Collecting Art 101: Start Where You Art

I had a couple conversations recently with a couple of artists - one was a digital illustrator, the other a traditional realist - in which we talked about good art, trendy art, collectible art, and ways to sell it to the public. The term "Tastemaker" popped up during one of the conversations, referring to those who judge and curate shows. It made me cringe - I could never call myself a Tastemaker. To me, it implies that the curator or judge somehow is not just merely an expert on their field, but a superior, refined, End-All, Be-All who has the right to label anything they see as "good", "bad" or "ugly". Whatever the Tastemaker throws, sticks. The balance of power rests with their opinion, interests and - honestly - mood.

I know that when collecting art, the first thing that tends to go through the mind is if what we like is any good. "I don't know anything about art" is a comment I hear a lot, which I tend to translate as "I don't trust my own taste, I don't know what is good and what isn't". We all have seen pieces of work that critics have hailed as genius, but all we see is a couple pieces of wood and twine knocked together to represent some sort of strife in the far reaches of the world. We think "Really? This is good art?".  We think to ourselves that our dog could do better than this.... and in most cases, you're right. But your dog doesn't have a brilliant gallerist or art rep working the ropes for him. You and your dog haven't targeted the right audience with the right amount of investment money. So for now, your dog remains the untapped artistic genius who drinks out of the toilet and barfs on your rug.

Metro the Horse has a good agent

Another worry is that good art costs a lot. This is only partly true, as there are many variables that go into the costs and value of artwork, some of it from you, and some of it coming from the artist or third party selling the piece to you.

Art is a business. It can be quirky, slick,weird, or wonderful. The experience can be fun and pleasant, but in order to be that kind of experience, it's important to do two things: educate yourself, and start where you are.

I Like
First thing to think about is what you like. Do you like bright colors? Do you like animals? Do you like little things or big things? These are first grader questions, sure, but the answers are honest and true, and will help you define more complex "likes". Don't judge your likes by using words like "cheesy", "cute", "dark", "weird". Those may be judgement terms that someone else assigned to your likes at some point and you latched onto them.

I Like Dogs

As you really think about what you like, you may find yourself veering away from your defined "likes" and into uncharted territory. This is good - it's important to keep your mind open to concepts that are new and unexpected.

What people like is as individual as a fingerprint. A "like" doesn't define you per se, and it can change and morph over time, but no two people are really alike in their collection of preferences. It can surprise you what people really like: take the art in my own home, for example. I have a lot of dog art in an English Pub style. I have skateboard art, photography, and lots of 3D pieces, mostly stuff my great grandfather whittled. I have a mix of original art and lithographs, many of which are in bright, primary colors. I have roller derby posters. I also have art similar to the stuff in Krab Jab, but I'm not restricted to any type of genre. Which roles me into -

I Like Living This Way
You will have to live with your art. You will look at it, touch it, straighten it, match it to the sofa, clean the dust off of it. It will remind you of your childhood, of a person, of a trip you took or want to take. It will be an object you meditate on. Maybe it's something for your office or your studio. Whatever the piece of art is, you will have to live with it in some way. It should add value to your space. It's not important HOW the value is added by anyone else's standards, and it should be YOUR value. I can tell you what looks good in your hallway, but I don't walk it every day on the way to the bathroom, you do. Maybe a priceless Monet doesn't work in your house full of dogs and children, as you'd panic every time grubby hands or paws got near it.

"Junior" looks good over our Chesterfield couch. 

Where Is the Art?
Not all of us have a nearby gallery, or more importantly, a gallery with art we like. So where does one start looking?

1. Start Local
I always advocate to visit a local gallery or show. It's important to know what is happening in your region, and even more so, see art in person. A lot of art does not translate well in photography, and even more so, artists aren't exactly the best photographers.

Many towns and neighborhoods have art walks, which are regularly occurring events in which local merchants, galleries and studios open their doors to the public. You can easily find out if your neighborhood or town has them by contacting your city or town cultural affairs department (like Seattle's Cultural Affairs department of local city government). Or easier still, ask a local merchant; most merchant's associations either run art walks or know of them.

Street fairs are another way of locating artists in your region. Quality of art may vary, but it's a good and easy way to make contact.

