Introducing Claudio Duran as Part of "Gifted" Exhibit

"Pompous Elephant"
8" x 10"
Acrylic on Panel

We ran across Duran's work when we were over at the Artist & Craftsman picking up supplies. The bright color pallete, the mix of folk art with contemporary, and sharp lines really caught our eyes. He also had a great collection of small works that we thought would be perfect to bring to the gallery for our "Gifted" exhibition. Duran is one of three new artists that we have brought in for this particular show. And we hope that you enjoy his work as much as we do...




"Slow Frolic"
4" x 6"
Acrylic on Panel

Artist Bio:
Claudio Duran was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and raised in Texas before moving to Seattle in 2000. Duran is inspired by organic shapes, unexpected color combinations, machinery, nature and wildlife, anime, rust and decay, surrealism, fantasy, and junkyards. His artwork can be seen in the upcoming feature film "Fat Kid Rules the World", and in December, he will be taking part in the annual "30 Day Art Challenge" at the Tashiro Kaplan building in Pioneer Square.




"Nice Day for a Nap"
4" x 6"
Acrylic on Panel



"I Will Grow Old With You"
4" x 6"
Acrylic on Panel


Bherd Studios Gallery
@The Greenwood Collective
8537 Greenwood Ave N | Suite 1
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 234-8348
Gallery Hours: Wed - Fri from noon - 6pm & by appointment

"Protection #6": John Osgood Time Lapse Video

"Protection #6" by John Osgood
6.5ft x 4ft
Aerosol on Wood
2010



This piece was created over the weekend and is part of a series called "Protection" that was started in 2001...

Last Chance - POW!

Okay all you procrastinators, you've had almost (2) months to come out and see the "Character Development" exhibit and if you didn't stop by, you still have until Friday to check it out. For this weeks installment of POW (Piece of the Week) we are featuring a perfect trio of pieces by Canadian artist, Chris Brett.


"Lie, Cheat & Steal" by Chris Brett
14" x 11" (set of 3)
Mixed Media on Wood
$700

Our gallery is open Wed - Fri from noon-6pm. Stop by and check out the show before it's gone. Plus we got some goods from Scion to hand out, flip flops, athletic socks and cd's (no purchase necessary to get some).


Bherd Studios Gallery
@ The Greenwood Collective
8537 Greenwood Ave N Suite 1
Seattle, WA 98103
www.bherdstudios.com

Bherd Limited Edition Hand Screen-Printed Ladies Dresses

We have limited edition Osgood designed and hand screen-printed dresses in 4 colors: black, maroon, blue and gray. One size fits all (and yes, for the most part this is true as the material is stretchy). Don't let Gwendolyn's svelte figure scare you curvy ladies away. The dress looks great on many figures not just the skinny ones! The dress is a raw cut dress from American Apparel. They can be worn as dresses, or as long shirts as seen on Gwendolyn paired with jeans and a long sleeve shirt underneath. The price is right at $20.00


Here's a close up below. John added some line form drawing into this design, and melded flowers and birds together...



Here's a shot of the other color combo's to choose from...


We're open Wed - Fri from noon - 6pm and by appointment by either calling or texting (206) 234-8348. We live in the Greenwood neighborhood, so we're around pretty often, so don't be shy about setting up a time to come by outside of our hours.

Why it’s never too soon to start your art collection

Encaustic photographs by Michelle Smith-Lewis of lil Photo Boxes
Michelle will be in our "Ladies First" Exhibit starting Feb 12th.

I hear over and over again from people I’ve talked to that they would love to collect art work but they don’t have the money. My short answer is art does not have to be expensive. However, I wanted to spend more time addressing this subject, as it is a critical one for an art gallery such as Bherd Studios (and as a wife of an artist such as myself).

Some reasons I have heard why people are hesitant to start their collection:

1) I don’t own my own house/condo.

Well, unless you’re residing in your parents home or a multi-roommate house that is too rowdy to secure artwork, this is not a good excuse. If you’re renting an apartment or house, you have walls that would look 10x better with original artwork on them, than a framed poster, or generic wall decoration that you’ve purchased at a home décor store. Why would you want to have your residence graced with a generic piece/poster that anyone else in your neighborhood or across America could also have? What better way to show your good taste and unique flavor, than to buy artwork that speaks to you and has a story for your guests?

2) But I don’t have the money to invest in artwork right now.

Yes you do - start small! If you have $40 to buy that generic wall hanging, you certainly have enough to buy an original piece of artwork like this:

Artwork by Ninjagrl - she will also be featured in our Feb 12 "Ladies First" exhibition.

That is just one example of a Seattle artist who creates small works for affordable prices. We have shown many more pieces of artwork that fall within the $40 - $100 range at our gallery. In fact, we have talked to more than a couple art collectors who focus mainly on small pieces from local artists. What a great concept! One collector in particular says he loves finding that “one small piece” to add to his wall of Seattle Artists. When guests come over to his house, he has a wonderful story to tell as he’s met most of the artists at their openings.

