Local artist fits frame for success

Eatonville resident David Craig's Four Winds Art Gallery features all sorts of Native-American inspired pieces of art, from paintings and drums created by Craig himself, to other forms of native art, like beadwork.

Enrolled in the Chippewa (Ojibway) Tribe, Craig said he is inspired by his native heritage and by spending time growing up on a reservation.

Craig said that his love affair with art dates back to when he was young.

"I've always done it, since I was a kid," he said. "My mom didn't quite know what to do with me. I was kind of a quiet kid, and so at about 10 years old, she got me into some private lessons."

After learning much from these lessons, Craig went on to compete in several art contests in high school, where he said he had wonderful teachers.

Yet Craig didn't come from a line of artists.

"I've come from a logging family and so they were like, 'What are you gonna do? You don't want to be an artist.'" Craig said. "So I kind of was pushed into going into the commercial route. And so I went to the Art Institute of Seattle and studied commercial design and illustration."

After school, he did quite a bit of freelance work, using his degree, but the passion wasn't there, so he built a little studio — a log cabin — and decided to do his own art after all.

His first art show ended up being the Eatonville Arts Festival, where he did quite well for himself, he said.

Bolstered by the kind response he received from locals, Craig began doing his own art full time in the mid '90s, only retaining a few of his commercial clients.

In about 2006, Craig opened up the Four Winds Art Gallery where it currently stands at 127 Washington Ave. in Eatonville.

The gallery has become a place where Craig can work and display his creations, while also giving space to other artists to do the same.

"I do watercolor paintings mainly," Craig said. "And do some mixed media, and I've been very busy with the (rawhide) drums. And then that kind of morphed into doing some sculpture, rawhide sculpture. But got also other local natives come in with beadwork and basketry and jewelry."

As for the drums, Craig obtains elk, horse or buffalo hide and stretches it across the frame of each drum to create the instrument's tonal quality. He also paints the rawhide with Native American imagery.

In addition, a primary part of Craig's business is custom framing.

"All through high school and through college I worked at a custom frame shop and art gallery. And so I became a certified picture framer," he said.

Now, he has carried that skill with him to the Four Winds Art Gallery, and though his business model may change in the coming months, he said he will still offer the service.