I also recommend to go to group shows - no better way to get a taste of all that's out there than a show containing several artists' work. Many group shows are themed or classed by genre - the show's title is often a dead giveaway as to what the theme entails.

2. The World Wide Web
Ah, the world at your fingertips! But locating and buying art online is overwhelming and sometimes risky. What's reputable?

Etsy.com is very popular with artists right now. They sell direct to you, the buyer, and terms are clear. Buyer experience can be rated publicly, so artists try to represent as honestly and best as they can. Everything is tagged by genre so it's easy to find what you're Likes are.

Many artists have eCommerce on their own websites, so buying direct is easier than ever. One note of caution to buyers, though: artists are often not the best marketers or salespeople. Photos may be poor, they may not be good at packing and shipping art, and most of all... they can be really slow at getting your work to you. I know folks who've waited MONTHS for their paid art to ship to them. This is one of the reasons why working with galleries and online shops like Etsy are worth it, even if you're paying a little more than you would working directly with an artist.

There are also good websites and blogs that categorize and rate art for you. Online art magazines are good for that, as well as sites like artsyo.com, which is a Seattle based online source of local art. Blogs like Art Nerd (it's a blog/magazine) are great as well. If you like certain genres of art, online art magazines are a wonderful place to start making connections to artists, shows and galleries. My personal favorite is Hi-Fructose - I really like the neo-surreal movement right now.

And finally, (sigh) Facebook. Many artists have Facebook pages that are accessible to the public. They often post images of what they're working on or what inspires them. If you can avoid getting sucked into the Facebook void for several hours, its a great place to find talent.

I found French artist Yoann Lossel on Facebook.

Art is Expensive if It's Good, Right?
Nope, not at all. I mean sure, there are really expensive pieces out there, but art collecting can start at a small budget. And by "budget", that's exactly what I mean. Work out a budget for art, the way you do with other purchases.

Most artists have pieces that run in various price points, from an inexpensive open edition of prints (open edition means that it's not number and limited) and limited edition prints (which cost more because it's from one specific print run and is numbered), to sketches, studies, and finally, finished pieces.

Sketches and studies are a great place to start with original art. Usually artists don't advertise these items for sale, but many are more than happy to part with them. They are often in graphite or possibly watercolor or limited palette oils (for sculpture, they may be small, simple study pieces). Sometimes sketches and studies are more interesting than a finished piece - you can see the thought process of the artist in them. Don't feel bashful asking an artist or rep about these items - it's not an uncommon request, and often they are the only art pieces you can barter a price on.

A study of a crow skull. Artists working on their anatomy often have wonderful studies.

Many artists and galleries have payment plans; you can purchase art on layaway. If you see a piece in a show at a gallery or studio that you could purchase in payments over a short period (such a two months), ask about their payment plans. However, do expect that you will not get the piece until it's paid in full.

It's not generally okay to haggle a price at a gallery; prices are often set in contract. Sometimes a gallerist will offer you a deal (usually if you are purchasing multiple pieces) - deals are often on the spot and if you don't agree to the terms at that time, it's off the table. Don't expect that deal to adhere to future purchases.

This Brian Froud piece comes by itself or in a set of three limited edition prints; a buyer can get a deal on a multi-piece purchase

Sometimes an artist will adjust pricing in a direct sale (artist-to-buyer). However, respect the artist and their price point - often people are a little too pushy with artists in order to get a deal. Many of the artists out there are on tight budgets themselves and this is their livelihood. Badgering them down to a price you like may seem like a win to you, but trust me, that's the last time you may ever work with that artist.

And finally, if you are working a direct sale with the artist, a trade is not uncommon. Some folks trade services for art (haircut, contract work, landscaping, etc). It's only a good trade if you hold to it, and only if the artist is in need of what you're trading. Be honest with the value of the trade.

Finally, if you are offering to trade art for art - don't, unless the artist brings it up. I can't tell you how many artists have offered me their art for art I have for sale - it's not really a value trade for me, and 90% of the time, other artists aren't interested in collecting your art, they really need to sell art to make a living. It can be an awkward moment for an artist to turn down your work, so keep that off the table.

Your kitteh painting is not my cup of tea...sorry.

