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 Artist Statement

 Margaret MacLean is a ceramic artist living in Bellevue, Washington. She has been working in clay for 20+ years and enjoys the tactile and versatile nature of the material. Her art is inspired by natural, organic forms. Margaret loves exploring texture, so her ceramics are tactile and entice viewers to touch them. When creating a piece, she starts with an idea in mind and let's form and presence emerge as she works. It is often something unexpected. She is fascinated by the repetitive patterns found in nature. Repetition is key to her process. She enjoys the meditative aspect of making and attaching each piece to the basic form, creating pattern and movement. Much of her exploration is influenced by her love of nature and in particular sea life, having grown up on the west coast of British Columbia.

Margaret received her BFA in Visual Arts, Ceramics from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada. Upon graduating she maintained a studio practice and exhibited her art in local galleries. She also worked for many years in arts education, creating and managing arts programs at the college level, which connected her passion for the arts and for helping people find their unique creative expression.

Find Margaret's Available Works Here

Artist Statement:

I am Jodi Major and being an abstract artist from the Seattle area, my inspirations are the mountains,

the ocean, and the garden landscape we are surrounded by. All these things come out in my color

palettes without much thought. I am exploring how we might experience the wonder of things without

anxiety but with a higher level of tranquility. I work abstractly with layering, value, and texture,

incorporating those things into my pieces like solving a puzzle: building up the history of a painting with

layers of paint and mark making, exposing some parts of those earlier layers… and the painting takes off!

My favorite thing is when something happens during the process and I find myself saying aloud, “Oh,

that is cool!” I use acrylic paint, many different mark making tools, and sometimes incorporate collage

elements into my pieces. I truly enjoy playing with paint almost every day!

Artist Bio:

Born in Southampton, New York in 1967, Jodi found her way to the northwest after graduating from the

University of Colorado with an Environmental Design degree in 1989. She has lived in both Seattle and

the Bellevue metropolitan area for 30+ years. Beginning with a love of arts and crafts, she decided to

focus on art after raising her two daughters. Formerly, she worked in design and architecture which

gave her a foundation in balance and composition to spring from into abstract art. She has taken many

in-person and online art classes to hone her skills. She began showing her work in 2019 and has not

looked back. Jodi is enjoying the journey, working from her studio above the garage in Bellevue, WA,

and she looks forward to where the work will take her.

Find Jodi's available work here.

Artist Statement  

I have an MFA from FSU and worked for 25 years as a professional photographer for Corporate, Industrial, and Advertising clients throughout the Southeast, the Caribbean, and Canada. My second career was editing and writing. A third career was teaching Fine Arts at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, FL. I retired and moved to the PNW in 2012. 

I wanted to do two things when I moved to Seattle. I wanted to learn to fly fish and I wanted to paint. I learned both by doing. Fly fisher(wo)men and artists are optimists. Nobody steps into a stream with a fly rod or addresses a blank canvas or medium convinced they will fail. There’s always that feeling that rush, of optimism. And sometimes you catch a trout. And sometimes you step back, and your creation is finished. The wonderful part is there’s always another stream, always another creation waiting. While my fly fishing has somewhat diminished, my painting has accelerated. 

My entire life has been fueled with the desire to create. First, with photography, which was very satisfying. Second, with the written word. And finally, with paint. All have been fulfilling. 

Ed's available work at Fogue

Artist Statement  

I have always been intrigued with design, however I was unable to use it confidently until an instructor in college opened doors for me. Of all the art classes I took in college, the year of Basic Design was the one I enjoyed the most. It was the most challenging, because there was never the perfect answer!

I started doing abstract art over thirty years ago and I just love the way it is progressing. I find foundations for my artwork in everyday observations such as the current of a stream, ivy cascading over a wall or the lines in a building. These images spin in my head until I put them into my journal. From there, I embark on creating my pieces. My pieces always ask me the same story...”How do I transfer the vision in my head and journal to its finished place?” Some people like to put together puzzles, I like to create the puzzle and then in turn attempt to solve it! Most of my artwork is a style referred to as “Trompe l’oel”, French for “deceive the eye”. I enjoy the challenge of creating depth in a 2 dimensional painting. My pieces incorporate acrylic paints, Inks, metal leaf and marble dust...in other words...Mixed media!

I have always been amazed at the work of Piet Mondrian, who created his works using only three primary colors and white, gray and black. I intend to do that with my pieces, but with a slant. I tend to work with a limited pallet, trying to share the design and the colors equally. I can’t describe the feeling I get when something comes together the way I envisioned it.

Ray's available work at Fogue.

 Artist Statement

Nature offers an endless source of wonder, mystery, and inspiration. Any time spent outdoors provides a rush of revelation and sensation…. the smell of wet leaves, the incredible chartreuse of moss, the soft, silken whisper of bird wings in flight, the sparkle and splash of fish at the water’s surface, the feel of gnarled bark on a hundred-year-old tree. 

My motivation to create is driven and informed by all this and the natural order, sublime integrity and cohesive interdependence of earth’s plants and animals who graciously share their space with us. My current creative process in art making has evolved from a background in printmaking, drawing and painting, all now distilled into a mixed media application focused on experimentation, accident and intention. To convey a sense of the dense, organic atmosphere, strong texture and deep colors that I’m drawn to, I focus on building many layers which involve extensive use of hand painted papers and mono prints, ink, watercolor and pencil. Additional layering of acrylic glazes, collaged papers and other elements continue until the work is complete. A finished mixed media piece utilizing this process may go through up to three dozen individual steps to completion. 

I hope that my work inspires a desire to reconnect to earth and nature, encouraging us to listen, respect and take greater care of our precious planet, so that in doing so we take care of ourselves, our future generations and fellow creatures. 

Find Maureen's available work here:

Artist Bio

Steve is a “self-taught “artist, and being so, it took him a while to learn that whimsey bottles are categorized as mixed media. Making these Whimsey or Folk Art bottles is a lost art form, having died out around 70 years ago. Steve is one of a few world-wide who still practice this art form. After a stint in Seattle, Steve has returned to Kentucky.

Steve has been featured in Raw Vision magazine, seen his work shown at The Outsider Art Show (NYC), Art Basal, The LA Art Show and Intuit (Chicago). Steve’s work has been shown and held in museums, while being shown galleries here in the US as well as overseas.

Check out his website.

Artists Statement

I am a bottle whimsey maker. Betcha never heard of one of those. I also make pictures with oil paint and make sculptures, but hey those are a dime a dozen. Being born and raised in Kentucky, Bourbon bottles are my preferred artist medium. Once a bottle is drunk, this usually takes a day or so, it is time to refill it and try to sell it, otherwise it is difficult to justify deducting Bourbon as a business expense on your taxes. 

I fill the bottle with ideas that I gather from the ether. I will hear a song on the radio or hear a phrase on television or the internet and then I will twist and distort it in the name of “art”. Then with the use wood and clay, portray scenes that many are thinking about, but dare not discuss in polite conversation. My favorite subjects are religion, sex and politics.