Years ago Laura migrated north from Brazil, she spent a few years in California and  then  made her way to  Washington  State.  This past fall she joined the team at the press.  In a very short time she has proven that there is not much she cannot handle!  At the Issaquah Press Laura is in charge of all the classified ads as well as making sure the front office runs smoothly. Now that might not sound like much but Laura is also an assistant to the sales team not just for one paper but for all four papers. (The Issaquah Press the Sammamish review the New Castle News and the Snoqualmie Star)  Taking pride in all she does this little bird also took on the task of putting on the recent Health fair for downtown Issaquah residents! Good Job Laura!

Laura  gets more  done  working part time than than  many people  can  get done  working a  40 hour work week!

During the moving process Laura has been given the task of packing up the office.  Since the press has occupied the same space for over 80 years that task does not sound like much fun!

If I had something I needed done and I wanted it done on time and  done correctly  this is the  little  bird I would ask to help me!  This  little  bird just might  grow up to  fly with the  eagles! 

I would like to  thank  Laura for  coming to the  gallery and  helping me set things up on her day off!

Thought for the  day: Why are  some of the hardest  most  dedicated workers  so under paid?

Today March 14^th from 1800-2100

Three members of my flock have been nesting out at Alki Beach! Join me for some bird watching, at Alki Arts!  I also have two of my car part tables at the gallery.

2820 Alki Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98116-2788

 This photo is not of the birds at the Alki Arts Beach location, this sighting was at the downtown gallery.

A note from the Gallery owner,

The gallery is FULL of new art, including the largest exhibit of work that we have ever shown by plein air artist Robin Weiss.

One of our favorite musicians will be playing this event as well- the talented singer/songwriter Christopher Reyne. We are really excited for this show! Listen to a sample of his music and you will see why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru7CAsu0OQc&feature=context-cha

So stop by to see the work of Robin and all our other fabulous local artists, have a glass of wine, and listen to great music on the beach!

Just a few months ago Nate relocated his family from Utah to Issaquah. It seems like he  just got settled in when it was time to pack up and move again! Nate is a quick and creative adapter.  Having deadlines to meet he keeps on working as his office is packed up around him!

Below  photo:  Nate’s family often stops in to say hi . I do believe this is also the only photo we have of Nate not wearing a tie! 

Survival of the interesting, thought of the day: How do you react to sudden environmental changes?

The Issaquah Press has officially announced the news that they are re locating after being in the same location for over 80 years!

 The flock has been given the tour of the  new space and they are  preparing for the  journey across town.

I  don’t know how things are at your  house  but at our  house I have  found that some of the smallest  changes can  create an uproar. We are after all creatures of habit. My little habit is moving things around. If I had my way our house and yard and everything inside the  house would be on wheels.

When dining at home do you sit in the same spot for meals? We seem to have imaginary name tags on the furniture at our house.  I try to get people to sit in different spots by moving the furniture around which usually causes some stress and tension. Even at home we can become a bit territorial.

We all deal or cope with change in our own ways.  I love to mix things up. I find most changes to be inspiring. This has not always been the case! In the old days I used to freak out whenever I had to install or download a new version of the email client I was using. My saying Technology has not always been my friend, is a true understatement!

When we moved our family from Washington to Texas our children complained and belly ached for years about how horrible the move was and how much better our old house was, they missed the friends they  left behind and they were never going to make new friends.  When we finally moved back to Washington they belly ached again about how wonderful the house was in Texas and how much they were going to miss the friends they were leaving behind. Yes, the bed rooms were bigger in Texas but hell everyone knows that everything is bigger in Texas!

Moving is one of those things that can be hard on a family of any  size. Moving my little flock from Issaquah to Seattle was even a bit stressful. After all I had to figure out how to squeeze 13 birds into the  back of a pick up  truck without getting all their  feathers ruffled.

My friends at the Issaquah Press  are not moving  far  but I am certain that many are  likely feeling some stress.  

