Motivation for artists: keep going
I knew I wanted to see “yəhaw̓: Together we lift the sky”; I just didn’t realize I needed to see it as well. Parts of my life have been pretty rough during the last month. So I was looking forward to a little distraction. Found it!
HollyAnna DeCoteau Littlebull made “Lifts the Sky” out of 15,190 pieces of upcycled plastic and about 150 cubic feet of Styrofoam. Stunning — but here’s the kicker. HollyAnna says she’s completely colorblind.
HollyAnna DeCoteau Littlebull (in red jacket) with an admirer of her work at “Together we lift the sky”
To her, the statue appears to be various shades of brown and gray.
Her friends helped make the Bigfoot statue possible by separating the plastics by color for her. Pretty cool metaphor: we can do Big Things Together. In fact, the metaphor’s right there in the exhibit name. The project’s website translates yəhaw̓ as “to proceed, to go forward, to do it.” I needed a reminder to keep going, and that my friends will come with me.
The exhibit at King Street Station features work from 200 Indigenous artists living in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and British Columbia. That’s a lot of art to take in during one trip, which is why I’d suggest you visit at least two or three times to absorb everything. Good thing the exhibit will be open until mid-August 2019. That’ll give me time for more inspiration, and time to make more work of my own.
Liberty Bank Building: when worlds converge
My art planets must be aligned this weekend: two pieces of Seattle history are converging, and I’ve made art inspired by both!
When the Liberty Bank Building apartments open for Saturday afternoon’s grand opening party, you’ll get the chance to see the collage portraits I made of the bank’s founders. Those pieces are permanently installed in the Residents’ Lounge… and I just found out Miriam Pratt will be one of the people living here!
We met a few months ago at the exhibit opening of “Living the Dream, Dreaming the Life” which honored Miriam’s father Edwin Pratt. This year marks the 50th anniversary of his assassination., and honors his civil rights activism. At Shoreline City Hall, you can see artwork inspired by images from the Pratt family archives (now held by the Black Heritage Society of Washington) .
In a Seattle Medium interview , Miriam said her new home at Liberty Bank is just a few blocks away from where her parents lived before they moved to Shoreline. Talk about coming full-circle… this move sounds positively cinematic in its resolution.
Come help her (and us artists) celebrate!
Saying goodbye to North Light Books
I’ve met some of my favorite people through books: real, live people who wrote the books that introduced me to collage and mixed media art. So I’m a little sad to hear a specialty publishing empire is crumbling. F+W Media, which owns North Light Books and several other imprints, declared bankruptcy recently. North Light published many art technique books, including Destination Creativity: The Life-Altering Journey of the Art Retreat.
Ricë Freeman-Zachery and Earl Zachery in 2010, collecting material for the book Destination: Creativity
I was lucky enough to watch Earl Zachery collect photos while Ricë Freeman-Zachery collected the words. And then Ricë turned around and included a comment from me in the book. (I still get a little thrill out of seeing the pull quote.) I’ve also become friends with her editor Tonia Jenny, who edited two books by another artist/author pal, Michael de Meng.
Michael de Meng mugging for the camera during Artfest 2011
Fortunately, none of these people rely on F+W to pay their bills anymore. But I still have their books in my collection, and I still keep up with some of their authors on social media, including MaryBeth Shaw, Crystal Neubauer and Gina Rossi Armfield.
Making silly faces with Michael de Meng at Artfest 2011. Photo by Lana Guerra.
If these artists keep writing, I hope Quarry Books scoops them up. (Quarry published three of the five books in which my art and commentary appear). I want them to help my artist/author friends keep blowing people’s minds. In the meantime… g’night, North Light.