EDUCATION and TRAINING

Bachelor of Fine Arts

School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2008 - 2012

Studied abroad at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, CAN 2011

WHERE TO FIND MY WORK

Port Townsend Farmers Markets - Select Saturdays April-December 2024

See Market Dates on my Event Page

Chimacum Corner Store, Chimacum, WA

Aldrich’s Market, Port Townsend, WA

Hearth Natural Medicine, Port Townsend, WA

Old Alcohol Plant Inn, Port Hadlock, WA

Marine Science Center, Port Townsend, WA

Puget Sound Express, Port Townsend, WA

SKILLS

Textiles
Vat dying, block printing, Eco-printing, and katazome

Painting
Large murals, acrylic and watercolor

Printmedia
Woodblock printing and screenprinting

Design
Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, vector design and image manipulation

Comics and Narrative
Pen and ink comics, small publishing, and storyboarding for film

CONTACT

Feel free to contact me here.

Follow along and see what's new: Instagram @kiraplantart

Kira Mardikes is an Olympic Peninsula based artist whose work is deeply influenced by her love of farming and gardening.  She grew up going to a bilingual Japanese-American school in Portland, OR and was shaped by her family. One grandfather was a Greek American passionate about photography. Her other grandfather was an accomplished novelist of Native American fiction who carved bone, wood, and horn in the Coastal Tlingit & Haida style and was part Chickasaw descendant. Her grandmothers on both sides were artists. One in Greek Orthodox iconography and the other as a potter. Japanese, Greek and Native American art have greatly influenced her style and craft since she soaked them in at such a young age. Simultaneously her style is unique and always pays respect and credit to the techniques learned from other cultures.

She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012 where she focused on telling stories through comics and theater. She then sold art on the street in New Orleans and Mexico and helped with local puppet shows.  Learning about the Gulf Coast’s dead zone, the petrochemical industry, and the reality of pollution along the Mississippi River and through agricultural land in the US is what inspired Kira to begin organic farming on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington while also working as a local illustrator. The urban comic book heroes she wrote about when she was younger have now become coyotes, deer, wildflowers and trees, and recur as beloved motifs in her new artwork alongside educational pieces on native plants, animals, sustainable forestry practices and gardening.

Recently she has been botanically dying textiles and bandanas with dyes she grows. She has led classes in eco-printing, vat dying and natural dye painting as well as tutored teenagers in fine art. Find her herbal teas online in select stores as Westwind Botanicals . She also illustrates for businesses and individuals such as the ones listed below.

CLIENTS

Finnriver Cidery, Chimacum, WA

The Chimacum Corner Farmstand, Chimacum, WA

Longhouse for the People, Quilcene, WA

Sound Mandala, Kansas City, MO

Cascara Gardens, Portland, OR

Shatoiya De La Tour, WA

Deeproots Botanicals, NY

Organic Seed Alliance, Chimacum, WA

Old Alcohol Plant Hotel, Port Hadlock, WA

The North Olympic Salmon Coalition, Chimacum WA

Friends of the Trees Botanicals, Port Hadlock, WA

Kodama Farm and Food Forest, Chimacum, WA

Moonlight Market, Bainbridge Island, WA

Flutter by Pizza Pie, Chimacum, WA

Weed Eater, Greak Lakes Region

Little Wings Farm, Eugene, OR

Arthur Magazine, Joshua Tree, CA

Laura Hill Massage, Portland, OR

The Raging Pelican Journal of Gulf Coast Resistance, New Orleans, LA

Soul Cedar Farm, Quilcene, WA

Ramble Botanicals, Marrowstone, WA

PRESS

Pen, ink, Spade, Rake - Finding inspiration in the garden by Brennan Labrie, Port Townsend Leader

CREDITS and THANKS

Meryl Vedros - Design and logo advice

Hudson Gardner - Web design, Photography

Tassie Ryland - Photography

Anna Pallotta - Web design