Journey

'Journey' 18x24" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

Friends Make Us Fuller

Friends make us fuller. When friends leave, their light stays behind. It is like the blue sea that supports the white breakers that come and go. No matter how far I go I long to return and be with friends. It is never the same fire I left, but beneath it are the ashes of all our meetings that have gone before.

~Robert Sund

mud pies

'Indian Slough' 16x20" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

Slough

noun

1.

an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or 

swamp like region.

2.

a hole full of mire, as in a road.

3.

Also, slew, slue. Northern U.S. and Canadian. a marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, 

or the like.

4.

a condition of degradation, despair, 

or helplessness.*

*Webster:  number 4 doesn't work for me.  I'll change that to 'a condition of glorious mud teeming with life; the thought of which can give one comfort and hope.'

Dance

'drift, flit, quiver, shiver'  9x9" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

The Edison Eye proudly presents

'DANCE'

July 19 - August 3, 2014

Opening Reception July 19, 5pm - 8pm

Gallery hours:  friday through sunday

noon - 5pm  

or by appointment:  360-766-6276

edisoneye@wavecable.com

100 works of art by 100 artists

Come share with us the exhilaration and joy of dance.

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

it's the little things

'Edison Field' 36x24" oil pastel on board;
Kathleen Faulkner

I overcommitted this year.  How does one say no to such wonderful opportunities? 

Walking around the valley clears my head.  Those little breaks..   help me when I return home to work.  

There is a lot to do but I will keep at it.  I always feel good when I've completed work that has been a challenge.  I'm already feeling good about it all.

The first project is done.  I find myself walking around in circles with a smile on my face.

land of wild

'Fallow Field' 18x24" oil pastel on board;   Kathleen Faulkner

The field is at the end of the road;  beyond that, the Skagit river.
I've only been to this field a few times.
Once it was covered in river water.   Another time the water between the rows had frozen.
This last time it was a soft, slight green.
The field has a wildness about it despite having been altered by man.   It is something hard to explain.
Once I smelled the Salish sea there.

Some places have that wild energy yet live so close to home: all along the edges of Fir Island, the slough through Edison, the rotten dock at the north end of town.

Later I'll walk up to Cranberry Lake nestled in the midst of the Anacortes Forest Lands nestled in the midst of town.

half light

'The Gloaming'  18x24" oil pastel on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

The Plowboy

After the last red sunset glimmer,

Black on the line of a low hill rise,

Formed into moving shadows, I saw

A plowboy and two horses lined against the gray,

Plowing in the dusk the last furrow.

The turf had a gleam of brown,

And a smell of soil was in the air,

And, cool and moist, a haze of April.

I shall remember you long,

Plowboy and horses against the sky in shadow.

I shall remember you and the picture

You made for me,

Turning the turf in the dusk

And haze of an April gloaming.

Carl Sandburg

down in the valley

'Along Best Road' 24x36" oil pastel on panel;  Kathleen Faulkner

It is tulip season in the valley.  

Flocks of humans in cars come from everywhere to see the brilliant colors. 

This is when the locals stay home.  

The last time I saw these poplars was in March.  It was a cold northwest day;  the daffodils were just coming on.  

This is the image I'll probably have in my mind until May.

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

good things come to those who wait

In October of 2011 I received an invitation to be included in the book originally titled '100 Northwest Artists'.  

It took a little longer than we all thought but now the project is complete and, in celebration, Karla Matzke is having a book signing during the opening and party at her beautiful gallery on Camano Island, Washington.  I am thrilled to be included in this book and show.

Mailer for the show by Karla Matzke

Matzke Fine Art Gallery and Sculpture Park

presents

25 of the "100 Northwest Artists" Art Show

Karla Matzke is the co-author of a beautifully illustrated book featuring 100 Northwest artist’s works and is available at the gallery.  

You are invited to the 

book signing at the  

Opening Party & Potluck

Saturday, March 1st, 4 to 9pm 

The show continues thru April 13th.

The book “100 Northwest Artists” and the twenty five artists showing, represent the artistic vibrancy of the Northwest region of the United States. The states of Oregon and Washington are rich with artists, having become vital art scenes in the past several decades. Using sculpture, glass, oil, clay, wood, and other contemporary mediums, as well as paint, these 21st century artists combine, redesign, and transform their materials into pieces of works that change the way we perceive both the regions of the Northwest and the world. This show is a wonderful resource for lovers of all art mediums.

