STUDIO TOUR 2014

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

It's been a couple of weeks now since the Port Townsend Studio Tour and it's time to post some images and say a few words. It was a spectacular and beautiful weekend ... GreyBird Barn looked spiffy ... the property was clean and trim ... the apple trees were full of apples as if they knew this was their time to shine ... there was a wonderful sense of camaraderie among the participating artists ... and there were lots of guests checking out the scene. This sale is always the perfect time to reconnect with friends ... clients ... and to make some new connections. It was also a perfect time for me to share my almost completed loft studio space in the barn. It's been a long time coming. I spent a lot of the weekend trooping up and down the stairs ...pointing out special features in the loft ... and sharing my enthusiasm for this remarkable space. You can learn more about the loft in the previous post.

There are a few people I want to thank. Pulling off this event would be so much harder without a little help. A big 'thank you' to Carrie Ehrhardt for always coming through with some delicious home made cookies for our guests ... and to Wendy Jarvis (Linda's sister) and Bob Snow (Donna's husband) for helping us on clean up day before the sale ...and another huge 'thank you' to Bob for parking cars for us for two days. He was so good at it that he's putting it on his resume. I also want to thank Melinda Bryden and Northwind Arts Center for organizing this event ... with over 30 studios on the tour this is no easy feat. And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the artists of GreyBird Barn. It's always such a pleasure and a treat to spend time with you all and to share our visions ...our processes ... and our passions with each other.

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE




Linda Jarvis with Diane Haddon ... a fabulous assemblage artist and dear friend.


Donna Snow demonstrating her collage process.


Lots of people gathered around Shirley Moss and her hand made chain jewelry.


Linda Jarvis, Steve Parmelee ( another fabulous assemblage artist), and me ... Shane Miller.


Lynn Anju (a friend, jeweler, and past participant of GreyBird Barn) giving a look that only she can pull off. You can just make out Loran Scruggs in the background. She was a new participant this year and we all so enjoyed getting to know her and her wonderful tin and bottle cap creations.




Linda Jarvis and our dear friend, Zo.


Diane Haddon and Shane.


Zo and Shane


Jay Haskins visiting with Donna Snow. Jay is an integral part of Northwind Arts Center.


Bob Snow taking a much needed break from parking cars. He's a Mac guy (you can tell by his reading material) and we teased him about setting up a genius bar in the cupola that has not yet been mounted on the barn .... he could answer all kinds of Mac questions during the sale.


A couple of kids, Jupiter and Lola, (you've just got to love those names) checking out my tractor, Bliss.

PORT TOWNSEND 16th ANNUAL ARTIST STUDIO TOUR AT GREYBIRD BARN

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

SAVE THE DATE
PORT TOWNSEND OPEN STUDIO TOUR
AUGUST 23-24 HOURS: 10AM TO 4PM

Mark you calendars ... fill your car with gas ... put on your comfortable shoes ... grab some cash and a visa ... and prepare yourself for a couple of days of exploring the art scene in and around Port Townsend. It's time for the 16th ANNUAL STUDIO TOUR. Be sure to check out this link to see examples of each artists work and directions to each individual studio. We are #11 on the list ... GREYBIRD BARN GROUP. Brochures with the art studio listings and maps are also available at the Northwind Arts Center, 2409 Jefferson Street and other locations, as well as the Visitor’s Center.

The artists of GreyBird Barn invite you to come visit us .... have a cookie ...and just hang out for a while. This year we are shifting our dates from our usual show in October to August 23-24th so that we can be in the good company of many other studios open on the same weekend in our area. At GreyBird Barn there will be five artists showing their work and demonstrating their individual processes.

Linda Jarvis ... 3D mixed media assemblage
My passion is observing the amazing and beautiful essence of wildlife and depicting them in nature or often in humorous situations using mixed media. Additionally I use found object, giving them a new purpose within mixed media sculptures.

Shane Miller ... photo etching
I have worked with metal for over 20 years and most recently have been using the process of photo etching on sterling silver jewelry and 3D photo etched narrative boxes. I am a story teller by nature and there always seems to be a narrative running through my work.

Shirley Moss ... jewelry chain making
I feel making handmade chains is a meditation in metal.

Loran Scruggs ... tin can sculpture
I am interested in joy. Color is joyous for me, so I use printed tin cans for their color and glint. A lot of my work references childhood and play, for myself play is a time of being in the moment, no past or future worries, a time of joy. I hope that my work puts an amused smile on people’s faces, for when we smile we are in the moment, engaged, attentive and happy.

Donna Snow ... mixed media collage
Since I was a kid two constants in my life have been the urge to draw and the urge to tell tall tales. Eventually both desires merged into what I call narrative collage: Find old images and cut, paste and over paint them to make a new “story” — often preposterous and humorous. And some are slowly emerging into art books.

