“The Crimson Monarch,” 15.5 x 15.5 ” 1/20, available during the Summer Print Sale
I have been super busy this summer finishing the body of work for Industrial Strength, a three-woman show opening at SAM Gallery on Wednesday September 13th. Something about wrapping up a set of work and being “done” just seems to lead to more ideas. I keep coming back to The Floating World as a source of inspiration, and each time I find something new. Sometimes all I see is the sky and the water, and sometimes I see the shore, the anchor and the fine tethers that keep one from floating away. The great ship the Crimson Monarch was moored beneath the Elliott Bay grain elevators a few months ago. By May it had rained for eight months and on the first sunny Sunday of the year I could not wait to get out to the waterfront with my camera. I fell madly in love with this ship and the way it faced the sun, owning the bay. I use real names in my ship portraits. If you want to kick back with a beverage that puts you in a nautical frame of mind and a pair of binoculars, you can follow the Crimson Monarch on shipspotting.com.
The area around the grain elevators is a rare convergence of nature and industry. The train tracks run just a few feet from a fenced-in meadow. In late afternoon a golden light catches the tops of the grass, and flocks of starlings and swallows sweep back and forth from the meadow to the elevators, while red poppies run wild in the paths above the shore. From the bridge you can see a full panorama of the mountain and the port and it is breathtaking. I made this other new print, “Two Icons,” from that day’s glimpse of the Pacific Northwest’s iconic landscape.
“Two Icons,” available in two sizes, 22 x 33″ and 13 x 20,” on sale through the end of August.
Here is a selection of the other prints available through the end of August at half price. From The Floating World, all of these feature water and shades of blue or green.
Summer Print Sale in my shop from now until August 31.
Iskra in the News
I am honored to have been featured in “On the Verge” in the beautiful web magazine of the Uncommon Union, in collaboration with Seattle Art Source. Photographer Ben Calhoun and designer Lauren Caron put me at ease in a way I did not expect and I actually had fun with people looking at me through a lens while I painted. I always prefer to be behind the camera, but with this crew I was easily moved out of my comfort zone into another place – and I actually used some of the paintings in finished prints later! I hope you will make a visit to the magazine and read the complete interview here. Ben took dozens of great pictures. Here are a few outtakes to give a sense of the day. All photos © Ben Calhoun.
And……coming up, please join me for the opening of the Centennial Celebration art exhibit at the Locks Third Thursday, August 17, from 6-8pm in the Administration Building (the grand old building closest to the water.) I will have two new mixed media prints in this show.
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Thank you for your support!
Iskra
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