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Heart of Art: FTT Featured Artists & Vendors

Heart of Art: Dawn Gerety

March 07, 2022

Dawn Gerety | Girdwood, Alaska

Meet Dawn Gerety, a lifelong Alaskan who creates whimsical interpretations on canvas of the natural world that surrounds her – mountains, wildlife, rivers, wildflowers and outdoor activities. Her paintings are known for their bold style, colors and and view of the land through her use of unconventional interpretations and layered organic elements. The diversity of Dawn's commissions and collections resounds with a diverse audience and is timeless in its messaging.




Can you tell us about your process?
I love painting on huge canvases, like three to four feet or more. My originals are large — I can’t put them in a backpack or go head out into the mountains so I do all of my work in my studio. I paint with acrylic on canvas that I lay flat so that I can make my work really watery and wet. And then I let it dry and I keep adding layers on top of layers. As the layers stack, I use dryer paint and create the details. 




What is your favorite Medium?
My crafting obsessions since youth include everything from pottery to custom painted shot skis, colored pencil drawings to pregnancy belly casting & decoration, soft sculpture, pottery, colored pencil drawing, jewelry making, digital art and fine art painting. I love them all! 




When did you first start creating?
For as long as I can remember—going all they way back to elementary school—crafts and creating and making things has just been a part of my life, what makes me tick. So I did as many classes as I could in high school. Eventually, the introduction to computers and adobe software allowed me to go into graphic design. After college, I was freelancing graphic design out of my home for over 20 years. For a long time, digital design was my outlet for creating. About 10 years ago, I realized I needed another outlet for my creativity, so I taught myself how to paint. 




What inspires you to create?
I was raised traveling the world with my family, seeking unheard-of destinations known for hard adventure and some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. When I wasn’t creating art, I was thinking about creating art, connecting with cultures and collecting influences and inspirations that are prevalent throughout my entire body of work.


What’s your favorite thing to see/do in Alaska
My town is nestled in the Chugach Mountain Range and these peaks are very recognizable, so I love incorporating them into my painting. Where I live in Girdwood is the northernmost rainforest in North America, and the amount of precipitation we can get in our area is epic. When it snows, it’s so inspirational to see the snow stack up on the trees. That’s what I love to represent. 
But place, community and art all feel like one to me. Art keeps me in the game in terms of being recognized for being in the community and enjoying all the things that that delivers. I am more social and connected because of it. And conversely, the community and surroundings are my inspiration for art.



What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
If you have ideas in your head for producing art, do it. Nobody else has that idea and if you don't execute it, it will never come to existence. I also believe that if someone enjoys creating things, they will find time for it. That could be sketching, wood working, glass blowing, painting, etc. Even if it's free time in the evenings vs an artist career, you will never experience the process if you don't make the time for it and see if it evolves.



I read somewhere that the healthiness of a civilization can be measured by the art it produces. Meaning that if a society or group of people are producing art that means their survival needs are being met and they have time for self-expression and personal growth. This is in contrast to civilizations that are working with the tools to survive and have no time for play, crafts or expression. Art is a reflection of the experiences happening and will help define this time period for that part of the world. I like the idea that art mirrors society and helps keep a long-lasting record of history from many different perspectives.


We are grateful to carry such incredible work from artists here at Forests, Tides & Treasures, and consider many of them family. Thank you to Dawn Gerety for interviewing with us and bringing us through her artistic journey. It is our goal at FTT to bridge the gap between artist and consumer and embrace the humanity that we all share. After all, we are better together.

To view (or bring home) Dawn's work currently featured here at  Forests, Tides & Treasures, click here. 

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Heart of Art: Cindy Shake Designs - CrowCreekCool

February 08, 2022

Meet Cindy Shake of Cindy Shake Designs (@CrowCreekCool) | Girdwood,  AK



Cindy Shake Selfie

Cindy is a versatile visual artist who works professionally as a corporate marketing and communications manager and for more than 25 years the principal of Cindy Shake Design. She has taught sculptural welding at the University of Alaska Anchorage and her welded steel sculptures include public art installations in Anchorage, Alaska. As a published author and illustrator, her popular children's book The Alaska Animal Alphabet is in its 7th printing. Fabrics designed by Cindy are available at fabric stores and through her online shop at Spoonflower. The inspired idea to create a cool, water-resistant growler bag after a wet & snowy walk home from a Girdwood spirits shop, grew to become the pop-up and online shop Crow Creek Coolture.

Crow Creek Cool was formed with her daughter and son as a fun brand of Cindy Shake Design offering one-of-a-kind and hand-crafted provisions that are designed as they say for "Originality & Cooltility." Crow Creek Cool creates, produces, and wholesales, garden flags, bags, stickers, niche art quilt patterns, textiles, downloadable patterns & templates, and fabrics. (Additional designs by Cindy Shake are made available at the Crow Creek Coolture Society6 POD shop.)

Cindy's Creative Process.
I am easily inspired, and my art making is varied and immersive. Carving out time to create, having the space and having the necessary supplies readily available are important. Before I begin working in any medium my mind needs to be free of distractions, so my household chores and my self-imposed mom, wife, and dog owner responsibilities need to be caught up.  My work area needs to be clean and organized with all supplies at hand. I look for uninterrupted blocks of free time for art making preferably earlier in the day.
 
What is your favorite medium to create in?

Assemblage, a three-dimensional visual art form, most often using everyday foundCindy Shake Metal Seal objects. Because I have limited workspace in our cabin, I don’t work in this medium as much as I would like to. The medium requires collecting and keeping a LOT of (cool) “stuff.” My assemblage “Shrine-a-rellas” are created from found objects and are given new life in the form of altars and shrines. The materials I am attracted to and use most often tend to be vintage ephemera, mechanical utilitarian components, and thrift store multiples of cheaply mass-produced consumer flotsam.


Cindy Shake Sticker - Xtra Cats When did you first start creating?

In 2nd grade, after my teacher Mrs. Wilson posted on the class bulletin board a watercolor I painted on yellow construction paper of a friend I admired, who had long, brown braids.