Final Words
So now you have a starting point. Woo hoo, right? You have your budget set, you march off to the local gallery, you look at the art, and...huh... what the hell is a "giclee"? What is "gouache"? Do I have framing options? How do I take care of this stuff once I get it home? What if I hate it in a few days? What if a piece falls off my new sculpture?

Don't panic. Terminology, care and maintenance of a collection takes a little time to get but it's not rocket science, I promise. I'll cover that in my next Collecting Art post.

Until then, poke around, think about what you like, and most of all, enjoy yourself! This is supposed to be fun!

FAERIE II

I'm going to need to backtrack a little over a year, when fellow Krab Jabber, painter Kyle Abernethy, introduced me to the woman who ran TLC Workshops, an illustrator named Tara Larsen Chang. I myself ran a couple of workshops at Krab Jab Studio and marveled at the success of this relatively new workshop machine that booked talent such as Greg Spalenka, Brom, and Terese Nielsen, among others. Honestly, I was a bit irked; I mean, she was making my job of putting "butts in seats" fifty times harder! Plus, Kyle had gotten into her Brom workshop and couldn't stop blathering over how great the facility and experience was. He insisted we meet.

The woman he introduced me to was truly magical. Smiling, warm, talking a mile a minute, Tara was instantly likeable. She was a Doer, a Seeker, and a Dreamer. All my envious feelings melted away when I realized that much like me she worked hard in the background of her workshop machine, and much like me, she was a huge fan of the artists (and students) she supported. And... she was a faerie artist.

Tara Larsen Chang

Not only was Tara a faerie artist, but she was connected to many of the faerie artists I admired and had worked with in the past. I mentioned my idea of a Faerie show, and she enthusiastically offered to help me cull together one of the most interesting and beautiful group shows we've done, which debuted with glowing reviews in February 2013. Not only were the "old favorites" of Amy Brown and the Frouds (including Toby Froud), but newer talent such as Emily Fiegenschuh, Yoann Lossel and David Thierree were introduced to Seattle. Without Tara's help I would not have gotten in touch with Robert Gould, the mastermind behind Faerieworlds and another enthusiastic backer of the FAERIE show. Before the show even closed, Tara and I were already concocting plans for FAERIE II.

Amy Brown

So here we are, a year later, and FAERIE II will be opening in just a few days. I asked Tara to be guest curator this time, and she eagerly accepted and went to work on her list of invites. The list was long - too long, actually. There are a lot of great faerie artists out there, but the gallery can only stuff so much into it. We had to cut a few people out (many of which are highly talented, by the way. I was also cut, so this wasn't necessarily biased). Tara came up with a stunning list of artists, and happily, nearly all of them accepted the invitation to show. As Tara states: "When considering who to invite to participate in this assemblage, I thought of those artists whose fairy art I was familiar with and admired. Many of them are well known and the others should be! It's a striking assortment of talent."

Kimberly Kincaid

We worked alongside Robert Gould, as he loved the idea of a Faerie exhibition in his February convention, aptly called FaerieCon West (located in the Seattle-Tacoma area - see website for details, it's a pretty wonderful event). FAERIE II will exhibit in it's own room at the convention February 21-23, with many of the attending guest artists on the exhibit roster.

Linda Ravenscroft

Okay, fairies... what's the big deal? For me, Disney kind of ruined them. Disney and all those well-meaning "house fairy" sculptures and badly painted watercolor greeting cards, the cutesy little kid fairies with impossibly tiny insect wings. Faerie and the Fae was reduced to kitschy, cutesy and completely harmless. Scared of a fairy? Really???

Annie Stegg

Really. The Realm of Faerie was not always filled with tiny butterfly children and impish smiling elves hiding under mushrooms. It was a spiritual world of Nature, an otherworld that was both marvelous and tempestuous. It wasn't hard to accidentally piss a fairy off, and they often stole milk, cows, or children from their human neighbors. While there were faerie folk of small stature, depending on the region where one lived, they could be human sized or larger, or simply blinking balls of light. Sometimes they married and lived alongside humans, but mostly they kept to themselves, dancing in the moonlight, always enjoying what Nature offered in their magical realm. Until they were squelched from everyday life (thanks to the Church) and reduced to children's stories, they were feared, loved, and most of all, respected. Many believed the Fae were the spirits of our Natural world, and often one would see a dearly loved one, passed on, dancing alongside the Fae in the tall grasses and sacred groves, smiling and laughing, young and vibrant.

