Hi!

Tonight is First Friday Art Walk in downtown Bellingham, so if you’re in the area I hope to see you out and about.

Gallery Alley: new doors are up!

I will be posting up for a chunk of the evening over in Gallery Alley with a crew of fellow artists who all turned repurposed doors into paintings.

From a sneak peek on the auction website, this set of doors includes some fun variety from a talented group. They just went up this morning and will be on display through September (they’ll be flipped to show off the other side at the halfway point).

Featured artist Nico Lund will be setting up a typewriter and doing some improvisational poetry out in the alley. She is a true multidisciplinary creative and her work is stunning.

I’ll be joining in the fun by bringing my mostly-finished 4’x4′ piece from the live art event in downtown Ferndale hosted by Placemake Arts Northwest, and doing some more work on it.

So come say hi!

Seasons of Change: live art project in Ferndale

Me working on my piece, meanwhile Lilly Emmerick, owner of CarreFour Marche, works on hers

I had a delightful time working on a large piece in downtown Ferndale last weekend, pictured above. The objective of this project was to raise community support for initiating a creative district in downtown Ferndale.

The four artists painting with me all brought such different artistic perspective and working together on our individual pieces was deeply rewarding.

These pieces will be available for auction soon to raise funds for additional arts opportunities in Ferndale and the surrounding area, and the auction will continue until a final showing at Fringe Brewing in downtown Ferndale early 2027.

Three of the five of us run different spaces where the five art works will be displayed in the coming months.

The first is It’s About Time Cultural Arts Center.

More on this as the project unfolds.

Still making shift happen

For another part of the evening tonight I’ll also be stopping by Make.Shift. Artist Valentine Kirby and I have made some subtle tweaks to our show (Un)Ordinary, still up in the underground gallery through August. This tucked away gem of a show is a labor of love on both our parts and I hope you take a moment with it sometime between now and when we take it down on August 30.

Make.Shift is also opening their new Star Trek themed show MAKE IT SO, which I made a deeply goofy contribution to.

If you want a chance to purchase this absolute masterpiece to raise funds for a good cause then make sure you pay them a visit tonight.

My most recent work, “LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!!!”, acrylic on canvas

Bay St. is also where it’s at

The building that houses my new gallery is undergoing some renovations, but there will still be a whole bunch of artists opening their spaces tonight in there.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know my neighbors and I look forward to taking part in the arts ecosystem in the building.

I have some favorite pieces up in my front windows available for a peep, but I will not be home tonight.

For now I just have this little teaser in my door window.

There’s a lot more cooking and I’m also investigating a number of spaces and events over the weekend.

I know these updates are rather organic and not always providing a ton of time in advance to plan for what I’m making happen. If you’re one of those magical humans who wants to support me and my work I know that might feel not quite ideal.

The reason things are this way at the moment is because a lot of what happens so far is almost as serendipitous for me out here as it is in these updates. I’m very much flying by the seat of my pants and learning as I go.

One of my mottos for the past year or so to keep me out of any perfectionism or judgment traps has been “I could be doing nothing, but I’m not doing nothing.”

Some of you I’m sure know intimately how much pressure has been placed on some of us to submit to what someone else thinks we should be doing, or to do nothing. So rather than being a lowering of the bar, this is a pretty revolutionary stance.

My hope is that this process doesn’t create FOMO-type experience for you, but rather functions as an invitation to get your wheels turning about ways my work could generatively reach into your world. None of these “things” are the be-all-end-all “thing.”

There will be more things.

And now, with no explanation, I will leave you with a picture of one of the art pieces hanging on my gallery wall. 🙂

Be well and hope to see you around.

Adrien

Hi! I’ve got a few things to tell you about.

If you’re a Bellingham local you may have heard the sad news that longtime downtown coffee shop Avellino abruptly closed this past month. That was one of the first local spots I felt connected to when I originally moved to this quirky town back in 2010.

I personally am really bummed out about it, because Avellino was one of the spots in downtown Bellingham that really held the line of actually having a personality and staying unpretentious and welcoming to oddballs.

BUT: there are other places that also hold that line, and I’m letting this motivate me to stay human and stay present in the spaces that continue on.

