The Blackburn Blog

Ellen Shea wins Office Master chair

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:56:53 -0700

Congratulations to Ellen Shea of Blaine who won our drawing for an Office Master chair at the Bellingham Business Expo on October 15th.

Work on the George Pacific Site

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 16:42:15 -0700

Have you been following the progress on tearing down and recycling the buildings at the old Georgia Pacific site? Tom Ensign was kind enough to share some of the footage that he took from the Blackburn Office Equipment parking lot.

Tom Ensign is a local film maker. If you have a film project in mind and would like to contact him, his company is EUR Films and the website is www.LightingForIndes.com.

Thanks, Tom.

Featured Artist - Sarah E. Woehrman

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 16:13:30 -0700

Stop by Blackburn Office Equipment during the months of July and August to see the work of Whidbey Island artist Sarah Woehrman.

Sarah tells us that her interests center on the arts, service, and the environment. She grew up in a family of artists in Cleveland, Ohio. In her early youth, she spent many hours in her dad’s studio, drawing on scraps of mat board with Marvy markers while listening to the NPR show “Saturday Night on Wednesday Afternoon,” and playing Cat Stevens’ “Moonshadow” over and over. When she wasn’t in the studio, she was outside, chasing toads, fireflies, and autumn leaves. She also had the good fortune to travel with her family several times to the Lacoste School of the Arts in Provence, France, where she further developed her love of the arts, particularly poetry and printmaking.

In high school, Sarah volunteered at the Corey Soup Kitchen in Cleveland and got a taste for service and voluntarism. Being an idealist, she set her mind upon attending the United States Military Academy at West Point and making a difference. She graduated in 1993 with a BS in English Literature and Systems Engineering, then served in the US Army as an engineer officer for five years (1993-1997) and earned a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma.

While in the Army, Sarah learned that making a difference can often be accomplished most effectively on a small scale, within one’s community. She also learned that her true passions were art and literature and spending time in nature. Sarah left the Army to have a family and pursue these developing passions.

In addition to raising a family in Missouri and Alaska, Sarah taught college in the evenings, worked as a writer/editor and earned a scholarship for the Fundamentals of Art program with Art Instruction Schools. Sarah eagerly pursued more serious studies at University of Alaska Anchorage. Inspired by the magnificent Artic light and dramatic landscapes, she focussed on drawing, painting, and stained glass.

Sarah moved to Whidbey Island in 2006, where she continues to pursue family, art, and service. She currently serves as the WSU Island County Extension Beach Watchers Coordinator and spends much of her time on the beaches and in the parks with her kids. She also recently completed an MA in English Literature from National University.

Each day, Sarah commits herself to her family, the arts, and the environment of the Pacific Northwest.

Featured Artist - Barbara Lyter

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:15:03 -0700

Blackburn Office Equipment is showing the work of Barbara Lyter during the months of July and August.

Barbara Lyter was born in Pennsylvania and studied studio art in Philadelphia. She worked as a textile designer in York, Pennsylvania and became a freelance photographer and writer for the York Dispatch. She relocated to Los Angeles, CA in 1981 and studied studio photography. She worked in the publications department at the University of California, Irvine and left to take a staff photographer position at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the 4th largest museum in the United States. Some of her books include Monet to Matisse, French art in Southern California, Picasso and the Weeping Woman, the Years of Dora Marr, Van Gogh’s Van Gogh’s, Paintings from the Van Gogh Museum, Ghost in the Shell, Photography and the Human Shell to name a few.

After a 15 year career at LACMA, Barbara relocated to Whidbey Island with her husband Peter Pehl II, USN Ret. In 2005 she opened Lyter Photography/Design and since opening the doors to her business, some of her clients include CADA, C. Johnson Construction, Coupeville Farmers Market, Tradewinds Insurance, Whidbey Camano Joint Tourism Board, Island County Health Department, Island County Public Works, Washington State Parks and the Coupeville Waterfront Merchants Association. She is presently redesigning the interpretive displays for the Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

Barbara’s photography has appeared in Stern Magazine, Germany, Sunset Magazine, Runners World, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The York Dispatch, Westways, and more. Barbara is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

Her most recent show was Driven to Abstraction, a juried exhibit at the North Bank Gallery in Vancouver Washington.

Barbara also works in other media including printmaking, painting, and fiber art.

Featured Artist - Kelcey Bates

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:50:47 -0700

Stop by Blackburn Office Equipment and enjoy the work of Bellingham artist Kelcey Bates, which will be on display during July and August.

Kelcey’s pastels show a colorful, whimsical view of familiar Bellingham sights. She tells us that her early artistic background was in watercolors, with a passion for charcoal figure drawing and more recently painting with pastels.

Kelcey won the “Image Award” from the Allied Arts of Whatcom County 2007 juried competition for the La Bella Strada Festival. The piece chosen was the image used on all the marketing materials for the La Bella Strada Festival of 2008. Her work has been accepted in NW Pastel society juried shows, “Unclad” 2005, 2006, and 2008, and in “Brushes with the Land” 2006 and 2007. Her work has also been displayed in countless coffee shops and restaurants in Bellingham and Edmonds as well as appearing in the Solovei Art Gallery of Everett and “Gallery by the Bay” in Stanwood. Her work is in private collections in California, Washington and New Zealand.