Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Ross Palmer Beecher. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Napoleon Olive Oil Sampler, 1990

Ross Palmer Beecher
(American, born 1957)

Location: Shoreline School District, Shoreline

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Napoleon Olive Oil Sampler is a mixed-media collage created by artist Ross Palmer Beecher. She composed the colorful artwork by quilting together cut pieces of found objects. She notes, "I combined the colors of soda and tin cans to come up with a colorful, bright, 'fun' and playful piece framed with auto tail light pieces. All the ingredients to this piece were found, except the wire. I guess the most fun in this piece was to make it with junk that I found and then combine it into a little quilt sampler."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Shoreline School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ross Palmer Beecher is a Seattle-based mixed media artist. Her sculptural artworks are often composed as quilts and constructed of recycled materials. She describes her work as inspired by folk-art and "the joy of resourcefulness that has become a way of life."

Beecher grew up in the Northeast U.S. She studied painting, printmaking, and illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 1978, she moved to Seattle and began making traditional quilts to relieve her homesickness for the Northeast. In 1993, Beecher started managing the art therapy program at the Bailey-Boushay House for patients with AIDS in Seattle. She continues to be part of that program and it informs her own art practice. Her artworks are featured in museum collections including the Seattle Art Museum and Portland Art Museum. She received the 2020 Twining Humber Award for lifetime artistic achievement.

You can watch a short video about Beecher's art practice made by the Washington State Arts Commission in 2008 with support from the American Masters Program of the National Endowment for the Arts.