Photographs - Ballard Art Walk 


Photographs of the Palm Room at 5336 Ballard Avenue. Originally, I had intended on shooting more galleries on Ballard Ave. and Market Street during this month's Second Saturday Art Walk, but got quite hung up with Jeff Mihalyo's work at the Palm Room and then headed over to Building C Studios at 14th Avenue NW and NW Leary Way to check out more artists in their working studios. While at Building C, I got hung up talking to a bunch of the artists about what they were doing and where they were coming from and completely forgot that I had my Canon in my pocket. Next Second Saturday I'll get some more pictures of the studios and other artists' work. This time it'll just be Jeff Mihalyo's work and scenes from the Palm Room. For a link directly to Jeff's paintings, use <http://www.mihalyo.com/painting/2004/2004.html > and then click on different years or use the popout menu to see his drawings, photography, and other projects. 


The Palm Room is a garden and bonsai gift shop located on the first block of Ballard Avenue in downtown
Ballard. They feature plants which are also art objects and will make something special if you give them
an idea of what you're looking for. Prices are quite reasonable.



Their bonsai collection is roughly five to seven years old (which means the trees have been worked now for that
length of time). The bonsai plants were in the price range from $30 to $50 - which is quite reasonable. They also
have small Japanese sand gardens and a huge variety of stones and miniature statues to place in the Japanese
sand garden, along with the requisite bamboo rake to smooth the sand and create new patterns. This was a
perfect place for an artist's paintings show because the walls were darkish colors which gave a good background
for the art.



One Wall featured a collection of Jeff Mihalyo's early work, circa 1999-2000. These are more simple than his later
efforts and also darker in color than what he's been doing more recently. His art is a juxtaposition of the familiar, in
these cases construction or highway objects and skies. It's surreal but subtle and very visually appealing. He
works in oils on board, masonite, canvas and sometimes paper.




That's Jeff in the middle with the full-length black leather trenchcoat. Yes, it was chilly this past Saturday. He was
in the process of greeting some longtime fans and friends and leaning against the Palm Room proprietor's desk-stand.



The Palm Room's resident Jack Russell Terrier - never got the dog's name but he was cute beyond belief and sat
on his hind legs almost as if he were "at attention." He seemed to take all the activity in stride and gave this aura of
"oh no, not another Second Saturday Art Walk, can't these people just go home?"



Perhaps not captured as well as I might have, lighting was low, but these are some of Jeff Mihalyo's current works
and are in brighter colors with more complicated motifs than his earlier work shown above. Use the links in the
text section at the top of this page to check out more of Jeff's art projects - the presentation on his own website is
much better, and includes enlargements of all his works (or use this link here).



Another shot of Jeff, this time he's turned more toward the lens and you can get a look at his pleased
countenance. There were a lot of folks who turned out for this opening. He's got another show coming
up at the beginning of the year at another Ballard area gallery.



More of Jeff Mihalyo's current series. He does these twines (or vines) in an intricate fashion with some of the
works having subtle additional features, so subtle that it takes looking at them for several moments to find the
additional items. As much as this work looks like it is air-brushed, it's not, he uses oils with very fine (0, 00, 000)
sable or camel's hair brushe and has a very fine application technique which gives his work a very soft,
almost out-of-focus, look.



The other permanent resident of the Palm Room. When the patrons and guests weren't occupying this stool at the
proprietor's desk stand, this 15-pound female cat (with all paw claws intact) was. She was friendly but deliberate
and liked to play on the slightly-rough side. Never once, however, did she make a sound. That's all cat, too, she
was more of a short-hair so don't think this bulk is fluff.

More photos later. 

Posted: Mon - December 13, 2004 at 04:23 PM          

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