Blog Category: Collections

"The Comforting Summer Fog Arrives" by Kim Shuck, June Artist-in-Residence

Today had both frenetic and soothing aspects. I had breakfast with one of our amazing poets on the bill for Friday: devorah major, poet laureate of San Francisco emerita, amazing performer and above all friend. We ate frittata in Hayes Valley before making our way to the museum. THE FOG IS HERE. It must be summer, eh? Everyone celebrate. Anyhow, breakfast meant that instead of arriving two hours early, I got to the museum at my contracted time. As a result I missed a patron who had come to see me in particular, ah well. It would be difficult, I should think, to be less than thrilled with Michael. He's a delight. Before heading off to brekkie I was cooking: squash soup with hominy and corn bread so the house smelled of spice root and tradition while fog wove it's way by the window (YAY, summer fog). I wanted to bring lunch in to share as today was a big day. It was not so much a celebration as a bit of a sigh. Today was Michael's last.Read more »

Hugs all around by Kim Shuck, June Artist-in-Residence

You may be in for a fun day when you find a hawk feather coming in to work. You may be in for a fun day when your first visitor in the studio asks great questions and listens to the answers. It's been a fun day when a mom tells you that you 'made everyone happy' with some oil pastels and butcher paper (grinning kids and interesting drawings and all).

Read more »

Art Reality Check by Kim Shuck, June Artist-in-Residence

Ok, so we aren't always brilliant are we?

Michael and I needed to be at the gallery to give an interview this morning at 10 am (for those not keeping score that would be a full three hours earlier than normal, not complaining, just updating). Ok, 10 am. What does that mean? It means that I did less sleep than normal so I could do prosaic household things. Also it means that I didn't have all of my accustomed caffeine. I am a tea junkie ok? AAAAAAAAAA!

I wanted to get a rank of feathers done today. Did I? Did I nonsense? I got half of one done, and lucky at that.

Read more »

"Hot" by Kim Shuck, June Artist-in-Residence

We only had a very few folk in today, so we both got a good deal of work done and talked about bad Native themed movies. Well, we talked about different kinds of movies, but we talked most about what I call 'Bad Indian Movies'. These would be films with glaring cultural errors, stereotypes or other faux pas. It was a hoot.

Way too hot for museums today I guess. We saw more people coming through the gallery to get to the loo than we did folk coming to see our work. Hard to take it personally when it's just stunning outside.

Read more »

"Trancing Out" by Kim Shuck, June Artist-in-Residence

Last Friday I did a poetry reading elsewhere, so I had not yet experienced the gallery on a Friday evening. Wow. Just wow.

Read more »

How do we learn to do these things? by Kim Shuck, June Artist-in-Residence

After questions about my background, my religion and alternately about my inspiration and vision, the most commonly asked question I've had in the gallery so far is 'How did you learn to do this stuff?' I'm sure that other Native artists have other answers to that question but here is a bit of an answer for me. I use a number of different beading techniques in my work. In order of most to least common as of this week: bead applique, flat peyote stitch, flat round peyote stitch, cheyenne brick stitch and loomed beading. Now to take them utterly out of order...

Read more »