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ColorBath Opening Reception at Taste August 9th

August 6, 2018 by Iskra Leave a Comment

El Lobo Grande tugboat print by Iskra
El Lobo Grande, limited edition archival pigment print, 48 x 24 inches © Iskra Johnson

Iskra Johnson in ColorBath

Reception Thursday August 9th, 6-7:30

at Taste Restaurant at Seattle Art Museum

1300 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101

This solo show is an immersion into color and light and the alchemy of reflection and refraction in the Pacific Northwest harbor. Preview the work at SAM Gallery.

Show continues through November 5th. Open Weds-Sun 11-5, Thurs 11-9.

Filed Under: Iskra Shows, Upcoming and Past, Recent Posts Tagged With: August art events Seattle, Colorbath, el lobo grande, Iskra shows, SAM Gallery, Taste Restaurant

Save the Date for Colorbath! Iskra at Taste | SAM

July 9, 2018 by Iskra Leave a Comment

The Harbor Iskra at Taste Restuarant at SAM
“Harbor Morning,” mixed media archival pigment print, 36 x 36″ © Iskra Johnson

Summer, finally! I’ve been immersed for months in new ways of looking at color and light, and finally what I have been seeing in my minds’ eye has unfurled in front of me. What turns a mere boat into a “vessel” is the fleeting moment of refraction. In my spring wanderings through freezing shipyards that light was not always easy to find. Often I would return home from Salmon Bay and Harbor Island with hundreds of classic northwest gray-green photographs, all cast in the steely gaze of cloudcover. Occasionally a well-honed wind would scrape the sky, leaving blue shards on the water and astonishing bits of gold. One evening iridescent swallows flew through from the bridge. Two raptors shrieked courtship from the highest masts, offering what seemed like a lovers’ benediction.

 

The Golden Rope Photography by Iskra The Wrapped Ship photograph by Iskra Composition with Sail maritime photograph by Iskra

Journal Entry: The shipyard on Sunday. Men playing guitars on derelict balconies, men riding yellow bikes, men rising shirtless and surprised from the hulls of tugboats unshaven and lurching but still afloat. The wooden planks, the seams of trees that run out into the waves parallel, almost indistinguishable. Then the five alarm fire of a red buoy hanging off the Maudie Mae and its shadow and the starburst within the shadow.

The Red Buoy Iskra PhotographyInspiration photos from Salmon Bay.

As a photo-based printmaker I start with the camera. The photograph is the diving platform. From that reality-based ledge I go into a world of improvisation, working with layers of paint to create a completely new world. Colorbath goes farther into abstraction and paint than I have gone before, and opens up exciting new directions for the future.

Please mark your calendar for Thursday August 9th and join me for a reception for Colorbath, from 6-7:30 at Taste Restaurant, Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave, Seattle, WA 98101. I will have nine new large works ranging in size from 30 x 30″ to 30 x 40″. They will be posted for preview on the SAM Gallery site and in my portfolios soon.

Blue Buoys detail Iskra at Taste“Blue Buoys” (section), © Iskra Johnson

 

Postscript:

I was a lake swimmer for years. I fell in love with my first tugboat when I was 17 and stayed up 24 hours listening to Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert while looking at rust and tires on the Duwamish. Some of the people who actually spend their lives working on boats feel the same way. If you have an hour or two to get lost at sea visit these folks at Maritime Family. All I can say is WOW.

Filed Under: Iskra Shows, Upcoming and Past, Prints, Watercolors Tagged With: Colorbath, Iskra Fine Art Shows, mixed media printmaking, SAM Gallery in August, seattle art openings, Taste Restaurant

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.

 

Iskra Studio Sink

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

* * *

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

* * *

Seattle Artist League at Galvanize 1 Night Only!

April 5th 5-8 PM

111 S. Jackson

* * *

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

Filed Under: Iskra Shows, Upcoming and Past, Photocollage, Prints Tagged With: Iskra shows, Layered, PNW Art shows, Ryan James Fine Art, Seattle Artist League, Taste Restaurant

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