The Building

Mother's Day Pottery Sale

2011-04-23T22:38:00.001-07:00

Shaun Doll at NW Encaustic

2011-04-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

Shaun Doll is the founder of Northwest Encaustic, a studio dedicated to teaching encaustic painting. His work has been primarily in encaustic paint, small sculpture and print arts. Shaun teaches Printmaking and encaustic painting at Pratt School of the Arts and Northwest Encaustic. His current encaustic work occupies the intersection of print arts and encaustic painting and can be seen at Northwest Encasutic and in various shows around the Northwest.

Contact:

E-mail shaundoll@gmail.com

Cell 206-291-7775

Web

www.nwencaustic.com

It's Spring at Joyce Gehl Studio

2010-11-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

"I remember poppies wild behind the schoolhouse" 24 x 53 oil and photoencaustic

"Unleashed" oil and photoencaustic 36 x 42

It may be cold outside, but the colors in the studio are bright and warm. If you missed the West Seattle ArtWalk this month, be sure to stop by in December. New work every month.

Sunday Clay Play Days at Mutablefire

2010-09-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been curious about what it feels like to get your hands in clay? Don’t want to commit the time/expense to a 10 week class? Register for a 2-day workshop making something with clay in a fully-equipped clay studio. First & Third Sundays, starting January 16th.

Here's how it works: your first session is a 4-hour session (12-4pm), and you make several pieces using a pottery wheel and/or hand-building. The second session is for glazing (12-4pm).

Expert guidance, includes materials and firing. $65 per person. Limited to 4 persons; sign up early to assure your spot! request availability

Welcome to Mutablefire Studios!

2010-09-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Mutablefire Studios, located on the lower floor of "the Building" in West Seattle, is a 800 sq ft, fully-equipped ceramics studio. Three pottery wheels (including a kick-wheel), slab-roller, three electric kilns, and lots of workspace and natural light. Current resident artists: Richard James, Steve Knipp, Erin Middendorf, and Nathan McMonagle.

Resident Clay Artist space available

2010-09-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Mutable Fire Ceramics Studio in West Seattle is looking for a pottery artist to rent space in our fully-equipped studio. We have a large slab-roller, 2 pottery wheels (including a kick-wheel), 3 electric kilns, lots of shelving space for work-in-progress, excellent natural light, and monthly opportunities to sell your work. The building we are located in is a dedicated artist space, and is a participant in the very popular West Seattle Art Walk. You would have a defined workspace which would be used exclusively by you. $275/month includes 24/7 access, use of all equipment, and utilities (except very reasonable firing fees). Alternately , we offer flexible monthly rental rates based on frequency of use. We can also accommodate ceramic artists who need a short-term studio to work, space to conduct a workshop, or just need to fire your work. For inquiries, please e-mail: mutablefirestudios@gmail More photos here.

2010-09-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

2nd Thursday Artist Reception

Please join us for our monthly open house. Thursday, 9/9/10, from 6
to 9 p.m. Wine, snacks, conversation and art.

This month we are featuring new works by Kamla Kakaria in the studio and new paintings and prints by Eric Chamberlain in the corridor gallery.

For details visit: nwencaustic.com

New small paintings in Lad's studio

2010-09-06T20:19:00.001-07:00

Little paintings on clayboard. 9"x12". Lad 2010.

My studio will be open Thursday September 9, 2010 7-9pm. More info at www.deckerFoundry.com.

Home at Last

2010-08-21T09:55:00.001-07:00

Upside Down Martini, 70" x 54" x 3"

Last week, I finally removed the painting from its shackles, filled the holes where the handles and eye bolts were screwed into the wood frame, stained and cleaned up the edges and sides. I decided to leave the painting flat on the work bench until delivery, to protect it from potential damage. The finished piece weighed in at about 60lbs.

Patricia Rovzar Gallery brought their van to transport the work to the customer. I covered the surface with glassine paper, and made some corners out of corrugated board for protection. We decided not to bubble wrap the piece, because the fit in the van was going to be tight. Two of us were able to lift and carry the work to the van. Thankfully, it wasnt that difficult.

"Upside Down Martini" now lives in its new home. The client loves it, and I'm a happy artist.

Tomorrow I'll add a post to explain the name, and talk about how completing this painting is taking me on a new conceptual journey with my work.