Change is inevitable and it doesn’t have to be bad. And we have the ability to shape our local environment with the simple tools of presence and appreciation. People power and stuff.

Which makes it feel extra good that I got to install a collection of 10 pieces at the Bagelry this morning, which will be up through August and September.

I chose an eclectic selection of work spanning 12 years, and it’s neat to show it at a place with such longstanding community history.

The Bagelry is high on my list of favorite places to get breakfast in Bellingham. So take this as an excuse to treat yourself and take a peek at my little show there.

Blind Bird reception is tonight!

I’m getting this out to you right before hitting the road up to Blaine to meet fellow artists and attendees of the opening of a collection of art works by artists who are participating in this fall’s Whatcom Artist Studio Tour.

Artists selected for the tour had to go through a juried application process so there are some highly skilled artisans in the lineup. As well as whatever it is that I am. 😉

This show has a fairly short run—just up until August 9.

You can catch me there tonight, or instead stop by on Saturday during the Blaine 2nd Saturday Art Walk. It’s a nice community project—artists from the tour are volunteering to run the gallery so that work can be experienced by the community.

Show local artists some love and come say hi.

Live art all afternoon tomorrow

By tomorrow, downtown Ferndale will be on day two of a three-day block party. From about noon to 6pm, me and four other artists will each be painting 4′ x 4′ canvases based on the theme “seasons of change.”

I’m looking forward to a 6-hour art workout. Do come by and say hello, and know that if you offer me a snack as a tip I will most likely enthusiastically accept it.

My art for this project will likely end up having some strong plant vibes.

Speaking of plants …

I continue to learn more about different local groups that participate in stewarding the land and beautiful nature of this area. Did you know there is a Washington Native Plant Society, and they have a Whatcom County chapter that meets up and does all kinds of plant-related activities?

They put out a call regularly for locals to send native plant related news and art. You can get this call sent to you if you join their newsletter.

In response to this unexpected call, I serendipitously sent a photo of a painting I made for some dear friends inspired by one of my favorite native plants, oregon grape (specifically, Mahonia Aquifolium showing off some spring blooms). They shared it with fellow plant nerds to their newsletter.

Doing this kind of thing doesn’t necessarily make me any income … but that’s not why I do it.

I think a lot of times we artists are pressured from many sides to be focusing on income when what’s really worth doing and what really builds the foundation of a sustainable art career is connecting with community over shared values.

It’s a long and unpredictable journey, but one I am grateful every day to be on.

Thanks for being part of it with me, and I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

—Adrien

Hello!

I’ve had my hands full with a lot of things and have really enjoyed doing more than talking about what I am doing.

But, sometimes talking is part of the doing.

Don’t worry, I won’t start waxing esoteric right now about the nature of words and their role in turning the nonexistent into reality. What I will do … is stop procrastinating on writing this update, because I have some time-sensitive things to fill you in on.

last week of Collectively Assembled

I just took a walk over to Allied Arts to get a second look at the show Collectively Assembled, which comes down at the end of the week. Allied Arts is a local nonprofit that works to bridge different arts organizations and create arts opportunities in Whatcom County. Good stuff!

This project was dreamed up by Suzanne Morlock, artist of all kinds of interesting installation work—most of it temporary.

I contributed a quadrant to a blind assemblage by four artists who together created something like a moon jellyfish. If you’re in town make sure you pop by to get a peek at this inventive show, and support local arts. The pieces are also available via auction here.

Another art drop: Blind Bird Gallery

I submitted work for another gallery show up in Blaine and will be headed up there with my work tomorrow. I’ll be showing two pieces: IN THE BEGINNING (charcoal on paper) and AGGREGATE OF CELLS, an acrylic piece from my residency project at the Lookout Arts Quarry—which I still need to do a proper recap on. Later!

The opening reception for this show is July 31 from 6-8pm, and the show runs until August 9. I do believe all the art in this show is featured from artists who will be part of the Whatcom Artist Studio Tour this coming fall.

This show at Blind Bird is a good chance to get a preview of what you’ll be able to delve into deeper come the first two weekends in October when artists across Whatcom county (including myself) open their studios to the public.

