March Photo Club - Perkins Place

March Photo Club went to Perkins Place Art Gallery and Center for Learning.  Some of us would say it's the best place we have visited yet.  I of course love art so it's by far my favorite.  Just walking in and seeing the stained glass and pottery I was sold.  Then a visit to his workshop room and all the wood shavings are cluttering up the workbench and he apologizes for the mess..... ha I say, this is cool.

I have driven by this place a couple hundred times but have never went in, I admire the art work in the yard but didn't ever take the time to check out the inside.  Nathan gives us a quick tour and a bit of history about the gallery, all the products, and artist that contribute.  Each one having their own medium and talent beyond my dreams.   

There are two galleries that cannot be accessed to each other from inside.  The only way to enter is through the outside which was going to prove to be a bit difficult for giving directions for our missions for the night.  Instead of having free range of both galleries we split our group into two groups and did the 3 missions twice, that also helped to cut down on the amount of people in each room.  I would give the first group their mission, set the timer and run to the other gallery to give the directions to that group.  

I grabbed a shot of the outside quickly before my timer was telling me to move onto the next mission.

I didn't have much time to complete the missions until I the second round through when I increased the amount of time.  The girls were having too much fun and wanted to stretch it out.  Of course I didn't mind because I could grab the camera and join them.

Oil painting......... yummmmmm I love oil paints, I could have sniffed it all night long.  Lynn and I can spend hours drooling over the oil paint aisle at Michael's. 

Pottery.... my second love.

Nathan's work room.

He had two tables that he hand carved the roses. 

An unfinished owl on the work bench with the shavings...... such a mess huh?  

To me a very interesting mess.

Using the oil painting as a background.  My two loves in one photo

One of the missions was to stand in the same place and photograph the same item for 5 minutes.  If I would have had the opportunity to do this I would have chose one of these paintings.  My 3rd love.

They don't even look like paintings do they?  

Had to try a black and white with this one.

There were so many unique items in the gallery and very reasonably priced.  I loved these hand sewn eggs.  If I decorated for the holidays these might have to come home with me.   If I remember correctly these are made by Nathan's mother.  I think it's super sweet that he has his mom contribute her talents to his gallery.  

More pottery in some fun designs.

These are flat trays and they could have come with me too.

Even the curtains are pretty

We spent a few hours there and Nathan shared his awesome homemade bread with us at the end of the night.  The girls are all in one room now sharing stories, talking about everything they want to take home, where we are going next month, where we are going for drinks.......and talking Nathan out of his secret bread recipe.

I went for another shot of the gallery in the dark.

And a couple through the windows.

I hope you've made it to the end of this post and enjoyed the art I've captured.  All of these artist are very talented and deserve lots of praise.  If you find the time to stop in and visit Nathan's gallery you will not leave disappointed.

Thank you Nathan for a wonderful location for our March meeting.  I hope you enjoyed listening to us as much as we enjoyed photographing your talent.