DIRECTIONS:
Watch for our signs just outside of Port Townsend. Off of Sims Way/HWY 20 take Frederick Street east to Otto Street. Turn left on Otto and follow signs to the bottom of the hill. Turn left into driveway where a friendly crocodile sculpture greets you.

SAVE THE DATE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.


It's that time of year again....the 3rd ANNUAL GREYBIRD BARN sale is just around the corner. This is always such a fun event....a charming barn housing incredible art...lemonade and homemade cookies....old friends and new friends...a time for swapping stories and just being in the company of like minded people.

Save the date and come spend some time at GreyBird Barn....June 25-26th.

TURN LEFT AT GUNTHER THE CROCODILE

This is a copy of the article that was published in the PENINSULA DAILY NEWS just prior to our Artist Studio Sale held in July.


JENNIFER JACKSON'S PORT TOWNSEND NEIGHBOR COLUMN: Turn left at Gunther the crocodile

Shane Miller stands next to the 1952 Farmall Cub tractor she uses to mow the rustic acre that surrounds her house and barn, where she and four friends are holding their second annual midsummer art sale this weekend. -- Photo by Jennifer Jackson/for Peninsula Daily News

But turn off the main highway into town at Fredericks Street, then left on Otto, and follow the winding road past Nimba Forge and down the hill, and you'll find yourself in a rural enclave tucked between the town and business park.

And on the edge is Shane Miller's place -- that's her barn you'll see on the left before you round the corner at the bottom of the hill.

Pass the life-size figures of a man, woman and a coyote dancing, and you'll be at Miller's drive, where you will be greeted by Gunther.

Gunther is a crocodile, rampant, who holds Miller's mailbox in his claws.

He is just one of the creatures that grace her rural acre, where the animals roam free and the art is in the barn.

The animals are silhouettes that Miller created during her 12 years as a metal sculptor, doing large outdoor pieces.

She's graduated to smaller pieces, which she crafts in the barn, built as her work space.

Last year, she invited four artist friends to join her in holding an art sale in the barn, an event they are repeating this Saturday and Sunday, June 26 & 27.

"It's the perfect setting for bringing in the summer," Miller says of the property, which is bordered by woods to the north.

"There's definitely a country feeling."

More than 300 people came to last year's sale, where they were welcomed with lemonade and homemade cookies courtesy of Miller's friend Carrie Ehrhardt, principal of Port Townsend High School.

Ehrhardt is again setting up the refreshment stand for the event, which will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and people are invited wander the property, dotted with old apple trees and resident animals.

Each has a name, including Thorndyke Major, the canine in the picnic area.

Miller didn't realize when she created metal dog silhouettes that they would evoke emotional responses.

"Almost every single one was bought as a memorial dog for someone," she said.

"People would come into my booth and be crying. They'd say, 'We want to look out in the garden and still see the dog.'"

Thorndyke Major is a clone of a sculpture that Miller sold to a woman who wanted the original, Little Dan, for the grounds of a home she and her son were buying back East.

Viewing the property, they discovered a glen of trees in back, and in the middle of the trees was a tombstone with the name "Thorndyke Major" on it.

The name turned out to be that of the former owner's dog, a Great Dane.

"Little Dan is now lord of the animal garden," Miller says.

Miller, a former kayak tour guide in Baja California, moved to Port Townsend and bought her house in 1998, which she describes as a "fixer upper for the rest of my life."

On the back porch is a black lab named Silas, who faces the arbor topped with metal crows.

There is a white fence topped with animal figures, originally the walls of her craft fair booth, and a patch of giant butter burrs screens an outdoor claw-foot bathtub.

There's also an old shed, and the barn, which is only 10 years old, but built to match one that Miller saw on a farm near Poulsbo.

She named it GreyBird Barn after a vintage toy zeppelin she saw that had the name "GREYBIRD" painted on it in red.

The idea of naming the barn after a zeppelin, which hovers over the earth, appealed to Miller.

"I believe there is a lot of power in words and especially in the name of something," Miller said. "GreyBird just seemed to fit my barn."

She also has a 1952 pickup truck, and mows her acre with a 1952 Farmall Cub tractor, nicknamed "Bliss," because that's what she feels when she drives it.

Miller is also a '52 model -- she was born in Hot Springs, Ark., where her grandmother had a florist business that she started on her side porch.

It was passed down to her children. Miller's mother, who inherited the business, worked there from the age 16 until her death three years ago at the age of 86.

Called The House of Flowers, it had the contract to supply all the flowers for the Hot Springs horse racing track through the season, Miller said.