The magic that is community radio

Getting to do an hour of radio time with Moon Blomgren (KZAX music director and guitarist/singer in local band Sceneric) on KZAX was a highlight of this past month. If you are interested in hearing our conversation you can check it out on the KZAX archive—it will be available for replay for another couple days. Just put the date 7/10 and the time 4:00pm.

I was feeling the hype of community radio and what an important local resource it is, so I decided to attend last Friday’s Radio Forever Festival at Make.Shift—a live broadcast of DJs and bands that lasted late into the evening while we all rocked out and sweated in the basement.

And I worked on a big painting in the venue throughout the event.

Why not do visual art for a radio broadcast event? Ha!

Two years of being committed to staying off of social media has me thinking differently about what it means to be present and participating in art.

Some people probably think I am deranged for my anti-marketing shenanigans (ok I know it’s not just probably but hey, if nobody thinks you’re crazy it’s probably because you’re not doing anything interesting).

The painting in question was the door project I am supposed to have done in just 8 days which will be presented to the public in time for the next First Friday Art Walk downtown at Gallery Alley. That’s August 7 by the way.

Here’s how it looked towards the beginning vs how it looked towards the end.

That’s the last peek of this door I will give until the final thing is out in the wild.

Doing live art in Ferndale!

In some ways this painting sesh at Radio Forever was a bit of a warm-up for an upcoming live art gig, hosted by Placemake Northwest.

Rock the Block is a free public event taking place all afternoon on August 1 in downtown Ferndale. There will be food trucks, vendors, music, and beer at Fringe Brewing.

Five artists each get a 4′ x 4′ canvas to turn into a completed piece over the course of five hours.

In case I wasn’t obvious enough, I am one of those five artists. I’m looking forward to seeing what my compatriot artists create!

Getting The Deep End ready

Even though I am managing to keep the community art activities rolling, most of my time is going into getting my new studio/gallery The Deep End Art Space ready to open the first Friday of October. That’s October 2.

My cadence will likely shift once that date arrives, and I will have regular hours for customers and art enthusiasts to visit.

Until then, I hope to run into you somewhere interesting. There’s a lot of art happening around, which is a pretty great thing to be part of right about now.

More coming later.

Adrien

Hello!

I’m writing this update from the little town of Blaine, where I just dropped three art pieces off at The Vault Wine Bar to be displayed for awhile.

I was invited to participate in this show on account of being part of the lineup in this year’s Whatcom Artist Studio Tour (WAST), coming the first two weekends of October.

This is my first time showing art at this venue, but not my first appearance here. Last time I showed up was to support a friend’s musical performance years ago, and I had a rather questionable experience dignitywise. I’ve lived in this region the greater part of 16 years, and much of that time was spent in … let’s just say … less-than-supportive social contexts.

I don’t say that to be a downer—the opposite actually—because here I am hanging out in Blaine giving this space a fresh try.

Artists who stay artists long term have to navigate a bizarre mix of good faith and bad faith—that just comes with the territory of doing anything authentic.

To keep myself grounded, I often remind myself I am playing the long game. Continuing to diligently create and share my work over time is a reliable antidote to the sting of some of the weird conclusions people jump to and act on.

Phrased differently; bullies get bored of bullying someone when their cruelty doesn’t pay off the way they thought it would. So it’s good to recognize how feeble those judgments really are rather than fall for the illusion that they are set in stone.

OK, that concludes my self-help preamble.

Onto a fast-approaching event I am looking forward to attending next week:

Show opening next week at The J

On Thursday, July 16, from 6–8pm, the Jansen Center in Lynden launches their summer juried exhibition. They’ll have jazz music and a wide variety of art on display. I got a sneak peek at some of the work when I dropped mine off a few weeks ago; there are definitely some fun things to look at.

Two pieces of mine which I am rather proud of will be on display at this event and on into the summer. What’s funny is, I don’t even remember getting the gumption to submit them to this show. I got the letter of acceptance and felt genuinely startled.

Lynden is another one of those places that has challenging history for me and this art center is perched right in the heart of downtown. So we continue with the theme of not letting the past dictate the present.

