A tiny collection

Krys and I are currently putting together a small collection of tiny items that will be presented at the upcoming NY gift show.  The subject matter is animals, children, nature, and old book print. The materials we are using are paper, fabric, and wire.  The grouping will be displayed in a beautiful old suitcase.  Very "hutchy"!  The picture above is the latest version of the "Bunny Girl Cabin"
The grass and figure silhouettes are now printed onto the paper walls instead of hand cut out of paper *refer to last blog post..

I've made many of these "Sweet Little Tweets" at the studio, but this is the most recent version.  The base is now made from cardboard rather than old metal lids, and the birds are made of painted "oven bake" clay rather than glazed porcelain.
I'm always asking myself "Could someone make this at home?"  Sometimes changing the material or process can make a big difference.  One last tweak is changing the old sheet music ling the cage to the same old book print that you see on the walls of the paper cabin.

 This is a vase of flowers that is made by repurposing cardboard paper rolls.  The flower children are pencils with printed faces and colored paper petals and leaves.  I think that the pencils might be packaged and sold separately so you could pick which and how many flower children you want to put in your vase.
What do you think so far?  All of these items will soon be available for purchase in our "shop" section.

Shadows of hutch Part 1

There's something about shadows that has always excited me.  Maybe it's the fact that they are all about the moment, destined to move or fade away with the light.

Since starting hutch studio, I've noticed some really amazing shadows.  I think that it's result of the perfect combination of great natural light through many windows with interesting window coverings and objects within the space.  In this post I want to share a few of my favorites.  The first is a shadow of flowers and leaves on the floor on a sunny morning in May.  It was our "Rainflowers" paper window covering creating the pattern.

This shadow was cast on the wall next to a wooden stand that had a small standing plush bird wearing a hat and carrying a treasure in it's beak. Oddly, in the afternoon of the day the picture was taken, someone purchased the bird.  It's not the bird in this lonely shadow anymore.

This was a shadow that was brought to my attention by a visitor to the studio.  It's a squirrel climbing down a tree branch from the hutch "winter window" pattern that hangs in the front door window.  This happens during the morning hours when the sun shines.

We definitely have some great old dress forms in the shop that we use for display.  This is the shadow that a wire mesh dress form that stands up against a wall in our side porch.  I liked the contrast of the linear weave pattern against the organic contour of the dress form.

One sunny morning as I was beginning the hutch day, I looked down at my work table and there it was.  Right under my coiled wire, shadows were cast from a small paper cut hanging in a window.  Flowers standing almost as they were growing up from the table's front edge.  I was tempted to grab some paint and a brush and quickly paint the shadow onto the table.  Maybe that's a future hutch project "Shadow Paintings".
  
If you stop by the studio for a visit you may be able to view one of these shadows in person.  Or maybe you can discover a totally new one.  Stay tuned for more shadow pictures to come. I'm curious which one of these shadows was your favorite?

SAT Presentation

General Membership Meetings The Padilla Bay Interpretive Center, 10441 Bayview-Edison Road, Bayview, WA 98273 Click Here for a Map

Thursday - January 27, 2011 - 6:00 PM Annual Membership Meeting Padilla Bay Interpretive Center 10441 Bayview Edison Road Mount Vernon, WA January 27, 2011 is our annual membership meeting.  Members and guests are welcome to attend.  Dinner starts at 6 PM PT. SAT will provide the main course.  Members will provide sides and dessert.  If you cannot bring anything to share, your presence is more important than a dish, so please come anyway.  If you can, please bring a dish to share as follows:Last names starting with "A" through "M" - please bring a vegetable dish or salad.Last names starting with "N" through "Z" - please bring a small dessert. Program: We will have a short business meeting followed by a presentation from Chris Theiss, ceramic artist and instructor at SVCC (Skagit Valley community College). The presentation will be an overview of his ceramics and drawings from 1989 to present. He will discuss his artistic decisions, career choices, and professional ambitions. Chris will also talk about marketing and exhibiting artwork and the future of the traditional "art show". Bio - Chris Theiss was born in 1967 in Hope, Rhode Island.  After beginning his art education at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, he transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design where he received his B.F.A. in ceramics in 1990.  He then studied under Robert Arneson at U.C. Davis where he received his M.F.A. in studio art in 1992.  Chris was visiting professor of ceramics at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1992 and 1993. He has been a member of the art faculty at Skagit Valley College from 1993 to present.  Chris has exhibited his ceramic sculpture and drawings throughout the United States and his work is in Museum collections such as The Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Los Angeles County Museum, and California Palace of the Legion of Honor.  Chris’ work was recently selected for a book, “Ceramics for Beginners- hand building”,by Shay Amber. See you there!

