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Margaret Davidson "Contemporary Drawing: Key Concepts and Techniques"
Visual Anchor Access Much more than
an art gallery By Amy Kepferle · Wednesday,
January 4, 2012 When she
rented an empty space at the tail end of Anacortes’ Commercial Avenue to use as a working studio more than three years
ago, Jean Behnke had no idea it would soon turn into a public destination. “It became an exhibition space after
a surge of interest from artists in the area,” Behnke, an award-winning sculptor and ceramicist, says of Anchor Art
Space, which is located in a history-rich building owned by Marine Hardware. “I had no intention of opening a gallery,
but that is what happened.” Since the first show by Seattle-based photographer Peter Delory in December,
2008, more than 60 artists—including Lanny Bergner, Gail Grinnell, Todd Horton, Jasmine Valandani, Sheila Klein, Jim
Romberg, and many others—have exhibited their work at what Behnke says has become a destination spot for people wanting
to check out something a little out of the ordinary at the Skagit locale. In addition to providing a creative outlet
for both established and up-and-coming artists, Behnke says the space itself provides unique fodder for inspiration.
“The industrial view of the Dakota Creek’s red steel cranes in afternoon light through 15-foot-high windows
is worth the drive from Seattle—even in rush hour,” Behnke says. And since early December, Anchor has
become much more than an art gallery. After a successful gala event that saw more than 400 people come through the doors and
raised more than $11,000 in seed funds, the Anchor Access Project—whose goals are to provide a place for relevant programming
including exhibitions, literary events and workshops—is now in place. “It is not a commercial venue,
but seeks support and funding from the community and other sources,” Behnke says of the project, which also receives
fiscal sponsorship from Seattle’s Shunpike (a nonprofit parent organization that allows Anchor Access to apply for and
receive funding for nonprofits without being one). For the first program of the Anchor Access Project, Camano Island
artist Aaron Haba is in the midst of a month-long Artist In Residence stint at Anchor. And, although the space will be closed
to the public until his residency ends Jan. 21, patrons of the arts can check out his work at Open Space Night Jan. 6 during
the city’s First Friday Gallery Walk. “His work has already accomplished a complete investigation
of the space originating from his own recent trajectory from France, and he still has three more weeks to occupy Anchor,”
Behnke says. In February and March, Anchor Access’ calendar will include a multimedia installation by Scott
Schuldt, which Behnke promises will be inventive and unpredictable. Both Haba and Schuldt’s efforts, she says, will
work toward Anchor Access’ mission of providing compelling, contemporary art in the Skagit Valley. While some
community members in Anacortes have only recently discovered the gem, Behnke says residents of the town have been supportive
of the space and its goals. This became clear at December’s event, when hundreds poured through the doors and offered
their financial support. “Many there see Anchor as a place to gather on a common ground where they can enjoy
a continuing dialogue and quality experience through the arts,” Behnke says. “The larger community needs a place
like Anchor Art Apace and a program like Anchor Access that provides a place for new experience and connection.”
Necessity of Flight, recently released book of poems by Jane
Allyn
Margaret Davidson's new book CONTEMPORARY DRAWING: KEY CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES has recently been published by Watson-Guptill, a division of Random House, New York. Margaret
has illustrated various books and journal articles, such as Spruce Root
Basketry of the Haida and Tlingit by Sharon Busby (2003 Marquand Books and
the University of Washington Press) and The Archaeology of the Yakutat
Foreland: a Socioecological View, Volumes I and II, by Stanley Drew Davis
(1996). http://www.margaretdavidson.com/book/book.html
Just published (April 2011)! Margaret
Davidson's new book Contemporary Drawing: Key Concepts and Techniques is available to purchase on Amazon.com.
"Drawing is experiencing a surge in the art world. Contemporary artists are discovering that
drawing is unique from painting. It is an intense, sensitive, compelling, personal, and utterly direct art form, one with
its own concepts, characteristics, and techniques. In addition, contemporary drawing is not governed by any particular imagery,
but rather encompasses a variety of approaches, including realist, abstract, modernist, and post-modernist. Contemporary
Drawing delves into the essential and far-reaching concepts of this medium, exploring surface, mark, space, composition, scale,
materials, and intentionality in turn." (excerpted and paraphrased from Randomhouse.com)
Ron and Kathryn Glowen 
Thursday, March 24, 2011 "tangle" Art Exhibit 10:30 a.m. Boswell Hall Corner Gallery The closing reception for the "tangle" Art Exhibit by Ron and Kathryn
Glowen will be Thursday, March 24. A gallery walk will be held at 10:30 a.m. followed by a presentation by the artists at
1 p.m. in Molstead Library Todd Hall and a closing reception from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery. Free and open to the public.
