Art Walk Wednesday

We’re coming up on February, which means Wallingford Art Walk. For January’s Art Walk, despite the chill, we saddled Baby Z up on our shoulders and wandered about the “downtown” Wallingford area: Wallingford Center, Not a Number, Fuel and such. There were lots of folks out on the street, but it wasn’t clear how many were out for Art Walk.

That said, we heard some good music in the Wallingford Center basement, had some good conversations with people we’d met on-line, enjoyed the art here and there and even scored an invite to a neighborhood get-together (Walt, don’t let us down!). We were a bit skeptical about Art Walk continuing through the winter, when summer sometimes had trouble drawing a crowd, so we ask you, readers, did you go? If you went last month, please leave your impressions in the comments. If you go on Wednesday, don’t forget to come back here and let us know how it went.

And, of course, if you see a guy with a kid on his shoulders, say hi.

Here’s the line-up this month, compliments of Art Walk organizer Tara Shuttleworth. Some are repeats from last month, but there’s a good number of new faces, as well:

• Wallingford House: Our Artists this month will be Michael Morgan, Sereasa Wittman, Tim Jezik, John Schwinn, Aaron Crosetto, Suzanne Sanchez, Christy Lytle (All club members of the Wallingford House.)  A few members will be playing the piano.
• Oasis Art Gallery:  ‘Connectivity’ January 23 – April 10, 2011: Lisa Chancellor, Cara Kennedy, Tina Koyama, Paul Lewing, Aziz Mohammed
• Trophy Cupcakes:  Kelly Brownlee, complete with an Artist Opening from 6-8pm. Punch & Cupcakes will be served!
• Dandelion Salon: Elisabeth Vedrine abstract and modern paintings of mixed media on cradleboard (oil, Acrylic, Resin)
• Irwin’s Coffee Shop: Our own barista and night baker, Alex Berry
• Fuel Coffee:  Aaron Winnenberg
• Blue Star Café:  Karrin Keil is a native Seattleite who has combined her love of water and travel with her passion for photography.  She graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Political Science with a minor in Psychology.  During college she worked as a photo editor for the school paper and also did a photo internship for local legend Art Wolfe.
• Oom Yung Doe:  Carol Hiltner has been actively facilitating the shifting of human consciousness toward world peace since the mid-80’s find out more about this woman’s extraordinary life and vision at www.CarolHiltner.com.
• Fainting Goat Gelato: Page Eaton says “I consider my style young, bold and modern.  Inspired by many famous pop-artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, I’m currently focusing on portraiture.”
• Grizzled Wizard: Jeremy Gregory says “I am deep in my addiction for creating images at this point.  I enjoy the organic feeling of growth working from dark to light, and the physical act of scribbling takes me back to coloring as a child.  Most of the time my work is infused with a dark sense of humor which I try to relate to the viewer or theme.”
• Boulangerie:   Ken Roeder says “I live in a land filled with Community, vibrant colors set on gray tones, and people singing into microphones. Deep conversations, dancing the night away, and laughter keep me ticking. I spend a lot of time in the space between the heart and the mind. I have been known to yield this moment savoring device in-order to document this thing that we call life. With a skill set to bring me into the moment; photography is one of my favorite tools. Because is gives me the opportunity to share what makes me feel alive.”
• Bargain Fair Thrift Store:  Fabiola Reina was born in Indonesia and has traveled extensively throughout her lifetime.  Her exposure to different cultures and scenery resulted in her global perspective as well as her interest in creative adventure and diversity.  She has always had a passion for art, photography and architecture and has always had an interest in exploring different mediums.
• Selena’s:  Aimee Rush says “The beauty is the ability to transform…Taking any situation and finding the love and light that is in all of us.  I follow my passion to make a difference….creating a catalyst for finding one’s own beauty so that we can all shine.”
• Museum Quality Framing: Maggie Schneider: “Maggie’s artwork is a playful yet thoughtful perspective of life in a city.  Her artistic philosophy combines making art that is both physically and intellectually accessible with a conscious effort to use post-consumer waste as viable materials.”
