcome to take me out to a bar and we can scroll through the 782 pictures on my phone: I’ll tell you everything.)

I voted New York City the Least Likely Place to Feel Lonely within minutes of my first visit 30 years ago. But on this trip I brought with me The Lonely City, Adventures in The Art of Being Alone, by Olivia Laing. I bought it on impulse, taken by the title and the cover image of water towers, and only on the plane did I discover that it held secrets to the life and work of Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper, Henry Darger and other artists of the edge of the dark. As a designer I had long been a fan of Warhol’s line drawings, but his serigraphs left [Read more…]

Filed Under: Architecture & Sense of Place, Art Reviews, Digital Collage, Iskra Shows, Upcoming and Past, Photocollage Tagged With: art blogger, Iskra Shows spring 2019, museo gallery, New York Armory 2019, Rebecca Solnit quotes, Sarah Entwistle, Seattle Art Source, Signs and Symbols Gallery, The Art on Paper Show 2019, The Arty Party

Artists I Love: Wendy Orville Upcoming at Davidson Galleries!

March 16, 2019 by Iskra Leave a Comment

Refelected Poplar by WendyOrville
“Reflected Poplar,” ©Wendy Orville

If you appreciate fine landscape and monoprint I strongly urge you to put Wendy Orville’s upcoming solo show at Davidson Galleries on your calendar (and get on the preview list!). I first saw Orville’s work on a tiny postcard 15 or 20 years ago. I kept the card on my refrigerator for a decade, and became an instant follower, when there were very few opportunities to see her work. Now, fortunately, she has found the perfect home in Seattle’s Davidson Galleries, and next month you can see nearly 40 pieces of her newest landscapes in one place.

To call this work “landscape” is a misnomer. More apt would be “astonishing events of ink and erasure.” These incandescent monoprints have a sense of atmosphere that takes my breath away. From a distance the flawless gradations of value look photographic. As one comes near the surface dissolves into exquisitely subtle marks and layers of ink that exist purely as abstraction. This is mastery. I adore Orville’s work both as a printmaker (who knows just how difficult this kind of work is to do!) and as a collector. The cloud-scape that lives in my house lights up the room, a reminder of what presence looks like.

Fallen Tree by Wendy Orville
“Fallen Tree” ©Wendy Orville

 

Sitka Monoprint by Wendy Orville
“Sitka” ©Wendy Orville

I should caution you that if you are interested in this work it will likely go very fast. I had fallen in love with numerous prints from Orville’s last show and did not have the luxury of choice, as they were snapped up by collectors well before the opening. Perhaps I will see you at the preview!

An occasional feature from Iskra Fine Art: Artists I Love. Encouraging you to love art, support artists, and build the collector community.

Filed Under: Art Reviews, Living With Art Tagged With: artistsI love, Davidson Galleries, monoprints, spring art openings Seattle, Wendy Orville

Snow Day Gleanings from the Studio

February 10, 2019 by Iskra 2 Comments

In the Studio Iskra

 

As the snow falls it is putting me in a thinking space. Much as I make fun of Marie Kondo it may not be such a bad idea in the erasing whiteness and silence of winter to sort the collected stacks and stacks of paper, to hold each image and ask in one’s own way, do you bring me joy or anxiety or curiosity and would I miss you if you were gone?

I work on paper. Lots of paper. As a calligrapher I may make one mark hundreds of times, each one on a different piece of paper. In the drifts, in the light from the eastern window, the pages seem simply to melt into the snow. Some fragments have a secret worth asking about. They go in new stacks.

 

 Time And Numbers Iskra

 

On frozen pond Iskra

 

Type Type Iskra

 

Drawing

 

Bowl drawing iskra

 

Vessels symbol study by Iskra

 

Boater and Sower icons Iskra

 

“Symbols by themselves do not unlock the door. It is when there is a shadow in the door, some ambiguity, that symbol becomes image.”– Journal Entry, 1997

 

Form Study Pine Cone by Iskra

 

Pine Needle Drawing by Iskra

 

Pine Form Study by Iskra

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Drawing, Iskra Sketchbooks & Journals, Photography Tagged With: gleanings, Ink painting, iskra studio, Marie Kondo, seattle snowpocalypse, thinking space

Invitation to Museo Gallery’s “Playlist” Show

January 23, 2019 by Iskra Leave a Comment

Listening to Bill Frisell print by Iskra
“The Break, 1/5” © Iskra Johnson 26 x 34 archival pigment print on German Etching.

