"Art in the Parks"

Dave Schiefelbein will be one of the featured photographers taking part in a benefit evening for Washington's National Park Fund. This annual event takes place on Friday, March 18th from 6-9p.m. at the Mountaineers Program Center in Seattle's Magnuson Park. The evening includes hors d’oeuvres, desserts, drinks, a silent auction of nature photography and a special program about our national parks. For additional information, please click here.

An Artful Open House

Please join Patricia & David Wangsness when they host an “Artful Open House” on Saturday, February 5th between 1-4pm or on Sunday, February 6th between 1-4pm on Mercer Island. This event will feature the photographs of Dave Schiefelbein. Dave will also be on hand to visit and talk about his images.

Please stop by to enjoy art, refreshments and luxury surroundings!

For complete information on "An Artful Open House" including photos, maps & directions please click here.

“The National Parks in Washington State”

The ongoing exhibit, “The National Parks in Washington State”, is on display for one final month at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle. The show continues through January 13, 2011.

The 2009 PBS documentary by Ken Burns demonstrated just how popular and important the National Parks are to everyone. They are ingrained in our consciousness and help to define the characteristics of our nation as well as our own identity as individuals. The state of Washington has 13 units administered by the National Park Service, including the three largest and most familiar: Mt. Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park and Olympic National Park.

The display of pictures at the Washington State Convention Center is the work of seven professional nature photographers, all residents of Washington. The show uses photography to embrace the diversity and beauty of Washington’s National Parks. Landscapes, flora & fauna, and intricate details are all represented. Six of Dave Schiefelbein’s images are included. (As it is the holiday season, Dave would like to remind everyone that all of his photos are available for purchase!)

The exhibit is free, open 7 days a week, and viewing hours are long:

“The National Parks in Washington State”, a fine-art photography exhibit

Washington State Convention Center

7th & Pike in downtown Seattle

Level 2 South Galleria

Now through January 13, 2011

Daily, 7:00a.m.-10:00p.m.

Free Admission

A preview of Dave’s images included in the exhibit:

"Sunrise From Sahale Arm", North Cascades National Park

"A Tapestry of Autumn Colors", Mt. Rainier National Park

"Mt. Shuksan From Copper Ridge", North Cascades National Park

"Hozomeen Mountain & a Sea of Clouds", North Cascades National Park

"An Anemone During Low Tide", Olympic National Park

"The Olympic Mountains at Sunrise", Olympic National Park

Seattle Studio 532

Seattle Studio 532 in Pioneer Square has extended its inaugural show for the month of November. Paintings by Claudia McKinistry are paired with nature photography by Dave Schiefelbein. Please join Dave and Claudia again for their gallery open house on Thursday, November 5th, part of Seattle's First Thursday Art Walk.

Bring your friends, visit downtown Seattle, stop in this Thursday, November 5th at:

Seattle Studio 532

532 1st Ave. South (on 1st Avenue just south of King Street)

6p.m.-8:30p.m.

Washington's Wild Pickets Range

Deep in the heart of Washington's North Cascades National Park lies a remote and seldom-visited range of mountains know as "The Pickets". This trail-less area of the Park attracts hard core alpinists and wilderness travelers seeking beauty and challenge.

Washington Trails Magazine recently published Dave Schiefelbein's article and accompanying photos recounting a trip he made to this secluded range. Read the article and see the photos by clicking here.

Seattle First Thursday Art Walk

Dave Schiefelbein Photography is on the move again! Dave's 4th print exhibit of 2009 begins October 1st at Seattle Studio 532, a new gallery in downtown Seattle. For this showing Dave's nature photography is paired with the lovely painting work of Claudia McKinstry. Please join Dave & Claudia for their gallery open house on October 1st, part of Seattle's First Thursday Art Walk.

Seattle's First Thursday is the city's first and largest Art Walk. It was also the first Art Walk in the U.S. when the practice began in 1981. Today the tradition is a beloved fixture on the local arts calendar.

Tell your friends, come downtown and stop in to say hello this Thursday, October 1st at:

Seattle Studio 532

532 1st Ave. South (on 1st Avenue just south of King Street)
6 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Raised in a barn...

I winced when I heard my rude neighbor yelling at his girlfriend, “Shut the door! What’s the matter, were you raised in a barn or something?” While his very public and uncouth behavior bothered me, I quickly realized that the phrase he meant as an insult wouldn’t cause offense if it were said to me. That’s because I love barns, and always have. And I’m one of many people who would love to live in one of those grand structures.

My love affair with barns began early in life. I was raised in the country in rural southern Minnesota surrounded by corn and soybean fields. Children of farmers were my playmates. Bicycles were our freedom to roam & explore and the surrounding barns were our private playgrounds for climbing or games of hide & seek.

Like many young people, I left the country and moved to the city for college. I grew accustomed to urban life, but my heart retains a passion for those barns I loved as child. I still frequently seek them out as I wander the country roads, but as an adult it is with a camera in hand. My searching has yielded hundreds of pictures of barns.

Throughout the years my pictures of barns have graced the pages of calendars, books and magazines. They hang as prints in private homes and public spaces like the airport in Portland and a ski resort in Pennsylvania.

For many people who love barns the structures symbolize endurance, security and stability. Sadly, many of the barns I photograph are sorely in need of repair. Numerous times I’ve returned to a barn a year or two after first photographing it only to find that it no longer is there. Many succumb to hard winters and old age. Some are lost to fire while others are simply torn down because they represent a danger and liability to their owners. In a very real sense those pictures in books or in a frame on the wall are all that is left to remember them.

As a child I loved the haylofts and hiding places of the barns I played in. Now I relish the details of the structures…the peeling paint, the interesting doors, the distinctive exterior decoration, the exceptional cupolas and weathered weather vanes. And if I’m lucky I see a unique inhabitant from time to time.

Barns continue to fascinate many people, including me. And there is a lot to attract us: their classic design, their solitary existence, the lifestyle they evoke. Most of all, barns are monuments of rural life. They are a connection to the past that we can enjoy in the present.