• Wally Pets: Lindsay Slater: “My photos start with an attraction to street art that is borderline obsessive.  I’ll walk for hours, letting myself be drawn to areas that I know will hold gems.  When I see my favorite spots get painted over with dull gray, or worse- get torn completely down- it still shocks my heart.  I’m sad the beauties are gone, but happy for a fresh new canvas.  It makes me glad to know I have the images saved forever behind my lens.  I can go back to them any time I need cheering up. I construct lens attachments for my camera that results in my fractal images.”
• Julia’s Restaurant: Carina Booyens: Since discovering the amazing reflective qualities of sparkly paint Carina has become captivated with iridescence and shifting luminescence within a painting.  The constant surprises of how the paintings become more than just her creation, it becomes its own being.  The new owner of the painting will learn much more of the paintings personality than the maker.  Her favorite thing about her new style is that it chose her and she even likes (dare she say LOVE?”) many of her own works.
• SeaMonster: Kevin Sullivan: Sensei 23 moved from the East to the West in 2001.  He worked his way into the Seattle scene one project at a time with the Elysian Brewing Company starting it off.  They commissioned him to do a series of their beer labels, in which he portrayed the images of Greek Gods and Goddesses.  He would also go onto designing other local beer labels, flyers, T-shirts and winning a T-Shirt contest for Del the Funky Homosapien.
• Changes: Nalisha Rangel: Nalisha has been creating art since she was 6 years old.  She has dipped into such mediums as paint, ceramics, jewelry, tattoo design and dance.  She grew up in a Sonoran Desert town where her paintings were heavily influenced by saturated colors of sunsets and crisp mountain landscapes.  Since moving to the Pacific Northwest she has been experimenting with heavy earth tones and multiple layers of paint.
• Kabul: Dana Jonas: Her time spent studying psychology still plays an important role in her work.  Take a serious, long look at her portraits.  Her connection with her subjects is uncanny.  She can see into the soul of an individual and with that, find the true beauty in every person put in front of her lens.
• Wallingford Center:  Xavier Lopez Jr: “Cool,” “Urban,” “Goth,” “Kawaii,” “Pop Surrealist,” or whatever definition you might want to come up with, Lopez’ artistic style crosses over many boundaries and unsettles them all.  Most recently, Lopez’ work has been described as “gleefully disturbing,” a cross between very old Fleischer cartoons and their animated nightmares, giving us a glimpse into the disquieting world that we all invent for ourselves before we have a chance to make sense of the universe and its vast contradictions.”
• Fuerte Fitness: Kassi Morrow: “I have been drawing since the age of fine and painting since 1999.  I studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the Art Institute of Seattle.  I moved to San Diego, where I attended the Art Academy of San Diego.  My studies were focused on drawing, and oil painting, primarily portraits.  My most influential instructor and mentor was landscape artist Stuart Burton.”
• Al’s Tavern’s:  “One of our regulars and a local printmaker-extraordinaire, John Smith. We’ll also, once again, be offering the following discounted drink specials from 6-9pm: $3 micro pints, $2 Rainiers/Bud Lite pints and $3 well drinks.”
• Seattle Mosaics: “We are featuring many different artists for February–all the mosaics are 7×12 wallhangings, and each person started from the same blank slate and each took the mosaic in their own direction. This show coincides with our Theme Night on Feb 9, called “Get Hooked” where folks can come to make a 7×12 wallhanging with a hook (“wall-hook”) to use as a coat hook, purse hook, belt holder, necklace holder, and so on. Of course, if anyone is inspired on Art Walk to jump in and make a 7×12 wallhanging (or any mosaic) right then and there, we’ll set them up on Wed night!

On the music side of the world, here’s what Suzanna Wheeler has lined up for us:

• Babalu: Whith of Fisky (7:00 Funk/Brass)
• SeaMonster: Thomas Starks (7:00pm, Acoustic Guitar)
• Wallingford Center: Daniel Miller (Acoustic Guitar )6:30