Take five, in Seal Rock
The town of Seal Rock is named for a picturesque rock formation just off the coast that people can enjoy as they cruise down Highway 101 south from Newport. But if you fail to stop for the charming storefronts and cute wood carvings of the town as you drive past, you are really missing out.
Attractions including a dungeon-delving writer, talented artists and sinful sweets, combine to make a stop in Seal Rock an absolute must.
Artist and bead maker Susan Hanson of the Dancing Coyote Art Gallery has gathered the “Seal Rock Five” as a way to draw some attention to the businesses that have so much to see and experience.
“People often drive right through without realizing how much we have here and it’s such a shame,” she said. “The people who do stop are always impressed by what they find.”
The varied artwork on display at Dancing Coyote includes glass beads created by Hanson as well as other bead makers from around the world.
“I took a reprieve from painting for 25 years and just got captured by glass,” she said. “I ran a bead store here for more than 20 years but I was ready to transform the shop into a gallery last year.”
Though moving away from bead making, Hanson continues to create memorial beads that contain the ashes of departed loved ones that people often make into pendants and other jewelry.
Using alcohol inks and other mixed media like acrylics, pens and pencils, Hanson creates paintings that are bold representations of her subjects.
“Bright colors inspire me,” she said.
The gallery also shows work by Jeremy Burke, Catherine Hingson and Nancy McEwen.
“They are all friends of mine who are all Oregonians and that is what I want to focus on,” Hanson said.
Fellow Seal Rock merchant and carver Karl Kowalski was born into the business of creating bears and other iconic Pacific Northwest characters that he sells from a building festooned with carvings by himself and his father.
“My dad started this back in 1969,” Kowalski said. “He had been running a grocery store and gas station, and he created a large carving to put in front of the business just to attract attention. He never really liked running the store, so that one attempt evolved into a full-time carving business. He opened this shop in 1975.”
Kowalski began “messing around" with carving when he was roughly 12 years old, but it took a while for him to become the full-time carver that sells not only in his own store but also in shops in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Washington.
“I worked for Pepsi for a bit but was still doing this on the side and have done this pretty much full time since 1980. This is my 43rd year and I have a product that has proven itself over time. People know what they are going to get when they order it.”
Karen McMahn from Shady Cove, Oregon, has become a dedicated collector of Karl’s Carvings. She and her husband were in the shop to order a Bigfoot statue to join the bears they already have.
“We’ve seen carved bears all up and down the coast and his just stand out,” she said. “The faces have a character and attitude that is funny and sharp, questioning and telling you off, all at the same time. We have two larger bears in our home and we got one for our son-in-law too. People comment on them all the time.”
Almost halfway through your adventure in Seal Rock, you might be ready for a sweet treat and Indulge Sweets not only has a full inventory of sugary goodness, including Tillamook and Umpqua ice cream flavors, but the shop itself, with bare wood walls and colorful accents is a cute and cozy spot for a break.
“It’s a great place to come in and relax,” said Amanda Walker, who purchased the business from the original owner in 2013. “I grew up coming in here — I was the neighborhood kid so when the previous owner was ready to go on to other things she offered it to me.”
A lover of sweets, Walker has retained the classics and expanded the menu too.
“We have more types of cookies and brownies,” she said. “But we still use the old-fashioned brownie recipe that has been around since the ’80s.”
But the hardest treat to resist comes with a name that hints at its level of indulgence.
“We are famous for the Evil Brownies,” Walker said. “They are pretty hard to resist.”
Even if you manage to hold out against the Evil Brownie, you must still beware, as there be dragons nearby. Rose Estes, owner of the Hauser Gallery, has cemented her place in the gamer hall of fame as the creator of Dungeons & Dragons Quest books, a part of the history of the enduringly popular tabletop role-playing game. Mixed throughout the large building, which might be more accurately described as an antiquities shop, are D&D Quest books as well as other fantasy novels penned by Estes. Vintage kimonos, ornate carved furniture and plenty of dragons in all shapes and sizes fill the space. Time it right, and you might get to meet the author herself. Saturdays are the safest bet for a face-to-face experience.
Finally, a man who has carved out a 50-year career as a wood artist of very high caliber — Brian McEneny of the McEneny Woodcarving Gallery.
“I started carving with Karl’s dad,” he said. “Back in the ’80s there was a group of us out here in Seal Rock trying our hand at it. People were knocking on the door and were buying some of the ugliest stuff you’ve ever seen. Luckily those of us that stuck with it got a lot better.”
McEneny has made a name for himself as a creator of sea life-themed carvings, most of which were started with a chainsaw and then finished with “a whole heck of a lot of sanding.”
His stunning wood creatures include seals bursting from raw wood, fish cavorting in a coral reef and families of dolphins swimming to an imaginary ocean surface.
“We were all fighting for the same dollar,” he said. “I started doing whales, dolphins and other marine life so that I could do something other than the bears, cowboys and Indians that my friends were all doing."
McEneny’s larger pieces are quickly becoming collector’s items.
“I physically can’t handle doing the larger carvings like I used to so they are getting more valuable to me and I’ve increased the prices,” he said. “It’s almost becoming a museum here. I guess I’m close to becoming a museum piece myself.”
Located roughly 10 miles south of Newport and five miles north of Waldport, the Seal Rock Five are:
Karl’s Carvings, 10915 Hwy. 101, 541-961-8575
Brian McEneny Woodcarving, 10751 Hwy. 101, woodcarvinggallery.com, 541-563-2452
Hauser Gallery, 10285 Hwy. 101, 541-563-5232
Dancing Coyote Gallery, 10343 Hwy. 101, susanhansonart.com
Indulge Sweets, 10181 Hwy. 101, indulgesweetsfudge.com, 541-563-2766
Grand opening this Saturday
The grand opening of Dancing Coyote Gallery in Seal Rock is doing double duty this Saturday, Sept. 2. The live music, wine and snacks will enliven an event that is also raising funds for the owners of the Ziggurat building, which was devastated by fire in July.
Pamela Staton and her husband, Russell Baldwin, are starting to rebuild their lives after the loss of their unique pyramidal home and their three home-based businesses.
The grand opening will feature Dancing Coyote Gallery owner Susan Hanson’s art as well as work from many other local artists.
An auction of artwork will include two custom memorial beads created by Hanson and a few pieces of art that survived the Ziggurat fire.
“There is a whole wall dedicated to the things that survived the fire so my gallery has the sweet scent of smoke,” Hanson said. “They are really loved by the community.”
The event runs from 4 to 7 pm at the Dancing Coyote Gallery, located at 10343 Hwy. 101 in Seal Rock.