speaking of March

'Vignette II, 30x22" pencil drawing;
Kathleen Faulkner


Here we go.
Back in lockdown again.
 
I have explored my yard like never before
this year. 
I'm drawing what I see  
in my tiny bubble.
  

 

Our newest gallery

'Into the Woods'  54x38" oil pastel on paper;  Kathleen Faulkner

Occasional Gallery Presents:
 

ENVIRONS

Featuring work by Pacific Northwest Artists

Julie Alexander

Amy Bay

Carol d'Inverno 

Kathleen Faulkner

Helen Gable

Cable Griffith

Aaron Haba

Karen Hackenberg

Alfred Harris

Justyn Hegreberg

Evan Clayton Horback

David Kane

Ken Kelly

Perry Kopchak

Margy Lavelle

Steven LaRose

Fiona McGuigan

Jef Morlan

Serrah Russell

Peter Scherrer

Emily Wobb

Opening Reception April 9, 2016, 2-5pm

Open weekends and by appointment through May 8, 2016

16788 Peterson Road, Burlington, WA

360-333-4648

occasionalgallery@gmail.com

 

 

 

Here is my Excitement:

North wall, Skagit Valley College Gallery; photo: Ellen Michael

South wall, Skagit Valley College; photo: Ellen Michael

This show at Skagit Valley College is currently up now through October 30, 2015.  

I am happy to be there.  

Poster for the show;
photo:  Ellen Michael

traveling

It is an inspired journey from the west side heading east.  

We are blessed.

We have it all.

'On the West Side'  16x18" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

'Tree' 10x8" oil pastel, medium;
Kathleen Faulkner

'Tree, Too' 10x8" oil pastel, medium;
Kathleen Faulkner

'Palouse Lake' 18x16" oil pastel;
Kathleen Faulkner

Ode to the Fish

'Good Schooling' 17x17" oil pastel, charcoal;  Kathleen Faulkner

The Edison Eye Presents

FRIENDS OF FISH II

75 artists capture the spirit of fish,

it's relationship to humanity 

and the environment

April 18 - May 3

Opening reception:  April 18th 5 - 9 p.m.

The Eye is located at 5800 Cains Court, Edison, WA

A benefit show for the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

http://www.skagitfisheries.org

Next

'Into the Woods II'  24x18" oil pastel;
Kathleen Faulkner

I'm headed into the western woods.  My next show is at Simon Mace Gallery in Port Townsend, WA, entry to the largest temperate rainforest in the Continental US, home to good friends and a generally great place to have a good time. 

It has been a fortunate year for me.  I've discovered that saying yes has many benefits. 

'Into the Woods'  54.5x37.5" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

running on empty

'On the Way to Discovery Bay'  54.5x37.5" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

Back to back shows..  

I'm tired but it's worth every minute. 

If one must have an addictive personality, it's good to be addicted

 to something worthwhile.

short story

'Glimpse''  33x28"  oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

You never know what you'll find down by the water. 

One day I decided to walk down along the channel past the old rotted dock.  I had so much on my mind.   

When I finally stopped and raised my head I caught a glimpse of a moment.. 

and then it was gone.

the whole equals more

'Birds of a Feather'  11x15" linocut;  Kathleen Faulkner

Skagit Women Print
"The purpose of this project is to generate a suite of prints created by these women responding to the experience of living and creating here. In Skagit Valley, it is easy to be seduced by the incredible beauty, and overlook the intrusions of how human habitation has manipulated that beauty to suit our needs. In a part wild, part artificial landscape, the temptation is to put blinders on and only see the blue heron in flight, while ignoring the diked and dammed river. We love Skagit Valley, both the wild and the man made. This suite of prints will explore those contradictions and complex pressures through the eyes of women who live here."   Natalie Niblack

August of last year found Natalie Niblack conspiring with Jules Faye to produce a collaborative suite of prints by women artists living in Skagit Valley.  At that time,  the artists were invited to participate in this project.
Meetings were held at the beautiful Harmony Fields in the midst of the Magic Skagit.  Such a beautiful destination added to the enjoyment and inspiration of it all.
We were instructed to create an edition of 25 prints.  18 of these to be distributed among the participants so, in the end, we'd each head home with our own suite of prints.  Number one of the edition would be framed for shows.  The remaining 6 suites would be for sale.  Since we all worked independently we didn't see the other work until the last meeting.

They say that the whole equals more than the sum of it's parts. This is especially true in that each and every print is strong and can hold it's own.  We worked well as a group and the artwork created shows that.  It's going to be a great show!

The work will be on view at Anchor Art Space in Anacortes, Washington from July 11th through August 10th, 2014 and Shoreline Community College Art Gallery in Shoreline, Washington from January 5th through January 30th, 2015.  

The participants include:  Natalie Niblack, Jules Faye, Kris Molesworth, Heidi Epstein, Kathryn Glowen, Jean Behnke, Twila Tate, Theo Jonnson, Ann Reid,  Eve Deisher,  Jane Alynn, Jessica Gigot, Ellen Michael, Nicolette Harrington, Sue Roberts, Kristin Theiss, Stella Spring and myself. 

