One can quickly see the influence of Humboldt wildlife on Julie Cairns’ ceramics. The redwoods, ocean, mountains, and flowers all find their way into the imagery of Cairn’s ceramic pieces. What joy to drink coffee from a mug with flowers on it or eat oatmeal from a bowl with ducks. Many of her functional pieces become favorites for her fans.
Julie Cairns was born and raised in Pasadena. She came for school at Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt) and never left. She majored in biology and botany. After graduation, she worked in the plant business and as a professional dog obedience trainer. She followed that with work for the U.S. Postal Service as a rural letter carrier for 30 years. After retirement from the postal service, she worked for a few years for the Times-Standard. With so many varied work experiences she still managed to pursue her artistic ideas.
About 25 years ago, Cairns started making mosaics. Her first acceptance in a gallery was as a mosaic artist. During the holiday season in 2012, she went to an annual sale at Fire Arts Center and signed up for a throwing class. One class led to another and then to a tile-making class. Different decorating techniques were taught. Querda seca is an ancient process of applying wax tinted with dye (usually) to create the lines of a design. She wanted to create something with the feel of mosaics and this was it. She tried designs on upright pieces such as mugs and bowls and learned to apply the right glazes that would not run. About 10 years ago, she stopped making mosaics to concentrate on ceramics. More recently, she found a tube-line style of decorating that leaves out the wax and uses all clay and glaze components. Being able to translate a new design to a successfully finished piece is a great joy in the process.
Matt Filar’s photographs specialize in community. He prefers black and white photos, and that choice makes his photographs stand out in a digital world. Filar is fascinated by the shapes and light that stand out more in black and white photos. The landscapes of Humboldt, the industrial scenes, the sporting events, the workers at the docks and the bay all show us Filar’s love for the Humboldt community. Filar feels very fortunate to live in a special place, where special people are doing special things.
Filar is from Baltimore, Maryland, originally, and came to Humboldt in 1977. He trained as a mechanical engineer at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. While there, he took an elective drafting course that piqued his interest in art. He started photography in 1973, mostly by teaching himself. His early start was with 35 mm cameras and a large-format 4×5 camera. Developing and printing in a darkroom was a long tedious process but rewarding. The switch to digital cameras has been a time-saving change as well as other conveniences. The digital process also needs editing before printing with ten separate archival ink cartridges. He retired in 2005 from engineering work and works full-time in photography.
Filar is a contributing photographer for the Mad River Union weekly newspaper. He photographs many different sporting events like baseball, softball and roller derbies. He sits on the board for the Humboldt Crabs baseball team and you can find him taking photos of their games and players. He was a volunteer engineering judge for a couple of years of the Grand Kinetic Championship (Sculpture Races) and has taken photos of each entry since 2000. The races are a perfect marriage of art and engineering, much like Filar himself.
You can view Julie Cairns’ ceramics and Matt Filar’s analog and digital photos at Ferndale Arts Gallery at 535 Main St. in Ferndale. The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for major holidays. You may meet Filar himself, sitting at the desk, as the gallery is hosted by the various artists represented.
The above was written and submitted by Ferndale Arts Gallery.