Fred Fields

I believe that thanks to Brian Froud and his friend Alan Lee, the world of Faerie began to take on it's original face with the general public. They published the now-iconic book, Faeries, igniting a new interest in the old beliefs of the Celtic regions of Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales and Brittany. Their beautiful illustrations of the world of Fae opened the door to many similar artists, and once again did the Faerie demand her rightful respect. The fairy was now the Faery, both beautiful and terrifying, generous and mischievous, mysterious and strangely familiar.

Greg Manchess

The Fae take on many shapes and forms. Terra-bound and aquatic, tiny and huge, red-capped and finely dressed or completely nude, wings or simply radiating, faeries and their ilk run the imaginary gamut of form and function. Many faerie artists find a form they enjoy working with, and some of them like to push the envelope into pure weirdness. Allen Williams, for example, works smokey, ghostly forms into his graphite masterpieces, with bony, spurred horns emerging from the tops of heads and tree trunks. The Fae manifest through the artist's hand in the forms they choose. Allen may think he has a handle on them, but truly it's the other way around.

Allen Williams

When speaking with Tara about the lure of Faerie, she puts it this way: "I think there is more 'out there' than what generally meets the eye. What *is* however, is harder to define or quantify. I believe things like fascination-with-the-fae begin to attempt to give form to the mystery of the unknown."

Justin Gerard

From the point of the artist, Tara adds: "To me, a large aspect of Faery is Nature and her forces personified. Something that can be both intensely appealing and deeply perilous to interact with. As part of the unseen natural world, their mien reflects the many facets of organic beauty and wild unpredictability. To depict them effectively, I believe one must portray these paradoxical elements that make them enigmatic and ultimately unknowable."

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

Faeries can also be humorous; who better to depict this than Brian Froud? His 1994 book, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, exemplifies this to a T. The squashed fairies in this album are often in silly positions, smiling, tongues sticking out. (no real faeries were harmed in the making of this book)

Brian Froud

 With 24 stellar artists in this exhibit, I can't realistically show every one of them in this blog post; you'll have to visit the show itself or view the full catalog, available online February 9th until show ends February 27th. When I asked Tara what she hoped the viewer would take away from this show, she stated: "I hope the viewers of this collection get a glimpse into the realm just beyond the senses, and go home with an increased sense of wonder and mystery."

Reception is February 8th, 6 - 9 pm, show runs through February 27th. All works are original and for purchase. Select prints also for sale. Exhibition will travel to FaerieCon West February 21-23rd. We'd also like to thank our NYC support, the AFA Gallery, who represent the Froud family and exclusively consign their art to Krab Jab Studio.

If you'd like to read what the artists have to say about their work, make sure to check out the online catalog!

Gary Lippincott

-Julie Baroh, February 2014

Quoth the Raven

 About a year ago, artist and editor Jeff Menges commented to me that I should consider doing a show about corvids, specifically ravens and crows. He knew I had a thing for crows: I had been keeping tabs on the mated pair that lived in my neighborhood for years, and they often popped up in my artwork. I'd been devouring the works of author and avian expert John Marzluff, marveling at the intelligence and marvelous adaptation this bird possesses. I also knew that for some strange reason, crow and raven art tended to sell quicker than any other animal or bird art at Krab Jab Studio. Even skull studies sold to eager collectors.

"Corvidae Skull", Benjamin A Vierling

I ran the idea by a few artists and illustrators to gauge interest. A barrage of positives came back at me. I think the only reason that some of them weren't able to participate had more to do with time constraints than interest.

People simply love this black bird.

Crows and ravens weren't always so loved. In fact, not too long ago the American Crow was the target of a mass holocaust, with thousands being destroyed, often in very bloody ways (such as blowing up their roosts with dynamite). They were considered a pest by farmers (think "scarecrow"), despite their usefulness at eating the bugs and worms that threatened crops far worse than they did. Honestly, the crow (and it's shy cousin, the raven) challenges our belief that we, Man, are the superior rulers of this earth. When we look to the sky in the western hemisphere, it is that black bird that dominates. Wily, social, talkative, clever, playful, excellent parents, scavengers, with amazing memories, the raven and crow simply challenge our superiority. And they crap on our cars. On purpose.