Natalie Nyblack and Ann Reid laying their editions;
photo: Kathleen Faulkner

Nicolette Harrington and Kristen Theis
laying their prints.  Natalie, Theo Jonnson
and Eve Deisher observing;
photo: Kathleen Faulkner

from left to right:  Theo, Kristen, Natalie, Nicolette, Eve and Jean
Behnke;   photo: Kathleen Faulkner

Skagit Women Artists
left to right:  Kathryn Glowen, Jane Alynn, Stella Spring, Sue Roberts,
Heidi Epstein, Kris Molesworth, Theo Jonnson, Nicolette Harrington,
Jules Faye, Jean Behnke, Natalie Niblack, Eve Deisher, Anne Reid,
Kristen Theiss, Jessica Gigot,  Ellen Michael and Twila Tate;
photo:  Kathleen Faulkner

reflection

'Pathway'  29x32"  oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

Robert passed in September, 2001.  It was a sad winter that year.  

I've always missed him most though, in April.   

April Has Turned Cold

April has turned cold.

The evening light fades through the clouds.

A string of geese calls me out

to sing a farewell, and

I wish them luck as they go from Ish River,

away out over the ocean,

long, long sweeps of rippling wings

bound for Siberia.

Their wild song they take with them, 

and leave some behind.

They leave enough so

I don't have to leave home any more.

Robert Sund

poem from SHACK MEDICINE

the hopeful season

'Another Marsh Picture'  16x34" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

Spring has arrived

and with it the sounds of love

All hail the spring!

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/p.regilla.sounds.html

one view

'View to the East'  oil pastel  24x24";  Kathleen Faulkner 

The first time I saw the sign it was Christmas and it was lit up,  shining brightly in the window.  I saw it again recently, during the day, not turned on but still shining brightly.

Sign in the window at the Lucky Dumpster
in Edison, WA

corvus marinus

'A Gulp of Cormorants'  16x34" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

The cormorants are there.  We just don't notice.  

We tend toward the herons and hawks.  We love the owls and revere the raven.  Cormorants blend in with the seagulls.  Nothing special, just some black birds hanging around. 

There is an old rotting dock at the north end of town.  The cormorants are always there.  I sometimes go to that spot to think. Knowing they'll be there brings me comfort.

Winter Solstice

'Neither Here nor There'  24x36" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner.  

Another Solstice party come and gone.   

It is the event I look forward to every year.  I have a wonderful time with old friends,  full of history,  and new friends, too.  Good food, good cheer, stories and laughter.  It's that shot in the arm that one finds helpful in the darkest hours.  

It's all downhill now.  

Diehards

'Vista'  29x32" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

It is a cold December   bitter winds from the north.  

The trees here are pretty tough   they seem to weather it all  

I hope they live forever

despite our wretched Humanity.

history

'Passage' oil pastel, charcoal,  28x33"   Kathleen Faulkner

The river glides in silence.

The night is deep, like a

  loving mother.

A silence goes back and forth

  through the marsh.

The same silence that was here

in my shack waiting for me.

  It was always here.

I was gone so long, now

the silence is so much deeper, and

  I sink down into it.

The sadness I met in the world 

  falls away from me.

One by one my dreams return.

Robert Sund  from 'Shack Medicine'

it's just over the next hill

'Hills I Have Known' 33x28" oil pastel;
Kathleen Faulkner

I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up but I never had a plan.

I still know what I want to be and I still don't really have a plan.


Even though we can't say what the future holds,
I will keep on keeping on because

I think that what I'm looking for is

just over the next hill.

remembrance

'Classic Cones'  29x33" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

What can a friend say 

good heart

gentle spirit

creative genius

sometimes the brightest light burns quickest

Tide's out

'Mudflats' 29x33" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

It's a good, long walk.  

Way in the distance, I see Refineries;  all the while I try

 to imagine how this place looked 

a few hundred years ago.  

New Tricks

Gouache  noun \'gwash\  A method of painting with opaque watercolors. 

I was fortunate to be able to take a week long gouache workshop at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington through Gage Art Academy.  I was familiar with the instructor, Karen Hackenberg's work and was really looking forward to the week.  I was not let down.  

Karen is a fabulous instructor, patient and precise with excellent communication skills.  She is also a master at gouache.  I learned more than I had hoped. 

  

Maybe the best part of the adventure was the time created for painting.  I am a working artist but the days usually get interrupted by the business of living.  Rarely do I have a long day (let alone week) to devote exclusively to painting.  

#1 test: rubber faucet thing.   This was about the paint,
how it handled and the exciting discovery that it really
could cover itself. It reminded me of painting with
oil except that the paint would dry within a minute.
Kathleen Faulkner

#2 test: broken plastic fish pen.  The goals were a smooth background
and the look of plastic.  With gouache, one can go back and
fix problems such as a couple that I can see above.
Kathleen Faulkner

#3 test: plastic easter egg dye bottle with water.  
I wanted to master the little devil and that tricky
shadow.  It was a struggle.  I also practiced spatter
as a background effect.
Kathleen Faulkner

'It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.'

Henry David Thoreau