 
What inspires you?
Everything. 
What is your favorite thing to do in Alaska?
"Fishing anywhere, any time, in any weather."
Advice for aspiring artists:

Nature Color Wheel - Cindy ShakeDon’t be afraid to keep your day job, art supplies are expensive. The internet has transformed the art world. Social mobility, technology, and the number of new mediums now creating art is amazing. Artists used to be dependent on gallery sales but through online platforms artists can connect directly to potential buyers on a global scale. Digital spaces are redefining those sales and definitions of art. Consider experimenting with POD (print on demand) sites such as Spoonflower and Society6 to affordably explore short runs, limited editions and various mediums of your artwork and designs, it can be inspiring.

 

If you could go or live anywhere in the world, where would that be?
"...What I circle back to is anywhere there is fresh air, clean water, kind people, near the mountains and the ocean. Pretty much right where I am."
"Value nature, share what you know and be kind. Sharing what you know doesn’t lessen your impact, it amplifies it. In times of uncertainty, nature, kindness, and grace foster connection to others and the world."


We are grateful to carry such incredible work from artists with big hearts and burning passions here at Forests, Tides & Treasures, and consider many of them family. Thank you to Cindy Shake for sharing with us more about her creative processes, and reinforcing what we know: Alaska is where we want to be. It is our goal at FTT to bridge the gap between our vendors and consumers and embrace the humanity that we all share. After all, we are better together.

 

 

 

Check out works by Cindy Shake Designs that we currently carried at Forests, Tides & Treasures by clicking here. 

 

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Heart of Art: Denali Dreams Soap Co

January 03, 2022

Meet Caitlin of Denali Dreams Soap Co. | Anchorage,  AK

We (Denali Dreams) were born from the dreams of two stay-at-home moms (Barb and Janie) who wanted to make a little extra money while raising their kids. With a pot, a wooden spoon and a worthy recipe, they started Denali Dreams Soap Co in their kitchen in 1997. Caitlin (That’s me!) began working for Denali Dreams in 2005, labeling lip balms. Through the years I learned the ins and outs of the business and bought the company in 2015. I was born and raised in Alaska and am always ready for an adventure, for a corny pun, or a good bowl of soup.

At Denali Dreams we love creating quality products that are good for you and your skin. It warms our hearts to know that a little piece of Alaska will go home with you, wherever in the world that may be. Despite our wide reach, we remain a small shop in the heart of Anchorage, where we make all our products by hand from start to finish. We’re a tight-knit crew that loves music, laughs, and most importantly: good smells. If you’re in town, feel free to stop by our little factory to say hi! We’d love to show you how we “make the dream”. 

We use a method called cold process soap making.
Just like bread-making soap starts off with raw materials and goes through a chemical reaction and becomes something completely different. When we make soap what comes out is no longer oils and lye but soap and glycerin. Who's ready for a chemistry lesson? To make soap you need an acid and a base.  We start off with oils (coconut, palm (sustainable), olive oil, and tallow) which we melt on the stove, this is the acidic part of the recipe.  Then we mix our lye and water to create a solution (This is the basic part of the recipe.) When both mixtures are at the correct temperature we mix them together in a 5-gallon bucket using a paint mixer. The mixture starts out the consistency of olive oil and within 20 minutes to 2 hours (depending on the soap) the soap will become opaque and start to thicken. (this is the chemical reaction starting. This process is called saponification.) This is when we add in our colorants like coffee, paprika, or ground nutmeg and our scent blend. We then pour into tubes or a box to create either an oval or square shape. These soaps will sit for 2 days before we pull them to go to the cutting station. Once pulled the tube/log gets placed on the soap cutter that looks like a cheese cutter that slices it into bars. With our high-tech equipment (a carrot peeler) we bevel the edges so the soap rolls through your hands when you wash. The final touch is a stamp. We used a rubber mallet to stamp a print into each soap. After all that work the soap needs a rest, and we put them on shelves to cure for 30 days. This allows them to lose 20% of their moisture which will help the bar to last longer and not turn to mush. After the curing process, we have a wrapping machine that helps wrap the soaps. The square soaps we still wrapped by hand like a present. Who knew a bar of soap took so long to make?
 
What is your favorite item you currently carry?

I get this question all the time and usually, I say whatever is currently in my shower/sink. I do have a soap I tend to go back to which is our signature soap, Denali Dreams. It's an orange spice and I call it a blanket in the shower. I love this bar because after being outside in the cold and when a blanket or a cup of tea doesn't warm the bones, I pop in the shower with this bar and I immediately feel the warmth. The cinnamon and clove are so comforting while the splash of orange lifts the spirits.


When Caitlin started with Denali Dreams:

My story is a little different as I didn't start the company. I started working for the original owners when I was in high school. I started off labeling lip balms and over the next ten years, I learned the ins and outs of the business, cutting and grooming to making soap to managing the shop. In 2015, Barb and Janie were ready to retire and I was ready to carry on the dream. I've been crafting at Denali Dreams for 17 years and look forward to what the next 17 years have to offer.

 

"My muse comes from all over. Mostly it comes from exploring the beautiful land of Alaska but I would be lying to say it all comes from that. Some of the best ideas come to me at 4 in the morning or over a bowl of soup. There is something about sharing a meal that gets the creativity flowing."

What is your favorite way to overcome creative blocks or burnout?

Traveling! Whether that's up the street to a trailhead or across the world to eat a big bowl of Pho, explore the beaches of Thailand, or raft the icy cold water of Alaska, getting out to see what the world has to offer is a breath of fresh air and a reset button. 


Advice for aspiring Small Business Owners:

Take the next step. Each step will add up to opening your own small business. It can be overwhelming to look at the big picture of all the things you need to get done, so start small and then it doesn't seem so bad. Think of it as a marathon, you aren't going to go out tomorrow and run a marathon without training (maybe you will but it's going to hurt down the road), business is the same. It's all about the long haul and business is just that. So don't try and sprint because you'll run out of steam. 

“One more piece of advice that I've found helpful is to surround yourself with people who are good at what they do. Play to your strengths and get help for the stuff you don't like doing or aren't good at. You will thank yourself later.”

