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Artists' community gathers at GreyBird Barn
Six artists featured at annual studio sale
By Jenny Westdal Contributor
Under a canopy of Douglas firs, artists, their families and friends are transforming the GreyBird Barn, draping lights and banners in preparation for this weekend’s fourth annual studio sale. Hay bales out front offer cozy seats for reminiscing over mugs of hot cider, pumpkin bars and cookies.
Homeowner Shane Miller’s 1952 Farmall Cub tractor and 1952 Dodge pickup truck rest in the yard, ready to be explored by the children.
All of the participants agree that “fun” is the event’s main focus, as well as emitting some positive “energy.”
“It feels like a party with lots of friends stopping by,” said featured artist Diane Gale. “People hang out, like at a big family gathering.”
Taking place on Oct. 13-14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the GreyBird Barn, 11 Carroll Ave., in Glen Cove Industrial Park, the studio sale is sure to celebrate the changing of the season, the artists themselves and the community in which they thrive, said Miller.
The idea for a collaborative studio sale originated with Miller and Linda Jarvis, a friend and fellow artist, four years ago. After the first event drew more than 300 visitors, the pair deemed the event a success and vowed to turn it into a yearly affair.
On Saturday, the familiar faces of Gale, Jarvis and Miller are going to be joined by those of newcomers Diana Cronin, a potter; Lynn Anju, a metalworker; and mixed-media artist Donna Snow.
Scaling down
First to greet visitors arriving at GreyBird is a life-size,steel garden sculpture featuring a bear, a woman and a man dancing together. An alligator holding the mailbox comes next. These creations are examples of Miller’s early works. More recently, she has scaled down and is focusing on making smaller, more delicate and detailed pieces.
Combining her skill for etching on metal (an electrolytic process that uses a car-battery charger and a saltwater bath) with her attraction to vintage photographs, Miller creates jewelry and narrative boxes embellished with images that evoke memories and reference myths, she said.
Depth, shadow
Jarvis’ mixed-media paintings, assemblages and sculptures generally include elements of nature and exquisitely rendered wildlife. Her work has been displayed at venues throughout Port Townsend for many years. She said she’ll often cut out different figures and raise them in the frame, sometimes extending the shape of the animal beyond the borders, to create shadows and add depth to her work.
“I like to tell a story with a touch of humor, but also convey my reverence for animals,” Jarvis said.
Kiln community
Gale, a potter, utilizes wood-fire and gas kilns, introducing soda ash or salt during the firing to create a unique glaze and enhance the surface of her creations.
“A wood-fire kiln is unique for a couple of reasons. First of all, it requires people to watch the coal bed and load wood into the kiln 24 hours a day until the firing is complete,” Gale said. “Secondly, the ash from the wood is the glaze. Those green drips on the pots you see are the pine ash that got so heavy, it actually turned to glass.”
A firing may take anywhere from two to nine days, so the process creates a community, she said. “Who’s bringing dinner can become very important.”
Five pots a day
Whereas Gale’s pottery is primal and substantial, forged of mud and fire, potter Diana Cronin’s work is light and brightly colored. Her pieces are porcelain covered with simple patterns in vivid colors.
Originally drawn to photography and printmaking, Cronin found that her artistic propensity changed after three events occurred simultaneously: finding a 1970s ranch house in need of improvements, discovering a book on handmade ceramic tiles and reading an ad for a small kiln in the newspaper.
Cronin bought the kiln, but quickly realized that she knew nothing about its operation, so she started taking classes at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery and kept an eye out for workshops.
“The way you learn to make pots is by doing it, so I made five a day,” she said.
A full-time potter for more than 14 years now, Cronin owns and operates Egg and I Pottery in Chimacum. And, yes, she did remodel her bathroom with beautiful, handmade tiles.
Medieval inspiration
Lynn Anju worked as a ceramic artist for 12 years until a fascination with surface design led her to become a graphic artist. This path prompted her to learn metal etching as it combines both surface design and texturing.
Anju has been working in this medium for 10 years now, making jewelry, switch plates, lampshades and clocks – all of which feature etched metal. Her inspirations come from the natural world, medieval European tapestries and armor.
Asian aesthetics
Friends of Miller and Jarvis for many years, Donna Snow and her husband are frequent visitors to the GreyBird Barn and regularly attend the annual sale – a social gathering that both greatly enjoy. So, when Snow discovered that there was room for one more artist this year, she happily joined in.
An artist her entire life, Snow has been working solely on collage and mixed-media pieces for the last 10 years. She said that she is drawn to Asian aesthetic themes, which are expressed in her collages.
Her piece titled “Lute Boy” depicts a kimono-clad youth playing a lute surrounded by large flowers. The colors are bright but soft, similar to drawing styles found in Japanese block prints.
At the studio sale, she’ll be offering small cards and prints, miniature collages and some larger pieces.
Turn at the alligator
To find GreyBird Barn, drive south on Highway 20 out of Port Townsend, past Jacob Miller Road, turn left on Frederick Street, turn left on Otto Street and keep an eye out for Miller’s sculptures. Admission is free.
For more information about the sale or participating artists, call 379-5421 or visit Miller’s blog at
uncommonwork.blogspot.com.
Jenny Westdal has been a resident of Port Townsend since 1982. She enjoys cruising around in her vintage MG TD, snooping out art news.
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