I was really curious to see what artists would come up with for this show. My one worry was that we would have multiple images of a Raven cawing ominously at something in the distance, but I was pleasantly surprised at the pieces I received (although we did get an excellent example of the raven caw in Halsey Swain's work).

"Raven", Halsey Swain

Myth was a popular topic. Morrigan, the Irish triple-goddess who often took form of the crow in battle, is featured in the work of Yoann Lossel and David Thierree (and hinted at in Olivier Villoingt's dark drawing) - all three artists hail from Brittany, France (a coincidence that they chose this Celtic goddess? Possibly!).

"La Morrigan", Yoann Lossel

"The Soul of War", Olivier Villoingt

"Morrigan", David Thierree

Norse's god Odin kept two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, that brought him news all around the world, the subject of which Echo Chernik, Jason Engle and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law tackled.

"Huginn ok Muginn", Echo Chernik

"The Messenger", Jason Engle

"Raven-god", Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

The crow as a symbol of omen was chosen by artists Braden Duncan and Margaret Organ-Kean. The divine roots of counting crows (called orniscopy, or divination by observing birds) was reduced to a folksy rhyme by the 18th century.

"One for Sorrow", Braden Duncan

"Corvimancy", Margaret Organ-Kean

Crows and ravens in literature was also tackled. Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem The Raven was the subject of Stefanie Vega and Samuel Araya, and hinted at by Robert Tritthardt. Poul Dohle referenced the Raven King from Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Allen Williams ties the corvid and the book together beautifully in his graphite drawing.

"Sentimental Damned", Stefanie Vega

"Dark Wings", Robert Tritthardt

"Plutonian Shore", Samuel Araya

"Raven King", Poul Dohle

"If Beauty were a Book", Allen Williams

The magical, shamanic qualities of crows and ravens were apparent in three pieces by Sandra Everingham, Yuko Ishii and Yvette Endrijautzki. It's interesting to note that while we think of crows and ravens as a more masculine symbol, there is a very strong element of the feminine in these works, especially when seen in the positive, mystical aspects of the crow and raven. Perhaps our ancestors have noted the strong maternal connections crows have to their chicks - they make very protective and loving parents, with the female patiently teaching her young what to eat, how to speak, and how to behave long after most chicks leave the nest.

"Transmutation", Sandra Everingham

"Die Raben Koenigin", Yvette Endrijautzki

"Entrance (Healing Magick)", Yuko Ishii

 Our macabre obsession with crows and ravens is reflected in Kyle Abernethy and Jethaniel Peterka's work. Even Benjamin Vierling's simple skull study has a slight sinister element to it. Death permeates the world of crow and raven - infamous scavengers of carrion, we naturally connect them with death. Even the wistful works of Jeff Menges and ShirrStone Shelter Dolls touches on death.

"Dominion", Kyle Abernethy

"Visitation", Jethaniel Peterka

"Lignum Corvus "RAMUM"", ShirrStone Shelter Dolls

"Bare Branches and Dark Wings", Jeff Menges

Crows are silly birds, they really are. Coupled with another silly animal, Drew Tucker anthropomorphizes the crow in his painting, further reflecting our strong connection to this bird.

"Family portrait:  Putnam Co. #8", Drew Tucker

Sara Otterstatter uses her work to tackle the very really issue of extinction: the Pied-Raven is now extinct, and there are a few other breeds of crow that are on the verge of extinction, notably the Hawaiian Alala Crow, of which there are less than 100 left in captivity. A portion of our proceeds will go to support crow conservation and research.

"Nevermore: The Pied-Raven", Sara Otterstätter

-Julie Baroh, January 2014

NOTE: We will be having one last hurrah on January 30th, 5 - 8 pm! If you are local to Seattle, come visit and see the show - including all the European pieces stuck in customs during our opening reception!

The Art of Roleplaying Games

So here we are, a year since the last Art of Roleplaying Games show, which proved to be a resounding success. Chris Pramas and I decided it would be fun to do another one - just not during the height of Convention Season. So we chose the relatively quiet month of November.