Some Fun Facts about Denali Dreams & Caitlin:

  • Our original name was Birds of a Feather
  • We are celebrating our 25th year of being in business in March 
  • I secretively love all the trashy holiday candy, like candy corn, and those chalky valentine hearts (not peeps though)!
  • This is funny because I typically don't have a sweet tooth or eat candy. 
  • My favorite food is soup (could you tell?) because the possibilities are endless and every country has soup!
  • I have twins, my brothers are twins and growing up there were 6 sets of twins on my street
  • I love making things with my hands, besides soaps and body care products, I'm thoroughly enjoy making Halloween costumes. 
  • If you ever want to talk soap, science, or food, be sure to holler!

Thanks for taking the time to read about me and The Dream!

We are grateful to carry such incredible work from artists with big hearts and burning passions here at Forests, Tides & Treasures, and consider many of them family. Thank you to Caitlin for interviewing with us and revealing her love of both S-O-A-P and S-O-U-P. It is our goal at FTT to bridge the gap between our vendors and consumers and embrace the humanity that we all share. After all, we are better together.

Check out the Denali Dreams Products currently carried at  Forests, Tides & Treasures by clicking here. 

 

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Heart of Art: Kelsey Fagan - Elevate Art Studio

December 02, 2021

 

Meet Kelsey Fagan, of Juneau, AK:
The Creative Mind behind Elevate Art Studio

I am an art therapist by training, artist by nature and general Jane of all trades by luck and circumstance. Returning to my childhood hometown of Juneau, Alaska as an adult was never the plan, and it has been a delight-filled surprise, bringing with it new exploits in the realms of art, adventure and love... and often all three at once. I live a sweet life in Juneau with my adventurous husband, Craig, brand new daughter, Wilder, and ball-crazed brown dog, Huckleberry, all in a house that I helped my dad build... yet another set of unexpected delights I never could have predicted.

I established Elevate in 2018 in Juneau, Alaska as a platform to share my art and to extend my reach as an artist, art therapist and community member wanting to affect positive change in a world that can feel disconnected.


The Creative Process
If it’s a commission based on a specific place, I do a lot of studying of the images shared with me and work to translate that place into pencil drawn imagery. Similarly, if I’m bringing any specific flora or fauna into the image, I’ll spend some time researching and playing with images of that plant or animal from various angles. Once I’m ready to get started, it’s the pencil drawing directly onto the watercolor paper that comes first.


If it’s a piece that will have some form of writing in it (all of my original pieces, minus most commissions unless the person wants something specific, have some sort of message written into them), I let the image tell me what it needs to say, perhaps play with the wording a bit, and then work the final phrase into the drawing.

Of note, almost all of the phrases found in my art are active. It’s important to me that when viewing the art, there’s a sense of active participation. The phrase is there to bring the viewer into the art, into that moment, and into their body, where they know that place that’s captured not only by the imagery, but by the words as well.

Once I’m happy with that, I go over everything with ink (microns of various sizes) and go back through to erase all the pencil marks. Next I go in with liquid watercolor. Liquid watercolors are different from the dry palettes most people think of when talking about watercolor. (I’ll explain that below.)

I try to prep the watercolors a good number of days ahead of when I’ll need them. They’re water based and the way I like to use them is by squeezing them into the dips of a round palette, then allowing the water to evaporate over a number of days until all that’s left is the concentrated pigment, which ends up a little sticky. This allows me to get incredibly vibrant, saturated colors out of them, while controlling how much water and dilution I want.

I try to be patient with my painting process and allow separate sections to dry before moving on (e.g. paint the water, let it dry, then paint the adjoining shoreline, let it dry, then paint the adjoining mountains, etc.) in order to at least attempt to give things definition and stop everything from running together. My patience doesn’t always win, however, and sometimes this results in a lot of flowing colors that I have to keep reworking, other times it results in some beautiful mistakes. The last step is to go back over all the inked lines with the microns once again over the top of the watercolor, providing more significant definition.
 


What is your favorite Medium?

That said, I also use acrylics and acrylic paint pens when hand painting cork-front trucker hats and I’ll use combinations of watered down acrylics and tempera paints in order to simulate watercolor on large canvases.

I’ve been involved in fine arts since I was a very young child.
Though my focus was more on dance and music, visual arts always had their place in my world. As much as I loved to draw and paint growing up, I never really felt like I was especially talented or good at any of it, and didn’t pursue it. I ended up with a BA in psychology and was interested in working with kids and grief.

Eventually I learned about art therapy and received my master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling with a certification in grief, loss and trauma counseling. Graduate school was a time of nonstop creating in a new way, learning to utilize art as a tool and a process of healing.

I did art therapy internships and practicums at counseling centers, a rape crisis center, a peace camp for Israeli and Palestinian teenaged girls, and eventually landed in Hawaii, with a job as the full time art therapist at an 88 bed psychiatric hospital working with children and adults while also working once a week at another facility for juvenile sex offenders. Depending on the group or individual, I would often work on my own art alongside the patient(s) as a way of taking the pressure off of them and often as a way to demonstrate that art expression can come in a multitude of forms.

Art therapy opened up a new avenue for me to explore my own art in a totally different way. I started weaving words and imagery together and the style that is now what you see in my work was born through that experience.

There’s a combination of inspirations at play – obviously the magic and beauty of the natural world inspires the imagery I create, but there’s an important additional component inspired by growth, learning more about ourselves in order to live our best lives, and the knowledge that we are complete while also constantly in a state of becoming, which all finds its way in through the words and phrases in my work.
I’m drawn to lush, rich, vibrant places and the feelings that arise in those moments when I’m completely immersed in those places – that moment where you and that landscape or mountainscape or riverscape or oceanscape feel like all part of one living, breathing being. Our natural world, especially here in the vastness of Alaska’s wildernesses, awakens a sense of connectedness and belonging that can be hard to find in more populated or human-affected (or afflicted) areas.

