I was running a bit late and wanted to get to Carrie Blake park before Ciscoe Morris opened the festival at 11:30 am yesterday. The surface streets were packed around the park and I didn't want to park a mile away from the James Center for the Performing Arts, deep in the park. So I just went right into the playground area on the south side of Carrie Blake and found ample parking on the south side of the conference building near the playground. I hoofed across the bridge that spans the ponds between the playground and James Center where a hot air balloon was floating above many vendors tents.
I got there as Ms. Tomoko, the Acting Consul General of Japan was talking about the relationship of the Japanese sister city Shiso and Sequim and the joint 'Friendship Garden' that is next to the Carrie Blake park.
Next up was Ciscoe. For those that don't know Ciscoe Morris, his Gardening with Ciscoe airs on King 5 out of Seattle, Washington weekly. His antics are legend in this area. He is a master gardener and usually answers questions from the crowd. Which he did here at the festival. He was as goofy as ever. And a big hit as well.
Along with the other dignitaries, Ciscoe kicks off the Sequim Lavender Festival:
So the 17th Annual Sequim Lavender Festival was off and running. And so was I. After taking in the vendors around the park I made my way back to the car and headed out the gate.
My first stop was going to be the Purple Haze Lavender Farm.
Purple Haze is the grand daddy of the lavender farms in the Sequim-Dungeness area dating back to the original farms 17 years ago.
I knew of Mike Reicher before he and his wife Rosalind started Purple Haze. Mike was the Sequim Bay Park ranger back then. He had enough foresight to see what lavender would do for the Valley. When he started the lavender movement he went all the way. He was able to get on many different television venues to highlight the movement back then. It caught on fire and Purple Haze is now the premier lavender farm bar none.
When I visit the farms, my intention is to find different looks of lavender to photograph. Lavender by itself is kind of ... mmm, boring. I love the smell of the stuff and the purple color lends itself to great contrast. However, you just need something along with the smelly stuff to get a photograph that really pops. So I look for elements that will contrast that great purple look.
As I wandered around Purple Haze I was looking for some other flowers to accomplish that feat. Sunflowers are a great contrast to lavender. In times past, the growers were more liberal with their growing of sunflowers in just the right spots. Not so this year unfortunately. But there were some. Actually, Purple Haze had a nice stand of the tall flowers, both red and yellow, although the red were not blooming as well as the yellow. There was a nice field of corn growing in the background too. Trying to get a shot with just the sunflowers and lavender is another thing. You have to be patient and let the people who are taking pictures or just walking the trails get out of the viewfinder. Enjoy that fragrance.
The images below were my best at Purple Haze. The lighter color lavender helps contrast the purple stuff. Good start. But there are other farms.
The other thing I like to do as a photographer is talk to other artists, and not just other photographers. I ran into a local copper smith. He had a huge copper salmon weather vane next to his display tent reflecting the noon day sun. So I asked him if I could photograph it. He appreciated that I had asked him permission to shoot the piece. He said most people just take an image and go on. And that's cool, but there are some artists that are very protective of their designs. They can get leery of someone taking pictures to knock off their artwork they spent hours designing and creating. That is why I usually ask if I can shoot their work. In this case, Clark Mundy the artist had no problem.
It also gave me an opportunity to chat with Clark and his wife Leia. Clark was a woodworker about ten years ago and was invited to study Northwest native woodcarving with Al Charles Jr. and Darrell Charles Jr. of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
One of the pieces needed a copper salmon along with the two carved wooden ones. Clark undertook the creation of that copper salmon along with two other artists doing the wooden ones. That artwork has been displayed since then above the elevator lobby in the Clallam County courthouse. And started Clark on his copper career.
Clark has art all over Port Angeles including a staircase in the Landing Mall on the waterfront, a nine foot tall fountain sculpture made for the Great Hall of the new Lower Elwha Klallam Heritage Center at First and Peabody Streets in Port Angeles. And a huge copper octopus and sign at Feiro Marine Life Center at the entrance of the City Pier in Port Angeles. An incredible piece of artwork!
Clark is currently working on a series of large copper masks for the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe's campus in Blyn, WA. This man is very talented.
I love his work.You can find more of Clark's art at coppersalmon.com.
There were many different vendors offering services, artists of every genre and of course lavender plants throughout the farm. You can stroll through trails and come upon another vendor's tent you didn't see before. Unlike street fairs that look like miniature tent cities, the farm uses its natural rolling hills to segment different activities. It is well laid out.
I see a lot of Asian tourists enjoying the lavender everywhere I turn. Maybe because of the sister city thing that the city of Sequim has with Shiso, Japan? Sequim has become a world wide destination spot! Very cool.
One of the things that you notice if you spend any time at a lavender farm is the music. At the Purple Haze a young guy by the name of Blake Noble was playing and a small group of folks were sitting around tables consuming all types of lavender food and beverages as they listened to him and his acoustic guitar. Very laid back. .
The weather was cooperating. There was a breeze blowing through the little valley that the farm was located on. Hopefully it would not come up like it did last year. Yikes!
Everyone was trying to find some weight to hold their tent corners down after one tent did a Dorthy and Toto. No, this wind was nowhere near that of last year. Thankfully.
Purple Haze will probably draw the largest crowds of all the farms. But in my opinion it will be closely followed by Jardin du Soleil lavender farm. My next stop.
Links to all Lavender Festival Posts:
Lavender Festival Sequim, Washington
Jardin du Soleil Lavender
George Washington Inn and Lavender
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