The Art of Roleplaying Games II got off to a shaky start in part to Chris developing a bulging disk in his cervical spine and needing surgery in September. Despite a very successful surgery and recovery, Chris was AWOL for most of September, recouping at home. Meanwhile, while holding the fort, I had a wicked cold that knocked me down hard (I have no immune system to speak of). To add, my family suffered the loss of my grandfather, and Gabe Marquez announced his plans to leave Krab Jab Studio the following month. My fort-holding was hanging by a thread, to say the least.

Vinod Rams, Red Dragon Codex

The good thing was that most of the artists from last year were open to contributing to this year, with a strong show of local talent. We have our "regulars" - RK Post, Heather Hudson, Terese Nielsen, and Echo Chernik - along with Samuel Araya, Liz Danforth, Anthony S Waters and Drew Tucker from last year. New to Krab Jab is Franz Vohwinkel, Vinod Rams, Pierre Carles, Chuck Lukacs and David Nash. Resident Krab Jabber Mark Tedin rounds out the list.

Heather Hudson, Out of the Closet

From Green Ronin's collection, we have three modified skulls by Jason Soles, and from Harebrained Schemes collection we have the Larry Elmore Shadowrun cover from 1989, and a Shadowrun Returns "Stuffer Shack" concept piece.

The games represented are a variety, from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, to Shadowrun. Star Wars, Battletech, Mage Knight, Dragonlance, Heresy, Earthdawn, Unhallowed Metropolis and Wheel of Time are some of the other names of games, with a few publication pieces from Eldritch Entertainment, Onyx Path, and Pagan Publishing.

Raven Mimura, Combat Mage

But let's say you don't play these games. You don't even know what roleplaying is, what those clunky dice are used for or why there is a need for character sheets. Can you really enjoy a show like this? The answer is yes, and here's why:

Roleplaying games allow people to create fantastical characters and run them through "campaigns". The artwork created for these games are meant to get our own creative, fantastical juices flowing. They paint a picture of the future, of the past, of alien worlds filled with mythical creatures. It's pure fantasy in its basic form, giving the viewer a glimpse of a world that is filled with potential to manipulate and experience. You can't tell me that people who don't game have no fantasy life, no "other place/other time" their imaginations vacation to from time to time.

Samuel Araya, Teloch Vovin

This collection of 32 pieces of art is worth the time to absorb, to enjoy, and for gamers, to reminisce and connect. Even if you don't game (and I don't) its a really great collection of pieces to check out. These are top notch artists - you don't have to be into fantasy to see that.

This show runs through December 5th, 2013. - Julie Baroh

DIVINITY: The Art of Divination

Every October, Krab Jab Studio has a Halloween show. Last year we had a Halloween show called OUIJA, devoted to the Ouija board, which was a great success (at least we thought so).  I wasn't sure how to top that - it was a pretty sweet show, complete with vintage Ouija boards - so in an effort to be fair to all the ways one would call the spirits of Beyond, I decided on the broad spectrum of DIVINITY.

Divination has been an art since the dawn of Man. Communities often had one specific member whose task it was to communicate to the spirits, to the gods and goddesses, to the earth and nature, to the ancestors. This person - shaman, prophet, witch, seer, priest or priestess, or divine ruler - was meant to heal the sick, placate the unseen forces of nature, seek the will of the gods/goddesses and otherwise keep their community safe, strong and healthy. Prayer, meditation, and offering was usually the simplest form of divination (and still is) but over thousands of years Man has employed many unique methods of divination, some beautiful, some ghastly and bizarre.

My curatorial challenge to the artists of this show was to create a piece of work based on a form of divination. I was a little worried that I would, in return, get an entire show full of tarot cards, not that there's anything wrong with those, but honestly, tarot reading is actually a newer form of divination and we're pretty saturated in tarot images in our current western culture. A couple cards is one thing, but a show of them is, well, a TAROT show. I like tarot cards, mind you - I even used to do readings for people long ago - but, eh, as a curator I'd be a little bored being surrounded by twenty versions of the Death card. There's a whole world out there!!!

I was not disappointed. My artists came through, from the unique to the hilarious. I'll touch on the various forms of divination you can see in this collection of work.