Artists:

Sabah Al-Dhaher (Seattle), Liana Bennett (Bothell), Brian Berman (Bainbridge), Lance Carleton (Lake Stevens), Shirley Erickson (Bellingham), Kathleen Faulkner (Anacortes), Aaron Haba (Camano Island)

Karen Hackenberg (Port Townsend), Phillip Levine (Burien), James Madison (Tulalip), Karla Matzke (Camano Island), Lin Mcjunkin (Conway), Merrilee Moore (Seattle), Richard Nash (Oak Harbor), Peregrine O'Gormley (La Conner), Doug Randall (Portland), Debbi Rhodes (Camano Island), David Ridgway (Bellingham), Sue Roberts (Guemes Island), Ethan Stern (Seattle), Donna Watson (Camano Island), and Bill Wentworth (Poulsbo) 

Mailer for the show (back) by Karla Matzke

Book Cover

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.

Louder than Words

'Stick' pin 3.5x1" sterling silver,
gouache, paper, mica;
Kathleen Faulkner

Remember the old adage: 

'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me'.

True courage consists in doing what is right, despite the jeers and sneers of our companions.     

Christian Recorder, March 1862

'Volcano'  18-20' chain 2- 2.25" discs,
sterling silver, gouache, paper,  glass lenses;
Kathleen Faulkner



'Louder than Words'

BooM!

'Volcano' necklace 18-20" chain 2-2.5" discs,
sterling silver, gouache, paper, glass lenses
Kathleen Faulkner

It's almost a new year.

Although the days now will be getting longer, they're not there yet.  

Heavy rain, short days make for some good pondering.

Career:  I have a plan.  My new year is already full.  It is what I've wanted.

Personal:  I also have a plan.  I'm breaking loops.  It feels good.  

Resolution:  be kinder.

“I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of 'em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures.”
― Gary Snyder

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.  

We're all friends here

'Island Residents' 18x24" oil pastel on panel;  Kathleen Faulkner
Donation to 'Friends of the Forest'

There is a trio of evergreens in a place I know.  I go there to study them and take photographs now and then.  They grow and, hopefully, I grow, too.

I have finished two paintings of these trees and have put away another unfinished that I need to not look at for awhile.  The first, 'Dancing Trees',  is oil pastel on paper under glass.  This one, 'Island Residents',  is fixed oil pastel on panel and will be framed without glass.  I have donated it to 'Friends of the Forest' for their 2013 Annual Auction.

We are blessed in this community with a substantial forest area called the Anacortes Community Forest Lands.  Friends of the Forest's mission is to preserve the Forest Lands through education, outreach and stewardship.  I am honored to be this years featured artist.

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

Summer fun

My Solo show, 'North by Northwest' is coming up,

My paintings will be on view at Island Gallery in Winslow, WA on Bainbridge Island for the month of August..  The opening is this First Friday, August 2nd from 6 till 8pm.  I've included some of the pieces in this show below:

'New Growth' 18x24" oil and soft pastel, charcoal on board;
Kathleen Faulkner

'South Beach' 12x12" oil pastel on board;
Kathleen Faulkner

'Burrow's Bay' 12x12"  oil pastel on board;
Kathleen Faulkner

'

'Ika Island' 24x18"  oil pastel on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

'Looking East' 16x20" oil pastel on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

'The View' from Above'  24x18" oil pastel
on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

If you are in the area, also stop by the newly opened Bainbridge Island Museum of Art  and see my jewelry as part of the 'First Light' exhibition on view through September, 2013.  It is a beautiful show and a beautiful museum. 

The Meaning of Wood

I have three pieces in the group show, "The Meaning of Wood' at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington.  This show runs from July 22nd to August 21st, 2013. 

Some interesting work is in this show and it looks to be quite wonderful.  If you're down in that area I hope you can stop in and see it.  If not, you can view the show here.

You can read the curator's statement here.

'Afterlife' oil and soft pastel, charcoal
on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

'Family Affair' oil and soft pastel, charcoal
on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

'The Wood Poets' oil and soft pastel, charcoal
on board;  Kathleen Faulkner

and the livin is easy

'Looking East' 16x20" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

In this part of the world, winter is long and the summer short.  

Sunday, the last day of June, 2013.  It is summer and I mean it.  Last week South Beach looked like it's picture, but not anymore.

There is not a cloud in the sky, the sun is up and a light fog hangs on the water.   

I'm warm, finally, birds are singing and my garden is exploding.  

the view this morning;  Kathleen Faulkner

seriously blue sky at 6am; Kathleen Faulkner

North by Northwest

'View from Above' 24x18" oil pastel;
Kathleen Faulkner

I will be showing my oil pastels at Island Gallery in Winslow on Bainbridge Island in Washington State during the month of August.  The opening is First Friday, August 2nd from 6 to 8pm.

I've never had the pleasure of a one person show in an actual gallery before.  I've had my very own show in a store (albeit an extraordinary grocery store), a theatre (also not your average theatre) and a wine store (the very special owners have excellent taste).   

I'm quite pleased and feel like I'm stepping up in the world.