SEQUIM — Port Townsend artist James Lyman has created “Sequim Lavender Legacy” as the official artwork for the 2012 Sequim Lavender Farm Faire.
The painting is a colorful representation of all Sequim Lavender Farmers Association family-owned and operated farms that have helped make Sequim famous over the past 16 years, the association’s executive director said.
“We were looking for someone with a different style,” Scott Nagel said.
“We wanted to show all of the [association’s] members in the painting,” Nagel added.
“Several of our members know Jim. He’s a well-known artist. He’s known for his lighthouses.”
“The creativity and technique that went into this painting is very special, as all of the members of the association are represented in some way within the art,” Nagel said.
Details will be announced in April, when the poster goes on sale.
The Sequim Lavender Farm Faire, part of the new Sequim Lavender Weekend July 20-22, features members of the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association, which encompasses family-owned and operated farms ranging in size from 2.7 to 12 acres, with more than 100 years of collective lavender-growing experience, Nagel said.
The group formed a year ago.
Now, both the farmers group and the Sequim Lavender Growers Association host separate activities during an annual weekend of lavender events.
Farmers of the new group include three of the founders of the lavender movement in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, who live on the land and are full-time farmers.
After a 23-year career in the Army, and 20 years as chef and owner/manager of his own restaurant, Lyman decided to finish school and become a church pastor.
Also over the past 30 years, he has had a passion for painting buildings, but he is particularly recognized for his specialty in painting lighthouses and barns.
He has been commissioned to paint many churches, barns, Victorian homes, and lighthouses all over the western U.S.
The artist began full time with his own gallery in Port Townsend.
In 2005, Jim finished his schooling and was ordained as a pastor in the Southern Baptist Church, then later in the Evangelical Methodist Church, where he serves today.
“I am now enjoying the best of two worlds — serving my Lord and painting for Him,” he said.
“Many people helped me along my path to where I am today, but none were more influential than Gary Peterson, who I consider to be the foremost artist on the West Coast, and Rev. Walter Brown,” he added.
His work can be seen at www.fineartamerica.com.
In other farmers association news, the Sequim Balloon Festival, which is planned Sept. 1-3, is now a major sponsor of the Sequim Lavender Farm Faire, Nagle said.
“We will have a hot-air balloon all weekend long, tethered and going up to 150-feet above Lavender in the Park at Carrie Blake-Demonstration park, providing views of the entire valley, and of course everyone will see us,” Nagle said.
Nagel said this is also part of introducing the new Sequim Balloon Festival, set for Labor Day Weekend, to Sequim.
For more information about the balloon festival, see sequimballoonfestival.com.
The farmers group also will host the Sequim International Lavender Conference on April 27-30.
The conference, which is expected to draw lavender colleagues from around the world, will be at the Sequim Holiday Inn Express, 1441 E. Washington St., and at the farms of the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association.
The keynote speaker will be Tim Upson, co-author of The Genus Lavandula, considered by many as the “lavender bible.”
Upson is curator of Cambridge University’s 40-acre Botanic Garden in Cambridge, England.
Early-bird registration is $245 through today, $295 through March 15th, and $325 after March 16th.
Registration will include all workshop and farm sessions, a conference notebook with session handouts and lavender information, local transportation to farms as needed and a private Facebook page for participants to ask questions and exchange ideas and notes.
For more information and online registration, go the www.internationallavenderconference.com.
For more information about the Sequim Lavender Farm Association, see www.sequimlavenderfarms.org or phone 360-452-6300.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at [email protected]