I was touched by the warmth I experienced at Jansen when delivering my work. I look forward to continued conversation with several of the thoughtful curators there.

If you’re up for venturing to Lynden next Thursday, would be lovely to catch you there.

(Un)Ordinary: the underground showcase

As promised, Valentine Kirby and I opened the Make.Shift Underground Gallery with a duo spotlight. It was a fantastic evening, full of good vibes and interesting conversations.

The work will be up through August 30, so if you’re around Bellingham, make sure you pay a visit to Make.Shift‘s downstairs sometime during their open hours (every Thursday–Friday from 1pm to 5pm) or stop by August first Friday.

You’ll be able to see Valentine’s collage self portrait “Dark Matter,” pictured above, as well as around a dozen other works.

Keeping this hallway alive with art is consolation for me as I continue to gradually move out from Studio #21 over to my new gallery/studio combo at 301 W Holly Ste M5.

Today I ran into Kelly Sorbel, a local music producer, artist, musician, and the Operations Director of Make.Shift, and he described my move as an aspect of the greater Make.Shift community “spreading our wings.”

Yeah, I love that.

I’m still not open to the public yet but I do have a name: The Deep End Art Space.

If we’ve met in person and you happen to stop by while I am there, I may give you a sneak peek.

There’s a lot more to loop you in on, but this update is already pretty long. So you’ll be hearing from me in a week or so with some more.

A little nudge

You might think with everything I share here that I might be too busy to take on projects or learn about other opportunities, but please don’t hesitate to reach out or share if something comes your way. Especially with me being off of social media, there’s a lot I don’t hear about unless people in my network loop me in. It won’t bother me, I promise. 🙂

Thanks for reading and take good care.

Until next time,

—Adrien

Greetings!

It’s been a minute since my last update and A LOT has happened as well as a lot is upcoming. So I’ll fill you in on some highlights and save some info for the next update.

KZAX community hour

The first highlight is that I’ll be joining Make.Shift’s music director, Moon Blomgren, on July 10 at 4pm on the regular Community Hour program on KZAX radio. We’ll be geeking out about DIY arts culture and probably our emo teen art.

For “fun,” here is some of my emo teen art. 🙂

If you don’t know about KZAX it’s a low-power radio station run by Make.Shift that gives local musicians, DJs, and hosts a platform. Yay community art. <3

Intercultural Dance Day live art

This year the ANJ Dance Project initiated the first Intercultural Dance Day, a free community event featuring performances and schools of dance from a variety of different cultures at the Fisherman’s Pavillion. It was amazing and I got to see so many new-to-me forms of dance.

I worked on a painting live throughout the event inspired by the performances and overall experience of the gathering. There is a lot I could say about the process as well as what inspired the piece, but that maybe deserves its own post once the painting is finalized.

Cascadia Daily News caught some photos of the event including a closeup of the very focused top half of my face. People have told me I am brave for making art live but I’m pretty sure bravery has nothing to do with it. It’s all about eyebrow stamina.

Make.Shift Underground Gallery at art walk!

Tomorrow (Friday, July 3) is First Friday Art Walk and I will be opening my dungeon studio … for the last time. 😭

I made it sound ominous. It’s actually very exciting even though bittersweet.

The reason this is my last time opening Studio #21 in the catacombs of Make.Shift is that I am in process of setting up shop in an above ground gallery/studio combo, with way bigger walls and more light.

This is a big deal for me and has been a long time coming.

More on that in my next update!

I’ve been a month-to-month studio tenant at Make.Shift for a *long* time—somewhere around five years. That basement where I was able to find creative refuge among fellow “others” will always hold special significance to me.

But it isn’t a total goodbye to Make.Shift.

During my time as a basement-dwelling cryptid I found the inspiration (with the help of excellent collaborators) to turn the twisty hallway that leads to my studio into a bonus gallery. I will be lightly “curating” shows down there for the rest of the year.

This first one spotlights the amazing Valentine Kirby‘s collage work, in a show titled (Un)Ordinary. If you’re around for art walk (~5pm–9pm) then stop my Make.Shift and say hello!

There is also a group photography show called The Feeling of Being opening in the upstairs gallery.

