Twisp of Fate

Last night we went to the opening of the new show at the Confluence Gallery & Art Center in Twisp.  It is titled “Then and Now: A Historical View of the Methow Valley” and was conceived and curated by Roxie Miller.  Roxie and her husband Carl live in Winthrop, and are very involved with The Shafer Historical Museum, also in Winthrop.  Roxie’s concept was to choose historical photographs and objects from the museum collection, and pair these with contemporary works by regional artists that are inspired by the photograph or object.  She also wrote a number of narratives about Methow Valley history that are displayed along with some of the photographs.

Our friend Michael Neiman, a woodworker who lives in Spokane, brought over one of his beautiful rocking chairs for the show:

Roxie asked Rick if he would make a blanket chest to pair with a little chest they have in the museum that was made out of an old apple box.  He used walnut from a homestead tree in southwest Washington that had a large treehouse built in it; he had to be careful to find all the old nails and screws in the rough lumber before he started milling it down to finished dimensions – there was quite a little handful!  The panels are quartersawn European beech, and there is a layer of aromatic cedar planking inside on the bottom.

Washington walnut & quarter-sawn beech blanket chest

They brought in a loom that was donated to the museum by Kay Reiber, who set up a warp and demonstrated weaving during the opening.  She thinks the loom was built locally and is about 35 years old.  I brought in three of the shawls I just finished, which they will display with the loom during the show (and hopefully sell…).  The photograph on the wall behind the loom is of sheep grazing in the Pasayten Wilderness – evidently there used to be many large herds of sheep that were grazed in the high country around the valley during the summers.

Loved this old seeder that was being displayed as a possible garden bench/storage box:

Carl and Roxie Miller dressed for the occasion – there are a lot of Millers here in the valley, and most of them are related to Carl!

This is really a terrific show, and especially interesting if you take the time to read the narratives and study the old photographs (the prints in the gallery are for sale, by the way).  It runs through April 11, 2009.

Afterwards, we went across the street to Tappi for dinner and to listen to one of our favorite local musicians, Chris “Breathe” Frue – playing solo jazz guitar on this occasion.  The mural behind him is very personal to the owner of Tappi, whose family came from some small islands off the northeast coast of Sicily.

"Breathe" Frue playing at Tappi in Twisp