TAROT

Laura Cameron

Erick Lingbloom

Echo Chernik

Javier S Ortega

Stephanie Law

 

Probably the most well known of the arcane divination tools is the tarot deck. Comprised of Major and Minor Arcana, a deck is made of four suits (Cups, Wands, Swords, Pentacles of the Minor Arcana) and 22 iconic trump cards (the Major Arcana). Played out in a variety of layouts, one can use the cards to query the future or decide on a directive in life. Not surprisingly, most of the illustrators in our show (Stephanie Law, Echo Chernik of Echo-X, and Erick Lingbloom) chose tarot as their subject.

In a way, the tarot deck is less of a divination tool and more of an allegorical pathfinder. But since it often allows the reader to key into their natural abilities to see beyond the here and now, it sits nicely within DIVINITY. Plus, the decks are often beautiful and thought provoking, touching the psyche on multiple levels.

On the Artists: Laura Cameron is a Seattle artist with a focus on the esoteric in her work. Her tarot card is based on a deck with an LGBT theme. Erick Lingbloom is an up and coming Seattle illustrator we discovered through Brian Snoddy (Erick was one of his students) who has a bright future ahead. Echo Chernik's piece in this show is unusual: known for her digital masterpieces in the Art Nouveau style, this tiny oil painting is an example of the handiwork she has accomplished. Stephanie Law is an illustrator well known in the faerie genre; this piece is from her Shadowscape Tarot deck and book. Javier S Ortega, Spanish-born Seattle artist, is known for his large-eyed, emotionally tense surreal paintings and portraits, so it's apropos he choose an optic reflection for a subject.

DIVINING ROD

Kelly Lyles

Dowsing is a form of divination with nature, or more specifically, searching for ground water, gold, or other earth elements underground. It is also a relatively newer form of divination, first recorded in about the late medieval period in Europe. Using a Y-shaped stick or two metal rods, the dowser would locate the element when the stick would "magnetically" point to the ground, or the two metal rods would cross each other. Unlike other forms of divination, the dowser need not be especially "sensitive" to psychical or spiritual phenomena, though possibly magnetically sensitive to the earth.

On the Artist: Longtime old school Seattle artist Kelly Lyles is mostly known for her pet portraits and modified art cars, but she has no fear treading into the mystical.

RUNES

Lazarus Chernik

Runes are a Scandinavian alphabet, and rune stones have been used for magical and divinatory readings for well over a thousand years. The likelihood of them used by the mundane level of society is slim; it is more reasonable to believe that they were read by an elite level of the Scandinavian community, such as an Elder trained in mysticism. The rune stones would reveal omens and signs. Runes could also charge objects with power (such as a sword). Much like the Hebrew alphabet, runes are a form of word and letter divination.

On the Artist: Lazarus Chernik has been researching runes and their meanings for many years. In this show he displays not only an alphabet (depicting the flow of the runes, as one would show the cyclical path of water) but his own personal collection of rune stones he created for casting and reading. Check out his Kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lazarusblack/runabok-the-origin-of-the-runes-and-mysteries-reve

ONEIROMANCY and ORACLES

faceOdd

Heather Hudson

 Oneiromancy is the divination within dreams. This has been a realm commonly used by prophets and shamans for thousands of years. In fact, shamans often work within the world of dreams, whether interpreting the dreams of those who seek them, or themselves working within the landscape of the divine dream, most often treating those who have lost bits of their souls (in psychology this is known as disassociation) in an effort to return those lost parts to the Greater Self.

Oneiromancy was also a popular form of divination with the Greek and Roman cultures, although in Greece the most famous form of divination was the Oracle of Delphi, known as Pythia. Pythia would only speak her utterances on the 7th day of the month, chewing bits of the laurel leaf while inhaling noxious volcanic fumes through a crack in the floor of the inner sanctum of the Delphic temple. In a trance she would reveal the prophecies delivered to her through the powers of Apollo.

On the Artists: faceOdd is the artistic name of Tamara Clammer, a Seattle mask maker and leather sculptor who sculpted this piece directly off her own face purely by intuition. Heather Hudson is a publication illustrator we've been showing since day 1, and never ceases to come up with interesting takes on a host of subjects, often touching into the beautifully bizarre of a well researched subject matter.

