Art Walk

Visual art surrounds us all day, every day, in varying forms. Whether we choose to look at it or not, it is there as a background noise along with piped music and commercial hum. Working in marketing means that I spend a great deal of time looking at and absorbing visual stimulus, making decisions, drawing inferences and soaking up different cultures then cutting it up and spitting it out to be consumed by someone else. The internet has dramatically increased the volume of images that cross our retina. Some days I feel so over-satiated that I want to sit in a dark room and wait until it all quietens down.


Still, it is in my nature to seek out artistic experiences where ever I am. As an individual, I have always enjoyed looking at art in its many forms, visiting galleries, coming across public art in unusual places.


Living in London for a couple of years I was spoiled with the opportunity to visit the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, Tate Modern...and all the rest of them, whenever I wanted. The portrait gallery was my favorite - in particular one little spot in the basement that had a regularly changing exhibit. I could just pop in there on my way to Covent Garden and get a quick, free art hit. With all the greatest art in the world around me though, there was always something missing. The problem was, it was an historical experience. I will never get the chance to sit down with Renoir and ask him how his day was. The Romantics will never come to my house for tea. Toulouse-Lautrec will never make a poster for one of my events.


Here in Tacoma, there is a significant artistic community. I have been told that this is now the desirable place for artists now that Seattle has grown too expensive. Every Third Thursday, there is an Artwalk around town. All the galleries (there are many of them, some in the most surprising places) open their doors for free. The art collectives set up shop and let people come in and show them how they work. I have taken part in 3 art walks so far and each time have been thoroughly fulfilled in my thirst for current, relevant and quality art. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that historical art is worthless and anything new is good, far from it. You must know where you have come from to understand where you are going. What I relish though, is that chance to be in amongst the art as it happens. It adds so much depth to the experience and understanding of what you see. Anyone can pay for a picture. Few can watch that picture grow from the artist's fingers.


There is a mailing list you can join that tells you what is going on in the artists community, what programs are coming up, events, shows, tenders. I get maybe 5 or six a day. This could be irritating, but I find it a fascinating indication of the vibrancy of the cultural life of Tacoma. Living in it, it seems normal to have top quality, custom, 'Tacoma' graphic art on every street corner. Go somewhere else tho, even to London, and it is clear that there is something special, something very of-the-place happening here. I am excited to be a part of it.


Here are some links to the places I've been so far and some graphic designers that make up the Tacoma view:

- Artwalk map with links

- 253 collective (253 is the area code here)

- Brick House Gallery

- Mary K -Lots of local paper The Volcano work and band Motopony

- Mirka Kokkanen Specializes in animals

- Rusty George - Tacoma public work including Point Defiance zoo, the Hub, the Grand

- Springtide press letterpress

- Chandler O'Leary

- Beautiful Angle

Happy Anniversary!

March 11th 2010 - 4 years old. We're just about ready to start school now.

When you get married, people often ask, 'Are you sure you know what you're letting yourself in for?'. And of course you answer, 'Yes!'. Well, I'm not sure either of us knew we were letting ourselves in for all the adventures we've had so far, but we certainly knew we wanted to do it together.

For our anniversary this year we took in the sites, sounds and tastes of Tacoma and Seattle. We had a lovely day, basically eating and drinking the whole time!

We started off by going to the gym because we knew we had a good day’s worth of food to consume

Then we went to Corina Bakery for cookies and coffee and hung out on our computers doing a little bit of work

Then we went to the Mad Hat tea shop and played on an original pingpong computer game while sitting on old car seats on the floor and drinking white tea Tony showed me my present – a beautiful tryptich print by Mirka Hokkanen

Then we stopped off at infinite soups for Mexican black bean soup

From there we went home for a little nap. It’s hard work being louche.

Next on the agenda was a trip to Commencement Bay coffee shop to meet up with some people

Then off to Seattle for a warm up cocktail in a bar that we didn’t really understand and dinner in Marrakesh – a Morrocan restaurant that a number of people had recommended. It was delicious. We rolled out the door.

Wonder what the next year will bring...?!

I love to go a wandering...

It's been a while...!

The last few months have been characterized by gray. Gray clouds, gray streets, gray rain…but in amongst that there grows a steady mass of green. The moss on the trees has bloomed to almost an inch deep in places. There are up to six different kinds of moss and fungus on one tree. The grass is lush and verdant. Rhododendrons and Magnolia are already in bloom. All about there buzzes the promise of life.

I went out in search of green today. I took the camera and the time to stop and look and take in the life around me. I contrasted shades, angles and textures. I looked for order in chaos. Framed shots with the lens of my camera, making neat little boxes out of the vast and intricate world before me. As I went about this collection, my thoughts too began to order.

If you saw a lone female, early one Sunday morning, crouched, staring intently ay a patch of mould on a roadside tree, and wondered if she was OK, worry not. She was just fine.

We've been on a few good hikes recently (here walking is something you do from the car to the front door). We visited Tiger Mountain and Mt. Si. In the process, we discovered that one can drive for an hour, hike for an hour up a mountain (literally, out of the car, 1 hour vertical climb, 35 minutes descend) and hike back down and be home for tea. There are only 2 mountains in the UK. That's pretty cool.

When you're used to walking on the Mendips, the idea of poles, crampons and survival gear are furthest from your mind. Tony and I always feel woefully underdressed in our rolled up trousers and wooly socks as we pass the locals decked out in most of REI'S outdoor department...then we reach the top of Mt Si and see a plaque dedicated to a young man who fell to his death there. A man who had summited Mt St Helens 60 times died on the top just recently, after warning others in the group. While the trails may be easy and well-maintained, we have to learn that you can never second-guess nature.

Here is our trip up Mt. Si

Click here for some more pictures of the area at the start of the year.