Here’s an example of a small piece collection in the home of Ninjagrl & Beau (formerly of Halogen Gallery):

I spot a couple of Soopajdelux, a Rob Roy Chalmers, a Chris Sheridan, a Kelly Vivanco, a 2H, an Ego, a Starheadboy, a Brad Strain, a Joe Vollan...


3) I don’t know anything about art.

You don’t have to let lack of knowledge stop you from buying art or learning about it. There are many art venues in Seattle who are friendly, informative and affordable. You don’t have to start your collection off at a Christie’s auction to be a collector! A good place to begin your collecting efforts, is to find out what you like. Take time to go to an artwalk or art opening and see what strikes your fancy. Start finding out what genre of art that best fits your personality and home. You can’t buy “the wrong piece” if you like it. Besides you get to feel good that you purchased an original piece of artwork from a local artist. You are not only supporting the artist, you’re also supporting your own arts community.

I hope that if you've been hesitant to start collecting, that this has helped give you some ideas. If you want to start with larger pieces, there are many artists and some galleries out there that allow you to do a layaway plan (including Bherd Gallery). So never fear, if you have an excuse - I can probably get you over that hurdle.

http://www.bherdstudios.com/

Michael McGovern: SEA to PDX Screen-Printer Extraordinare

"Untitled" by Michael McGovern
15" x 22"
Mixed Media on Wood Panel
$500.00

Michael McGovern is one of the featured artists currently in our gallery for the "Screen-Play" exhibit showing through Friday, February 5th. He is an instructor at Sev Shoon, a wonderful print-making studio located in Ballard. I was lucky enough to stumble across his work through the Sev Shoon website and was completely taken in by his dreamy and eerie images using screen-printing as one of his main mediums for creating his pieces. Here is a little background on his work - I highly encourage you to stop by and see his work in person, though.

Michael Edward McGovern - Artist Bio
Michael Edward McGovern was born and raised in Portland Oregon and attended the Pacific Northwest College of Art where he studied photography and printmaking and earned a BFA in photography in 2004. Five years later in 2009 Michael graduated with his MFA in printmaking from Northern Illinois University where he studied under Michael Barnes and Ashley Nason. Currently living and working both in Portland Oregon and Seattle Washington Michael McGovern continues to make work based in both printmaking and photography.




"Slumber" by Michael McGovern
18" x 23"
Mixed Media on Wood Panel
$500.00


See more work from Screen-Play!


Artist Statement:
The environments and people that have surrounded my life inform the art I create. My work is about constructing autobiographical images that explore the ghosts of my past. I am interested in how both personal and cultural histories have profoundly affected my visual language. I compose memorials to the intangible memories of my past. By visually recording impressions of specific times, places, and events in my life I am preserving memories that seem to fade with each passing year. My work calls upon the repetitive nature of photography and printmaking to create a network of reoccurring images that I can meditate on to help search for a truth. I use a lexicon of images that relate to specific events in my history. Repeated images of bridges, birds, trains, war, urban landscapes, and old family portraits find their way into my work lending themselves to an unfolding narrative. All these images carry a personal biography, but also carry the weight of their own metaphors helping to furnish an ever-growing personal narrative.


http://www.bherdstudios.com/
Gallery Hours: Wed - Fri from 12-6pm and by appointment.

New Stencil Classes offered by Artist Soule

"Urban Buddha" by Soule

No country craft stencils here!
It looks like silk screening, but it's stenciling!

The Stencil class will be taught by Kim McCarthy aka SOULE of Urban Soule Design.

This class jumps into action with Kim guiding you through the entire process from the creation of the stencil, to applying the stencil image on multiple surfaces,using a variety of mediums. Learn to transfer your images onto fabric, paper, wood and many other surfaces.

This is a very fun, hands-on class so you should wear "painting clothes".

Students are encouraged to give renewed life to their vintage clothes, bags, 100% cotton shirt or fabric. (100% cotton works best but a cotton/poly blend will do, shirts with ribbing (raised vertical lines) do NOT stencil well) also recommend: pillow cases, tote bags, sketchbooks, canvas, etc... which you should bring to apply your stencil(s) on.

* All paint and other materials will be provided for use in the class only. (other stencil material, X-acto knife, cutting board and paints)

Bring your own black and white image to use for the stencil
(printed on paper), keep in mind you may be tracing the image so the simpler and cleaner the lines, the better.

No more than 5 students per class to allow for plenty of individual instruction.

You will leave the class with your printed stenciling samples, instructions, the custom stencils that you designed for this class, and the confidence to personalize your life with creative stenciling designs!

Ages 18+ only. All levels welcome.

Cost: $65.00 per person (includes materials fee)

Time: Roughly 2-3hrs

You can reach Kim at urbansoule@gmail.com for more information

Matamuros at Artoleptic 2009

Here's a photo recap of Zachary Bohnenkamp & Kevin "Sensei23" Sullivan of Matamuros at Artoleptic 2009 yesterday.








Unfortunately, the sun started going down at this point...



It was a great day hanging out and watching the progression of the murals. Altogether there were 9 artist teams on the free-standing walls and a few artists that brought their own boards to work on, as well as a few artists booths. John had one of the artists booths and he worked on some pieces while we were there. Here is one of the new pieces he finished that day...