Welcome to Silly Dog Studios

Silly Dog Studios is a working maker and artist space: part photography studio, part herbalist studio, part writer’s desk, part well-listened-to wilderness, and part makers market/workshop/gathering space for people expanding their own community, understanding, creativity, playfulness, and selves, like we are.

Silly Dog Studios is also our home.

The light and dark are different here. They are noticed. Welcomed. Celebrated. People who visit here tend to feel that way too. All emotions are welcome here. There’s magic here. We didn’t make it. We were drawn to it, too. Somewhat serendipitously, like you.  

We named our studios, home, and business for Australian Shepherd/goof ball/dog wonder, Eva (aka, Eva Louise Jellybean, aka, Eva KaneEvil, aka, Eva Louise Hypotenuse, aka, Eva Las Vegas), our badass playfulness muse who lost a leg to bone cancer a few years back and who almost never stops enjoying life. Cora dog is her playmate now, too. Two cats too awesome for mere words also share the house, writing studio space, and garden: Batman and Joey Big Paws. The two primary people behind the silly dogs are photographer and popular instructor and podcaster (The Perceptive Photographer) Daniel Gregory and essayist, herbalist, poet, and author of 16 wonder-filled books, Lori Kane, EdD. In Langley you can ask “Where does Eva dog’s family live?” and most folks will point you in our direction.

You’ll find us here talking with trees and herbs and birds; making things alone and with others; hosting open studio days; scheduling and coordinating makers markets and workshops; teaching workshops and mentoring others; fielding questions about the space, the town, and the island; hosting friends; exploring forests with the dogs; and cooking. When we’re not here, we’re usually up in Oak Harbor relaxing with Papa Jim and visiting with Nana Linda, who lives in a memory care home now and who has lived well with Alzheimer’s disease for 20 years.

There were hundreds of trees on this land who were here before us. Our elders and muses. And we’ve added another dozen trees, so far, for future generations. The trees here sit on the Silly Dog Studios board of directors, and when you think we make good decisions, praising the trees here makes far more sense than praising us. We couldn’t make wise decisions without them. May none of us ever have to again.  

 

A few words from Eva and Cora…

Hello, welcome to our studios! We love company. Love community. When you come here, we’ll most likely wiggle, circle spin, and roo roo (bark) with joy. Those are barks of welcome and happiness. We love company! Puppy Cora can be told “Down!” with a firm voice if her excitement gets the best of her, and she jumps up and down.

More about the space and us

Daniel’s space is a working photographer’s studio with full dark room, ample room to spread out huge prints, a bunch of kick-ass printers, great and flexible light, tiny kitchen, an uncountable number of gadgets and photography books, and comfy chairs. In addition to teaching small group workshops here at Silly Dog and via Zoom, he also teaches photography in Seattle at PCNW, online through Creative Live and KelbyOne, and around the country as invited, most recently at Photoshop World and as part of Photoshop online conferences. He also mentors other photographers one on one. Daniel loves learning and teaching very old photo processes/equipment/techniques as well as combining the best of the new with the best of the old. His photography work can be found here: danieljgregory.com. He also graciously serves as the Silly Dog Studios IT department, pop-up market co-host, and resident market tent setter upper.

Lori’s space starts in the forest to the east, moves through a writer’s office full of books, desks, cats, gifts from friends, discarded drafts and views of the chattiest trees, and ends in the neighbor’s tree tops to the west, the duck pond and field of horses to the south, and in the sea to the north. An essayist, poet, empath, and herbalist, she listens to the land and the community to create herbal offerings and creative non-fiction books. Her latest book is called Unshaken Wonder: Becoming Playful Elders Together (collectiveself.com/books). Before turning toward herbalism almost full time a few years ago, Lori worked as a community story wrangler, and her books–even her poetry books–are full of community stories. She’s the founder of Seattle’s popular Collective Self Coworking (2012-2015), co-founder of popular neighborhood event Hopscotch CD in Seattle’s Central District, and co-founder of the Bayview writer’s coworking space (2015-2016). Lori welcomes other herbalists, farmers, writers, poets, and creators (including parents) of all kinds to pop by to visit her herbal studio at Silly Dog Studios any time, relax in the yard, play with Eva, Cora, and the cats, or spend time working and reimagining the world at the kitchen table.

We’re surrounded and supported by a host of others here. Our friends, family, communities, and kind human neighbors, yes. And the voices of those who came before us. Plus, we share the larger Silly Dog space with thousands of plants and trees (including a beautiful dead tree still dancing and teaming with life); several deer families; a triad of stellar jays; two pair of flickers; two pair of doves; a squirrel mom and her kids; passing-through robins and hundreds of tiny others; a gaggle of in-fighting hummingbirds we call The Scooby Gang; a mouse family who we’re trying to convince not to eat our car wiring for their sake as much as ours; plus neighbor ducks, heron, horses, dogs, and eagles; duck pond; stream; and dark starry sky. Everyone and everything here welcomes your playful, gentle presence.

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Address

Mailing Address
PO Box 435
Langley, WA 98260

Silly Dog Studios Address
4683 Tompkins Road
Langley, WA 98260

Email Us

info@sillydogstudios.art