August 21, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
just a canvas. It’s the same as if a
painter bought a canvas to paint
on. The sculptures generally take
anywhere from 50 to 90 hours, to
actually cut each piece and sol-
der it together. The metal pieces
are actually ¿ tted to the vase. So
there’s actually engineering in-
volved in it.
5 Minutes with…
John Swayze
Get to know John Swayze, a metalsmith and silversmith whose work is
on display at the Gilbert District Gallery on Broadway. Swayze recently
moved to Seaside from La Grande to get established as an artist.
Q: How did you get into your work
Q: Are the sculptures custom-
Q: Is this the same Navajo style
as a silversmith?
made?
your mother was doing?
A: I design them myself. What I
A: Well, to start — when my par- A: Exactly. It’s the style they
ents retired and they moved to
Mesa, (Arizona), my mom was
bored, so she took a silversmith-
ing class. She silversmithed for a
few years. I was down visiting in
1973 or 1974 and she had a big
order. She said, “Do you want to
learn how to do this?” And I said,
“Yeah, sure!”
Q: Did you enjoy it right off the
bat?
A: 2h, yeah. )rom the very ¿ rst
ring I ever made. I’ve been artis-
tic all my life. When I graduated
from high school, I had 11 se-
mesters of art. Eight semesters of
school, but 11 semesters of art. I
used to paint when I was younger.
started using in the 1940s. I start
out with À at-sheet silver and wire.
A simple ring — from beginning
to end — takes about two and a
half hours. The more compli-
cated ones take about four and
a half hours. I’m using the exact
same components that the Native
Americans used, so really what I
can do with my designs is limited,
and that’s why it comes out look-
ing like theirs, because it basical-
ly is.
Q: Did you get any formal
training?
KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL
John Swayze joined the Gilbert
District Gallery in March to display
the jewelry and sculptures he crafts
as a silversmith, a skill he learned
from his mother.
she taught me and went out and
did my own thing.
Q: Do you have a favorite thing to
make?
A: Actually, the red brass accent
A: No, just my mother sat down sculptures are the most enjoyable
and taught me how to do it. And
from there, I started out with what
thing that I do. I go out and buy
vases and bowls, and it’s basically
do is I get the vase, and a lot of
times, it’ll just sit around for a
while. And I’ll sit and look at it. It
takes me a while to come up with
a design. There are only two I’ve
ever actually sat down and drawn
the design, and then tried to make
it after I’ve drawn and designed
it, just to see if I could do it.
Q: Did you like that process better
or do you prefer letting the art
develop organically?
A: It’s still becomes organic be-
cause, even if I draw it out, what
I can actually put on paper and
what I can actually assemble,
what I can really make, are two
different things. So there are al-
ways changes.
Q: What tend to be the most
popular items?
A: Rings, bracelets, earrings. Ac-
tually, here, bracelets. I can’t be-
lieve it. When I moved here, I had
bracelets I made eight years ago
that hadn’t sold yet. As soon as I
got here, I can’t keep the bracelets
in the shop. I’ve only been in the
shop since March and this is the
second time I’ve had to turn over
my bracelet collection, or make
them all over again. There is noth-
ing original here that I came with.
Q: Do you have certain designs or
shapes you tend to reuse in your
work, like this gecko, or do you try
to vary it?
A: I do. If you look at these two
rings, it’s really basically the
same. But no two are exactly the
same, even though it’s the same
design. Of course, they’re hand-
made, so I can’t make them ex-
actly the same. Everything I make
has my maker’s mark on it. And
it is a gecko, because geckos are
survivors, for one thing. They’re
colorful, they’re very adaptive —
that’s pretty much what it takes
to make my jewelry so that’s one
reason I picked it.
Letters to the Editor
No bypass will lead to
worsening gridlock
I have now read Cleve
Rolfe’s open letter to the
Seaside
powers-that-be
regarding the Seaside
bypass (or lack thereof)
twice, ¿ rst in The Daily
Astorian and secondly in
the Seaside Signal. As a
resident of Seaside, I be-
lieve his observations are
spot on. I do not know
the actual statistics, but I
am sure that a large por-
tion (perhaps as much as
50 percent) of the traf-
¿ c on Roosevelt Drive is
pass-thru with no inten-
tion of stopping in Sea-
side. Why are we forcing
these folks (including Mr.
Rolfe), who simply wish
to go past Seaside to en-
dure these horrible traf¿ c
snarls? There is, as well,
the residents of Seaside
(like myself) who hunker
down during these periods
to avoid getting caught up
in this for even a simple
trip, say to the library.
Last Monday I was in
Beaverton on business
when, in learning that I
live in Seaside, the pro-
prietor’s wife described
to me how, on a recent
Saturday, she came out
to the coast to drop off
her daughter with her
grandmother in Gearhart
when she came upon stop-
and-go traffic some dis-
tance out on Highway 26,
caused by backup from
Seaside. Apparently, her
relatively brief trip turned
into one of several hours.
All I could do was to ex-
tend my condolences and
commensurate with her a
bit on our city’s lack of
consideration for pass-
ersby like herself by not
vigorously pursuing a by-
pass.
I understand that proj-
ects of this magnitude
take years from the onset
to ful¿ llment, with many
players (ODOT, the coun-
ty, the city, and, perhaps
even the Feds) involved.
