At A Glance

01 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Just visual, Quilting

Tags

Art work, Faith Ringgold, Greg Kucera, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Kerry James Marshall, Louisiana Bendolph, prints

While in the Hallie Ford Museum of Art the other day I went up to the corner on the second floor where new work is often shown, and found these three nice prints, gifts of Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom of Seattle. Collections Curator Jonathan Bucci had alerted me to the Louisiana Bendolph print “Shared Legacy” which was donated in honor of artist Marie Watt. I had seen the show of Gee’s Bend prints back in 2000 or so at Kucera’s Seattle Gallery but had forgotten how really nice they are…certainly referencing the Gee’s Bend Quilts but also Korean pojagi construction.

Additionally Kucera/Yocom have donated this handsome Kerry James Marshall print “Untitled (Young Woman)” in honor of artist Stephen Soihl

and this print by sculptor Martin Puryear …

and hanging with these is a perennial favorite from the museum collection…a lithograph by Faith Ringgold “The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles”…

So even though Louis Bunce has departed there is still a museum full of artwork to go see…

Studio Addict

08 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Bonnie Hull, Court Street, Ephemera, Garden Studio, Modern Life, Oregon, Quilting, Small Buildings, Studio, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Art studio, Art work, Bonnie Hull, my house, quilting, sewing studio, snow, Studios at the Mill

The first week of January. Snow.

In an effort to get the year started right, I’ve been in one studio or another of mine every day. In both cases I entered into long reveries about studios and how lucky we are who have them…alternate realities really. They don’t have to be clean and tidy (though they CAN be), they don’t have to have “decor” (though they CAN if you want…)…(my first studio had 16 foot ceilings and no windows, no tables, one chair…you HAVE to have a chair.)

Once you have a studio though, you’ll probably always have to contrive to have one…they are refuges for ideas (or no ideas on some days). And I like to see other people’s studios, ways of arranging work space and idea space, inspirations and oddments hanging around. I have two studios…one for 2D, painting and drawing and storing work, one for sewing…

My 2D studio is Studio H at the Studios at the Mill….quiet, serene, all mine.

My sewing “cottage” is at home in the back garden…

…it was formerly my painting studio but I moved things around. Today when I sat there working away, listening to the freezing rain pelting down, I felt guilty to have so many places to stay warm and dry and work.

So studio appreciation set in…for one thing, check my plywood floor…

…remnants of the 2D days…

some art work lingers…this painting is called “First Snow” from 2009…

…fabric begins to intrude…

and as it begins to get dark I can see the house…and think it might be time to “go home”…

And tomorrow is Monday…on we go…

High Street Gallery

27 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Just visual, Modern Life, PNAA, Salem, Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Angee Schmitt, Art work, High Street Gallery, Jim and Jo Hockenhull, Julian Smith, Michael Hernandez, Nicandsloy, painting, PNAA, Richard Thompson, Salem Gallery, Tom Cramer

The other night some artists met at Marco Polo for dinner before going to check out the new High Street Gallery (700 High Street NE…it’s around behind where Salem Paint used to be). In MY fortune cookie there were THREE fortunes…wowzer…

Salem, the Capital City, doesn’t have a gallery scene really…though Salem is home to a wide variety of talented artists…so we were anxious to see the new High Street Gallery, brainchild of Michael Hernandez and Angee Schmitt.

It LOOKS like a gallery…they’ve made a very nice space for looking at art in the traditional way of white walls, plenty of space and a comfortable bench…(and here are painter/print-maker Jo Hockenhull with Angee watching Jo’s husband painter/print-maker Jim Hockenhull, also a musician)

Here’s Julian Smith’s “Mounte Blanc and the Window”

Richard Thompson’s “Horizon 3 Trees in the Fog”

Tom Cramer’s lively acrylics

Dave Nichol’s pencil and oil “Painting the Kent Hotel”

and also his car seat…

Roger Hull and Michael Hernandez

Painter Sandra Loy (Sloy) with painter Rob Bibler

and here’s Jim Hockenhull as a strolling minstrel looking at Sloy’s painting…WHICH…sold and in one of those quirks of fate it was bought by painter Dayna Collins and her husband Howard so here are pictures of it heading to a new home for Christmas…

The show continues until January 28 with open receptions on these Saturdays…January 7, 14, 21 and 28. Sloy replaced the painting that became a Christmas gift so you’d better go take a look!

