Autumnal Landscapes: Kathleen Wolfe - Oct. Artist of the Month

One of the greatest perks for me of owning and running my own business has been the freedom to customize what we do, so I can dabble in other interests that are also meaningful to me, one of which is art.  Mind you, as much as I wish, I don't have a lick of skill, talent or drive to be an artist myself but it doesn't lessen the fact that I love art.  As an entrepreneur, I empathize with the process of having an idea or vision and then to brave the process of extracting that idea out of our heads and into the real world, where it is made tangible and experienced by others. There is very little in this world that is more satisfying to me than the process of creation.  But unlike business, the enjoyment of art, similar to tea, has the ability to calm and focus my thoughts, forcing me to be in touch with my senses while being honest with myself, to be refective.  What do I see?  What are my reactions? How do I feel about what I see? What do I know or don't know that would help me understand what I see?  In tasting tea, I ask these same questions but in context of smell and taste as well.

Live Music: Brian Sterkovsky 10/10 7pm

Tomorrow night we're hosting a very special guest for the October Artwalk: Brian Sterkovsky.

Not only does Brian play and build harps, he also plays electric banjo and writes and sings his own words and poetry. Not only does he do all this, he's one of our favorite regular customers at Miro Tea! Tomorrow night at 7pm Brian will be performing on harp as well as doing some spoken word performance for the Artwalk opening of Maryam Tohidi. For a taste of Brian's work, you can visit his MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/briansterkovsky)--you'll get a sampling of his eerie harp originals, as well as his spoken word and gitjo songs. He's also got two albums worth of material (one of harp and one of gitjo/singing) available for purchase digitally or on CD.

Brian is extremely talented and a great friend of Miro Tea, so come on down tomorrow night, grab a roasted apple fig and walnut crepe (with ice cream) and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea, and show your support!

July Artwalk: Aba Diallo

The busy summer months haven't left much time for blogging here at Miro Tea, so I'm here to quickly introduce this month's artist and mention that this hot (for Seattle) weather is perfect for enjoying iced tea...feel free to stop by, check out Aba's art, and try one of our Green Tea Mojitos or an iced tea latté or chai!


Aba Diallo was born in Dakar, Senegal, a busy, international port on
the Atlantic Coast of Africa. In school he studied philosophy and
literature as well as the French language. After high school, he
moved to Goree Island (World Heritage Site), a tourist and historic
destination 20 minutes west of downtown Dakar. There he bagan to work
for his uncle who owns an art gallery selling sculptures, paintings,
jewelery and other handicrafts made by local artists. After a year of
this type of work he soon took interest in the origins of the art
pieces at the boutique. He became friends with veteran painters on
the island and began an apprenticeship, learning many things about the
art scene and business on the island. He started to create his own
style of painting using collage and a technique of sewing canvases
together to make “patch-work” paintings. This type of work is truly
his passion in life, second only to God, it is a way to express
himself and show the way of life he has grown up with, while
supporting himself and his family.

It's been a great pleasure looking at Aba's art for the last few weeks. Not only do the bright colors fill our space with energy, the tapestry-style hangings really make the works stand out and grab attention in a really unique way! He's already sold several pieces, so stop by and check them out before they're all gone! The art will be up for a couple more weeks, but you can check it out on Aba's website any time: http://www.abadiallo.com


Happy summer!

Elliot

June Artwalk: Courtney Morgan...Music by Elliot Knapp

June is already upon us, which means we're showing new art! It's a real pleasure for me to introduce our June artist because she's a close personal friend. Courtney Morgan is a Walla Walla native. She majored in art at Whitman College and recently received an MA in design studies at Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design in London. Her show, titled "Please Clap Your Hands," is a collection of oil paintings inspired by a visit to a friend's farm house in Denmark, the colors in a display case at a Florence gelateria, and song lyrics. She describes her paintings as clean, bright, hopeful and poignant. The bright, lively colors are looking great in Miro Tea's space, and I'd add that Courtney's inimitable sense of humor is also evident in spades.

As usual, the Artwalk event opens the second Saturday of the month--many Ballard businesses will be showing art as well. In celebration of Courtney's opening, we'll also be featuring some live music at the event. Performing this Saturday night will be...well, er, me. Since my lyrics are integrated into some of Courtney's paintings, I agreed to emerge from self-imposed exile to perform. I'll be joined on"stage" for a few songs by another Miro employee, Nick Arthur. I hate to have to describe my own music, so I'll say that I write and sing songs, accompanying myself on acoustic guitar. The songs I write are sometimes difficult to box into tidy genre categories, but things that are important to me as a songwriter are lyrics, interesting guitar parts, and experimentation. I've been making music for about 8 years and performed quite a bit in college but have lately been sidelined due to some health issues with my vocal cords.

Courtney's opening is a special event for me, though, so I'm ecstatic to be able to participate. I've got a song sample on my Myspace for anyone interested. The art opening and music will go from 7-9 pm and should be a really fun time.

Courtney's paintings will be up all month--please feel free to stop by for a look if you can't make it to the opening! I'll be back soon to discuss some tea news...

Elliot