December Art in the Library – Lopez Island Library

Come join us to celebrate new art works running December 7- January 3 at the Lopez Library featuring Jessica Velo and Lopez Library’s Artists in Residence, Barbie Paulsen and Julia Mira.

As part of First Saturday Art Walks, the artists will be giving live artist talks at their opening on Saturday, December 7 at 5 pm. Also during the opening, The Friends of the Lopez Island Library have been busy collecting books for your holiday shopping, so come and browse Saturday from 4:00 to 7:00. There are beautiful cookbooks, art/photography books, children’s books, and of course holiday books.

Please join us for these insightful talks and light refreshments before continuing into the village for many other artist talks and openings!

About the Artists:

Jessica Velo:

I grew up in Seattle and excelled at art as a child. This seemed unremarkable because I came from a family with a lot of artistic talent.

I dropped out of art school at nineteen because I felt I had nothing meaningful to say, and stopped creating art.

Two decades later I found myself living in the San Juan Islands and working with my brother to make tools for wood carvers. The necessity to understand the use of these tools led me to dabble in carving and dip my toe once again into the creation of artwork.

Meanwhile, being immersed in a stunning and peaceful natural environment, I began to find my way back to the inner artist I had lost along the way.

I no longer think having “something to say” is the prerequisite for creating. The art I make is my attempt to hold onto something fleeting, connect with beauty, and see the world more deeply.

All last year I painted local landscapes in acrylic, putting together a body of work I was proud to showcase on the Lopez Island Studio Tour. Once that was over I needed a break from painting and wanted to improve my drawing skills. These drawings are the result of an online course in sight-size technique, a method originating in renaissance Italy. Each one is from life and took about a week to create.

Lopez Library Artists in Residence, Julia Mira and Barbie Paulsen: featuring their work with textiles and natural dyes:

Barbie Paulsen has been weaving and playing with yarn and fiber for most of her life. She has a couple of decades of teaching experience where she used yarn, looms and other materials to help elementary school children learn the joy of working with fiber, the frustration of facing setbacks, and the satisfaction of seeing a creation through to completion. Now retired, Barbie still plays with yarn and fiber at her Weaving Wednesday afternoons at the Lopez Library.

Julia Mira’s grandmother, who could only speak limited English, communicated with her through weaving, knitting, crocheting, and drawing. Her mother had a master’s degree in arts and crafts. Naturally, Julia became an arts and crafts teacher herself. She taught art along with all the other subjects at Waldron School, a K-8 rural school, and also taught absolutely everything to a handful of high school students for three years. She embodies the idea of “Jill of all trades, master of none.” But in a good way.