The movement of Camas Logue’s hands as they gently shape the soft cedar is mesmerizing. He’s only been carving for five years, but his proud father-in-law, master carver Kevin Paul, says “he’s already developed his own style.”
Photo by Nancy K. Crowell/La Conner Community News
Logue has made art all his life, but his passion for carving emerged thanks to COVID-19. When the pandemic hit, he and his wife, singer Katherine Paul, had to stop touring with their band, Black Belt Eagle Scout. They moved back to Swinomish and Logue enrolled in the Northwest Indian College to study environmental science. An artist at heart, he gravitated toward carving and soon was getting school credit for apprenticing under his father-in-law.
An accomplished musician, painter, and avid gardener, Logue is currently working on the story pole he and Paul are creating for the Whidbey Island campus of Skagit Valley College. If you happen to drive by the Paul house in Swinomish at the right time, you might see the two in action.
Logue, a Klamath tribal member, can’t recall a time when he hasn’t created art. From lithography and copper plate printing to carving and oil painting, he approaches his creations wholly, with a sense of tradition, place, and intention. From making his own tools to wild harvesting his own pigments, Logue immerses himself in his process. The results are an exultant tribute to his indigenous roots with a contemporary perspective. One only has to gaze upon his paintings to feel an intimate connection to nature.
“I like to connect my materials to the location I’m painting as well as using traditional materials,” Logue said.
For example, he collects vivianite ochre along the Oregon coast, crushes it and mixes it with linseed oil to create a blue pigment that has been used for millennia by his tribe. “Klamath used this blue color to paint traditional carvings and masks and the insides of their canoes,” he said.
For a series called “Klamath Land Pigments,” Logue wild harvested pigments from the locations he painted.
Arts Washington purchased the series, which is now housed at Ferndale High School, for their permanent collection. In addition to the story pole he is currently carving, locals will have an opportunity to view Logue’s work at an upcoming Museum Of Northwest Art exhibit called “Through the Light: The Sublime in Contemporary Northwest Art,” curated by Chloe Dye Sherpe, June 28–Sept. 28. You can view some of Logue’s work on his website: www.camaslogue.com.
Nancy K. Crowell is a photographer, photo editor, and general assignment reporter. She has also been a Master Gardener for 10 years.