Those moments where we are completely 100% present, experiencing the beauty of a certain place in a certain moment exactly as we are, where nothing else seems to exist except that wholeness… there’s magic in that. It’s the kind of magic that can delight you into giggling just as easily as it can touch the most raw spot in your heart and bring you to tears… and often, for me, those things happen both at once!

The phrases that make their way into the art bring forward a kind of meditation, reflection, or opportunity to dive deeper into that place, to find a sense of resiliency and motivation toward growth. So you can see, there, how the therapist part of my personality and background, works its way in, weaving itself into the magic of the landscapes and elevating them just a step beyond simple imagery.

Making the Leap to becoming a Professional Artist
I suppose, becoming an art therapist was the unknowing first step, though I never had ANY idea that I would eventually be establishing a business entirely showcasing my art. I was taking a break from art therapy after starting to burn out in late 2013 and came back to Juneau to help my dad build the house that we now live in, figuring that shaking it up and doing something completely different for a short while would help me figure out my next chapter. That next chapter ended up being a string of various job offers, house sitting options, art shows, and eventually a friend's party where I met my husband.

I had had a number of solo art shows by the time I established Elevate in 2018; however, I hadn’t considered making art my entire focus. In 2018, I did what was going to be a small fundraiser for the nonprofit Salmon Beyond Borders, quickly creating a little salmon image to print on the face of a foam trucker. I had 30 of them made and worried that it was too many. I ended up with orders for 160 more within two weeks. And so it was then that I realized perhaps I had something here. I moved forward from that point and created a series of hats connected to different local nonprofits based on originals I made for a show that fall, having prints made for the first time, then greeting cards. Everything continued to grow and I started connecting with galleries and shops around Alaska.

It wasn’t until covid hit last year, and I had to give up my day job of managing an outdoor gear shop, that I went 100% all in. It felt like the universe kicked me in the butt – like it was now or never. The opportunity to make Elevate my main gig was ripe and in front of me – if I wanted to give it a go, this was the time to do it. And so I said “yes” to the adventure and have kept saying yes ever since.

Recent Projects
In 2020 I worked on a 12'x4' mural inside the new Rainforest Recovery Center at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. They also commissioned about 13 original pieces for the treatment center's walls. It was a perfect project for me with my background as an art therapist, as the messages of resilience that I wove into those pieces and the mural dovetailed in this lovely way with the hard work that both patients and staff are doing in the recovery center.

More recently, I've created artwork for two different breweries' beer can labels. Neither have been released yet, but will be in the next month.

Additionally, I've got a policy in place within my business that is fulfilled through a series of trucker hats that I get made locally. It's called my Policy of Generosity Series and entails per-hat sale donations being distributed to various local non-profits. It all began with that first fundraising project for Salmon Beyond Borders, then expanded to include a number of other local nonprofits in Juneau. The latest one will be for the Coastal Alaska Avalanche Center. One of the beer labels I've been worked on is by Devil's Club Brewery in Juneau and we're doing a collaborative fundraiser using that beer (The White Stuff IPA) for CAAC during opening weekend at our local ski area. The second beer label is for Forbidden Peak Brewery here in Auke Bay, if that's of interest at all. That release will happen Dec. 18th.

I also do a ton of commission work and have done everything from small pieces that people have used for tattoo art to large pieces for retail windows.

And just another note about the way I work - I strive and am proud to keep everything as local as possible. My prints are produced by The Lab at Ice Fog Press, owned by local photographer and skier Ben Huff; my printed hats are printed and pressed individually by hand by Aurora Projekt, owned by epic snowboarder and filmmaker/photographer Scott Baxter; my cards are printed here in Juneau by AKLitho. My works are currently carried all over Alaska: Juneau, Anchorage, Seward, Homer, Girdwood, Cordova, and Talkeetna.
Passions Outside of Creating Art
Well, my biggest passion is a new one – I just had a baby girl (Wilder) in July. Becoming a mother has been the biggest adventure of all time, for sure, and all the clichéd things you hear are true, haha. It’s absolutely amazing and incredibly challenging, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Beyond that, I love being in the woods, in the mountains, on rivers, in the ocean… I’m a skier and a surfer and am in love with the sense of awakened flow that comes with both of those sports. I’ve spent a lot of time on rivers and absolutely love the way once you’re on a river, you’re just completely forced to be there and move along at the pace of that water- you can’t be anywhere else or move any faster or slower. I spend a lot of my postpartum outdoor time these days walking our sweet chocolate lab, Huckleberry, in the woods with Wilder strapped to my front. Forest bathing is a concept that I can absolutely relate to and actively cherish.

I’ve also been practicing yoga for many years. I went through yoga teacher training in 2014 with my beloved teachers in Hawaii and find that yoga is the key for me to be able to bridge my body, mind and spirit and cultivate a grounded sense of wholeness within myself. It’s where I feel like I’m the strongest and perhaps most pure version of myself and is the foundation for everything else I do.

I also love music and dancing and can’t wait until we get to attend Salmonfest this next year as a family! I desperately miss traveling and look forward to moving beyond the limitations that covid has brought, eventually getting Wilder out into the world and exploring new places and going on new adventures with her and my husband, Craig, who’s happy to go anywhere he can BASE jump, skydive, ski, skate, or surf… so pretty much everywhere, haha.

What is your favorite way to overcome creative blocks?
My first step is to get outside. The second step is to just start drawing. Just start. It’ll come. It always does. Sometimes it’s just about getting my mind to quiet down in order to allow the connection between my heart and my hand to express itself. Meditation and yoga are helpful in those cases (and all the time, really).

What’s your favorite thing to see/do in Alaska?

I love getting out into the wilderness, away from the sounds, energy and reminders of humans, and spending time with Craig, Huckleberry, and now Wilder.

One of the most magical places in my life in Juneau is Turner Lake, where there’s a forest service cabin on the most beautiful green, glowing lake, rimmed with mountains that have incredible waterfalls. Craig and I were lucky enough to get married there last summer and spend 5 days exploring the lake and land, eating good food, and having two person (and a dog) dance parties around the fire. Pure magic. 

Another place that holds that kind of magic for me is Cooper Landing, on the Kenai Peninsula. I’m a sucker for glowing water. 

