ARTfusion, 7th annual Art Show and Sale
When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 4-6
Where: The Cutting Garden Art Center, 303 Dahlia Llama Lane
Artists: Linda Collins Chapman, ceramics; Paulette Hill, jewelry; Catherine Mix, watercolor/pastel paintings; Tuttie Peetz, driftwood
Demonstrations: Daily at 2 p.m.
Labor Day weekend will be the public’s last chance to see one of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley’s finest venues.
Painter Catherine Mix said ARTfusion on Sept.4-6 will be the last time she and her husband Tom open The Cutting Garden, 303 Dahlia Llama Lane, to the public.
The Mixes plan to move into the farmhouse where private events and ARTfusion are held with the intent to remodel Catherine’s floral studio in a nearby barn into a painting studio.
Mix said ARTfusion will continue annually in her updated studio moving from a 17-foot by 30-foot space in the farmhouse to a 24-foot by 24-foot space. She anticipates the remodel beginning in late September.
As for ARTfusion, it remains the exclusive event to find some the artists’ work.
For newcomer Tuttie Peetz, a driftwood sculptor for 19 years, she’s participated in multiple shows but never with the intent to sell.
“I’m taking an additional direction with my art,” she said.
Peetz, who likes the motto of “throwing the rules away” with her art, said her latest venture is using a plasma cutter to place metals in the wooden pieces.
By participating in an event like ARTfusion, Peetz hopes to add some legitimacy to the driftwood art form.
“I would like to be called a sculptor not a driftwood sculptor,” she said. “My wood doesn’t come just from the beach. It comes from all over.”
Jewelry designer Paulette Hill continues to try new techniques often with her work, too.
“In six years, I can’t not create,” she said. “I have to be creating something. I love to design.”
Hill said she experiments with stitching and beading using her seamstress abilities to create unique weaves and patterns around stones, crystals and pearls for earrings to necklaces.
Prior to this year’s show, ceramicist Linda Collins Chapman said she had to overcome some big obstacles.
Late last year she tore her rotator cuff and ruptured her bicep while placing a flower pot.
“I had a frustrating year,” she said. “I had successful surgery (on Dec. 1) but couldn’t do anything for six months.”
She now works one or two hours at a time but since recovering, she’s created a new line of carved porcelain for the show. Collins Chapman said each piece takes months to dry and are tricky to fire because they are encrusted with hundreds of hand-sculpted bits.
Looking back at her venture, Collins Chapman said, “It’s all about courage. You can’t help creating.”
Mix began painting in earnest in 1995 after she left Boeing (one of her jobs was technical illustration) and recently developed a new confidence while painting en plein air, a French expression meaning “in the open air.”
“Painting in 2-3 hour sessions (while the light source changes) teaches an artist to design the painting, see color and value accurately and express themselves quickly and confidently,” Mix said.
“I am practicing in order to compete in Paint the Peninsula, (an annual plein air competition Sept. 7-11). I carry my painting gear in my car so I can pull over to the side of the road and paint whenever a scene speaks to me.”
This year, mixed media artist Rocky Fankhouser is unable to participate after two years with the group.
ARTfusion also includes a $50 and under gift shop with items like prints, cards and smaller art pieces.
See ARTfusionSequim.blogspot.com for more information.