Myka Guitars open for ArtWalk

2010-05-13T11:32:00.001-07:00

Myka Guitars will be open for ArtWalk tonight. Come by to check out the latest guitars to come out of the studio along with the many works in progress.

Joyce Gehl's Studio Open Tonight

2010-04-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

Joyce Gehl's art studio is open tonight from 6pm-8pm for studio visits. Tonight, Joyce will be featuring four new encaustic paintings soon to be delivered to the Patricia Rovzar Gallery.

Three February Shows Opening, and One Finishing

2010-02-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

This month three of our artists have exhibitions downtown.

Treat yourself to a cocktail and fabulous appetizers at the warm and inviting Chez Shea in Pike Place Market while you view the paintings of Laura Marks.

Then head south to 2nd and University to Patricia Rovzar Gallery to view the new work by encaustic artist Joyce Gehl. Work will be on display Feb 4th - March 2nd.

Finish up at the Collins Pub with a beer, grub and new work from Northwest Encasutic Studio artist Shaun Doll.

Finally, this weekend is your last chance to see the show at Fetherston Gallery on Capital Hill, featuring work by our own Randy McCoy.

Happy February!

Myka Guitars - Black Beauty

2010-02-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

Just shipped this new guitar to a studio musician in the Los Angeles area. (And yes, he does use all of those switches!~)

~David

Bren Sullivan: Excavation 2009 - Figurative Sculptures

2010-01-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

These figurative sculptures were influenced by the artist’s childhood experiences and current views of modern life. Bren’s childhood home was somewhat primitive, in contrast to today’s standards, without conveniences such as an indoor toilet. Her parents raised her and two brothers in a dry county in rural Mississippi, where even dancing was strictly forbidden by the church. Being relatively naïve in her youth, Bren strived to live up to religious and cultural standards of how a “proper southern girl” looks and behaves - perfect and pretty.

Bren’s imperfect doll-like figurative work represents a sense of re-birth and ascension to a spiritual place free from the imposed bonds of vanity and perfection, religious dogma, and attitudes of intolerance.

Much of Bren’s childhood was care-free, happy and relatively simple. When she wasn’t franticly drawing mustard, mayo and ketchup faces on meat patties to break the monotony of making burgers at her parent’s Dairy Bar; Bren was left to her own imagination. Free from adult responsibilities and unlike today’s child, she enjoyed “unstructured” play time. No schedule jammed with organized sports or activities, no shopping malls, few toys, limited TV, and the absence of a computer to dictate her actions, pacify her imagination, and clutter her curiosity. Doing “without” cultivated Bren’s sense of wonderment and allowed her to explore, connect and appreciate the surrounding natural beauty of the environment. Inspired by pictures in National Geographic, she loved digging in the dirt as though on an archeological expedition. Bren began creating dolls and play things from the buried “treasures” she unearthed and this continues to be visible in her sculptures today. Her fascination with unearthing deteriorating objects naturally led her to the mediums of clay, wood, glass, scrap metal and hardware. Bren transforms these common everyday materials into very uncommon works of fine art that are captivating because they are rough, raw, and uncensored. She does not limit her artistic expression to creating what is merely pleasant to look at or expected.

www.brensullivan.com

info@brensullivan.com

206.380.3065

Photography and website by LED

December Freeze at Joyce Gehl's studio

2009-12-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

It's cold at the studio, but painting large-scale helps warm things up. Stop by during the West Seattle Art Walk tonight between 6pm-9pm.

Holiday Sale Open Studios - Sat-Sun Dec 5-6

2009-11-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

You are invited to visit us this weekend, December 5-6 from noon to 5pm.

We're open for our holiday sale. If you've been intending to visit us, but can't make it to our second Thursday open studios, this is your chance to drop by during daylight hours on the weekend.

Many of our artists have created smaller artworks which are perfect for gift giving. Of course, if you feel comfortable giving a six foot painting, by all means, we have those too!

Randy McCoy Show at Fetherston Gallery January 2010

2009-11-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

Randy McCoy is honored to announce a two-person show with St. Louis Painter Michael Hoffman at Fetherston Gallery in Seattle.

The show will open Friday January the 8th, 2010.
The exhibition will run through the month of January.