The biggest event was the Arkansas Derby, which required gardenia corsages for the 300-plus women who worked there, and rose boutonnieres, 600 to 700, for all the men, from the stable boys on up.

"For derby week, Mom would call all the chickens home," Miller said, referring to siblings and family members.

"A whole crew of cousins and aunts would sit down and sew the horse blanket for the winner with hundreds and hundreds of gardenias."

The idea for a communal art sale originated with Miller and Linda Jarvis, a painter, assemblage artist and sculptor.

They invited Diane Gale, Beverly Saito and Lynn Anju to join them.

Gale does wood-fired ceramics and glazed pottery for kitchen and home, including tea pots and vases. Saito makes beaded jewelry and sculptural ceramics.

Anju, a jeweler, was not able to participate this year, so Shirley Moss, who makes silver chains, is filling her spot.

The GreyBird Barn art sale is held in conjunction with Diana Cronin's studio sale featuring six ceramic artists on Egg and I Road in Chimacum.

For last year's sale, the barn took on a life of its own, Miller said, as if the purpose for which it was built was happening.

"The big payoff was that it was so much fun," Miller said. "We have great camaraderie. We enjoyed hanging out for two days and getting to know each other better."

SUMMER STUDIO SALE 2010

For several weeks I've been meaning to post just a few images from our 2nd Annual Studio Sale at GreyBird Barn in Port Townsend, WA. This sale took place on June 26th and 27th. The weather was glorious....the home baked cookies delicious....the company of my fellow artist friends was endearing....a good time was had by all. The week of the sale an article about me, GreyBird Barn and my property was published in the paper. Many people came from surrounding areas to see what all the ruckus was about....some carrying a folded copy of the article under their arm to give to me....so sweet! My next blog post will be the article. Enjoy these images and remember that you can view a larger version by clicking on the image.


The artists of GreyBird Barn: (from left to right) Shirley Moss...hand made sterling silver and gold chains, Shane Miller...photo-etched jewelry, narrative boxes and boats, Beverly Saito...beaded jewelry and sculptural ceramics, Linda Jarvis...mixed media paintings, sculpture and assemblages, Diane Gale...wood fired and glazed pottery.


Sculptural ceramics by Beverly Saito.


Paintings and assemblages by Linda Jarvis.


Shirley showing her hand made chains to a customer.


A couple of Shane's boats.


Diane's ceramics with Shane's jewelry in the background.


Shane with Morgan Brig....a friend and phenomenal metal artist.


Big smiles....a lot of camaraderie....that's Kristi in the middle, our friend and great helper and supporter of this event.


An overview....that's Bliss, my tractor in the foreground.

2nd ANNUAL STUDIO SALE AT GREYBIRD BARN

SAVE THE DATE!!! June 26th and 27th
Mark your calendar for our 2nd ANNUAL STUDIO SALE AT GREYBIRD BARN in Port Townsend, WA. Five wonderful artists: Diane Gale....Linda Jarvis...Shane Miller...Shirley Moss....and Beverly Saito will be featured in a variety of mediums.


Our good friends at Diana Cronin's Egg & I Pottery Studio in Chimacum, WA will be celebrating their 5th Annual Open Studio & Pottery Sale. Once again GreyBird Barn Studio Sale will coincide with the Egg & I Pottery Sale. Read more info about Egg & I Pottery Sale here.

Bring your friends and come for a delicious day of art and fun.....Port Townsend is beautiful in June.

(remember that you can click on any image to see it larger)

Have questions?...Or would you like to be added to our email list?...
Contact Shane Miller

SAVE THE DATE

It's getting close to that time of year.... the SECOND ANNUAL SUMMER SOLSTICE ART SALE at GreyBird Barn here in Port Townsend, WA. Mark your calendars for June 26th and 27th. GreyBird Barn will host 5 artists this year: Diane Gale (ceramics)...Linda Jarvis (painting and mixed media assemblages)...Shirley Moss ( jewelry)...Beverly Saito (ceramics and bead work)...and myself, Shane Miller (jewelry and 3D mixed media boxes and boats). If we have half as much fun as we had last year someone will have to tether us to the ground to keep us from floating up into the clouds.

We will be sending out information via our email list and I will post more information on this blog as the date gets a bit closer including maps, times, postcard images, etc. If you would like to be included on our email list or just want more information email me at shane@waypt.com.

Just like last year we are having this sale in conjunction with Egg & I Pottery in Chimacum, WA. There will be 6 wonderful ceramic artists at Egg & I Pottery. We will have maps available at GreyBird Barn if you have never been to Egg & I.

Hope you can come by to see us....and see some great art....stay a while....have some cookies and lemonade.....shane