Art – Page 32 – Sequim Daily Photo

Blyn

There’s a gem of a little library located in Blyn, the tribal center of the Jamestown S’Klallam nation. The focus is on Native American culture and history and there is a wonderful selection of volumes if this is where your interests take you. Some volumes are for use only in the library but most are available for check out if you are local. I was thrilled to find two coffee table sized volumes of Edward S. Curtis photographs that are worth a return visit to linger over.

The library is one of a collection of buildings that serve both the tribe and the broader community. The Jamestown S’Klallam host lectures and community events in this community center.

These totems create a beautiful gateway. In the distance is Sequim Bay.

Happiness Happens Day

Did you know that today is “Happiness Happens Day?” I learned this a while back. I have no idea who declared it thus. I’d never heard of it before. But I’m a fan of happiness happening and attempt to give it space to happen daily.

I started working after school when I was in high school and never looked back. College was juggled with work and then came a career. There was time for fun but I never seemed to have quite enough time to pursue really interesting stuff. Now I do. The vase above is a case in point. I met a neighbor who teaches glass fusing. So far this is my favorite creation. It’s great fun. Happiness happens.

Irresistible

Kids. Water. Public art.

Ride ’em, cowgirls!

Swarm

Another exhibit at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art that I rather liked was “Swarm” by David Eisenhour. Described as bronze and mixed media jellyfish, the work hangs and rotates, catching natural light from the Museum’s two story windows.

Can you make out the cherubic faces in this one?

All the jellyfish were interesting. Some were easier than others to catch as they revolved.

Artist’s Books

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art has an exhibit entitled “Artist’s Books Chapter Five: Women, Now and Then“, a small room of assemblages that focus on aspects of women’s lives and what it means to be a woman. Interesting, comical, disturbing and beautiful. This one by Teri Greeves caught my eye. Entitled “Book of Dance and Dress,” it is six pages of beaded artistry portraying the dance and clothing of Native women. The book appears to be constructed of deerskin.

The dancing portrayed is contemporary and taken from competitive pow wow dance styles.

It was behind glass. I wish I could have gotten closer. The detail was gorgeous.

Plan B

A bunch of us got together yesterday to visit a tantalizingly beautiful garden on Bainbridge Island, about an hour from Sequim. There was a chance of rain. And it was raining in Sequim. But we hit the road with optimism, ever hopeful. The rain didn’t let up but Plan B was no disappointment either. We visited the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, a sleek and modern spot that I for one had passed many times on the way to the Bainbridge ferry to Seattle.

It’s a small two-story building with a nice rooftop garden and one side opens onto a pretty courtyard. The art on view is a small collection — enough to be engaging but not so much as to overwhelm. For me it was just right. There’s also a nicely curated gift shop and a small bistro that made me long for an early lunch. All in all a very nice substitute…and the garden still waits.

The new totem pole

Today I thought I’d give you a closer look at the new totem pole donated by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe to the City of Sequim for our new Civic Center plaza. Carved by the tribe’s master carver, Dale Faulstich, it was blessed last month at the dedication of the City Hall.

This shot shows the first figure at the bottom of the pole. In Salish culture totem poles are used for many reasons. They can commemorate family and community history and convey the folklore of religious and cultural beliefs.

This is the middle section of the new pole. This pole depicts a story of brothers who became the Sun and Moon and the maidens they married. In the story they slay the Chief Above to bring light to the land.

This is the top of the pole. Old growth Western Red Cedars are carefully harvested to create totem poles. The trees are typically 500 to 900 years old, taken from the Hoh Rain Forest on the western Olympic Peninsula.