Ann Reid Skagit Valley College Species recent work including a collaborative installation with Eve
Deisher March - April 22
Tuesday, April 19, 12:30, artist walk-through in the gallery
Artist Reception on Friday, April 22, 5-7pm
Schools
of Thought July 26 - Aug 27 ArtsWest Thursday, Aug. 11, 6- 7:30pm Artist Reception during West Seattle ArtWalk
Bending Space at Anchor Art
Space Q & A with Lanny Bergner By Amy Kepferle ·Cascadia Weekly 
What can one man achieve with three walls and a modicum of floor
space? If the fella’s name is Lanny Bergner, the answer will probably fall somewhere between “alchemy” and
“mystery.” The Washington sculptor found time between installing his latest exhibit, “Bending Space,”
to share his creative process—which often transforms industrial matter into organic-looking masterpieces—with
us. Cascadia Weekly: You say the installations at Anchor will be “rather improvisational.” To what extent do you have to
plan for materials, space allowed, etc.?
Lanny Bergner: I’m bringing in a lot of pre-made components for the installation. They are small objects
that will be assembled into an installation. The location sets the physical parameter. The improvisational aspect comes with
how to arrange the objects in relationship to one another. CW: How improvisational can you be when you have to conform to the location?
LB: I consider the entire 3D space
of the gallery interior much like a painter responds to the dimensions of a blank white canvas. Already one of the wall installations
has gone through a transformation that is very different from my original thinking on how I would install the 34 component
forms. That’s what is exciting—and also nerve wracking—about installation works. Time and space both play
a role in the outcome of a project. CW: I’ve always thought that, although your pieces use a lot of manmade materials, they
look like nothing that exists in the “real” world. Is that deliberate?
LB: I mostly make objects that have an organic appearance.
I have been fascinated for many years with creating natural forms with manmade materials. I think that combination gives my
work an “otherworldly” quality. CW: How long
does a typical piece take—for example, each basket in “A Gaggle of Baskets?”
LB: For that body of
work, I set up a challenge for myself, which was to make 15 pieces in three weeks. Each form began with the same width and
length of stainless steel mesh, and each sheet of mesh had to have a different patterned burned into the mesh. The short answer
is each piece took a little over a day to make from start to finish. CW: What would you say your primary inspiration is?
LB: The previous project or piece.
Also, vague musings about the cosmos, micros and bio-forms. CW:
When did you first begin using your hands-on sculpting process?
LB: In 1983, which was my last
year of graduate school at Tyler School of Art. I cut welding rods and connected them together with wire to make this crude
little open framework house form. Shortly after that someone gave me a small roll of bronze mesh, which I cut into strips
and made a conical form. That got me hooked and from then on I just needed a pliers, scissors, my hands and a bit of imagination
to make sculpture. CW: What are some of the weirdest/most unique supplies you’ve ever used to create your sculptures?
LB: Black nylon hose, thousands
of safety pins, fishhooks, kelp, broken auto glass, industrial slag and coal, Tahitian sand and recycled ground plastic (a
sandblasting material I now use in place of silica sand). CW: What do you love about what you do? What’s your biggest challenge?
LB: I love going to the studio
knowing I am going to make something I want to see and that it is something that has not been seen before. The biggest challenge
is doing my own thing and making a living at it. CW: Do you ever have an idea for a sculpture when you’re dreaming?
LB: Just the other week that actually did happen to
me for the first time. I woke up in the middle of the night with a complete image and concept for a small piece I wanted to
make for a biennial mini-fiber exhibition. I do a fair amount of distance running and that is when many of my ideas
come to me—I guess it is the result of all that blood being pumped to my brain. CW: Anything new on the horizon to
report?
LB:
This year I am working hard to prepare for a large solo show at the Schack Art Center in Everett. They are building a new
gallery with several huge gallery spaces with 25-foot ceilings. I’ll be filling it with installations and individual
studio works mostly made out of metal mesh.
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