Press Release
Release Date: March 30, 2009
Contact: Sandra Lepper, EvCC Russell Day Gallery Director, 425-388-9445; slepper@everettcc.edu
EvCC Graduate Timothy C. Ely Returns for Art Exhibit “Diagramming Fate” March 30- May 1
EVERETT, WA – Hand-created books and watercolors by Everett Community College graduate and internationally recognized artist Timothy C. Ely will be on display at EvCC’s Russell Day Gallery until May 1.
Ely, who attended EvCC in the late 1960s, creates lavishly painted and drawn one-of-a-kind manuscript books, limited-edition prints and is the developer of 21st century professional bookbinding tools and equipment.
He will speak about his work at a reception at 6 p.m. April 16 at the Russell Day Gallery.
Influenced by comic books, Steampunk design (retro futurism), and the study of history, religion and sociological and psychological phenomena, Ely’s works are about a variety of topics, including natural sciences, mathematics, architecture and sacred geometry. His artwork often includes soil, sand, pigments, metals, inks, resins and wax and reflects his love of ciphers and codes
His EvCC experience, especially thoughtful conversations with his art instructors, inspired him to pursue a career as an artist.
“I went to college as an 18-year-old kid from Snohomish. A year later, my parents didn’t know who I was,” he said. “My instructors were incredibly patient with me – no one ever told me I couldn’t do it.”
Ely began to formally make books in tandem with paintings and prints in the mid-70’s following a master’s in fine arts degree from the University of Washington. A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts took him further afield to Japan, Italy and England where his studies of book binding with some of the world’s most well-known practitioners would nearly cement into a cohesive whole, his ideas for his visual stories and the book format.
His books and other works can be found in museums and libraries, most extensively in the United States and Europe. Ely, who grew up in Snohomish, Wash. now lives in Colfax, Wash. with his wife, Ann Marra, an accomplished graphic designer.
Workshop April 17-18 – “Sketchbooks: Thoughts and Actions”
Ely has taught bookbinding, drawing, and creativity workshops in many places in the world from Scandinavia to Central America. He will teach a workshop at EvCC, “Sketchbooks: Thoughts and Actions,” April 17 and 18, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
This workshop investigates the uses and utility of the artist’s sketchbook. The class is designed to acquaint the participant with some first principals of the craft of bookbinding as well as provide a platform from which the participant can merge the generation of idea and observation with the creation of a handmade sketchbook. Beginners are welcome.
During the workshop, participants will fabricate a formal book with rigid covers. It is built from the ground up and its success is dependent on the success of the previous step. This structure/ format is a hybrid, combining a traditional sewn text block with Ely’s development of the “drum leaf” binding for cover techniques.
The cost is $200 per person for both days, materials included. For registration, email gallery director Sandra Lepper at slepper@everettcc.edu
EvCC’s Russell Day Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.
Everett Community College is located at 2000 Tower St. in north Everett, two blocks west of North Broadway between 10th and Tower Streets.
For more information, contact Sandra Lepper at 425-388-9445. To learn more about Ely, visit his website at www.timothyely.com 
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