Following nearly three decades of running a day care center for toddlers and young children, a Ryderwood woman of Hawaiian descent found her calling in art.
“The kids had art time every day,” said Eileen Eddleman. “It was the best part of the day. After I closed the day care, I missed doing art.”
Finding herself at rather loose ends, culture and circumstance provided a path forward.
One of Eddleman’s sisters asked her to create an ipu, a decorated gourd to use as a performer in traditional Hawaiian Halau dance events in Tacoma and Puyallup.
Eddleman researched the art of ipu, obtained a wood burning kit, and etched tribal designs, turtles, and silhouettes of traditional Hawaiian dancers on the gourd.
Inspired by the ipu, family members began growing and collecting gourds, sometimes from as far away as the Midwest, which they would then sell at various markets.
Eddleman created pyrographic designs on several, but it was a tedious process resulting in frequent burns.
Raised in Lakewood by parents of Hawaiian descent, Eddleman is one of 10 children.
“We were raised the traditional Hawaiian way, with aloha, which to me means giving, helping, and sharing,” said Eddleman, whose own demeanor exudes gentle strength and kindliness toward others.
When one of her sisters passed away, she received 100 gourds from the estate.
“Those gourds sat for five months. I finally thought I’d better do something,” she said. “I picked up the wood burner that day and told my sister I was going to take care of the gourds for her.
“All of a sudden it was easier — very smooth, like drawing — and I kept going and going without burning myself. I decorated eight gourds that day.”
Eddleman took a few of these gourds to galleries in Tacoma, near where she lived at the time, and immediately there was interest. She was told her work on the gourds was considered as fine art and could command several hundreds of dollars each, or more.
“The second gallery that I went to asked to feature my work,” she said. “I put 50 gourds in the show and sold all but three.”
Buoyed by this initial success, Eddleman continued to create ipu art and also began painting. Her husband Sam and family are strong supporters of her art.
After a move to Ryderwood, a friend encouraged her to frame the several paintings she had stored in a closet and to hang them at home as well as to bring them to area galleries.
Today, Eddleman creates vibrant paintings and collages in watercolors, acrylics and ink, and unique jewelry from reclaimed materials. She also recently began working in ceramics.
“I don’t plan things out. I paint intuitively, sometimes doing the background first and then painting details until it looks good to me,” she said.
“I also like to experiment with different materials. I believe everybody has art within them, whether they take classes or do it on their own. It’s a matter of believing in oneself and just doing it.”
Eddleman has become a well-recognized Southwest Washington artist. She has been the featured artist at the BCJ Gallery in Morton and the Broadway Gallery in Longview and is a member of the Rectangle Gallery in Centralia and Gallery 505 in Toledo.
She has been a member of ARTrails of Southwest Washington for eight years and serves on its board.
Eddleman occasionally offers classes in the area in mixed media techniques, encouraging others in the creative process while sharing her own love of art in true aloha spirit.
Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/eileeneddlemanart/.