Art Laundry, III

30 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Bonnie Hull, Compass Gallery at Willamette Heritage Center, Drawings, Ephemera, Just visual, Modern Life, PNAA, Salem, Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Art, Art Laundry 3, Art work, Bonnie Hull, Carolyn Schneider, Drawings, hand quilting, PNAA, Quilts

Carolyn Schneider and I met in a 7th grade art class. Our first forays into the art world were on the subway into the city to go to the Art Institute of Chicago when we were 13. We’ve been looking at art, thinking about art and making art ever since. For the last decade we’ve had an annual studio event either in her California studio, or in mine…more talking, more looking, more art-making, some writing.

In 2012 we had a gallery show in Fort Bragg, California which we called “Art Laundry” and it looked like this.

Drawings, quilts, mending, sewing, prints…it even included my little “Gallery of Plaid”

and then in 2015 Carolyn and ART LAUNDRY came to Salem…and it looked like this:

It was drawing, it was quilts, it was talking and masks and thinking of that interface between making art and doing routine work and domestic work, it was fun and serious.

This year Art Laundry III comes to the Compass Gallery at the Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill Street SE. August 3 the gallery will be hung with Carolyn Schneider’s drawings, my quilts and monoprints. Beginning Monday August 8 Carolyn and I will be in the gallery for 4 days, 11-3 daily. Carolyn will be performing public ironing and talking about work of all kinds. The “opening” will be Thursday night August 11th at the gallery, from 5-7. We urge you to come see us, bring some ironing, sit and talk about the work you are making, the work we are making, or how you learned to iron a shirt…see you very soon!

The Melange That is July…This Year

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Artists, Design, Ephemera, Just visual, Modern Life, Oregon, PNAA, Quilting, Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Art, Art work, Compass Gallery, July fun, PNAA, quilting, sewing, Susan Cianciolo, Waterlines, Yale Union

What a crazy mixed-up fun month this has been…so far. Possibly there is a limit to how much fun you can actually have in one calendar month, but I haven’t maxed out yet. The fourth of July of course (see below). Then visitors…

How and Amy came and we looked at the bridge progress..

How pointed out the end-of-the-day routine the workers have for the crane…

we checked the local architecture…

went to the MIG farm cart and had a coffee at Archive…

We drew…

we hugged…

Martha and I headed up to Yale Union to see the last day of the Susan Cianciolo show and to attend a “workshop” (we had no clear idea of what we’d be doing…but what the heck…). Yale Union is just a beautiful space in an old garment factory/warehouse…you must go and take a look as it is now one huge open space with a running ribbon of windows…well, you just want to move in and start working.

First we look at Susan Cianciolo’s work…I was especially interested in the idea of “kits”…of her mixture of fabric/quilted pieces and narrative and collections and the stuff of everyday life…the evidence of children and their ideas was engaging to me.

kit 11

and now it was time for the workshop…

Susan Cianciolo

and the task at hand was to make a kimono. I was more interested in her ideas of making notational books, and began to develop the idea of “workbooks” as I slouch toward “Art Laundry” (stay tuned for that one…) and so…voila, the kimono work book was the end result of my 2 1/2 hours of work…

Many people there though really did make kimonos, and it looked like this…

with three young designers, former students of Susan Cianciolo’s, there to help…

Ellen and Larry were here for a few days of total relaxation and I obliged by NOT photographing them…

“Waterlines” went up at the Compass Gallery and here I meanly only photographed my own work, but Dayna Davidson Collins has a bunch of lovely paintings…come take a look…up til August 1st.

Quilt group met at our house this week for the “reveal”…all the things we made from Kate’s “ugly fabric” give-away last December (the fabric she gave us wasn’t ugly really…it was the color of a mouse)…true to form the projects were as different as the makers…and just as nice…

We exchanged more uglies to be revealed next December…ate some yummy salads…

and then Deann’s homemade cheesecakes nicely presented (and yummy)…

and today I cleaned the sewing “cottage” and sewed all day…

The framer called and they found How’s little piece that was having a frame repair and then got lost…

SO, what next? There are some “workbooks” all ready for “ART Laundry”…

More info coming on that one…but now maybe the beach? Drawing for sure, sewing for sure…there are still 10 more days…!

Just Tulips!

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Bonnie Hull, Compass Gallery at Willamette Heritage Center, Drawings, Sculpture, Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

"Just Tulips", Art work, Compass Gallery at Willamette Heritage Center, drawing, painting, Salem artists, Sculpture

Well this gallery gig is interesting and fun, but goodness a month comes around fast!

Thursday Dayna, Tory and I put up the new show, “Just Tulips”, and lest you think it’s ALL work, check us out…(these two are a little scary…)

Dayna went BOLD…

Tory went whimsical…(this one sold already!!)

and this one is called “A Tractor Named Tulip”…

PLUS…a bit elegant…

and I went archival…hanging up some tulip drawings and paintings from earlier…

PLUS the tulip chair, now for sale,…

and then my recycled bouquet…my wisteria prunings wrapped in quilt scraps…(nothing must be wasted!!)

