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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:

[Read more…]

Iskra Spring Shows 2018

March 20, 2018 by Iskra 2 Comments

“The Spool,” archival pigment print, 22×30 and 14×20

A big thank you to everyone who came out to the opening of Industrial Pastorale at Perry and Carlson! It was a wonderful gathering of friends and family from throughout the Salish Sound. I had long conversations with many new art appreciators, some of whom I knew only by Instagram avatar. It is a lovely surprise to see the internet unfold into real life. A big thank you too to those who went home with various prints like the one above, from the Wild Color series inspired by the Anacortes Shipyard. Most of the work is collected now in a print gallery on my site, so if you cannot make it to Mt. Vernon take a look here. The show continues through April 1, Hours: Wed-Sat 11-6, Sun 12-4 and by appointment. 504 S. First Street, Mt. Vernon, WA.

To recuperate I went to the studio the next morning and cleaned out my sink. A long pause that was. Lots of scrubbing. Absolutely nothing will get stains out of a cheap plastic utility tub. I could really drag this task out. Baking soda, bleach, five kinds of scrubbies, soya solvent, the Gypsy Kings. Very helpful, I recommend doing this at least once a year.

It is going to be a very busy spring, with four shows between now and the middle of May. I hope you can stop by whatever fits your mood. Each event is an entirely different kind of scene, and I am excited to broaden my world to new communities in the Seattle and East Side.

Ryan James Fine Arts 3rd Biennial Exhibition with 50 Selected Artists

Opening April 12 5-10 PM

11905 124th Ave. NE, Kirkland 98034

Show runs from April 1 – May 31st

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Layered, Presented by the Sammamish Arts Commission

Sammamish City Hall Commons Gallery

April 23 – July 20, 2018

Artist Reception Thursday, May 24th from 6-8:00 pm

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Seattle Artist League at Galvanize 1 Night Only!

April 5th 5-8 PM

111 S. Jackson

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Vashon Studio Tour (Now called VIVA)

First Two Weeks of May, details to come

Although I have loved being in the landlocked meadowscapes of the Skagit Valley, my work for the summer show at Taste will return to the water. Think the light in August, think of that pink haze of condensed heat and rose petals, how the sun shines diffuse like thistle fluff and in the distance the sound of the ships turns the clouds blue in the bay. There may be some pink, some yellow too, definitely some very hot color. Here is a glimpse.

Tethered waterscape print by Iskra — Tethered 1, © Iskra Johnson

You Are Invited to the Opening of “Industrial Pastorale” at Perry & Carlson

February 15, 2018 by Iskra Leave a Comment

“Windscape,” © Iskra Johnson 2017, 22 x 33 limited edition pigment print

I hope to see you at Industrial Pastorale at Perry & Carlson this coming March 3rd! The early opening hour is timed to encourage people to come up to the Skagit Valley for the day, take in the landscape and visit Edison’s thriving art scene or La Conner as well.

This show explores the liminal edge between urban and rural landscape. The prints merge recent landscape photography from the Skagit Valley with urban surface to create visual narratives of rural archetype, contemplation and place. Through blends of painting, traditional printmaking and photographic techniques the work pushes digital printmaking into new territory, with images that live beyond category, as mysterious “works on paper.” The complete artist statement for this work can be read here.

There will be over 20 new limited edition prints in different sizes, ranging from 22 x 33 to 15 x 15 inches, framed and unframed. Once the show has opened I will post a complete gallery here of all the work in the series. Meanwhile, here is a glimpse of one of my favorites, inspired by the pony farm memories of my childhood.

Le Rêve du Cheval (The Horse’s Dream)

The horse dreamed in black and white
just the way they told him to
but he could not stay away
from the red barn.

One night he drank it.

From then on his dreams were in color
the way he always knew
they were supposed to be.

Industrial Silence | (And Save the Date!) #MakeAmericaCreateAgain at CoCA

March 20, 2017 by Iskra Leave a Comment

Industrial Light Photograph by Iskra Johnson — Industrial Silence, © Iskra Johnson

Industrial silence is a three part harmony of dripping rust, heavy metal and the slanting light of late afternoon. If you listen carefully you can hear walls corrugating and wire mapping a path through the milky green of ancient skylights. In the distance, there is the hum of large trucks idling, and close up the interrogating roar of generators programmed to shock a tourist out of reverie. There is always the cantor and the choir of crows and gulls, one shrieking, one mewling, and sometimes thin coils of rubber poised like snakes. Most of the written words are warnings. Wear your steel toe boots, don’t touch, don’t trespass, turn this crank to the left and then up, do not drink what is in this barrel, although I always hope somewhere in the sans serif commands I will find an anthemic “raise high the roofbeam carpenters!”

Every silence is different, but each one reminds me of the other, so as I walk through train yards and factories on Sundays when everyone is gone I also think of Berlin, [Read more…]

New Work Emerging from the Dark of November

November 29, 2016 by Iskra Leave a Comment

"Celadon" industrial waterscape by Iskra — “Celadon,” limited edition archival pigment print on canvas and paper. 40 x 40 inches.

“Surely one of the most magnificent feats of the human brain is its ability to hold past, present, future and their imagined alternatives in constant parallel, to offset the tedium of washing dishes with the chance to be simultaneously mentally in Bangkok, or in Don Draper’s bed . . . .What differentiates humans from animals is exactly this ability to step mentally outside of whatever is happening to us right now, and to assign it context and significance.”— Ruth Whippman

In the aftermath of the election I find Ruth Whipmann’s essay “Actually, Let’s Not Be in the Moment” particularly compelling. I may have company in the desire to be elsewhere, rather than in this new country that feels like an audition for the ’80’s or other even less hospitable eras, perhaps 1016 or so. I am grateful for the extraordinary lifewire of the artists, writers and activists on social media who are doubling down on beauty and various forms of creative activism. After a three-day collective bender most in my circle are back to work and on fire to make the most of every precious moment. The determination is contagious. [Read more…]

Spring Shows & Notes on Travel

Iskra Spring Shows 2018

You Are Invited to the Opening of “Industrial Pastorale” at Perry & Carlson

Industrial Silence | (And Save the Date!) #MakeAmericaCreateAgain at CoCA

New Work Emerging from the Dark of November

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