Advice to Aspiring Artists & Creative Minds

Just create. Get your thinking and critical mind out of your way and just create. You can share your work or not, but make it. Create it for you. Allow space for evolution, growth, and the simple knowledge that sometimes it’s the finished product that holds the most significance, but just as often, it’s the process itself that matters most. 

We are grateful to carry such incredible work from artists with big hearts and burning passions here at Forests, Tides & Treasures, and consider many of them family. Thank you to Kelsey Fagan for interviewing with us and bringing us through her artistic journey. It is our goal at FTT to bridge the gap between artist and consumer and embrace the humanity that we all share. After all, we are better together.

To view (or bring home) Kelsey's work currently featured here at  Forests, Tides & Treasures, click here. 


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    Heart of Art: Meg Smith - Art & Design

    November 04, 2021


    Get to know Meg through our interview with her, below:

    As a passionate outdoor explorer and athlete with professional training in design, my work combines an eye for style with a tangible feeling of being in wild places. I strive to convert the inspiration I receive from deep snow, flowing water and the natural world surrounding me into every piece. I began as a realism artist, achieved a BFA in graphic design and immersed myself in commercial graphic design for the last ten years. These elements continue to influence my fine art. I love to challenge myself by blending the conceptual with the realistic in my work.I am a professional fine artist and graphic designer based in Alaska’s Chugach Mountains. When I am not creating, you can find me journeying through the mountains, exploring the ocean or flying around the sky.

    When did you first start creating?
    Before I can even remember. I use to collect seashells on the beach and paint them to give away as gifts to my family. 
     
    Can you tell us about your process when making (i.e. how you prep or steps you take when making your art)? 
    The first step to any art piece is inspiration. Inspiration for me comes through experiences in my life. I take the vision / feeling from an experience recreate it onto a canvas. Sometimes I sketch it out first and other times I just go for it. I figure out what color platte I want to use and mix the colors. Then I get dive into the creative flow.

    "The overwhelming beauty and power of nature inspires me to create."

    What is your favorite Medium?

    Soft Pastel. I love using my fingers to create art. Even though you do see me create in the much, it has always been my favorite. 
     

    When did you take the leap to make art & design your main endeavor?

    I went to school for graphic design and straight out of college I started my own business. I was fine with living off of what I could make then and have some fun side jobs that where a part of what I wanted to experience in life (ex: whitewater raft guide, safety kayaker and photo boater / commercial fisherman / ski instructor) I’ve been building my business from the day I graduated and at some point have let go of the fun side jobs. But that is not to say I wouldn’t try to experience another one at some point.
    What is your favorite way to overcome creative blocks?
     
    Not push it. Go outside and be in nature.
    What’s your favorite thing to see/do in Alaska?
    Fly my plane to explore & experience new areas.

     

    Tell us about your passion as an Alaska bush pilot (what got you into it, if it influences your life or art, anything you'd like us to know)?
    Oh boy, this goes way back to when I was a child. My dad was an airplane mechanic and I grew up running around in airplanes, crawling under all the seats like a jungle gym to find and stick all the little wings stickers all over me. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot flying small airplanes into the wild. Growing up in Pennsylvania (which is a huge aviation manufacturing hub) I never really thought I'd get there.
     
    When I moved to AK, it started to seem more practical and not as crazy of a feat. As I flew in more small planes and experienced Alaska and life in a way I never have before, I knew I had to make it happen and there came a day where I was not going to wait anymore to make that dream a reality. So I just went for it. 

    What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
    Just do it. Let go of what you think others might think of your artwork and put yourself out there. You never know what experiences as an artist or opportunities might arise from it. Start small, find a local venue that might be interested in showcasing your work and go for it!
     
     

    “Something I’ve learned and would like to share is that life is not a straightforward path, being human is messy. Be kind to yourself and try to always find the courage to do what is best for you. You have one life to live, so do what makes you happy. And always cherish the time you have with the people you love.”

     

    We are grateful to carry such incredible work from artists with big hearts and burning passions here at Forests, Tides & Treasures, and consider many of them family. Thank you to Meg Smith for interviewing with us and bringing us through her Alaskan journey. It is our goal at FTT to bridge the gap between artist and consumer and embrace the humanity that we all share. After all, we are better together.

    Meg Smith's artwork is currently featured on the AlaskaUSA Visa Credit Card!
    Learn more about Meg & her collaboration with them by clicking here.

    To view (or bring home) Meg's work currently featured here at  Forests, Tides & Treasures, click here. 

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    Morgan Jasmine Design - First Friday Sept 2021

    August 26, 2021

    Learn more about Morgan of Morgan Jasmine Design as our Featured Artist for First Friday! She will join us virtually via zoom during our event on September 3rd, from 5-7pm. Morgan is a multimedia designer, artist, coffee addict, & twin mom with a love for Seward, Alaska.

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    Max Romey & Mount Marathon Race: Alaskan Art, Trailblazing, & Environmental Advocacy

    July 06, 2021

    As we approach the renowned Mount Marathon Race, it is only suiting that we interview and feature one of our own FTT artists, Max Romey.

    Multimedia Artist | Backwoods Trail Runner | Alaskan Outdoor Enthusiast | Environmental Advocate

    Many things can describe Max, but he is all about expanding your horizons and going beyond the surface. He moved to Alaska at the age of 16, and never looked back, embracing the instant community that many find, here in Alaska. But his true joy and calling came from videography and watercolor while pursuing things he finds passion in.

    Drawing inspiration from Alaska’s landscape & people

    Many may agree with Max here: “without art, the world is less.” Not only is Alaska beautiful, but the communities and people are a great way to draw inspiration. From the villages and fishing communities, to the trademark Xtratuf boots Alaskans don from Fairbanks to Ketchikan (and everywhere in between). A unique closeness in the Alaskan art community serves as a muse for Max as well, stating that it’s not so much a competition but a collective of creatives who seek to lift one another up and encourage pushing the envelope in their endeavors.

