Hot Glass

When Uptown Glassworks in Downtown Renton got a financial reprieve late last year and continued to be a part of the art scene of our town, we all got lucky. Not every place you live will have such a creative hive of hot glass activity. You can just pop through the front door on any given day and see art being made - and being made extremely well.

Chris Heilman helps run the workshop area of Uptown Glassworks and won't hesitate to recount where his latest work had been purchased and sent. Uri Geller (remember the guy who could bend spoons with his mind?) has most recently become the proud owner of one of Chris' museum quality pieces, and there are more stories like that. When Renton's sister city in Japan sent a delegation over to visit, their trip highlight was an afternoon spent with Chris Heilman and a piece of his work accompanied them home to Nishiwaki.

Classes are taught by Chris and Uptown Glass works, if this sounds like a calling for anyone of you. Last year through a grant provided by the City Arts of Renton, 10-12 people were able to sign up for free and come experience the wonder of a making glass bowl. Chris hopes to apply for the grant this year as well - it seems he was the author of the idea.

Chris's work has been seen and acknowledged by many . How fortunate we are that genius is so close at hand. Just another reason why Renton is so cool.

Uptown Glassworks
230 Main Ave. S.
425 228-1849

Felt Forest Friends

First Friday Block Party season will be kicked off with Mary Clymer as the month's resident artist at Liberty Cafe starting this Friday. Channeling her favorite theme of trees and mushrooms, Mary's playful felt art wonders feature woodland friends and snippets of color enhanced nature. The show is entitled Fun Felt Forest.

Mary works from her interior inspiration. No patterns are drawn and the work is sewn without pins, so there is a very organic nature to her process. Mary loves how forgiving and cheap felt is to work with and has been amazed at what she has been able to create when allowing the felt to take over her living room for the last three weeks.

Not too long ago, Mary entered a contest for Pabst Blue Ribbon where she created a latch hook hanging that was selected to hang in the halls of the PBR headquarters back east. This spout of recognition created a little fire in Mary's creative belly, and she has been moving forward with her crafty self ever since.

Happy Delusions, the indie craft store that Mary owns and operates on South Third Street in what she has helped coin the "DTR" (aka Downtown Renton, y'all), kept Mary from some of her personal creative outlets for awhile. Now she is feeling really happy and at home with her chosen medium and having the show and deadline looming has helped bring her work into being.


Trucker hats with cute felt bling as well as headbands will also be available at the show. Some of the pieces that are to be hung are part of personal collections that are on loan for the show, but their are some recently created pictures that could go home with any of you.

The artist in her element

NellieLynn's Cheesecakes will be there with slices of cheesecake and wine, DJ Phil Anthony will be spinning some tunes - it is the place to be this Friday evening.

First Friday Block Party starts this Friday, May 7th at about 7pm

Liberty Cafe
926 S. Third Street
(425) 235 - 1400

Give me Art and give me LIberty

Get a sip of art and a slamming cup of brew when you meander over to Liberty Cafe for a look at the original artworks of Antonio U Lovett. The art show consists of charcoal pastel on paper and is bold and expressive. The first of two parties to honor the artist took place last Friday. But you can catch up with him again on the first Friday of Feb. when another party will be thrown with all the trimmings - wine, food and music. In the meantime, stop by and check it out.

Liberty Cafe
926 S. Third Street
(425) 235 - 1400

Geometric Art - Kim Sweet is featured at Liberty Cafe

Put a geometry teacher together with photography and a high regard for the craft of quilting and you get the artwork of Kim (kimiko) Sweet. Kim's work is up at Liberty Cafe this month, where the owners Mike and Johnny hang monthly shows of local artists. Kim Sweet grew up in Renton, lives in Renton and teaches Math in Renton. Couldn't get more local than that if you tried!

The photo essays are both organic and very structured. Kim looks for and reveals the fractal patterns in the world that surrounds us. The juxtapositions and layouts are precise and yet fluid. Like a quilt, carefully composed.

Come in and relax with the best cup of coffee in town and look at the artwork. Eggnog Breve and Spiced Cider is ready and waiting for you - yep, it's that seasonal drink time already.

Liberty Cafe
926 S. Third Street
(425) 235 - 1400

Art and Liberty

Kristi Hand, artist and painter, is intent on "not taking herself too seriously" and having fun with her art, hoping that the audience has the same experience and willing them to read into her work whatever they might. Liberty Cafe on South Third Street in our DTR is a great place to go and have a cup of good coffee and see what the local art talent is doing. This month is a time go check out the audacious and bold fun and color Kristi Hand brings to the table.

Kristi had a time living in Hawaii and this reflects in this work featured above. The frame is also a work of art - handmade by the artist herself, rows and rows of gilded skulls with ruby eyes.

This series of work is a recently revisited group of work that Kristi started years ago and has now been reworked showing her accumulation of technique and her access to way better paints than a starving artist in her youth could buy. This is just a corner of the painting entitled "Virgin, Aliens and Spaceship". Love the gold space ship erupting from the canvas.

A view of the virgin on the same canvas.

This is a portion of the other painting in this Relics series (of which there are 4, the last of which is not yet finished yet) that features a pig, "Ham, Karma and Vin de Rose". The paintings were put away in the endeavor to paint for others, thinking commercial, thinking paying the rent, and now have come out to liberate the painter.


There are watercolors that are also a part of the artist's oeuvre and represented at the cafe. Kristi has two different sides to her work - some are very soft and fluid and pretty. The others are gutsy and bold and a wee bit crazy - which is good, at least that is what The Picaroon thinks - the crazier the better.

Liberty Cafe
926 S. Third Street
(425) 235 - 1400

DTR artscene

First Fridays at Liberty Cafe is more than just fresh conga music, great tunes spun out of the hands of DJ Phil Anthony plus food and marvelous cafe. It's about hanging a new art show for all to come see. Welcome to the zany world of Justine Carey.

I love that there is hanging artwork for sale - and I mean, the stuff that you can then hang on yourself - like these painted hats. Grab one, pay and go. Look hot. Be cool. Wear ART.

Perversely, this may indeed be one of my favorite pieces. So many women artists make "art dolls" - but, men? Dolls with man hair and exposed nipples? Hilarious.

Close up of a hat everyone ought to be wearin' in the DTR this week. Buy one, send me your photo in some fab Renton locale - and I will make you Picaroon famous. Wow - jump on that bandwagon folks.



Photo of the artist himself, Justine Carey. Don't have much to relate about the man himself- he is as zany and off kilter as his art, with some mad humor thrown in, like his art. Justine's work on display this month at the Liberty Cafe. Buy a good cup of joe and check it out.

Liberty Cafe 926 South Third Street
(425) 235 -1400