In 1971 Jim came across a falling down pig shed made out of walnut. He has been salvaging pieces of tree ever since. He works with Whidbey Island trees that are at the end of their carbon sequestering life. Currently, the stages of death and new life are lying in a heap in his driveway with the ends sealed. Next, they will be cut into lengths, split down the pith and roughed into rounds with an electric chainsaw. They will be turned on a lathe to a finished thickness, cleaned up with cabinet scrapers by hand and allowed to dry to a shape and texture of the piece's own choosing. Swirling grain knots checks and stains are a bonus.

My latest work continues the theme of “color as mood” while using local scenes as the staging ground. I will often begin a painting with a bright background color to set the tone, then add to the scene with an emphasis on angles and edges. Layers of color are often blurred by rags and finger-painting to keep the scene fresh and alive. 

I proudly finished a couple of “alla prima” nocturnes during this summer’s Whidbey Plein Air Paint Out competition, which was no small feat. While painting on the wharf at midnight, not even the harbor seals chasing fish in the waters below me could distract me! Painting familiar subjects when in a new season of life has been very telling and rewarding.

Janis has been weaving for over 40 years but knows she will never run out of techniques to explore. This summer she has been hand painting textile dye onto the threads, called the warp, that run the length of her scarves. The plain color weft threads hold the warp threads together to make the cloth as they run across the width. A shuttle carries this thread which is thrown anywhere from 1500 to 2000 times depending on the length or density of the scarf. This combination creates pattern over-laying the changing colors on the warp. It is always interesting to weave because watching the color and pattern interact changes with every throw of the shuttle.

We are featuring the work of Janis Collins for the month of July. She is currently exploring the Mandela style of art as a new way of relating to the circle symbolizing the perfect harmony of nature in the world. She sees a strong connection between the natural world and the never-ending circle. The possibilities are endless! The images are chosen carefully to make a specific statement about how the elements in each Mandela relate to each other.

Janis works with Prismacolor colored pencils, and sometimes adds pen/ink to the drawings. Visit the gallery to see her new work.