    Life at 3022ft – knowing Mt. Marathon intimately through film

    The Mount Marathon race, for many, is known as an “Alaskan Rite of Passage”. Max lit up as he spoke of household names like Fred Moore, legend of the race origin stemming from a bar bet in Downtown Seward… The rich history of Marathon goes further back than the race. “People have been going up and down that that mountain for 300+ years, painting layers of their lives up there.” Alaskan trails have existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years – and Max Romey’s adventures and art decidedly reflect this.

    Max has filmed the race, releasing a feature called 3022ft (you can view it here on Vimeo). During the filming, Max and crew ran the equivalent of 2 times the mountain race (approximately 10-15 kilometers). The goal of the film was trying to capture the human aspect of the Mount Marathon Race, covering the top Men and Women conquering the stone giant. Coverage included the community element of the race (amongst the Seward community and the racers themselves) and shed light on a gender discrepancy: until recently, only the men’s race was broadcast. That year – they were able to capture the closest race in Mount Marathon History!

    Challenges to filming the Mount Marathon Race for 3022ft

    “Any step on the route could be the pivotal moment for the race”. There were over 17 cameras along the route, and Max’s team relied heavily on community support. From planting videographers along the route, to strapping go-pros to racers, the film subjects were so open and embraced this new way to showcase both a physical and mental challenge that many who haven’t run it couldn’t comprehend.

    When asked about what was so special about the Mt. Marathon race, Max responded that it paints a ‘stone soup’ on the ‘giant pile of rocks’ [Marathon] and everyone ‘brings their own flavor’. “Anything can happen on that mountain”. This ignited a new flame within Max; sparking a deeper love of the unique Alaskan geography and a desire to explore and understand the heritage of Alaskan trails.

    Though he’s not run the race itself, Max is no stranger to Mount Marathon. Personally, he’s trekked up and down the behemoth 50 to 60 times. Though the race trail is exciting, it is dangerous – there are multiple injuries (sometimes fatalities) each year outside of race day due to people who are unprepared or take a trail that is outside of their physical abilities. In fact, he partnered with the Mount Marathon Race to make this year’s race safety video. Max’s gear recommendations: good shoes (one with grippy treads), gloves (for the devil’s club, rocks, etc), water, wind layer, and gators (to prevent rocks in socks, if possible). His personal additions to each trek are a sketchbook and wide-angle camera. He hopes to try his hand (…feet?) at the race in 2022.

    Embracing all trails of Seward

    When asked what his favorite spots were, Max remarked that there is so much to explore in Seward. Mt. Marathon is most popular but the lesser-known back side of Marathon is a great way to explore it. His personal favorite on Resurrection Bay is Bear Mountain – nestled beside Marathon. Behind AVTEC, two lakes park and the Marathon Jeep/Bench Trail are also excellent options, while yet another underrated trek across the bay is Mt. Alice.

    Watercolor: a fantastic challenge.

    Watercolor is a medium that is more about the artist working ‘with’ instead of controlling it to make a composition. Sometimes the fluidity of the paint makes a turn in your process and completely changes the outcome. When asked about why and how he goes about using this medium for landscape, Max said: “Between the landscape and the people, I try to paint the energy and motion of the mountain – trying to capture how colorful and moving these rocks can be.”

    “Trails can help you find yourself.”

    For Max Romey, Mt. Marathon showed what’s possible on these trails. Since, he’s filmed for Soloman, Black Diamond, Patagonia, and more worldwide, but his passion remains evident in the Alaskan trail history and community. Trails connect Alaska – they’ve been traversed by animals, and indigenous persons for centuries. The world is full of these scattered pathways, connecting homes and communities, and telling stories of time long past.

    Alaskan pilgrimage on the Historic Iditarod Trail during a global pandemic

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, Max took on a new series of projects, combining his love of the backcountry trails and capturing it with his camera and sketchbook. He utilized his art account, @trailboundsketches on Instagram, as well as started @homeboundsketches (“Helping each other through a rough year with weekly themes and daily watercolor prompts”) – to unite artists and consumers alike during an unprecedented time in the world.

    “It’d be sad if art didn’t change as we do. Art isn’t an inert, motionless thing. It is constantly changing with the artist – the meaning constantly changes.”

    One turning point in Max’s personal and artistic journey was traversing the Historic Iditarod trail from Seward, AK to Nome. The original surveyed mail route between these points measures an approximate 938 miles, and the total mileage for the historic trail system (including side and connecting trails) is approximately 2,300 miles.

    Prepared with gear and provisions and armed with his sketchbook and camera, Max set forth on his journey, documenting segments on social media, following a dotted line on a map. Max discovered during this journey that the trails are in danger. Many sections of the Historic Iditarod trail were overgrown and unrecognizable as a trail, as nature worked hard to reclaim it.  

    With the ease and development of cars and planes, less and less are using these ancient routes. But he says there’s an unbroken language to them. He hopes that this newfound love of trails with the public will help increase awareness and funding. “There is so much to learn from these trails” lifetimes and more – there are new stones and new layers with each journey. Using his sketchbook unlocked complex thoughts in both his life and these adventures, as it helps Max process the feelings he experiences. It’s a tool to capture and feel, especially how this trail both effected Max himself and how it historically affected (even currently) the remote Alaskan communities. Max aims to release a film about this in the fall.

    Learning about Ocean Plastics:  their impact on Alaskan Shores & Beyond


    About 5 years ago, Max accompanied a group on Kayak Island with the intention to make a film about the marine debris found on its shores. During and after the trip, he had to take a step back and really process what he’d witnessed. “We hear about the millions of tons [of waste] that end up in the ocean, thousands on Alaskan shores… but when you see it in person it feels too big to take on; something like a never-ending problem without a simple solution.”

    Max needed to wait until the right moment to share. This year, Max recently embarked on a trip to Kodiak, and this month Katmai – partnering with both Island Trails Network and Ocean Plastic Recovery organizations. He hopes to make a short film on marine debris and the effect on Alaska, using sketches to capture what words cannot say: “perhaps the only way to capture what words cannot say will be through this imagery”. The weight he felt on Kayak Island about one person being too small to fix the issue can be addressed by one thing: teamwork. He hopes to inspire others to band together and work toward solutions. He aims to collaborate with other artists, using art as a tool to bring awareness and make things much more accessible to the greater public as we work toward nursing our beautiful planet to health.

