Wood Burn design of an abstract squid on cedar

Squidly – Wood Burning on cedar panel

In the ancient dialogue between fire and fiber, where cedar’s patient rings whisper tales of seasons long past, “Squidly” emerges as both invocation and revelation. Here, in this communion of element and essence, heat becomes storyteller, transforming surface into sanctuary, marking time’s passage in deliberate strokes that honor both intention and material memory.

The cedar panel, itself a testament to cycles of reclamation and rebirth, offers its own narrative to this collaboration. Each growth ring becomes a line of living text, a chronicle of drought and abundance, of winters weathered and springs embraced. Against this organic manuscript, the burning tool traces new stories—its heat singing hymns of transformation as it translates fluid motion into permanent testimony.

Squidly’s form, caught between definition and suggestion, emerges through this careful choreography of char and grain. Tentacles reach across time’s texture like questions seeking ancient answers, each curve and spiral a meditation on the nature of movement itself. The wood’s natural patterns participate in this dance of becoming, grain lines flowing like currents that guided this creature’s ancestors through primordial seas.

In this marriage of technique and material, every burn mark becomes an act of reverence—a recognition that creation often dwells in the space between control and surrender. The heat’s passage leaves behind more than mere marks; it creates topography of touch and restraint, where darkness blooms like ink in water, spreading until it finds its natural boundaries in the wood’s willing embrace.

Through this process, what begins as simple design transcends into exploration of how form emerges from formlessness, how intention meets resistance and creates something greater than either could achieve alone. The squid, that philosopher of ocean depths, finds new expression in this medium of permanent flame, its essence captured not in literal translation but in the way it suggests movement even in stillness, presence even in absence.

Here, in this communion of fire and fiber, art becomes artifact becomes allegory—speaking to the way all things carry within them the potential for transformation, waiting only for the right touch, the right moment, the right convergence of elements to reveal their hidden truths.

Red plastic bottle adrift in a sunset colored seascape

Adrift and Alone – Oil Painting

In the cruel poetry of human consequence, beauty and devastation dance an uneasy waltz across the the canvas’s intimate terrain. Here, where sunset bleeds its chromatic confession into waiting waters, a single red bottle drifts in elegant abandonment—an exile in a wilderness we have unknowingly crafted from our own discarded dreams.

The bottle, that ambassador of our disposable age, catches evening light with the same innocent grace as any natural wonder. Its synthetic skin transforms beneath the sun’s dying rays, becoming something approaching sublime even as it bears witness to our collective shortsightedness. Reds and purples paint its form in hues borrowed from nature’s most transcendent moments, as if the very sky conspires to highlight the strange beauty we have cast adrift in our wake.

There’s a profound loneliness in this singular focus—how isolation transforms even our refuse into subjects worthy of contemplation. The bottle floats in space between intention and abandonment, between utility and eternal persistence. Each ripple of light across its surface tells a story of transformation: how something created for moments of convenience has become an unwilling monument to permanence.

In rendering this castaway in sunset’s most seductive palette, the painting speaks to deeper truths about beauty’s complicated relationship with consequence. The same colors that draw us into contemplation of natural wonder here serve to illuminate our impact—how even our mistakes can catch light like prayers, how destruction often wears the face of momentary grace.

The title “Adrift” carries its own weight of meaning, speaking not just to the physical state of this wandering artifact, but to our own uncertain navigation of responsibility and consequence. In this single frame, captured on wood that once lived and breathed, we confront the strange marriage of intention and impact—how our brief conveniences birth eternal companions for Earth’s ancient oceans.

This piece becomes both celebration and indictment, a meditation on the way human presence transforms even the most pristine wilderness into a gallery of unintended installations. The bottle, lonely prophet of consumer convenience, floats eternal in its sunset reverie, beautiful and damned, a singular voice in the vast chorus of our collective impact.

Crab’s Bouquet

Crab’s Bouquet an Oil Painting by Christian Hammer

In ‘Crab’s Bouquet’, the artist Christian Hammer invites us to take a magical journey beneath the waves, where a crab swims gracefully through the water, reaching for a bouquet of flowers. The crab is rendered in exquisite detail, its shell glistening in the light.

The surface of the water is alive with movement, rippling and shimmering as if it were alive.

As we watch the crab, we can’t help but feel a sense of wonder at the hidden world beneath the surface of the water. The artist’s use of color and light creates a dream-like quality, transporting us to a place where anything is possible.

In this alternate reality, even a crab can grasp a bouquet of flowers, as if it were a water nymph reaching for a gift from the sea.

The artist believes that those who live and work in the Salish Sea region have a deep connection to the animals that call it home. The paintings have sparked conversations about the importance of preserving and protecting these creatures and their habitat.

For many, the paintings have evoked a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world, and have served as a reminder of the intricate web of life that we are all a part of.

Prints available for purchase $500

Thirsty Crab

16″x20″ Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

“Thirsty Crab” an Oil Painting by Christian Hammer

The inspiration for ‘Thirsty Crab’ came from the artist’s love of the natural world and concern for the impacts of human activity. While the painting is lighthearted and whimsical on the surface, there is a deeper message about our relationship with the environment.

Using a Dungeness crab as the subject, the artist Christian Hammer invites us to reflect on the ways in which our actions can have unintended consequences.

In the painting, the dungeness crab is drawn to a bottle of wine, representing the allure of human luxuries and comforts. However, the crab is also literally and figuratively ‘steaming’, a subtle reference to the impacts of climate change.

By juxtaposing these elements, the artist encourages us to consider the complex and often paradoxical relationship between humans and nature. The painting invites us to reflect on our own choices and actions, and to consider how we can live in harmony with the natural world.

In ‘Thirsty Crab’, the artist uses the contrast between the peaceful, idyllic setting and the underlying message to create a sense of tension and unease. The viewer is left with a feeling of uncertainty and even foreboding, which encourages reflection and introspection.

The simple yet powerful style of the painting makes it both accessible and thought-provoking, inviting the viewer to contemplate their own role in the issues it raises.

Original Available for Purchase $1000

Light Beer by Christian Hammer

16″x20″ Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

“Light Beer” an Oil Painting by Christian Hammer

One of the striking things about this painting is the use of light and color. The darkness of the background makes the clear glass bottle stand out, and the light it emits is almost ethereal.

This creates a sense of mystery and wonder, as the crab seems to be drawn to the light, almost as if it’s mesmerized by it. It’s as if the bottle represents something beyond the crab’s understanding, something more than just a discarded object. In this way, the painting is a commentary on human waste and pollution, but also on the wonder and mystery of the natural world.

Original available for purchase $1000