However, if we, the resi-
dents of Seaside and our
elected of¿ cials, do not
seek this and plan for it,
it will never happen and
the traf¿ c will simply get
worse.
Do we really want Sea-
side weekend traf¿ c like
rush hour on the Inter-
state 5 bridge in Portland?
Gridlock? That’s where
we are headed if we don’t
pursue a bypass.
Rod Dawson
Seaside
We must inform our
visitors of tsunami risk
Nancy McCarthy’s col-
umn in the Aug. 7 issue of
the Seaside Signal dealt
with The New Yorker ar-
ticle on the potential im-
pact of a Cascadia earth-
quake and tsunami. She
poses the question, “Will
The New Yorker story
make any difference in
our urgency to prepare for
this event?” To be frank
with regard to local res-
idents, their reaction to
anything is the same, “I
don’t pay much attention
to anything besides go-
ing to work and watching
my television programs.”
Many, of course, know a
little something about this
issue, but ¿ nd it dif¿ cult
to discuss. It is much eas-
ier to blame the govern-
ment, politicians and big
business than to actually
get involved in making
their community safer.
The question regarding
out-of-towners
visiting
our area being advised
by the article’s author, to
stay outside the tsunami
zone is considerably more
interesting. Seaside, in its
vacation rental program,
requires property own-
ers to post evacuation in-
structions. I am not aware
of hotels having any such
requirement. The hotels
appear to be primarily
owned by persons from
out-of-town and there are
no evacuation instructions
except at Trendwest. Cer-
tainly, most of the staff
at these hotels has little
awareness of the problem,
much less what to do for
the guests. During the sum-
mer, there are more than
6,000 overnight visitors
with virtually no chance
of reaching high ground.
The six-hour power out-
age during Fourth of July
created virtual chaos. An
addition to the convention
center combining much
needed convention exhibit
space, visitor parking and
an emergency evacuation
center sits in limbo as city
government argues about
pot, panhandlers and
spending several million
dollars on improving a
street which virtually car-
ries no traf¿ c. The Plan B
proposal for a new school
that would cost each resi-
dent the price of a single
cigarette per day also sits
in limbo with the school
board explaining that they
“are powerless to act” be-
cause their $128 million
proposal was turned down
by voters.
Local voters should ask
these of¿ cials to step aside
and elect leaders who will
actually do things. Local
papers should furnish the
community accurate com-
plete information, not just
retell what local leaders
want its community to
hear.
John Dunzer
Seaside
My neighbor hood
seen through new eyes
Way past a pleasure to
journey with you on our
one-day tour of the Coast
Range near Elsie, courtesy
of County Commissioner
Lianne Thompson and ac-
companied by a carload of
enthusiastic travelers.
Seeing my neighbor-
hood through the eyes of
¿ rst time viewers was sur-
prising. I saw our beau-
“Advertising in
the Seaside Signal
really does work”
tiful K-12 school as a
shining Jewell in this still
green valley. The homes
along the Nehalem River
leaped out and shook my
hand when the oohs and
ahs began. Even the tasks
of getting ODOT to in-
stall double yellow lines
in front of Bakers Store
and the Elderberry Inn on
Highway 26 to prevent
cars from passing in that
congested area seemed
conquerable in our vehicle
of enthusiasts.
Thank you R.J. Marx
for caring enough to ex-
plore the secret sanctuary
of the Coast Range.
Diane Jette
Elsie
BUSINESS
DIRECTORY
F LOORING
2/3 of Showroom
ALWAYS ON SALE!
Window Treatments, Fabric, Wallpaper,
Flooring and Interior Design
2311 N. Roosevelt Dr., Seaside, OR 97138 • 503-738-5729
rlflooring@yahoo.com • www.RandallLeesFlooring.com
Randall Lee’s Flooring Outlet • 3579 Hwy 101 Gearhart • 503-738-6756
Warehouse pricing • Open to the Public • Hundreds of instock rolls & remnants • In House Binding
L ANDSCAPING
Laurelwood Compost • Mulch • Planting MacMix
Soil Amendments
YARD DEBRIS DROP-OFF
(no Scotch Broom)
503-717-1454
34154 HIGHWAY 26
SEASIDE, OR
C ONSTRUCTION
B OB M C E W AN C ONSTRUCTION , INC .
E XCAVATION • U NDERGROUND U TIITIES
R OAD W ORK • F ILL M ATERIAL
S ITE P REPARATION • R OCK
OWNED AND OPERATED BY
M IKE AND C ELINE M C E WAN
503-738-3569
I’m pleased with how many customers
and people tell me they saw my ad in
the Seaside Signal. The cost of the ad is
offered at a great rate and it WORKS!
Patty Nelson-Strain
Owner, Patty’s Wicker Café
34154 H WY 26, S EASIDE , OR
P.O. B OX 2845, G EARHART , OR
S ERVING THE P ACIFIC N ORTHWEST S INCE 1956 • CC48302
A DVERTISING
TO PLACE YOUR
AD HERE!
Call or Email
Wendy Richardson
T HE
D AILY
A STORIAN
Ads that
work.
Contact Wendy Richardson or your sales representative today
about all your advertising needs
503-791-6615
503.791.6615
wrichardson@dailyastorian.com
BUSINESS
DIRECTORY