In honor of seeing my 25th octopus in the wild this past low tide, I wanted to share these insanely incredible moments with you!
Whether it was just a tiny glimpse of some suckers or a mind blowing interactive experience; each and every time I encounter these creatures Iām humbled, in awe and walk away knowing that this world is full of things we will never fully understand nor appreciate but Iām determined to always stand in awe and encourage others to do the same.
š š š
#sealife #pnwartist #pugetsound #olympicnationalpark #marineanimal #gpo #octopus
My first little grunt sculpin in the wild!!
So flipping cuteā¦it seemed like he was breathing pretty hard and fast but hoping he had enough Oxygen to make it through that low tide.
You can check out my version down at @porttownsendgallery š§”š¤š¤
Anybody know fun facts about a grunt sculpin?!
What a glorious day of tide pooling I thought I was having!
My favorite birds, the great Blue Heron.
All the shaggy mouse nudibranchs you could possibly hope for.
Epic views.
And a friend even pointed out my very first octopus poo!!
I had no idea! š¤Æš
Then I headed homeā¦glorious tide pool day OVER, or so I thought.
Started doing dishes and planning to finish up laundry and clean the floorsā¦then I got the text from @seewoods99 ššš
So grateful for tide pooling friends!!
Chores can always wait.
Itās the most wonderful time of year!!
TIDE POOL SEASON!
Are you getting out for this set of low tides?!
What are you seeing?
Lots of Shaggy Mouse nudis here in Port Townsendā¦canāt wait to see what the rest of this low tides set brings!
The process!
Wax.
Dye.
Dry.
Dye.
Dry.
Rinse.
Boil.
Dry.
Though Iāve simplified the traditional batik process it still takes lots of time and layers of color to create the vibrant underwater scenes that I love.
The wax keeps the dye from flowing together as does letting each section of dye dry before starting the next.
You can also see the drastic difference between what the dye looks like when I paint it on and what it looks like dry.
Itās taken so many failed batiks (and they still fail from time to time) to figure out how to shade, blend and add enough color when you canāt even see the color youāre dying!!
Though I think that a bit part of why I love this processā¦the revealā¦waking up the morning after laying down due to see how it dried.
Even better?
Seeing what it all looks like after I boil the wax outā¦youāll have to stay tuned for that oneš
Well it wasnāt the process video I was going for but itās the one I got.
Making these videos really drove home that a solid 80% of the work that goes into one of my batiks is NOT the actual batik.
Buying lumber.
Milling it down.
Chopping it up.
Putting it together.
Sanding.
Stretching.
Stapling.
Trimming.
Putting on a hanging wire.
Itās a lot and, Iām not going to lie, itās not my favorite partā¦but obviously it is a very necessary part.
But then itās up on the wall of the @porttownsendgallery in the lights and itās all worth itā¦to share just a moment of my underwater, mind blowing, experiences with the worldā¦Or Port Townsend at least.
And yes, I have completely destroyed our dining room light (only once!) when flipping batiks around on our table. š
ITāS BOILING DAY!!
ā¢ā¢
Ever since our local dry cleaner closed Iāve had to completely revamp my process for removing wax from my batiks.
Itās a way more involved.
Itās a mess.
And I LOVE it.
ā¢ā¢ā¢
The physical aspect of creating art is what drew me to it in the first place.
Believe it or not, I actually have a masters of fine art with an emphasis in sculpture.
My entire collegiate career was spent focused on incredibly physical processes, like forging, welding, bronze, and aluminum, casting and woodworking AND the creation of large, room filling sculptures.
Since graduating, I had to shift back to art that I could do in a corner of my garage, so being able to introduce a more physical aspect to my batik work has actually been surprisingly inspiring!
ā¢ā¢ā¢
I definitely still have kinks to work out, and there are moments of frustration, but every batik comes with more knowledge, and gets me one step closer to perfecting this crazy process.
ā¢ā¢ā¢
Stay tuned for the final reveal of these 3 new batik!!!
Work In Progress Wednesday!!
ā¢ā¢ā¢
Unlike traditional batik, where you often work in layers of color and wax; I choose to work in a single layer.
Blending the colors directly on the cloth with only a thin line of wax to keep the dyes separate.
In a process much like watercolor, I blend dyes on my cloth to add depth, interest and vibrancy.
ā¢ā¢ā¢
This process doesnāt leave much room for mistakes but man, is it fun!!
#batikartist #fiberart #fiberartist #batik #pnwartist
Well itās been a minute!
I took a much needed social media break to kinda recalibrate a little.
But Iām back to work!!
And this beauty titled āHang On For Dear Lifeā is now hanging down at the @porttownsendgallery
Be sure to swing down there and check it out!
#processvideo #batik #batikprocess #pnwartist #pnwgallery
