SAM Set the Table recap

with Jennifer and Matthew Offenbacher

Last night was Seattle Art Museum's annual fundraiser, Set the Table for SAM. It's always such a fun event (I think the free alcohol helps!). This year, instead of doing a solo table, Jeffry Mitchell and I collaborated and did a double table (24 guests). The event itself got way bigger and I think there were almost 50 tables this year!

our table

For our table, we decided to abandon our signature styles (but stuck with our favorite materials of clay and drawing) and focus on Austrian artist/designer Dagobert Peche. 

"Contradiction, playfulness, even irritation-Peche offered all of these as an alternative to purely utilitarian solutions. Garden sculptures made of sheet metal; jewelry boxes in the shape of cardboard pyramids; ceramics that look as though they were made of folded paper-such freedom was a rejection of the idea that the decorative arts should always be practical and conform with the materials from which they are made. Peche developed ideas of interior decoration that owed a great deal to Roman Catholic traditions, and very little to Anglo-American pragmatism. His oeuvre is also informed by the ideal of the gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art." via

our table

It was also Ann Wykoff's 85th birthday (a key player in getting OSP built) and she selected our table to host her celebration so it was an especially festive evening. Also, a huge out shout-out to  our "studio assistant" Tony Sonnenberg who does amazing things with clay and is really fun to hang out with all day making ceramics. 

our table

a tablecloth panel

For our tablecloth, we each drew 3d artworks by Peche and then created a digital tablecloth that extended our black & white motif. 

Cupcake Royale's 6th cafe opens Saturday!

Image by Hayley Young for Seattle Magazine

It's been a great week for my pal Jody Hall! The Affordable Care Act was upheld (she's been a big supporter of health care reform), her The Gay cupcakes are raking in money for Marriage Equality, and this Saturday she'll be opening her 6th Cupcake Royale cafe, along with launching her new ice cream line! I simply couldn't be more of proud of this woman and all the amazing things she's doing!

3 ft x 4 ft mural at new Cupcake Royale

Our friend Sarah Littlefield has been doing lots of design work for the new location and she asked me to create a couple of murals for the restroom (she's known her dramatic restrooms). She wanted them to reflect both the location's and Seattle's history. It really makes me want to do a huge mural showcasing all the awesomeness of Seattle. 

4 ft x 4 ft at new Cupcake Royale

Speed Dating / The Project Room

People gather

If you follow me on twitter (@joeyveltkamp), you might have noticed me tweeting a lot of random things last night like, " 'Were you trained as a dancer or did you kill a dancer and take her place?' - Ethan & Amy #10art10tech." It was part of a really fun and interesting event called Art & Technology: Speed Dating (Event #1) created by Susie Lee (artist) and Hsu-Ken Ooi (founder of decide.com) in partnership with the Project Room.

Jess and Susie explain the evening.

The premise of the evening was to get artists and technologists in the same room to foster new ways of solving problems. There were 10 artists, 10 technologists and 10 chaperones participating in 6 minute "speed dates". Chaperones were there to prompt discussion and live-tweet memorable discussion points. It was a pretty spectacular room full of people. I had interesting discussions with folks who are working on projects like a water filtration system and new sanitation technology for developing countries.

Here's a list of participants and if you're interested in reading the evening's tweets, check them out here #10art10tech. There will be an event on July 11 ("dinner and a movie") which will be open to the public so save the date.

News about Northwest artists

Participating artists (including Brian Cypher) at a collaborative drawing party

I always love it when Seattle exports its artists and recently a pair of my favorites, Julie Alexander and Brian Cypher, headed out to New York as part of Bushwick Open Studios, along with other artists from all over the country. They were invited to participate in "ALLTOGETHERNOW, a collaborative drawing project and abstract painting exhibition organized by Bushwick artist Julie Torres." Sounds like it was a really fun time for everyone. You can read more about it here. 

Man and Pet, 2012, by Jeffry Mitchell (image via Ambach & Rice)

Also in the news, Jeffry Mitchell's recent show Shamrock Edelweiss Seaweed was just written up in ArtReview. It's not hard to smile at a review that starts out like this.

"I've never met Jeffry Mitchell, but having seen his art, I'd imagine him to be a chunky fellow. Not fat, just well built. I'd also imagine him to be extravagantly hairy. Google reveals my hunches to be correct in the first instance, wrong in the second." - Jonathan Griffin

Marbles by Ellen Forney

Beloved illustrator/teacher/artist Ellen Forney has just announced the release of her most recent book, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir. I saw a preview of it and it's just wonderful...and brave and remarkable, just like Ellen. You can pre-order it now and then have something to look forward to when it comes out this fall. Ellen was also recently nominated for The Stranger Genius Shortlist in Literature. 

“Dense with intellectual and emotional power, Forney's book is a treasure—as a memoir, as an artwork, and as a beautifully conceived and executed commentary on both mental experience and the creative life. With wit, humor, a wicked sense of the absurd, and eloquent insight into the beauty that shines through the mercurial life of the mind, this graphic memoir explores its subject with a particular precision and power. Forney should be read.” - Marya Hornbacher, bestselling author of Madness: A Bipolar Life

Hang in there

"Hang in there" bear #1

Seems like there's been lots of sadness going around. A couple of folks have told me recently that they've printed out a drawing of mine and taped it up to remind them to "Hang in there". I think that's really sweet. Hugs, everyone. Related: Wear the sun in your heart -- perfect for today's sunny Seattle weather. 

Poster demo today / Chris Rollins

poster by Chris Rollins

If you're looking for something fun to do today, Chris Rollins will be leading a lino block printing workshop from noon to 4pm at café weekend (in the back room where the Sea Cat sale was yesterday).

posters by Chris (image via café weekend)

Spectrum of Light / Etsuko Ichikawa

Spectrum of Light by Etsuko Ichikawa (image by Sean Frago)

I'm in love with Estuko Ichikawa's Spectrum of Light. I can only imagine the beautiful colors it must project on those bare, white walls. 

Spectrum of Light by Etsuko Ichikawa (image by Sean Frago) 

This public art project (funded by the Washington State Arts Commission) was recently installed at Frederickson Elementary School in Puyallup. I'd love to see these rainbows all over!

Spectrum of Light by Etsuko Ichikawa (image by Sean Frago) 

Sea-Cat Art Sale & Exhibition / June 9

The fine folks at Sea-Cat have organized an art sale/exhibition for next Saturday (June 9) from 10am-4pm at Cafe Weekend (in Hiawatha Lofts). Swing by to pick up some great art like Jenny Heishman's lovely Bandanna!

And if you fall in love with some art that you can't afford, Sea-Cat has made a video about how you can share a piece of art with your friends (or even your friend's co-worker)!