More Paper Houses.

Design Prototype!

I wanted to share the very latest in the development of the tiny paper cabins at hutch.  I wanted to combine a number of visual elements that we seem to continually gravitate towards.  Children and animals, old children's story books, nature, paper cutting, silhouettes, light, and our hutch colors are merged here into a tiny  magical package.

Design Prototype!

Pictured are 2 different versions.  The first has a boy and kitty silhouetted against the cabin and the second has a little girl and bunny.  Both are not yet available for purchase.  I was hoping to get a reaction and some comments on this current direction.  What do you think?

Winter Wonder

~ A Blanket of Snow ~

I awoke last Sunday morning to a winter wonderland.  It is a bit unusual to get much snow in the Skagit Valley.  The surrounding hills and mountains are a totally different story.  I set out in my 2 wheel drive, cruised at a mellow 20 miles per hour, and wound my way down the hill on which we live. After what seemed like forever I finally arrived at the studio with bells on.  One of the first things I did was take some pictures of the snow flocked shop..... then I shoveled out.  I was very surprised that so many people stopped in that day.  Some would peer in the front window just to make sure that the open sign wasn't up by accident.  It ended up being a very snowy but cozy day thanks to the warmth of friendly visitors.  I hope that you enjoyed this little visual taste of what our studio looks like.  For more pictures you can visit our new "tour" section located right under our blog header.
Happy Winter!

Our New Blog Shop!

We have a new Blog Shop!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we have been developing many new sections on our blog for you to visit.  They are located right below our blog header.  You can enjoy pictures of the inside and outside of our shop in La Conner by clicking on the "tour" section.  Find out what makes us tick by clicking the "about" section.  Browse and buy some of the latest hand made creations, patterns and kits by clicking on the "shop" section.  The original pen and watercolor  (above) by Krys Kirkpatrick is the most recent addition to the shop. To see more of Krys' work click on by for a visit.

More on the Light Post.

I had to add the very latest addition to the light of hutch.  Hung it just this morning in fact.  It is a pendant style light comprised of 33 paper houses made from vintage 50's cookbook pages.  They hang with thread from a spiraling wire support.  It sell for $200. and is an in store pick up item only.  The shadows cast by the house on the surrounding walls are amazing.

Last but not least is one of the really fun project kits at hutch.  It is a night light that is made from repurposing a pint milk carton, paper paint sample cards, and old 35mm vacation slides.  I call it "My Vacation Home Night Light", because when you go to bed at night you can turn this on and dream about getting away to that perfect vacation spot.  Lovely thought isn't it. "Night light Take me away!"
The templates and plans for building your vacation home sell for $10.  
Give me a ring to order> 360-466-2303 

Lights of hutch

It's fair to say that the lights of hutch studio are quite unique.  Look up, down, in, or out and you will notice many interesting pendants, lanterns, shades, and tea lights.  Not all are for sale but some are.  The porch light (pictured above)is one of the NFS examples and it is the first light you see as you enter our shop.  An original fixture to the house that I would date to approximately circa 1900.

The next two lights are for sale at the shop (call for details).  To the left is an inverted colander lamp and to the right a "Newman" light.  I call it a "Newman" because it is made from a repurposed "Newmans Own" sauce jar.  I collaged old newsprint and paper cut-outs onto the glass and then applied an amber tinted finish.  They sit inside one of our hutches.

The two most dramatic fixtures in the studio are the "Red Spiral Parisol" and the large "Chinese Bird Lantern". The parisol is hand painted and the Chinese lantern has collaged bird imagery in the tinted glass panels. Don't forget to look up or you might just miss these stunning objects of illumination.

The last lights pictured are two examples of a "childlike magic".  the tiny 2 1/2 inch house made with old book pages glows from the warmth of a battery operated tea light. The "Squirrel House" that hangs on the wall (pictured here without its roof), also has a battery operated light that shines on a paper cut image of a squirrel in an oak tree.  I almost get more excited about the shadows that the cut out casts on the back wall, but "Shadows" are another blog post entirely.


Give a call tho the studio if you would like more information about any of the lights in the post.  I will try my best to shed some light.  #360-466-2303