Fetherston Gallery
818 E Pike
Seattle WA 98122
(206) 322-9440

http://www.fetherstongallery.com/

www.randymccoy.com

Please join us for a very special opening and an exhibition not to be missed!!!

Joyce Gehl Studio

2009-11-11T15:46:00.001-08:00

A growing collection of encaustic work for the February solo show at Patricia Rovzar Gallery will be on view at Joyce's studio during the Building Art Walk this Thursday evening, November 12th. 6-9pm

2009-11-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

Northwest Encaustic will be hosting a reception for the November Art Walk with photo encaustic by Kirsten Wilhelm and prints by Christina Malm.
Thursday, November 12th from 6-9 pm.

Little 'ens and Big ones too

2009-11-08T16:37:00.001-08:00

Work in progress in Lad's studio. Check out deckerFoundry for more images.

Stay in touch by joining the new Facebook group for deckerFoundry Art.

Randy McCoy Studio Open for Winter Artwalk Events!

2009-11-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

As many of you know my studio is often not open in the summertime for the artwalk events...but the winter is the best time for an artwalk in my opinion! So please be sure to stop by and see what is new in my studio for the winter!

Randy McCoy has a NEW Website!

2009-11-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Please visit the new website and look around.

www.randymccoy.com

Winterizing The Building

2009-10-14T14:52:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who visited our October Open Studio. Each month seems to bring a good mix of new and returning visitors. We appreciate those who make the trek to West Seattle. It's not as far as it looks, only 15 minutes from downtown Seattle. Plus we've got free parking. With our mix of artists it's a trip worth making.

Please plan on coming to visit us again Thursday November 12, 6-9p. In December, rumors say we'll be open for a holiday sale over a weekend. We'll keep you posted.

Filling up the walls at Joyce Gehl's studio

2009-10-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

This month Joyce Gehl continues painting for her February solo show at Patricia Rovzar Gallery. Stop by October 8th from 6pm-9pm during our open house and see the new work-in-progress.

October Open Studios, of course we're open!

2009-10-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

The hallways linger with the smell of wax and plaster. The whirring of woodworking tools overlaps with muffled NPR jazz.

Come visit us on Thursday October 8 from 6-9pm to see what we've been doing over the summer.

Watching Paint Dry at Joyce Gehl's studio

2009-09-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

Joyce's studio this month is full of large-scale work in progress. Stop by for a glass of wine and to watch paint dry at the Sept 10th studio open house.

New Guitar

2009-08-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

2009 Myka Hollow Dragon

The last several weeks have been very busy in the guitar shop. Since moving into the building many new projects have been underway with a few of them finishing up recently and shipping out their happy new owners. Check out the gallery for the latest updates: http://www.mykaguitars.com/gallery.htm

See you next Art Walk!~

~David

August at the studio

2009-08-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Summer at Joyce Gehl's studio. Four tulip encaustic paintings complete. Almost. And beginnings of the Invasive Beauty series.

Murals

2009-07-24T16:55:00.001-07:00

Public murals and public sculpture are exciting, just don't fall off the scaffolding!

What's the difference between an Easy Bake Oven and my studio?

2009-07-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

"For Atticus" by Lad

I'm blessed with a great western view of the sound and the Olympic mountains. So I shouldn't complain when things heat up in my studio on sunny summer afternoons. After a multi-day photo shoot during some very hot Seattle weather, (with photo flood lights ablaze), I now have paintings from the first half of 2009 posted to deckerFoundry.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

2009-07-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

Paper garlands hang around and a few art fans check out the details on the szopka being restored by Alisa while they make their rounds on the Art Walk.

Thanks to Erik Bell for the photos.

Portraits

2009-07-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

Portraits this week. Susan White, life size sculpture has found a home in the lobby of THE building.
Photo courtesy of Paul Vosper.

Green Furniture, 2009 Lad

2009-07-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Detail of painting finished July 6, 2009
Acrylic, graphite and oil pastel on canvas
(Viewable during July 9 open studio.)

View other recent paintings by Lad on deckerFoundry.com.

encaustic work

2009-07-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

This month we are featuring the encaustic paintings of Mark Rudis Please stop on by for the opening reception.

Mark Rudis Paintings
Opening Reception Thursday July 9th, 6-9 pm
alternate viewing hours through August 9th--

We are continuing to offer classes and work on our own art work. Please stop on by and visit.

