The 6th annual Community Supported Art box features original artwork by Homer area artists Sharlene Cline, Marie Herdegen, Valisa Higman, Abigail Kokai, Adele Person and Winter Marshall-Allen. Thirty CSA shares are available for sale on June 1, 2023. 

The unique collection features small works created especially for the 2023 CSA box by six Homer artists. Participating local artists apply and are selected by a jury of artist peers based on quality, contrast and compatibility. Each artist creates 30 pieces of art and is paid upfront for the works – providing them a guaranteed market.  Shares are $300 and go on sale June 1, annually. The 2023 collection includes:

• Sharlene Cline: Chinese Brushwork Fireweed Painting

I painted fireweed on Japanese Shikishi rice paper panels with a still mind and open heart for there is only one draft, one performance, on the delicate paper. As plum blossom is the iconic flower of traditional Chinese painting, fireweed is the iconic Homer wildflower gracing our hills. This hardy flower grows on cleared and burned land, a symbol of rebirth and hope.

• Marie Herdegen: Ceramic Blueberry Teacup

When deciding to apply for the CSA, I started to think about the local visual information that inspires my work. Some of that inspiration comes from the countless hours I spend hiking on the local area trails. I have a great passion for harvesting blueberries. I’ve developed a blueberry design for my pottery I call “Berryware.” It speaks to our local environment and the wild harvesting lifestyle that so many of us participate in annually.

• Valisa Higman: Alaska Coloring Book 

I am super excited about the opportunity to be a part of this collection of local art. It seemed like the perfect chance to put together a project I have been dreaming of for years. This coloring book is a collection of my cut-paper artwork, scanned before I added any color. I chose images celebrating Kachemak Bay and its tides, forests, mountains and gardens. My hope is that these pages will give others the same pleasure I get from capturing the many vivid colors of Kachemak Bay.

• Abigail Kokai: Stadium Rockfish Tea Towel

From many years of working for fishing charters, I’ve taken and seen LOTS of people posing with fish and the occasional fish kiss. As a play on words last summer, I imagined a Gene Simmons-esque KISS rockfish. And here we are. As a nod to the Alaska State Dept of Fish and Game’s basic “Rockfish Identification Guide,” I put together an in-depth (no pun intended) “Stadium Rockfish Identification Guide.” It’s a fun concept, and the CSA is a great method for artists to test the waters (again, no pun intended) for a new item or product offering.

• Adele Person: Fishskin Wallet

I worked at the Saltry Restaurant years ago and wanted very much to find a use for the salmon skins leftover from making gallons and gallons of pickled salmon. These fish skin creations are the product of that curiosity and come from 2022 reds for the restaurant. I learned by watching Indigenous teachers on Youtube videos and know there is still much to learn. Fishskin is an incredible material, as are so many things from our natural world. What I want most is to live in a world that does not take what it doesn’t need, that believes things also have a soul, that nothing is waste, and that we can live in economies and societies that are fundamentally based on reciprocity and giving. I enjoy sharing these wallets with people who enjoy them as much as I do.

• Winter Marshall-Allen: Beaded Earrings

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of Bunnell‘s CSA. As an emerging artist, I find this opportunity to be a part of art accessibility incredibly meaningful. Being a part of the CSA directly reinforces this personal value. I appreciate this opportunity to share my skills that reflect a different side of who I am outside of the classroom. My beadwork is a reflection of skills that I have learned from various matriarchs in my life. My jewelry is influenced by my own grandmothers.