Love and a kiln at Blue Whole Gallery
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Local artists Sheri Whetstine and Terri Biondolino will be sharing their artwork in the windows at the Blue Whole Gallery First Friday Art Walk in early February and their work will be featured the rest of the month in an exhibit titled, “All You Need Is Love (and a Kiln).”
Meet the artists at the exhibit premier from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2, at the gallery, 129 W. Washington St.
Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sundays.
For more about the gallery, visit bluewholegallery.com.
About the artists
Since 2006, Whetstine has been exploring the possibilities kiln-formed glass offers, limited only by her imagination. A retired firefighter from southern California, she works with kilns that can reach 1,700 degrees.
“I love how a solid, flat piece of glass can be transformed into a thing of beauty either by intent or chance, just using heat and time,” she said.
Whetstine can create for a desired effect, cutting pieces of glass and arranging them with a specific design in mind, or put random pieces together and let fate decide the outcome. There may be clean, precise lines and edges or organized chaos.
“I love to tackle new ideas, try new techniques, and learn something new each day,” she said.
She lives in Agnew with her husband and their three bloodhounds.
Biondolino said she loves to work in colored clays using the methods of Nerikomi and marbleware.
Marbleware creates purely random effects, whereas Nerikomi is a time-consuming method used to create a controlled pattern. When physical difficulties began limiting Biondolino’s ability to hold the small tools of fiber art, she found clay. By trial and error and creating a few specially designed tools, she was able to find unconventional ways to create her new love: ceramics.
Biondolino is a retired new product designer at Hewlett Packard, in both Boise and Santa Rosa.
“I love using those same skills in my art, it helps balance out my techno-nerdy side,” she said.
After some traveling, Biondolino and her husband settled in Sequim seven years ago. Her mother, a Port Angeles native, met her’s father while he was stationed at Ediz Hook, so in a way she has returned to her roots.
