Artist
Loren Senge started cutting pasting, coloring, and carving as a child.
She had an excellent high school art teacher, Cliff Hooper, who treated his class to a broad and exciting introduction to the world of art. Here, Loren first realized that her childhood dabbling and love for color had a much larger possibility.

In college, Loren studied to earn a degree in studio art. This gave her a wonderful foundation and experience with various media including oils, acrylic, and water color painting, drawing, 3-dimensional design, pottery, metal-smithing, silk screen printing, and mold making. Fabulous instructors at Principia College, Glenn and Judy Felch, and Jim Schmidt opened her abilities and encouraged confidence in her own creative ability. As always, color was the leading element that intrigued Loren and motivated her work.
Later she worked with a graphic artist, Jim Tucker, from 20/20 graphics in Kent, Ohio and took courses in graphic design, printmaking and photography, planning to create a career in this field. She also spent 7 years devoted to painting, showing, and marketing her own geometric acrylic paintings, which were chiefly about color.

She went to work as a carpenter, starting her own business and working as a building contractor for many years.

During that time she participated in a program called “The Road Less Graveled” at the Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, WA. Here, women in the trades encouraged other women to try their hand at a trade. During a lull in a hands-on session, Loren walked over to the welding station and tried out the wire feed welder that was being demonstrated. This was such fun that she took classes to learn more of the welding, grinding, and cutting techniques necessary for creating art with steel. Soon she was visiting blacksmiths and taking classes from them also.

Now Loren has a small studio with a crane, an air hammer, a gas forge, welders, plasma cutter, fuel gas cutting rig and much more. She is most grateful to have her own facility for creating sculptures.

She loves being outdoors and gathers her inspiration from the hikes, kayak trips, surfing, and bicycling she so enjoys.

Loren's Thoughts on Functional Art
The obvious function of metal sculpture might be to hang a hat, a pan, a coat, or to sit upon. Other functions may be the visual inspiration the art provides that acts as a doorway to higher dimensions of color, of robust life, of a perpetual moment that extends one long slow thought of creativity into eternity. Consider how visually captured moments can carry entry into ultimate freedom from mortality? Now that is truly functional art.

Gratitude
Loren is ever grateful for her friends and family, including:
Dana Senge, Matt Brown, Alice Drabik, Ron and Ruth Graser, Ed and Eleanor Drabik, Maggi Kriger, Kaia Klitzke, Rodger Melton, Jere’ and Myles Donnelly, Pam Hom, Mary Kuebelbeck, Barry and Maryann Hochsprung, Barry Herem, David Christenson, George Duly, Brian Pedersen, Rick Leason, Paul Thorne, Joel Lee, Dennis Dendren, and Peter James, as well as many other students and teachers, suppliers, carpenters, advisors, artists and consultants, who have taught, acted as inspiration, and encouraged Loren as she progressed in this realm of her art career. Various galleries have shown her work. The Phinney Art Center in Seattle, WA; Amenities Gallery in LaConner, WA; Stone and Clay, Pacific Marine Gallery, Bellingham Public Library, and Hammon’s Gallery in Bellingham, WA; Dragonfire Gallery in Cannon Beach, OR. For these opportunities to show and sell her pieces, Loren will forever be most grateful. She also is grateful for the clients who have purchased art, giving Loren the opportunity to buy the equipment she needs: John Wiggins, Jan Brumfield, Kelly Britz, Nancy Neuerburg, Jerry Thon, Wayne Laufer, Dee Poulsen, Ann Sammons, Mary Gray, Diana Mills, Scott and Molly Forstall, Dick Opsahl, Larry Antil, Steve Graser, and many, many more.