New office space means new surroundings , establishing new areas for  personal space.  For a team of dedicated individuals it’s still  going to take a ton of  cooperation  and compromise and all this can take a while to get used too. I am hoping the team has a smooth transition as anyone who has ever moved knows that it’s not a lot of fun.

How do you adapt to changes in your life?

Over the next three months I am working on an installation for the Survival of the Interesting, at Gallery Context. My portion of the show was inspired by a team of people that are dedicated to my hometown newspaper.

As I was preparing to move my sculptures to the venue my hometown paper was also making a move to a new home. This got me thinking about my life and about the times I have made sudden or planned changes. There are many reasons to make a move and not all the reasons are always obvious.  Not all the moves or changes  I  made  over the  years were necessary, if I had only been less spontaneous…

I try hard not to jump to conclusions without having all the facts, and I try to encourage others not to assume things. The one thing I have learned (more than once) is things are seldom how they seem.

My recent  project which I  jokingly call  Meet the Press, has  reminded me of a bird that had built an  amazing  nest on the  side of our  house a couple years ago.  Each  spring the mother bird would take clippings of our hanging fuchsia plants and carefully  place them so that they were hanging down the sides of her nest. Each day as I would take out the trash I would admire the nest. Seeing the flowers hanging from the nest and listening to her morning song put a smile on my face and a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. I was delighted that the bird had picked the side of our home for a place to live.

A year ago we had to have some trees removed on the side of our house. During the removal of the trees the mother bird fled and never returned. She was not in real danger but the noise from the chain saws and crew were mostly likely enough to give her reason to think she needed to leave. 

How do you  know when to abandon something?

Just like the Issaquah Press this little flock of birds has just left Issaquah’s Front Street. My interpretation of the Survival of the Interesting for this show is the survival of small town print news papers. Each member of the flock was hatched with a character from my hometown paper in mind.

I was just speaking to the Issaquah Press classified ads gal and she was telling me  that she is not looking forward to all the unpacking she needs to do. The Issaquah Press is still in Issaquah and will be setting up a new nest over near the transit center.

This flock has left Issaquah and migrated to Seattle, their first public viewing is: March 21, from 5-9 PM 

Gallery [context]

Seattle Design Center, Suite 262

5701 Sixth Avenue South Seattle, WA

 I hope you can fly out to meet the press!

Just like the Issaquah Press this little flock of birds has just left Issaquah’s Front Street. My interpretation of the Survival of the Interesting for this show is the survival of small town print news papers. Each member of the flock was hatched with a character from my hometown paper in mind.

I was just speaking to the Issaquah Press classified ads gal and she was telling me  that she is not looking forward to all the unpacking she needs to do. The Issaquah Press is still in Issaquah and will be setting up a new nest over near the transit center.

This flock has left Issaquah and migrated to Seattle, their first public viewing is: March 21, from 5-9 PM

Gallery [context]

Seattle Design Center, Suite 262

5701 Sixth Avenue South Seattle, WA

 I hope you can fly out to meet the press!

I will  be posting weekly updates on the flock on my blog page.

When I was asked to contribute art for an upcoming show called Survival of the Interesting at first I said, “hmm, I am not sure my work would be a good fit”.
Then I started thinking about my last job. I had been working at the Issaquah Press as a sales consultant.

Some people thought I was nuts for taking the job, as they said, Print advertisements are dead. I love reading the paper and I was excited to be part of the downtown local press. It was a short career of just 6 months but I learned a lot and met some interesting people and I have made some wonderful friends. “Where is all this going?” you might ask. Well each of my new hatchlings is part of a flock of rocks that I have nicknamed Meet the Press. Each little bird is a character from my time at the paper. I have represented the Publisher, the front office crew, the sales manager, hr, circulation the sales team, reporters and the production team as well as the families of the press.

Today all the birds have left the nest and are now down at http://gallerycontext.wordpress.com/. Its going to take them a few days to get situated but for now they are getting settled in to their new surroundings.
I would like to thank the fine crew at the Issaquah Press for being so inspirational! The Press is moving to a new location today I am hoping that the office move is as smooth as the birds Migration!

Stay tuned for more information on the upcoming show survival of the interesting!