I will be working on my door …

In collaboration with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, I am turning a door into a large painting which will be displayed downtown come August. If you pop by my studio tomorrow you’ll get a peek at how it’s looking so far.

There’s a lot more to fill you in on, but instead of doing that I’m going to leave you with this goofy little collage I made at the FAB studios, where a local group of makers created a community art station a couple weekends ago.

Thanks for reading and I hope to connect with you in artspace somewhere in the material plane soon.

—Adrien

Hello! Lots to update you on today.

Let’s jump right in:

Spring studio tour

I’m writing this update from my art studio, which I kept open all day for visitors exploring the spring preview of the Whatcom Artist Studio Tour.

Not too many people ventured out today but I still met some cool people and had a nice time down here working on projects and getting organized. And, I will be here all day again tomorrow (Sunday, May 17)—so if you feel the itch to be around some art, do come pay me a visit!

Gallery Alley door project

One of the projects in the works right now is a door I am painting for Gallery Alley in downtown Bellingham, an outdoor exhibit of works by local artists painted on repurposed doors turned into canvases, which will be auctioned off at the end of the season to raise funds for the Downtown Bellingham Partnership.

This is my door in the very beginning stages; I’ll be turning both sides into a finished painting. Will keep you posted on the completed thing!

The Butterfly Effect group show

Upstairs in the gallery at Make.Shift for the rest of May is the children’s art walk show called The Butterfly Effect; a group show which paired kids with established artists in the community to create “response pieces” to their stories.

Below is my art piece. See Lhotse’s story and watercolor drawing on the show page on Make.Shift’s website.

Lookout Arts Quarry artist residency

In case you’re wondering how my artist residency project is going at the Lookout Arts Quarry, I have an official show date.

I’ll be doing a one-night pop-up show called PLASTIC ANGST on Thursday June 4. All 56 of the paintings I’m creating will be for sale. Find all the details about the show here.

I created a tiny teaser show including about 20% of the works in progress in the underground gallery outside my studio for people to stumble across.

It’s an interesting practice making 50+ paintings at the same time in an unfamiliar space with its own creative problems to solve. Here’s a little preview of what the beginning of my last painting session looked like.

My practice has not typically been a “sit on the floor in a yurt” kind of work style but hey, it’s always nice to expand your perspective. 😉

I’ll probably drop another update on how this project is going before my show opens on June 4. At least 5 other artists will be including their work too, it should be a nice evening and opportunity to meet some cool people.

If you feel inspired to get the word out about the show feel free to share either of these flyers wherever you like.

Another cool artist to enjoy

One of the things I’ve come to love about chatting with guests who visit my studio is they often introduce me to other art I didn’t know about.

Today a visitor introduced me to Elsa Thoresen, a surrealist who painted in Seattle for 40 years before passing away in 1994. I was very flattered they thought my art reminded them of her. Check out this goodness, painted in 1948:

If you feel like continuing to geek out over art today then do yourself a favor and look up her work. Here’s a place to start with this article from Seattle Mag.

And with that, I leave you to enjoy the rest of what I hope is a nice Saturday evening for you.

Peace,

Adrien

Hi there!

I’m writing this update from the Lookout Arts Quarry. By the time the sun went down today I’d gotten 52 new art pieces started, which will be assembled for a show here at the beginning of June.

I’ll give you more details soon. If you’re local to the Bellingham area and interested in being connected with more spaces where artists converge, this will be a good opportunity to come out here and make some connections.

If you want to know how our first one-night pop-up underground gallery show at Make.Shift went, it was a beautiful success. 18 artists participated, some of whom hadn’t shown work for a very long time, and many of whom had never shown work at all. It was a fun evening.

I’m not sure how many visitors we had but considering how tucked away this hidden show was, it was a great turnout.

Coming up May 16 and 17 is the spring Whatcom Artists Studio Tour. This is my first year participating, so come by and visit me!

I’d like to finish this update by sharing some of the work that has made it to peoples’ homes this year.

And that’s what is going on for today’s update.

Greetings.