Museo Gallery on Whidbey Island opens its first exhibit for the new year, “Museo’s Playlist” on Saturday night, February 2 from 5-7. The show continues through February 24th and will include a wide range of interpretations from the gallery artists. The invitation to submit work on the theme of music sent me back a few years to a moment that I have never forgotten, the debut of Bill Frisell’s “Big Sur”at Earshot Jazz. I came home from that performance transformed, and did a series of work called “Listening with an Innocent Ear,” in response. The series of work started with one charcoal drawing in black and white, deconstructed and transformed into color, much as music transforms one’s mood. “The Break” is about the moment when a jazz riff goes into uncharted territory.

When I revisited the work to refine, print and frame for the show I realized I wanted to go back to this theme, and have begun a new exploration of both the original compositions and some completely new ideas based on calligraphic ink drawing. I am super excited about the new directions, and urge you to visit me at Instagram to see the process evolve. Here is a variation on the original, and a glimpse of what’s ahead.

Intersection Music Print by Iskra
“Intersection, 1/5” © Iskra Johnson, archival pigment print on German Etching.
Iskra Ink Painting to Music
Improvisation Number 7, Ink on Paper

See process videos at #ink stories. My hand-held video skills may improve with a dive into some apps and hardware, coming soon. Meanwhile the main apps are my ears and my hands.

Filed Under: Iskra Shows, Upcoming and Past, Music Tagged With: Art about music, calligraphic painting, Iskra Ink Painting, Iskra shows, Langley, listening with an innocent ear, Museo Gallery 2019, Whidbey Island

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Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to receive show announcements, first peek at new work and my semi-monthly blog by email. I primarily use the blog for news and updates but by signing up you will also receive the occasional newsletter and special offers for items in my shop.

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Instagram post 2198113025205017025_1682569995 “The Brighter Day.” No.2 in this very small edition of 3 has just found a home in a collection through @museolangley (Thankyou!). Only one is left, available through first link in bio. I have been reading Pam Houston’s latest book #DeepCreek, and there is a passage in it about writing that is exactly how this piece was created. It’s a long excerpt, but worth it:
“ I have always believed that if I pay strict attention while I am out in the physical — and that for me often means the natural world — the physical world will give me everything I need to tell my stories. As I move through my day, I wait to feel something I call a glimmer, a vibration, a little charge of resonance that says, “Hey writer, look over here.” I feel it deep in my chest, this buzzing that lets me know the thing I am seeing/hearing/smelling on the outside is going to help me lock some part of a story I have on the inside. I keep an on going record of these glimmers, writing down not my interpretation of them, not my imagined connection to them, not an emotional contextualization of them, but just the thing itself. . . . When I have some time to write, I read through the glimmer files on my computer and try to find a handful that seem like they will stick together, that when placed in proximity with one another will create a kind of electricity.” I recommend her book, by the way, good winter reading while being indoors next to a fire.
Instagram post 2196819254605750083_1682569995 I am honored to be part of @arcade_nw ‘s latest issue of Arcade Magazine! The theme is “Liminal Space” which is pretty much the house I live in. Available at @petermillerbooks and many other bookstores. Check out their page to see what’s going on in Seattle architecture and design thinking.
Instagram post 2196168705874965274_1682569995 Industrial Rorschach: If the on-site psychologist was to open his briefcase and show you this card and ask you what it meant you would say:

1) Textural Carpet made by Berber weavers sampling Cy Twombly and S&P histogram.  2) Pandora’s Box  3) The third movement of Brahms’ Concerto for Late Stage Capitalism.  4) A mostly neutrally colored Square containing Grief which remains obstinately blue and unprintable (out of gamut) as are most intense emotions
Instagram post 2194492950900180841_1682569995 A large travel piece, 24x36, for the discriminating trucking company that sees the beauty in grime. I can’t seem to get over trucks. I remember shouting out to them on road trips when I was 6. My mother had married a new man who was a gambler, and they would drive all night to Las Vegas. For me, day dreaming in the back seat, the trucks made it all worthwhile.
Instagram post 2193017376281226308_1682569995 The Travelers Suite of 8 new prints is in my shop today, first link in bio. Postcards from the edge, between stillness and motion. This one is called “The Journey Through.” 16x12” image on a 22x17 sheet of German Etching rag paper.
Instagram post 2191258353097851975_1682569995 Please Come Back Before I Forget You. (Coast Starlight Journey)

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