In this edition of SPArts’ monthly artist-to-artist series, Lettie Haggard talks to Rusty Oliver, who runs South Park’s HazardFactory, an industrial arts studio specializing in the “artistic re-direction of technology”, where he teaches welding classes and offers open studios. On May 19, 2010, Lettie ventured from her adorable Witch Hat House near Marra Farm northward to the industrial banks of the Duwamish to meet Rusty at the HazardFactory.

Lettie: Hi Rusty, I’m Lettie…

Lettie enters the large warehouse and notices metal things everywhere. The space is very well lit and organized. She can tell this guy is serious about what he does. She spies a structure made of truck gears, a metal shaft and a bicycle wheel attached to the top. It looks like some kind of lightning rod or a work in progress. She knows she has to inquire about the contraption.

Rusty: This is a sculpture that I am working on. The base is a truck gear. It has electricity running through the spokes. The wires of the spokes are tunable, when you turn the crank it creates an electric current and it makes sound.

Lettie: That’s really cool! Could a person ride it like a bike?

Rusty: No, I think you would be electrocuted!

Lettie: Ooh yeah you’d get burned… You said you teach welding classes. Who do you teach?
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This is the second entry of SPArts’ new monthly artist-to-artist series, where South Park artists reveal a little about themselves and their work in this little corner of Seattle. In this edition, South Park mixed-media artist Wren Crosley chats with her betrothed, Aaron Cone. In addition to planning a wedding, they recently collaborated on the crowd-pleasing River Horse, a 2010 entry in the Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival. Here they discuss Aaron’s art, growing up with artist parents, and a little bit about his philosophy on life.

Aaron answers Wren's probing questions

Wren: Sooo, Aaron. We all know you are this really great, fun guy. I’d like to hear more about you as an artist. What are your earliest artistic memories? What do you think has helped shaped you as an artist?

Aaron: For some reason that makes me think of the refrigerator my dad kept his art supplies in, out in our yard. I suppose it was my mother and father who encouraged me to be artistic as a child. » keep reading »

This is the first of SPArts new monthly artist-to-artist series, where South Park artists reveal a little about themselves and their work in this little corner of Seattle. Colleen Lindsey, “the chick who sews on Sullivan”, a fabric artist, and a long time South Park Arts member, met recently with new South Parker, artist and activist Jeanette Wallis.

Jeanette Wallis and her black lab, Sherpa, courtesy of WalkForDemocracy.org

I sat down with a new neighbor, Jeanette Wallis, not knowing what to expect. She came bearing freshly made tea made from nettles, dandelion flowers and mint, which was exceedingly delicious. She has a sense of whimsy about her and her smile is infectious. I discovered that she is also a sewer so, naturally, I liked her immediately. She was in awe over my fabric stash and told me she wants to be a creator of beautiful things. She also has a talent for telling stories of some of the incredible moments of her life, spinning the tales as effortlessly as the tea spills into my mug. Here is some of what I learned about her in that evening meeting, the first of the many to come, I am sure.

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