.jpg)
The Northwest Driftwood Artists’
show in Maltby on May 11th was terrific and the number of beautiful sculptures
amazing. How artists can take a rough piece of wood that looks as though it
might be too big and/or ugly for even a fireplace or campfire and turn it into
a beautiful sculpture is astonishing.
The sculptures are not judged,
but the people attending were given a ballot on which there were six choices,
i.e., tiny, small, medium, large, extra-large and hanging, and encouraged to
vote for their favorite in each category. All the sculptures were numbered and
the title and artist identified on a colored paper tent in front of the
sculpture. Attendees were also provided with a program and information about
where the show will be held next year…Brightwater in Woodinville.
There was a raffle for several
driftwood sculptures, a silent auction of finished pieces as well as one huge
unfinished piece, a donation jar, tables of raw wood for sale ranging from tiny
to huge, and a table where artists were demonstrating our craft.
I don’t yet know how many people
attended, but the woman who bought the huge unfinished piece of wood really
really wanted it because she paid $300.00 for the privilege of taking it home. And,
my eldest son won one of the raffle pieces. I don’t have a lot of other
information about the show and probably won’t until the May newsletter is
published, but I do have information about the two pieces I entered into the
show.
I WON SECOND PLACE FOR OTT THE
OTTER AND THIRD PLACE FOR PERCY THE PORPOISE in the small category. I can hardly
believe the attendees liked both my pieces that much. It couldn’t have been
because I had a huge number of family and friends attending…only five of those
invited came. I believe it was actually the names of my pieces that caught the
public’s fancy.
I know I voted for a small
sculpture that was a seal on a rock. The seal was perfectly formed and the wood
striations of black/dark brown/light brown followed the seal’s shape…beautiful.
Maybe that sculpture won first place. I’ll have to wait to find out. I also
liked a classmate’s sculpture entitled Vortex. She found the wood in a stream
and it was full of pitch. I saw how hard she worked to create that perfect
piece and think hers was far better than mine.
The show and the people I’m
getting to know through NWDA, much more than winning, has inspired me to get
busy with the various pieces of wood in my garage. I do have one that’s almost
finished, “Escape from the Primordial Ooze.” All it needs is a base that
resembles ooze and I’m on the lookout for that. I’m sure it will be ready for
the 2025 show…if I knew the date, you could mark your calendars now so you could save the date and come view
our outstanding work.