KmbrisBond, a bomb of energy and artistic vision, is the winner of the 2019 Spirit ofPybus poster contest.
“Ifeel validated and humbled,” Bond said about the achievement. “It also startednew conversations”
Thatis what Bond likes; conversations, connections, a sense of togetherness in thecommunity.
“Ilike connecting the dots,” Bond stated, those dots being people andorganizations.
Sheis doing her best to bring people together through art. If Bond is not teachingat one of the popular “Class with a Glass” sessions, she can be found out ontown sketching with the “Urban Sketchers” group or instructing a class with theYaymaker company. Bond also gives art instruction at the Collapse Gallery at115 South Wenatchee Avenue (www.collapsegallery.com)
in conjunction withRachel Courtney’s business “Pretty Nice Creations” (www.prettynicecreations.com.)
“Classwith a Glass” classes take place at 10 S. Columbia St. in Wenatchee in thethird floor roomy studio. The usually offer painting sessions towards the endof the week. Private classes can also be arranged. These classes are fun,relaxing and enable people to come with friends or make new ones. Find out moreat www.classwithaglass.com.
Yaymakeroffers art instruction at various local eateries, mostly Inna’s Cousine at 26N. Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee (www.innascousine.com),Casa Tapatia at 1650 Grant Road, East Wenatchee (Facebook), and Chateau Faire LePont at 1 Vinyard Way in Wenatchee in the Olds Station area (www.fairelepont.com).Connecting art-minded people with local restaurants creates a nice bridgebetween the physical and the mental elements.
UrbanSketchers (Facebook) is a loosely organized, relaxed event for sketchers wholike to take a closer look at Wenatchee’s cityscape, be it a business, a parkor anything else we come across town. Anybody can join in at any time.
Bondserved with the AmeriCorps this year, working at the Nature Conservancy officein Wenatchee. Besides being an art-lover, she is also a nature-lover. Add tothat a vineyard owner, growing a bounty of grapes just outside of Wenatchee inMalaga. She is looking forward to focusing more on nature appreciation andobserving our sacred natural spaces.
TheNature Conservancy will give her a stipend, which Bond will most likely spendtowards art classes in Italy.
There’smore: on Sundays Bond can be found at the Cascade Unitarian UniversalistFellowship meetings as the newly hired music director. Her clear, strong singingvoice washes over the attendees like a refreshing spring shower. The Fellowshipis an open-minded and open-armed get-together for anyone who would like toattend, regardless of one’s beliefs or lack thereof.
Bondhasn’t been a dedicated artist all that long; she emerged herself in it fouryears ago. Along the way she has enjoyed instruction from such local talents asJan Cook Mack (www.jancookmack.com),now a friend of hers. Another Wenatchee artist, Martha Flores (www.facebook.com/marthafloresart)has had a positive impact on Bond’s creativity.
Someof the new conversations she is having now are with the Our Valley Our Futureorganization in Wenatchee. The group is forward-looking and aspires to improvethe lives of the valley’s residents – everybody’s.
“Artshould also be accessible to underservedpopulations,” Bond commented.
Shebelieves in the healing and uniting effect of creative activities. One of herwishes is to see art more incorporated into health care.
“It’scleansing and relaxing,” Bond said.
Bondknows that from personal experience: she lets art carry her worries away and bean escape from daily demands.
InNovember 2019 Bond will have a chance to further her art and teaching skills:she was accepted to the TAT-Lab (Teaching Artist Training) which will run untilMarch. She will have weekend classes on how to empower artists to teach andmuch more. It was no small matter for Bond to be accepted as only thirty artistare accepted. She was recommended by a fellow artist and friend, Nicole Haskey,who has already completed her TAT training.
Withall that Bond has already accomplished in Wenatchee, she is nowhere near done –just getting started is more like it. She is looking forward to creatingconnections and avenues for a cohesive community through art.