SPIKEOMANCY

Terese Nielsen and Sindy Todo

This is a concept developed by illustrator Terese Nielsen and Sindy Todo. Sindy is a sensitive who developed a passion for rail road ties (spikes) of which she collects and embellishes. Together, Terese and Sindy developed Spikeomancy. They write:

In the early 1800s steam engines criss-crossed their way across an infant nation. The newly built railroads rapidly expanded the country westward giving its citizens the freedom to grow their lives as they discovered endless plains, golden riches and, in the end, themselves.

 

Spikeomancy echoes these pioneer roots. Just as the railroads twisted, turned, and meandered, so do our lives. What direction will your future go? How do you change paths? Do you feel stuck or maybe just cautious? Are you starting something new or clearing away the past? Let your spirit point the way.

On the Artist: Normally Terese Nielsen works as an illustrator in the game industry, but this project intrigued her, and I think she faired well into this sculptural challenge. Ultimately Terese and Sindy hope to turn this prototype into a marketable divining tool.

HARUSPICY

Drew Tucker

Kree Arvanitas

Haruspicy is the divination art that is probably one of the more unusual and gruesome. After an animal is sacrificed, it's entrails or liver (or sometimes other bits) are examined by a haruspex (a person trained in reading the signs in the goop) for omens.

Etruscans used the entrails of an animal (usually a sheep) to read the omens.  Moroccans would throw a live iguana onto a fire, and would read into the popping and exploding trajectory of the corpse as they burst forth from the sizzling flames.

About the Artists: Drew Tucker is a game illustrator and furniture maker who enjoys the absurd and can see the humor in just about anything, we've found. Kree Arvanitas is a Seattle painter and henna artist whose work is often heavily influenced by Eastern lore and mysticism.

AUSPICY

Tara Larsen Chang

Auspicy is the art of reading into the nature of birds, usually of crows and ravens. An auspice or augur will take note of the time of day, the number of the birds, and the behavior of the birds to indicate a good or bad omen. Tibetan Buddhism has used auspicy for hundreds of years.

Counting crows is the most well known type of auspicy, particularly in England. There are several versions of a children's chant based off of this divination, which goes like this:

One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told.
Eight for heaven, nine for hell,
And ten for the devil's own sel'.

About the Artist: Tara Larsen Chang has illustrated children's books for years, and children are often incorporated into her work. This piece is part of a series she is working on in regards to the unfortunate pet choices of children.

IN CONCLUSION

We have several other pieces in this show that describe the artist's take on those who have abilities to divinate and even a fantasy of divination in motion (make sure to check out Yvette Endrijautzki's Bosch-like sculpture). Margaret Organ-Kean chose childlike whimsy in her Cooty Catcher, and Ellen Miffitt touches on the self-divine of meditation with her six tiny pieces of mixed media.

David Thierree

ShirrStone Shelter Dolls

Yvette Endrijautzki

Michael Kimble

One the Artists: David Thierree is a French painter with a focus on fantasy and faerie lore, which is not surprising considering his roots in Celtic Brittany. ShirrStone Shelter Dolls is the Russian duo of Olga and Nikolay, creators of delicate, porcelain dolls with a hint of low brow to them. They are a new addition to the Krab Jab showcase. Yvette Endrijautzki is a German-born Seattle assemblage artist who has a knack for constructing three dimensional fantasies of the bizarre (but optically pleasing). Michael Kimble, known for his game illustrations, often takes a gritty approach to his subject matter that tips its hat to his classical and graphical roots. Ellen Miffitt is a Pacific Northwest artist with a feel of deep meditation and self awareness to her work, being the calm within the show's storm. Margaret Organ-Kean is known in the book arts world as a watercolor illustrator, and her piece (an obvious bow to the Dream Catcher) brings whimsy and childlike humor to round out the mix.

As a group, the show is fun, thoughtful, morbidly silly and well executed. I couldn't have conjured up a better show myself!
-Julie Baroh, October 10th 2013

Ellen Miffitt

POST SCRIPT
After receiving the art and working on the display, I was so uplifted and inspired that I came up with an idea for a piece of my own, based on the Ouija board but using a crow's skull as the planchette, guided by a magnetic rod that two people would maneuver under the board with their fingers. The crow's beak would point to letters to spell out messages from beyond. As I write this, I have been putting this board together and I sincerely hope I can display it for this show.