A few exciting things coming up:

• I pitched a residency project to The Lookout Arts Quarry which was accepted. I’m getting my guts ready to create the work for a show called “PLASTIC ANGST,” date to be announced soon (likely end of May or early June). Stay posted!
• I was accepted for the 2026 Whatcom Artists Studio Tour and the first popup tour is happening weekend of May 16–17. If you’re around Bellingham that weekend it will be a good chance to come visit me and other artists around the area.

More in the hopper which I will inform you of soon.

Now some art.

Since the show I mentioned in my last update has happened I can share the art now …

It was very special to do the art that got used for the cover of this limited-release tape for the bands DUOS and Sceneric, produced by Kelly at Something Else Studio. All of us people orbiting Make.Shift, which I know I have mentioned many times as a great little community arts nonprofit here in town.

Make.Shift has been a healing place for me to be on the other side of dealing with some bad faith “collaborators,” and I’m glad to be taking part in more community art again after all everything I’ve been through.

We set the painting up in the concert space for people to experience during the show, which added a fun visual element which isn’t typical of this kind of environment.

It is a good challenge for me, learning how to engage with fellow artists in ways that makes all of our work more interesting and rich to experience.

I keep running into a norm that keeps yielding many frustrations, however. Can you guess what it is?

You may have guessed.

EVERYONE IS ON INSTAGRAM.

And they like to promote each other across Instagram.

If you don’t have Instagram, you’re operating on a somewhat different wavelength than a lot of the artist community I keep rubbing shoulders with. People kind of don’t really know what to do with you.

Are you even real if you’re not on Instagram?

I understand if I am going to develop the kind of strategy that makes being off Instagram work for me, I have to stay off Instagram and figure it out.

So far I have not been stopped from making more art in more places, so I suppose I am on the right track.

—Adrien

Hi there.

Lots is happening behind the scenes that I won’t be saying much about just yet.

I will say that if experiencing and supporting local independent music is your thing you should definitely mark down this show on April 10 where a couple Bellingham bands are releasing a special limited-edition tape, which I have contributed art for.

It’s a unique project and being there for this show will be a one of a kind experience. I will be there with a limited release sticker made specifically to commemorate the project.

Local art done from a genuine place is more important than ever from my perspective.

Important enough, apparently, to warrant theft?

It would seem to be the case.

A little art piece was stolen in the last couple weeks from the wall display outside my studio. Quite a bummer.

The folks at Make.Shift were very sweet and made a public post inviting the person who stole it to bring it back with a promise not to be mean.

This is the piece in question …

As I said to them (and they shared in their post), I think the thief had pretty good taste, and maybe I would have stolen it too. 😉

Joking aside, that stung. It was very much intentionally taken off the wall on purpose by someone who thought that was fine to do. I’ve had some hooligans deface some of my art before so it isn’t new to me when something like this happens, but it is always not cool when it does.

As stupid as it is when something like original art gets stolen, it has brought up an opportunity for me to reflect on a theme that has been pretty big in my life—and the lives of many, unfortunately.

How do we relate to experiences of having our heartfelt creations and contributions to the world stolen, degraded, or otherwise disrespected in some way?

How do we turn these experiences from ones that tear us down into ways for us to claim and express our power?

I’m still figuring out the answer.

One of the things my artistic practice continues to teach me is that absolutely everything I experience is part of the raw material that I get to choose how to turn into art.

That includes when my art is stolen.

A whole lot of my art has been stolen.

One thing that was actually pretty nice about this most recent experience of having my art stolen is that when I told some of my community what happened, they were upset for me, and wanted to help amend the situation.

That’s something I learned somewhere along the lines not to expect. Too much hanging around people who viewed me as a commodity rather than a person will do that.

It’s got me realizing something very important:

When something gets stolen or destroyed, it isn’t the end of the story.

It’s the instigating incident.

The catalyst.

It’s ok if there’s a delay to realizing that fact.

Theft of something heartfelt causes a sort of chemical reaction that leads to grief.

Grief, when wielded with courage, is a raw sort of power. Potential energy waiting to be materialized.

Knowing I’m committed not to dissociate from what I feel about everything I’ve been through means that that latent power won’t go unexpressed.

It almost makes me feel bad for anyone who thought stealing my work was going to shut me down.

—Adrien