Clay Classes coming with Barbara Wyatt

Creating in clay has been my passion for more than 10 years. Love of nature and basket weaving with natural materials are the backdrop for my inspirations. My creations are strongly influenced by organic forms and native design. I am looking forward to sharing my love of clay with students at ARTspot starting Saturday July 21st for kids, and then teens. 

Barbara


c l a s s   o f f e r i n g s 

Happiness is a good pen.

When we first acquired this space, and were at the beginning of painting and putting in the new floor, a woman came in desperate to purchase a pen. No place in town to buy a pen! I knew we would be carrying the kind of pen she wanted but alas did not have any merchandise yet. We do now! We have Micron, Metallic Letraset, Faber Castell Pitt Pens, Gellyroll, and Sharpies. More to come...... oh, and pencils too. 

Tracy

We did it! Open for business...

A quiet Sunday afternoon at ARTspot. People drifting in after a day at the Edmonds Art Festival to see the new store in town. We not only survived our first three days but found it to quite restful after the big push to get the store ready this last week. Here are some behind the scenes pics of just a few of the  friends and family who helped. Thank you!!! to Sue and Don, and Bryn and Mason, and my Mom, Denise and Rich and Luke and Jimmy, and Robin and Kent, and Laurie and Scott. It takes a village to open an art store. Much more fun that way too. There will be lots more pics of being open, but wanted to take a moment to appreciate getting here first. 

Tracy

Creative International Papers

I spent a few hours yesterday with Kathryn Lampkin, a local artist materials representative that is helping me order some of the wonderful artistic things that will be at ARTspot. I will be getting in a beautiful selection of papers that literally will be coming in from around the world. Although ARTspot celebrates supporting the local art scene, we like to think global too. 

    Each paper has a wonderful story, and support the cultural heritage and often small village economies. This is Mexican Amante Bark paper which is a great example of why these papers are a great choice in Buy local, Think global.

    Handmade by the Otomi Indian artisans of Mexico, the culture of amate paper dates back to pre-Columbian Meso-American times. The word amate derives from "amatl", the Nahuatl word for paper. Mayan and Aztec Indians painted on amate paper to create codices (accordion folded books) depicting stories, historical events and even astrology. The Otomi people still use amate paper today for creating cutout figures for religious ceremonies while other village artisans use it for Mexican folk art depicting colorful urban scenes, festivals and celebrations.

    The paper is created from the bark of the amate "wild fig tree"(xalama), the nettle tree (jonote), and mulberry (moral). Each type of bark produces a different tone of color, ranging from coffee browns to silvery whites. The pulp from these barks are often combined to produce a swirling marble effect. The artisans first wash the bark, then boil it in a solution of lime juice for several hours, and lay strips on a wooden board. They beat the strips until they fuse together to form the desired texture, then dry them in the sun. This acid free paper is a wonderful choice for use in fine art including painting, ink and pastel drawings, crafts, invitations, cards, decoration and bookbinding. The solid, non-woven sheets are laser and inkjet printable.

    More stories about paper at Black Ink Paper

Tracy

Pastels

Pastel artists love colors. The more the better, from what I can tell. And they like to have more than one line to work with. There are hard and soft sticks and not all are created equal. I brought some samples home from the artist materials trade show in Orlando, and we got the opinions from an entire workshop of pastel artists at Cole Gallery. Thumbs down, so we kept talking to those who know best, and have settled on Unison soft pastels to start out with. They are made in Northumberland National Park, England by John Hersey and his daughter Kate. Thank you to pastelist Janice Graves who spent her afternoon today handpicking Unison colors for us to carry at ARTspot.

Tracy

Ordering Artist Supplies

Spent the day sitting with Denise Cole at the computer ordering art supplies.... brushes: Princeton!, oil paints: Gamblin!, easels: Richeson!  Watercolor Paper: Arches! I fondly remember things like my first set of Speedball Calligraphy pen nibs, and Flair pens, and watercolors in tubes like real artists use. It is supremely fun to relive my whole artistic life in this way.

And ... an entire palette of Golden Acrylics were delivered today.

And even though we are not open yet we still had a steady stream of visitors wanting to know the date we are going to open: June 15th is the target day. May our orders arrive in time.

Tracy