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Valisa Higman

@valisahigman

3.9K

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1719

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Valisa is an artist inspired by both her natural surroundings and her community. She rows to work in her beautiful studio in Seldovia, Alaska.

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The rainy weather is taking me back to my Tutka Backdoor hike with @kimsnaturedrawings and @erin.mckittrick in late August. I am glad not to be crossing the Taylor River after the heavy rain we have had for the last few days!
#inspiration #hikealaska #hiking by @valisahigman

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17 hours ago

It seems like a good time to reintroduce myself, and let new followers know what’s in store for them. My name is Valisa. My parents named me after a boat. I live in Seldovia, a small Alaska town accessible only by boat or plane. Me and my dog Teller commute by rowboat to my art studio perched on pilings just up the bay from town. Here I cut images from black paper, and layer colored paper behind, adding details with paint. In this feed I like to show you my process, including inspiration and all the little things I love. I will take you down into the lowest tidepools, and up into the highest mountains above Seldovia. I will show you the wildlife, plants and mushrooms I find along the way. I love foraging for food, and traveling to distant places and learning about other cultures and seeing other animals and plants and how people live in different environments, and then I love coming back home, using my experiences to better understand my own life. I am fascinated by tiny things, and big adventures. And I love using my observations to make art. Welcome aboard!
#seldovia #alaskanartist by @valisahigman

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2 days ago

If you have recently (since late September) ordered from my Etsy shop, and you have not received your package, please check your Etsy messages. I have probably sent you a message if your order was shipped Priority Mail. Apparently Seldovia’s Post Office can no longer sell priority shipping due to outdated equipment that was supposed to be replaced in September. We were informed TODAY that we can no longer send Priority mail with our labels… but it appears that mail I sent in September and October is being sent by barge, and being rejected in Seattle… this ONLY seems to be effecting Priority Mail. I am working on a solution, but please reach out if you are worried about a package. Also, sorry California, it also seems to only be an issue with your mail. Maybe weather is also playing a role… Hangbin there, I am trying to get your art to you!

New orders should be ok, I will just have to purchase Etsy shipping labels until the problem with our local equipment is resolved. The reason I don’t do this as regular practice is that the pre-printed labels do not count as revenue for our rural post office, and with budget cuts always threatening, I do what I can to support our local facility. ☹️ Small towns and small businesses are disproportionately affected by bureaucratic changes like this. Please support small and local when you can this holiday season! @alaskasbdc
#alaskamade #smallbusiness by @valisahigman

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3 days ago

Teller and I have been loving the high tides at the studio. The deck is our little island, floating above a calm sun dappled sea. Inside I can hear the water moving between the cross bracing, the view is an expanse of water, my boat sitting, rocking outside my window. I work longer than I plan… waiting for the water to recede just enough to make it easier to pull the boat in. I row close to the shore, where tree branches dip down to the surface, yellowed rye grass dips its roots into the salty water, and spruce cones, deposited by industrious squirrels who don’t understand the tides, drift away on the currant with brown alder leaves. The high tide elevates the sense of living on the edge… between ocean and forest. It obscures the margins, the beaches and rocky cliff bands. My studio becomes the dividing line between water and earth.

#seldovia #hightide #tellertheadventuredog by @valisahigman

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3 days ago

Ever wonder why buildings around Seldovia, including my studio, are perched on pilings high above the beach? You have to be above the highest tides. This isn’t the highest, and it is flat calm. Imagine if this tide happened during a storm… I have watched water spray up between the boards on my back deck. I remember a storm tide when I was a kid that leaked up through the floorboards of a neighbor’s house. He put all his furniture on blocks as he watched it creep up his pilings.
#seldovia #livebythetide #tides by @valisahigman

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4 days ago

Some late risers… these tasty kings were just hanging out in the side of the road enjoying the rain.
#eatlocal #seldovia #forage by @valisahigman

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5 days ago

New work coming together for my upcoming holiday markets! The first one is coming up soon! Come see me at Bad Girls of the North on November 6-7!

#cutpaperart #papercutting #artbyvalisa by @valisahigman

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5 days ago

Wildlife viewing in the harbor on my way to work… I see more when Teller is taking the day off to run with Erin.
#seldovia #harborlife #irowtowork by @valisahigman

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7 days ago

One walk
#seldovia #outsidebeach #tellertheadventuredog by @valisahigman

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7 days ago

The sun still skims over the tops of the mountains, but soon the studio will stay in shadow, so now I try to drink in every bit of golden light, appreciate every shade of green and blue, pause to appreciate the impermanence.
#tellertheadventuredog #seldovia #october by @valisahigman

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9 days ago

🧡
#tellertheadventuredog by @valisahigman

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11 days ago

I am working hard on small originals for Bad Girls of the North! Last year I sold out of these small unframed pieces, so show up early on Friday, November 6th if you want to snag one! Doors open at 4! by @valisahigman

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12 days ago