    “Follow what is fun”- Max’s advice for aspiring artists, explorers:
    “Well, I can tell you what not to do:
    Don’t worry about the final product or perfection.
    Follow what is fun. So long as you’re having fun, it counts as art.”
    Getting started is scary, but the moments of joy will pull you through. If you find people who encourage you and challenge you to push yourself, then you will find that joy and success.
    ---

     

    We are grateful to carry such incredible work from artists with big hearts and burning passions here at Forests, Tides & Treasures, and consider many of them family. Thank you to Max Romey for interviewing with us and bringing us through his Alaskan journey. It is our goal at FTT to bridge the gap between artist and consumer and embrace the humanity that we all share. After all, we are better together.

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    Corso Graphics: Annie & the Artistic Brace Family! (First Friday July 2021)

    June 18, 2021

    Our July 2021 First Friday Art Walk event is not business as usual, as we have an entire family bursting at the seams with artistic ability - thus we are featuring the Brace Family in an Art-A-Palooza!

    Read on to learn more about Annie Brace of Corso Graphics, her daughter Eliza and son Cooper - their relationships with art, aspirations, and our beloved state of Alaska. 

     

     

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    Vendor Spotlight: Jacob Design Co.

    May 15, 2021

    May is Military Appreciation Month
    May 15th: National Armed Forces Day & International Day of Families

    It only seemed right that we featured one of our newest vendors: 
    Jacob Design Co. - Handmade Hardwood Cutting Boards
    Military Family Owned & Operated - Originated in Seward!


    Hi! We are Natalie and Paul Jacob owners and operators of Jacob Design Co. We are an active Duty Coast Guard family who moved to Seward in 2018. We are originally from the Panhandle of Florida and but have lived in various locations all over the south eastern US, most recently being relocated to Southwest Harbor, ME. God has blessed us with two active little boys and two wild dogs along the way! 
    Jacob Design Co. was born in Seward, AK in 2019. Paul has always had an interest in woodworking and started experimenting with different techniques and tools over the years. Aspects of serving in the Coast Guard can be challenging and stressful at times, so woodworking became a way to relax and blow off steam. He has a streak of creativity with an eye for symmetrical patterns and small details which turned out to be perfect for making our detailed cutting boards. Our first batch of boards was six in total and we put them out on Facebook Market Place. After those sold we started getting requests locally for custom orders and things have grown from there.

    We now do the bulk of our business online. It’s been great for allowing our customers to select specific custom options to create their own unique cutting board. We decided early on to name our cutting board designs to help with the customization process. Most of the boards are named after a location that’s important to us. We also have some that have been named after the customer that designed them! We get a lot of our inspiration by just pairing different types of wood together that complement each other. We both sketch our ideas and patterns that come to us, and we try to think of what would look good in our customers’ homes. We also have had some awesome wholesale customers along the way, the majority of our wholesale orders have come from businesses in Alaska!

    So, when Paul puts together a board it’s a multi step and very detailed process. The biggest challenge for us is working with the unique variations and markings on each piece of wood, we try our hardest to make sure each cutting board looks as similar to the listing picture as possible. Once the wood is selected for an order he cuts it to length and begins surfacing the board. After that he cuts the stock into the appropriate size strips for the design then glued them together with food safe wood glue. The board then gets to cure before it’s sent through the planer to get it to the perfect size. Depending on which custom options are selected for the order we will do additional rounds of sanding, add the juice groove or rounded corners, and then add the edge profile. We also do what’s called “raising the grain”. This is a process that lessens the possibility of the wood from getting rough after being exposed to water when cleaning. It’s not entirely necessary but it’s an extra step we do to prolong the life of our cutting boards. Next it’s more even more sanding so the cutting board “feels like glass” as our 7 year old likes to say. The final steps include branding, a mineral oil bath, and a round of waxing with our proprietary Board Balm.  Last but not least, Natalie puts the finishing touches with packaging and  shipping and it’s off to its new home!

    We wouldn’t say there’s any real secret to success when it comes to small businesses but here’s what worked for us: Come up with some sort of a business plan or mission, it doesn’t have to be this big grand report, just something that will help guide you whether it be manufacturing, sales, or whatever. Decide how you want to market your business. Social media is a great tool but it is very saturated so find a way to stand out. Also, do what you can to build a genuine organic following who will help you grow your business. Lastly, try to take some manageable risks and be creative. Your customers will let you know what works and what doesn’t!


    We have had a hard time being away from Seward. Leaving was by far our hardest Coast Guard move to date. There is no place like it in the world and the memories we made there will be with us forever. Whether it was hiking to see Exit Glacier, grabbing some brisket from Firebrand, having a picnic at Lowell Point, or going down to the culvert for some late night/early morning fishing. We all feel so lucky to have lived in such a magical town. That place is special and a piece of us will always be there and we hope to return one day. That’s why we feel like it’s so special our boards will be at Forest, Tides, and Treasures - a part of us is still there in our favorite little Alaskan town!

    Follow Paul & Natalie's Business on their Instagram: @jacob_design_co

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    Ed Boudreau - First Friday June 2021

    May 14, 2021

    Ed Boudreau of Boudreau Photography
    (Instagram: @ed_boudreau_photography)

    Town: Eagle River, AK


    Ed is a landscape and nature photographer currently living in Eagle River Alaska. After serving 28 years in the Air Force his focused turned to exploring this great state where he soon rekindled his love for photography and has been having a blast running amuck throughout Alaska, capturing her beauty and somehow staying one step ahead of the bears.

    He has been featured in Alaska Magazine, Last Frontier and International magazines, as well as in a variety of yearly calendars and a number of online, local and State photo contests to include; Alaska State Fair, Fur Rondy, Eagle River Bear Paw Festival, Alaska Wild, Alaska Magazine 2018 photo of the year and the prestigious Rarified Light.


