Artist Spotlight: Lori Duckstein has been a member artist of Columbia City Gallery for 22 years. (Of course this means she joined when the gallery was just 2 years old.) She has amassed a large following of collectors in that time but even longtime friends and collectors might be surprised to read some of her responses below.
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Favorite Seattle restaurant/bar
• Columbia City Ale House. The first eatery/drinkery my husband and I encountered when moving to Seattle in 2001. Comfortingly, their menu hasn’t changed much over the years. My favorite thing on their menu is the quesadilla.
Favorite Seattle neighborhood
• Columbia City, of course
Favorite Seattle park
• Seward Park has just about everything!
Favorite beach/waterfront spot
• Alki Beach. Always beautiful. A great stroll. Late lunch at Cactus.
Favorite style of house
• Craftsman, Tudor, Mid-century modern, New England saltbox, colonial….
Favorite Seattle movie theater
• It closed. Parkway Plaza in Southcenter. It showed all the films you missed when they first came out, you could park right outside the door, and it was always practically empty. I guess that’s why it closed.
What are your go-to comfort foods?
• Ice cream in the summer; quesadillas in the winter (or actually any time)
Are you an avid collector of anything?
• Pounds and wrinkles
Where is the coolest place you traveled? Where would you most want to travel to?
• Best trips: Because I’ve done a good bit of genealogical research, I was inspired to take some great and enlightening trips to the villages and farms in England, Scotland, and Norway where my ancestors lived before emigrating to America – and then to the places they lived when they first settled here. And for exoticness: Australia, Iceland and Greece. Would still like to visit Wales. Don’t know why…
What is something that always makes you smile?
• Seeing my husband’s smile (oh — too corny?)… and being among trees
What is the last book you read?
• The Welsh Girl. Set in Wales just after D-Day. Interesting perspective. Love historical fiction.
What movie could you quote by heart?
• Not a movie, but every single episode of Frasier
Favorite artists?
• Grant Wood, Leger, Thomas Hart Benton, Breugel, Jacob Lawrence
Favorite color palette/color combo?
• Earth
Where are you from and how does that affect your work?
• Originally from Chicago’s North Shore… I think that leafy, Midwestern solidity and simplicity shows up in my landscapes and villages.
What is your favorite medium, and why?
• I use mostly acrylics because I find it the most versatile, easy to work with and to combine with other media. Lately, as I work on loosening up a bit, I’m throwing in pencil, pen, pastels, etc….
Where do you find inspiration?
• On my walks and in my head when I’m waking up.
When is your favorite time of day to create?
• Definitely mid-late afternoon, after I’ve taken my walk, run every errand, done every chore, checked every e-mail, watched all the news I can stand. Then I can settle down with nothing on the agenda but messing about in the studio.
How do you define success as an artist?
• If I’m enjoying the doing of it.
Artwork available for purchase
email: loriduckstein@comcast.net