A morning in Seattle

I went to the Frye Art Museum in Seattle this morning to see a sculpture show by a Taiwanese artist named Li Chen. The work was beautiful in its decay and roughness. He used clay, rope, wood, and wire to build his figures, which aspire to immortality and greatness but are finite and earth-bound.

Detail from Eternity by Li Chen

Figures from Soul Guardians by Li Chen

If you haven't gotten to see this exhibit, it's worth a trip. Admission to the Frye is free and there is free parking! The museum is closing in a couple days for renovations so get there while you can.

After my museum visit, I made a trip to Kinokuniya and bought some stickers, pens and books (I really must stop buying books!). I then wandered into Uwajimaya where picked up some Sencha tea (a bargain at $10 for 100 teabags), roasted chestnuts (supposedly organic) and tiny mochi that came with their own plastic pickle fork.

All-in-all a really fine day.

Encaustic workshop

This weekend I took an Encaustic Photography workshop with Nichole Dement at the Photo Center in Seattle. What a blast. Nichole is an excellent teacher - really knowledgeable and patient. I learned more than I imagined I would and am now completely excited to start doing encaustic on my own.

I worked on two pieces. This is the smaller of the two (6"x6") and includes a photo of an abandoned house that I've posted before. This example includes the photo, a transfer, incising, paint, oil pastels, and, of course, wax. The little "dots" around the orange square remind me of stitches. Hopefully, I can convince hubby that he needs to share a corner of the garage with my new-found obsession.