A fresh take on an old tradition...

2009-06-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for upcoming events with these paper and paint posies.

Mutablefire Ceramic Studio

2009-06-24T07:29:00.001-07:00

Finally, our ceramic studio is fully functional after the completion of our first kiln firing. This first firing has been highly successful. We look forward to more creative productions and more success down the road.

Lazy Susan

2009-06-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Working like a dog on finishing the Ambitious Susan sculpture. She will be upright, off the lazy Susan for the art walk, then she will travel up to Gage Academy for the "best of Gage" show.

Paintings are piling up in Craig Kosak's studio

2009-06-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

I am working like mad to finish work for a solo show at Giacobbe Fritz Fine Art in Santa Fe this August. The show opens the same day as Indian Market - Santa Fe's big annual event - so the pressure is on to show up with a gallery full of great work. Most of the work you'll see in my studio is for the Santa Fe show, though I've started working on a few pieces for a solo show at Howard/Mandville Gallery in Kirkland in October - more about that later... My dog Tucker has been a huge help - I couldn't do this without him.

Almost there, still settin' up shop

2009-06-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

The new space is mostly complete with just a few more tweaks to go (who am I kidding, that will go on for months!) but after only a month of building, painting, and remodeling I am finally ready to start working again!~ The next several weeks will be very productive as there are quite a few projects that are close to finishing up and even more to start. I will update the blog with some progress photos as I go along.

To see more of the work done at Myka Guitars please visit my online gallery:
http://www.mykaguitars.com/gallery.htm

I am looking forward to working in this new creative space. See you at the next Art Walk!~

~David

Mixin' it up in Lad's studio

2009-05-27T21:43:00.001-07:00

Freshly mixed jars of blues and yellows on the Fly Away cart for new paintings. See more by Lad at www.deckerfoundry.com

Spring chaos at Joyce Gehl studio

2009-05-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

View some of Joyce's May artwork on her new blog joyce.blogspot.com . Additional art can be seen on the Web at joycegehl.com.

Shout out to our newest tenants and guitar lovers

2009-05-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month David and Kim moved into The Building. If you haven't checked out their space during our Art Walk, please come by and welcome them soon.

David is a luthier who designs and builds custom guitars. Check out his beautiful work at www.mykaguitars.com. In only a few weeks he's already built new walls and a huge wrap-around work bench.

Kim says she does a little of everything including encaustic and pottery. We're glad to have a confessed dilettante amongst all of us who are secret dabblers by nature. :)

May 14th Art Walk at The Building

2009-05-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

West Seattle’s best kept secret is The Building, a former private school turned into 12 artist studios in 2008. At the south end of California turn west on Othello. You’ll see The Building, a green-grey tribute to 1960’s architecture on your right: 4316 SW Othello. Plenty of street parking.

Lad: In May Lad will be showing her latest paintings and drawings. She builds up the surface of each painting as one would weave materials together to form cloth. See more of her paintings and male figure drawings at www.deckerfoundry.com.

Joyce Gehl Studio: Spring brings an abundance of opportunity for Joyce's encaustic studies. Her layers of textured wax, photography, drawing, oil paint and deep carving reveal things both unseen and indefinable, creating links among seemingly unrelated subjects and events. www.joycegehl.com

Craig Kosak: Craig is preparing for a large solo show in Santa Fe later this year and many of the show’s larger paintings are complete. Stop by for a preview of the newly finished work and many other paintings in progress. For more information about Craig and his work visit www.craigkosak.com.

Randy McCoy has abstract paintings, prints and other works in his studio available for purchase which are constructed from cast paint and recycled copper, his new work is a terrific compliment to today's modern home interiors and specifically West Seattle's prevalent mid-century modern aesthetic.

Pre-K Atelier: Visit our traditional, figurative sculpture studio and see works from Roberta Browne, Shawn Mclean, Paul Vosper and Matt Buckner. See plaster casting in various stages as well.

Kerrie Howell will be hosting an ongoing installation project.

Alisa Lahti: From traditional motif to modern adaptation, Alisa's inspiration comes from the folk art form of papercutting from her Polish heritage. Her latest project is the restoration of a large "szopka", a creche made primarily from paint, paper and cardboard following a long tradition from the city of Krakow.