Better come see us Thursday March 10th, 5-7…

Art Laundry 2

12 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Artists, City, Drawings, Modern Life, Salem Art Association, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Art, Art Laundry 2, Art work, Bonnie Hull, Carolyn Schneider, Drawings, Project Space, Salem Art Association

In 2012 I went to Fort Bragg, California, to make art with my friend artist Carolyn Schneider, and to put up a show called “Art Laundry” at the Lost Coast Culture Machine Gallery. We had fun, worked hard, and the show was a success and held over for another month. Carolyn discovered her latent desire to iron in public, I had a great time drawing, sewing, etc. I made the “Shrine to Plaid”…

..and put up drawings, quilts, monoprints. This year Carolyn is coming to Salem and together we are going to make an installation called “Art Laundry 2″…as part of SAlem Art Association’s Project Space 2015…

We’ll be setting up shop at 211 NE Commercial Street from August 24-September 4, with the “opening” on Wednesday, September 2nd. We intend to draw, cut, sew, wash, dry, mend, iron, fold and repeat. We hope to consider art work and women’s work, and the space between. Public ironing will occur daily from 1-2…come see us.

Currently on View

30 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Art World, Artists, Celebrations, Modern Life, Oregon, Salem, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Alexandra Opie, Andre Derain, Art, Art work, Artists, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Kassie McKay, Robert Rauschenberg

We went to “the Museum” last night…in our neighborhood that would be the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. There’s a loaned Andre Derain oil on view that is lovely, “Montreuil-Sur-Mer…Derain a fauvist who painted often with Matisse, was 29 when he painted this.

Plus a nice Robert Rauschenberg screenprint from 1970, “Features from Currents”…a 2014 gift from Chan Beals to the museum.

We also saw Willamette faculty member photographer Alexandra Opie’s show Echo…she’s been working for a couple of years with Collodian and Daguerreotype processes and the photos, all portraits, combine layers using 1870’s orginal photos superimposed on 2014/15 persons. My favorites were the self portraits…(here keep in mind the additional layer of glass and reflection in well-lit a museum setting…)

and of course this portrait of favorite former student Reva Main with unfortunately me in there too…

We also took in the student show and I liked the Kassie McKay drawings…just white paper and a fine point pen. In her statement about the drawings she speaks of the LONG process and the shifting thoughts about the objects and the context, drawings influenced by a year studying abroad and traveling light, plus examining her surroundings closely…

I liked these photos of the wood process, tree to lumber…and I thought I had noted this artist’s name but did not…apologies. Better get over and see these shows…

But we were really in the museum for the gala moment celebrating the graduation and completed theses of 13 (!) graduating art history majors…it was a fun evening…

a delicious meal and then the fun of guessing the art historical references in some tableaus…

I bet you figured this was Michelangelo’s “Pieta”, right? How about this one?

Drawing Day

10 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Coffee art, Drawings, Ephemera, Modern Life

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Art work, Coffee, drawiing, Salem Sketchers, urban sketchers

I recently read an article that said to have a happy life you need to do something EVERYDAY that makes you happy. If you love to draw that’s so easy…drawing books and pens fit nicely into a purse…insurance against any “slow” moment…all good. …and SOME days are really happy days because drawing and coffee join up. This morning the Salem Sketchers group was meeting at Broadway Commons, and though I never have joined the group before, I have been a fan of Urban Sketchers for a few years…so I went along and got a coffee and started in drawing…

They suggest an hour of drawing, and then the group reconvenes to contemplate their endeavors….(sadly I didn’t get close-ups of ALL the drawings…next time…) they’re a good group…

and my finished drawing…

then off to an opening of a show of Dana Davidson Collins and Cynthia Herron’s collaborative paintings of the last year (at which I fell totally out of reporter mode and didn’t take a single photo, alas…go see the show called “Ricochet” at Roy John’s) and ANOTHER coffee,,,

here’s the urban sketchers from Brazil, and we looked about like this…with coats.

Studio Day

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by bonniehull in Art work, Bonnie Hull, Just visual, Modern Life, Studio, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Art work, Bonnie Hull, Collage, studio, Summer

I haven’t been in the studio much…Italy, 4th of July, grandbaby….so today I sort of sunk in for a while. It’s cool out there in the studio (temperature wise, I mean) totally shaded by a walnut tree and a bay tree intertwined. As is my habit, I try to find some past work to look at…hmmm. The bridge paintings? “The Conflagration in the Garden” from the Adam and EVE series? Not today. Today I opened the book of collages I started in 2011…and, as often happens, I liked them much better than I did 3 years ago…especially the ones that are spare…