Amanda Kay Helmick

New Pictures

2011-12-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, finally adding new photos! I am not adding them to the website since I don't think they are very good quality. I will need to work on that, but at least they are now out there for you to see.

Fall Wrap Up

2011-11-14T21:14:00.000-08:00

So the WCAW Southgate Skate Rink installation went fantastically! We had some wonderful pieces and I am so excited to be part of the permanent installation.

In addition to creating the art chair for the White Center Food Bank, I have also donated two of my pieces to fundraisers. The first, to raise funds for a friend who was battling non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and the second to another fundraiser for the White Center Food Bank. I am honored to be asked, and to donate in this special way.

My artwork is still up at Cherry Street Coffee - Museum location and the art is 1/2 price through the end of the month!!! Yes, 1/2 price!

Updates!

2011-09-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

I am so bad about posting on this blog! Sorry for the few people who keep checking it ;) I currently have artwork at 3.14 Bakery in White Center for the next ten days. I have a chair in process for the White Center Food Bank Harvest Auction coming up on the 15th of October. Which is the same night as the White Center Art Walk where I will have a permanent piece installed at Southgate Skate Rink! The rink has hundred's of old skates in the basement, and the WCAW has invited artists to create a sculptural piece to install on the walls!

Busy busy busy!

Krieger Dental

2011-07-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have three new pieces at Krieger Dental (4150 California SW) in the Junction. They will be up until the beginning of August!

If you are up there, feel free to pop in and take a look. Or, if you need some major mouth stuff, feel free to call them!

Art at Dubsea

2011-06-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

I am hanging my artwork once again at the fantastic Dubsea Coffee (www.dubseacoffee.com) in White Center. Pieces will go up the evening of June 14th. I will not have a formal opening on the evening of the art walk (June 18th) because I will be running the 1st ever Mini Film Festival in White Center!

Come check out Full Tilt, Big Al's and the Southgate Skate Rink for the programs I have curated. You can get details on the films, and the other artists for the art walk by going to http://whitecenterartwalk.blogspot.com/. All information will be live by June 10th, 2011.

Exciting things happening in White Center and I am really excited to be part of it!

See you around White Center.

Pictures

2011-05-13T09:36:00.001-07:00

I am falling behind in taking pictures of my newest pieces. The tricky part is lighting. It's hard to get a good shot of my work unless it's lit properly. There are three new pieces that are currently at Hotwire Coffee, and creating quite the buzz I was told at the opening last night.

They will be photographed after the show, and I will add those photos to my gallery page on the website (www.junkartkin.com)

Thanks for being patient! And you can always see them at Hotwire until May 31st.

Showing at Hotwire

2011-05-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hello! While I have never shown at two places simultaneously before, welcome to the new deal. Aster's April artist crapped out, so I got to stay for another month. Artwork comes dowm May 11, so go get yourself a "non-Starbucks" clover coffee and check it out.

If you are from my neck of the woods (West Seattle), come check out art at Hotwire Online Coffee, just north of the Alaska Junction.

I will have stuff (including a brand spanking new piece) up until May 31st. The West Seattle Art Walk is next Thursday, May 12, from 6 - 9pm. That Saturday, the 14th, is the West Seattle Community Garage Sale - the mother of all sales.

Come, hang out in West Seattle. I do.

Hotwire
http://hotwirecoffee.com/Home.html

Aster
http://www.astercoffeelounge.com/

West Seattle Community Garage Sale
http://westseattlegaragesale.wordpress.com/

Art Opening at Aster Coffee Lounge

2011-03-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Artist in attendance ;) Unveiling a brand new painting, finished yesterday. Join me for drinks and nibbles!

When: March 12, 2011

Time: 6-9pm

Where: Aster Coffee Lounge

5615 24th Ave NW

Seattle, WA 98107

206.784.0615

New Art. New Shows. New Year

2011-01-24T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hello! The art chair for the WCFB went for $150. The highest amount for a chair that evening! I was so happy, and can't wait to participate again next year.

After taking a break for the holidays, I am back to school! For the past few weeks, I have been creating new paintings with Mark Miller at the Miller School of Art in Georgetown (www.millerschoolart.com). Large works with nature themes, lots of color and experimental techniques.

My next show will be in March at the Aster Lounge (www.astercoffeelounge.com) during the Ballard Art Walk which is the 2nd Saturday of the month. March 12, 2011.

In May, I will be back to Hotwire Coffee (www.hotwirecoffee.com) in West Seattle! Second Thursday in May.

WCFB Harvest Dinner & Auction

2010-09-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Chair is done! It's called "Silver & Gold" and I dropped it off to the WCFB this afternoon. I am really proud of the work I did, and I hope that it makes it into the auction! This year, I stripped it with chemical stripper and sanded it down. Did two layers of Salmon Red milk paint and a light layer of Green. I then used steel wool to drag the green out and smooth out the finish.

I then silver leafed the rose and did a gold leaf rub on top of that. Having a glass of wine, I started on the layout for the beads. I little Elmer's and some wire helped put them in place.

I had been holding on to that fabric for years, never knowing what to do with it, and I am so pleased to put it on this chair!

Art Chair for the White Center Food Bank

2010-09-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! I have again started creating a chair to donate for the WCFB Harvest Auction on October 16th. This is not 100% completed, but the color is done. I will embellish and finish hopefully this weekend.

Georgetown Art Attack!!!

2010-08-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

I will have my new paintings from my time at The Miller School of Art hanging there on Saturday evening for the Georgetown art walk.

Cool! Come and see some great art.

