THE OPENING HIGHLIGHT

SHANE MILLER .... LINDA JARVIS .... RON HO at opening of LOST AND FOUND.
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It's been just over a week since the opening of the LOST AND FOUND show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. It was a wonderful opening with lots of people attending .... lots of attention ....lots of generous words .... AND I sold my large piece .... IF FOUND RETURN TO ICARUS and a favorite of mine.... BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER. I could not be more pleased. Even with the attention and the sales, the highlight of the evening, for me, was getting to hang out a bit with Ron Ho. Ron is an amazing jeweler .... you can tell by the piece he is wearing. He told Linda and I that he has never owned a piece of his own jewelry because everything always sold. Recently he had an opportunity to buy back the piece he was wearing at the opening and so he did. I think it looks spectacular on him. The neckpiece he made for the show was just as amazing .... meticulously crafted with found objects from around the world including Tibetan keys and an ancient looking ear plug (maybe from Africa) and lots of other goodies. He has such a signature style that you can easily recognize a Ron Ho piece from 20 paces. I own his book .... DIM SUM AT THE ON-ON TEA ROOM and study it often .... beautiful photography and incredibly inspiring.

Ron Ho is a protege of Ramona Solberg. The only reason I am making jewelry at all is because I saw some images of Ramona's work and loved it. Before that introduction to her work I thought all jewelry was stones and diamonds and glittering stuff. Honestly, that type of jewelry has no appeal for me. Romona's jewelry is full of dominos .... found bits .... not shiny things .... the lost .... the found .... the discarded. She put found object jewelry on the map. I'm sorry I never had an opportunity to meet her but from everything I've heard she was well loved, as is Ron Ho.

BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER

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Tomorrow evening I will be at the opening of a new show at BAINBRIDGE ARTS AND CRAFTS on Bainbridge Island called LOST AND FOUND: ASSEMBLAGE. I am one of ten artists participating in this exhibit. The artists include: LINDA COSTELLO, BIL FLEMING, CHRIS GIFFIN, NANCY HEWETT, RON HO, LINDA JARVIS, MICHOLE MADDEN, MARK OSBORN, DEBORAH PEEK and me....SHANE MILLER. KAREN HACKENBERG is being featured in the larger gallery. Her paintings are of discarded mass produced items that are found littering the edges, cracks and seams of our natural world. Many items were found along the edge of beaches here in the Pacific Northwest. Both of these shows will be on exhibit from November 2- Dec.3. The reception is Friday, November 2, 6-8pm.

The image above...BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER... is one of 3 pieces I will have in the show. I really enjoyed making this sculpture and was a little sad to deliver it to the gallery knowing that I might never see it again. The body of the boat .... THE WINDCHASER...is an old weaving shuttle. The wood is very worn....a little primitive....and has a great patina. The ballast passengers are stones I picked up on Rialto Beach out on the coast. One of the stones wears a jaunty expression due, in part, to the red waxed linen string attire. The sail is gampi paper printed with one of my photographs of clouds. I remember the day I took the photo....there must have been a strong wind up at cloud level because bits of the clouds were being pulled off and stretched in wisps like cotton candy. Two rear wheels and one tiny front wheel carry the load. This is a simple piece that has a sort of innocence. BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER measures 14" long x 9.5" tall x 2.75" wide.

I am so looking forward to the opening tomorrow night. I am always happy when my friend and fellow artist, Linda Jarvis and I share a show. It means we can ride to Bainbridge Island together from Port Townsend and catch up on our lives and on the return trip we get to share notes about the opening....it's always fun. Also, my friend, Chris Giffin, from OR is one of the participating artists. I've been told she is supposed to be at the opening and it will be good to see her. I used to do a large circuit of outdoor shows and saw Chris on a regular basis but since I quit doing outdoor shows I only see Chris every blue moon or so. I am also looking forward to seeing Ron Ho. He is quite a well known jeweler here in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. He was a student of Ramona Solberg and it is easy to see her influence in his work even though his style is his own. Yesterday when Linda and I delivered our work we got to see a sneak peek at Ron's mixed media found object neckpiece. It is so beautiful and so lovingly crafted. I am honored to be in a show with Ron Ho.

DETAIL OF BALLAST FOR THE WINDCHASER

Linda Jarvis and I just got invited to participate in a show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts next June. The title of that show is SETTING SAIL....ARTISTS AT SEA. I do love having these carrots dangled out in front of me....they keep me moving forward as good dangled carrots should. So stay tuned for more boats and sailing ships.