Griffinwyse

What a year! Two studio moves and a year full of character building challenges later I am finally (hopefully) settled at last.  I have opened a small gallery in Country Village in Bothell, Washington and love, love, love my new space.  I also just wrapped up the second annual Hallowbaloo show and thought I would breathe some new life in my poor neglected blog by sharing some of the artwork I loved.  Hallowbaloo is an incredibly fun show to be part of and not only are the show owners a dream to work with but I really look forward to spending time with the other artists there.  I enjoy hearing what everyone is up to, taking in their advice and having some laughs.  I was apparently having such a good time chatting that I forgot to take actual photos of many of the things I loved so please forgive me artist friends if I do not have pics of your work to share here.

I had the opening table at the show.  This year my daughters were working at my gallery and could not come with me so this is why I am not actually in any photos.

 Dolls by Marca

Margarita Castillo is one artist friend I always look forward to seeing.  We have chatted at shows from Philadelphia to Seattle and she is truly one of the nicest people I have ever known.  Her work is amazing too and I own several of her pieces.  This year she won an award for her beautiful display.  I will be taking notes and building a new display myself for next year's shows.

This lab rat by Pam Pontious at Pamda Bears was priceless. I love the steampunk flair and he was just the right amount of creepy and cute.

Keeping in the steampunk theme, Becky Federico's framed cats caught my eye. 

Normally clowns freak me out but something about this one in black and white with the goofy face and parasol by Robert Eberz of Grimm Grinz Studio won me over- no small accomplishment when it comes to clowns!  

Last year I fell in love with the expressions on the faces of Sheryl Parsons' gourds.  This year she had this little guy I loved as well as a couple of owls that were calling my name.

If you have seen much of my work you know how much I love the Day of the Dead art.  Irene Lawson had a table full of intricately painted ceramics but this one with the ravens was my favorite.

I became an uber fan of Zombienose last year and came home with a print that hangs over my desk at home.  I still have anxiety about missing out on a piece he brought to Hallowbaloo last year and this year his amazing devil will be added to my wish list.  That face!

This amazing bird caught my eye before the show opened. I literally thought it was real for a second but it is sculpted out of leather!  Annie Libertini has a gifted eye and her masks are amazing.  Here she is cradling her bird.

And a close-up...

I will be looking forward to next year's Hallowbaloo and hope to see everyone return and a few of the more of those who could not make it this year.  If you are in the area and love Halloween art it is definitely worth checking out. For links to all of the artists above and those I missed please head over to the Hallowbaloo link www.thehallowbaloo.com.

I will have a few more Halloween pieces coming up and then dive right into the holiday season.  My long neglected blog should be kept alive and newly invigorated over the coming months!