Sat Aug 14

6pm - 9pm

http://www.georgetownartattack.com/

The Miller School of Art

2010-07-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

I've never taken an art class. I'm neither bragging or bagging on myself. However, I was turned on to The Miller School of Art in Georgetown by my wonderful husband Kevin. It's a fantastic space that makes me nervous. I can make a huge mess, use any materials I want, as much as I want for four straight hours. My controlled artist is totally uncomfortable with this and she only lets the wild girl out for short bursts. I am hoping that I will be able to shutter control girl more and let the wild girl shine.

Art at Dubsea

2010-07-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sadly I took my latest series down from Dubsea this morning. Thanks to all of you that saw it and thanks for all the nice compliments. It's great as an artist to get feedback on what I am doing!

I am currently working on a new art series - new concept for me and it's slow going. Hopefully when it is finished I will be able to show them to everyone. The whole thing started with 6 cheap canvas' that I bought from a yard sale during the great West Seattle Garage Sale in May. The lady had painted them, and decoupaged vintage reproductions of circus posters on them. He intention was to put them in her kids playroom. Unfortunately, they scared the kids so bad, she had to take them down. Well, that got me thinking. I then asked for old photographs that people wanted to get rid of - duplicates, blurry and out of focus shots (I still need some if you want to contribute). So, that's what I have for now. I am working it all out and hope to start producing something soon.

I will post pictures of my progress...

Passing Mention in the Seattle Weekly

2010-07-01T19:07:00.001-07:00

Whilst browsing Facebook today, I noticed that Dubsea's page featured an article written by Rose Tosti about the coffeeshop. She also mentioned my artwork currently featured on the walls. Thanks Rose!

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2010/06/making_coffee_a_destination.php

Made my morning ;)

New website

2010-05-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hanging my newest pieces at Hotwire Coffeehouse on Saturday was a good challenge as usual. Every place I have hung presents new opportunities to use my trusty toolbox. Great coffee and everyone knows each other. Now, they know my artwork.

I launched my website this week, www.junkartkin.com

See you at the opening on the 13th of May.

Photo Shoot

2010-04-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

9 painting were the centers of attention yesterday. Danielle Elliott of daniellemotif.com shot my lastest paintings.

Hotwire Coffee

2010-04-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

Join me and brand new pieces for a show at Hotwire Coffee in the West Seattle Junction. I am participating in the very large West Seattle artwalk in May.

Open:

May 13, 2010

6 - 9 p

White Center for the Arts - DREAM Gallery

2010-02-15T20:08:00.000-08:00

Join me at the new DREAM Community Gallery in White Center. Live music at 6:30 and my newest piece of art on display!

White Center for the Arts celebrates its 1st anniversary/birthday next Saturday, with the Third Saturday Art Walk, including the debut of Dream Community Gallery (9640 16th SW). Here are the highlights, as forwarded by WCFTA:

WHITE CENTER ART WALK
February 20th, 2010 6 PM until 9 PM
Featuring:
Salvadorean Bakery: Chuck Northcutt – photography on canvas
Café Rozella: Carole Ellis – photography
Triangle Tavern: Chase Evans – Spoken Word @ 6:15
DJ sets @ 7:00
Full Tilt Ice Cream: Julie Luke – Acrylic on Canvas
Proletariat Pizza: Baso – photography
Dzul Tattoo: Urban and Tattoo Art
Dream Community Gallery: Fusion Dance Crew @ 6:30
Brian Barr – Portraits of White Center,
Amanda Helmick – Mixed Media,
Amanda Pickerel-Winer – paintings
Big Al Brewing: Raina Anderson – photography
DubSea Café: Hye Young Kim – dyed yarn and acrylic,
Micheal Olson – DJ –reggae/dub plus more!

Wabi Sabi Art Chair

2009-10-26T17:23:00.001-07:00

This art chair was auctioned off at the White Center Food Bank Harvest Auction. Not sure what it went for, but $1 million would have been a fair price ;)

It was a find at Goodwill of course, a haphazardly refinish job had to be stripped by hand... It took 8 hours just to sand the thing down... Then milk paint (the best) and polyurethane to harden the finish.

I wove basket reeds through the rungs, covered them with copper mesh and Wabi Sabi finished nailed to cover the ends of the mesh.

The bottom was missing a rung, so I added a window casement opener in it's place. Rusty bottlecaps from a drive-in, bingo numbers from a church sale and wooden beads rounded out the decor.

Proletariat Pizza

2009-10-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am hanging my art at Proletariat Pizza in White Center for the month of October! The official art walk is Saturday October 17.

Hooray for Pizza in White Center!

9622 16th Ave SW

http://www.proletariatpizza.com/

White Center for the Arts

2009-08-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Hello! Yesterday I participated in a rogue art show at the White Center for the Arts (now former) space. It was fantastic, and although we didn't get a ton of traffic, I met some great artists and had a great time! Thanks to Shelli for making it happen ;)

Realizations

2009-08-01T21:33:00.001-07:00

Actually, I just realized that I started this blog on the day that Jonas was conceived, the day Eric Terhune was killed in Afghanistan and what would have been Dana's 31 birthday.

Kinda a big day.

It's Been A While

2009-08-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I started this blog last year, then I got pregnant. So, now I have a baby... but I am still making art.

I will add that soon.

Adding Photos

2008-06-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of photos that were taken professionally by Mike Marshall, but I have reconstituted a lot of the paintings, or sold them.

Welcome

2008-06-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

I will be transitioning my website, www.amandakay.org, to this blog.