The Nature Of Things

I will be having the last show/exhibit of the year this weekend. Click on the poster to see the details, location, fun stuff like that :-)

Drop in and say hi!

"Too Busy To Die" Co-Op Conference

The “Working With Our Dreams” community conference brought together many of the ideas at the Three Sisters of Clallam art gallery and healing center in Clallam Bay, Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22. Pictured: Lora Messinger, publisher of The Sunset Times and oil painter, Ken Dehnert of Olympic Art Works, Jane Hielman of the West End Co-Op, gallery owner Sue Heiny, and Terry Hielman, also of the co-op. The painting is among others by Dehnert that will be featured in the gallery.

“Too busy to die” is how a Sekiu co-op gardener put it.

He'd been failing after his retirement, until instituting the West End Co-op garden project gave him a whole new interest in life.

But it could apply to the whole area, where Westenders are refusing to submit to a narrowing resource base and economic stagnation, and are putting together the beginnings of a new economic diversity.

The “Working With Our Dreams” community conference brought together many of the ideas at the Three Sisters of Clallam art gallery and healing center in Clallam Bay, Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22.

The conference was put on by the co-op, which is part of the local initiatives recognized by the Community Action Teams established after the receipt of a $50,000 economic stimulus grant awarded to the Clallam Bay/Sekiu chamber of commerce.

Hielman said the co-op was originally listed by the CAT as a co-op farm, but “it was still floundering,” and had not yet defined itself.

The co-op has since grown without rigid central supervision. Residents are taking projects into their own hands, digging gardens and researching resources specific to the area. For example, a local honey industry could take advantage of access to the Olympic Peninsula “homesteader” bee strain, that has been proving resistant to the mites and fungus diseases that are causing colony collapses around the world.

The co-op's goal is to organize residents to produce, buy, sell and trade fresh, healthy foods. Such products, organic and shipped in from outside the area, are already featured at the co-op, but will ultimately be based on locally-raised fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk and meats.

“The conference did its work before it started,” said Hielman, referring to the daily interaction at the co-op, where residents come to purchase and suggest a steadily-growing inventory of foods, health products and dry goods. Some of the products a customer can find at the co-op store include dates, feta cheese, epsom salts, black, green and herbal teas, couscous, local eggs, planting soil, and even coconut milk.

Hielman said the conference could become an annual business meeting, replacing monthly co-op meetings, a necessity as the price of gas goes up and it becomes more difficult for far-flung residents to drive into town.

Hielman said, “The core of the conference is to create a fun atmosphere to relax,” while sharing new ideas for gardens, food and small business.

Conference attendees included Lora Messinger, publisher of The Sunset Times and oil painter, Ken Dehnert of Olympic Art Works, Jane Hielman of the West End Co-Op, gallery owner Sue Heiny, and Terry Hielman, also of the co-op, and singer Donna Wilke, from Neah Bay.

For co-op details, call: 360 963 2189

March 08 is great

Denise DeVaney wrote this article about us and I thought I would add it to our blog.

Thank you, Denise!

Three Sisters of Clallam Healing Arts Center and Gallery

The Northwest Coast, Washington State: The communities of Clallam Bay and Sekiu, along with the Makah Nation in Neah Bay, make up the Norhtwest Coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washinton State. It's a remote and stunningly beautiful area whose residents are economically challenged by changes in the logging and fishing industries.

Entrepreneurs, Sisters and Partners: As often as not, the first question that pops up when people first meet Susan and Diana, co-owners of Three Sisters of Clallam, is: There are two of you-what's with the name? "The inspiration for our name was the Three Sisters of Sekiu (an ancient rock formation that defined the neighboring community of Sekiu from its earliest years)," They explained. "We have lots of women in our family and whatever woman we're working with-that's our sister."

The Goplen women have built a business space in the small coastal community of Clallam Bay, Washington that is part art gallery, part massage practice and entirely original and personal. Three Sisters of Clallam is a large, airy building with wooden floors, arches and a vintage chandelier in the main gallery. A spectacular room divider is actually a huge slice of root base-polished into gleaming artwork-that provides a link to the community's logging history. Diana's massage business fills one elegant room and small spaces throughout the facility are becoming business ventures by others in this tiny hamlet.

"We wanted a place that was centered on healing, wellness and art." Sue said. "We wanted it to be organic and relaxing-always evolving and changing. We're thinking about adding a caf'e and a spa and maybe a hostel in the future." Diana added, "This business was and is a step of faith."

One thing you notice when you meet Susan and Diana is that they sound exactly alike and tend to talk as much to each other as to you. These two sisters have expanded the bond of family into a business partnership that seems to be thriving. "We've grown a lot through this process." Sue explained, "When you are sisters and become business partners, you bring a lot of baggage with you. We had to change the way we worked together. Diana said, "We learned to talk about our fears as well as our hopes."

Local residents of the Norhtwest Coast work hard together to keep businesses afloat and when the gallery opened its doors the community responded. Time, energy and artifacts were donated and the sisters agree that "People have really helped us with the process and shown us how to evolve."

The gallery complex opened in May of 2007. Almost a year later is there anything the two entrpreneurs would do differently if they could? Sue reflected, "We'd have more of a business plan to help us work together." Diana added, "That and a bigger woodstove!"

5 New Pieces - Beach Inpired

From local artist Christine Wasankari - Some fun new pieces up online today -- starfish! Enjoy

Store::
http://stores.ebay.com/Heather-Sky-Studio-Gallery