Join us at First Thursday, August 2nd to meet our guest artists- Susan Supola, Gerhard Thoen and Ken Knodell.
During the August 2nd, First Thursday from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, enjoy the music by Brad Matthews, light snacks, and help us celebrate these artists’ fine work.
Susan Supola- Silk Painting
Susan Supola
Why I do what I do
The world is about people and the connections we make with them. I get the joy of strengthening those connections every time I can share my ideas, emotions, and stories through my artwork. I am often drawn to painting landscapes or nature and especially those of the Pacific Northwest.
I paint in my studio, and I paint outdoors on location. I generally have my camera and a sketchbook with me to record things that touch me. Among other forms of art, I paint with dyes on silk stretched on a frame. I taught myself how to do this from books. My art is about connections between myself, other people, and nature. It is probably best said by Yann Martel in The Life of Pi: “Stories—individual stories, family stories, national stories—are what stitch together the disparate elements of human existence into a coherent whole. We are story animals.
Washington Fruit
Gerhard Thoen- Wood Carving
Small Chest
Ken Knodell- Fused Glass
Ken Knodell
Illusions for the Eye and Mind
With my art work I go through phases of trying different ideas and the latest phase for me is illusions for the eye and mind which was in part inspired by M C Escher and his impossible constructions, all of the drawings I used to make my pieces I found on the internet which also included patterns that makes your eyes and mind not sure of what it sees.
I have been playing with my vision of how to do these images and translate the drawings I found using glass, I have been doing so for the past year now, I really like how looking at an object or pattern can play tricks on your eyes and mind.
My focus for the past 15 years though has turned mostly to fused glass after my wife Yvonne took a fusing class and told me all about the basics of fusing glass I knew then I had to try it for myself thinking I could add a new dimension to my windows by using fused pieces of glass but I also liked the idea of being able to make so many other things with glass such as plates, bowls, candle holders, and glass blocks. Fusing has opened up so many new ways to be creative with glass that this has become my primary focus while still doing stained glass windows occasionally.