     When did you first start in photography?:
    2010

    What inspires you to create?:
    My inspiration comes from trying to capture the balance between light and the subject matter. For me the subject is the raw beauty of nature and more specifically, Alaska scenery.

    What’s your favorite thing to see/do in Alaska?:
    Depends on the time of year.  But the Alaska Autumn and Northern Lights pull me to get outside more than not.

    What is your advice for aspiring artists?
    One of the basic rules I tell people is to always look behind them.  I have found "The Shot", more times than not, is the one waiting for you t    o capture 180 degrees away...


    Come & Meet Ed the FIRST Friday of June (4th)
    at FTT for our First Friday Art Walk - 6-8pm!

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    Amanda Rose Warren - First Friday May 2021

    May 05, 2021

    Amanda Rose Warren / Anchorage, Alaska 
    (@amandarosewarren_artist)

    I'm 33 year old mother of 2 boys. Moved here to Alaska like a lot of transplants, at two years old my father was in the army and was stationed from Kansas to AK. 
    I’m an Acrylic artist and illustrator of colorful animals and landscapes. (Just published my first book!!) My goal as a creator is to make the viewer smile, spark happiness and give the art a soul full of joy. 

    I began painting about 7 years ago after dabbling in custom cakes for friends and family. Self taught but did take a few pottery classes in high school, now I wish I had branched out to more art classes! 

    Shortly after putting paint brush to canvas my mother became ill with stage 4 cancer. I wanted to use my painting for not only a creative outlet but to also help with her medical expenses. We started by auctioning pieces on social media which eventually led to getting custom work, pet portraits and a small start of a blooming art career. 

    A few years Later, I lost mother and fathers within a month of each other in 2017. It was rough. I used the time to immerse myself into creating and focusing on making the art a full time business. Since then I’ve created many works, and learned to produce all our own paper and canvas prints in studio. I was able to have my husband quit his many jobs to work with me full time. Exciting and scary as that was, we are at 2 years now and looking at expanding more! 

    All of this has not been an overnight success, many writ turns, dumb choices, smart ones too! And time. so my first advice would be to be patient (which I honestly hated hearing this when I first began) learn to grow that muscle of patience! 

    Another tip is to be a sponge!! Business and creative inspiration is everywhere these days. Take the time to stop and think and evaluate other business that inspire you. How are they winning, how have they won your attention? Words visuals, learn get inspired and put it into your business somehow. Always be learning, You can Google pretty much anything! Don’t let the unknowing stop you from moving forward. 

    I love Alaska and everyday I’m blown away by the new talent I see!! New businesses, new creatives it’s awesome! We are an amazing state with views and opportunity for days! 

    My favorite time to get inspired is trips to Alaska wildlife center, zoo (really seeing any animals gets me giddy as a little kid) I also tend to get A lot of creative ideas on long road trips with no WiFi, helps disconnect and let your brain settle work through some things that are tangled up in there. Oh except I can’t forget some good podcasts and tunes on the road. I can’t live without a variety of music! 


    Come & Meet Amanda THIS Friday (May 7th)
    at FTT for our First Friday Art Walk - 6-8pm!

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    Todd Salat & Marisa Phasomsap

    April 01, 2021

    Welcome to our Heart of Art Blog!
    Forests, Tides & Treasures takes great pride in each artist & maker featured in our Seward shop. They are the pulse of what we do, inspiring our hearts to explore & create within our great Alaskan community and beyond!
    Meet these creative minds - 
    Todd Salat (Aurora Hunter) & Marisa Phasomsap:

    Todd Salat - Aurora Hunter (photography)

    (Website: www.aurorahunter.com)

    Todd Salat / Residing in Anchorage, AK
    I started off working in Alaska as a geologist, then quit my corporate job to be an artist. That was over 25 years ago and I’ve never looked back.  
    (You can find the longer version of Todd's Bio on his website!)
    When did you first start in photography?
    When I was 9 years old and had the good fortune of being gifted with an instamatic camera. Been shooting ever since.
    What inspires you to create?
    Nature, especially Alaskan nature!  I see so many cool scenes that I want to preserve with a camera. Then I can relieve the moment any time I want, forever.
    What’s your favorite thing to see/do in Alaska?
    The aurora is my favorite thing to see, and photographing the “lights” is my favorite thing to do.  Exploring anywhere in Alaska or the world with my wife, best buddy & partner, Shay, is equally as fun!
    What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
    Do what you love and the money will follow.  If you’re just doing it for a hobby, then be free. But if you’re hoping to do it for a living then it pays to keep track of what version of your art form sells the best. If you want to generate profitable income then it’s time to put on the savvy business hat.  I do my own accounting & taxes so I have records of where every penny has come & gone for the past 25 years I’ve been in business.  No doubt there’s a learning curve involved and I feel very fortunate that I love math & numbers, which has been key. It’s a boom & bust lifestyle so budgeting is critical.  But enough about business, getting back to doing what you love is the unique gift you can impart onto the world!  Show off your talent!   I think the combination of passion & talent coupled with business sense is the magic equation for success & sustainability.   In other words, ya gotta work hard, but hopefully it doesn’t feel like “work” most of the time. 
     

    Marisa Phasomsap

    (Instagram: @marisa.p.art)
    Marisa is also our in-house artist!

    My name is Marisa Phasomsap, I live in Seward, Alaska, and I am 17 years old. I am born and raised in Alaska, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I have been creating art for as long as I can remember. My parents still have art pieces I made when I was five hanging on the wall, and each time I look at it, it reminds me of how much I’ve grown. My art has always reflected my home and the beauty around me. My favorite subjects to paint are the animals of Alaska and the amazing landscapes. I grew up playing in the mud, snag fishing, hiking, and camping under stars, so when I make my art, I try to capture those nostalgic feelings with each brushstroke I make. 

    Each time I start a new piece, I ALWAYS make myself a cup of tea. That is the only type of planning I do; everything after that is just following my gut and having fun. Something to remember is that there will always be haters and people who want to tear you down. The important thing is as long as you’re happy with your work and you feel satisfied, no one else’s opinions matter.

    Is your favorite artist featured at FTT? Let us know below!

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