Upcoming Show:
"Dream Vessels and A Murder of Crows" March 2019
Featured Artist: Marsha Connell
"Thinking About Hokusai"
Marsha Connell
Exhibit runs: February 25 – March 24, 2019
Artist Reception:
Sunday, March 10, 2019: 2 -5 pm
Poetry reading with Marsha Connell and Reba Connell, 2:30-3 pm
Refreshments will be served.
The March Featured Artist, Marsha Connell, presents works that articulate an artistic evolution initiated in collage and leading to the “Murder of Crows” still-life oil paintings. Connell had long been a painter and sculptor when her daughter, Reba, invited her to make a collage for shared communication while she was having her junior year abroad in Israel, a year that coincided with the first Gulf War. The collages became an unexpected healing process, fueled deeper by a dream of war preparations that suggested she bear witness. The collage “letters without words” to her daughter grew into a series of 150 “Dream Vessels” that speak with a visual vocabulary, like “Vanitas” paintings, symbolically merging awareness of death and the passage of time with the beauty of life.
When words finally came, they emerged from the “dreaming in the day” dance practice of Authentic Movement. The resulting poems were often written in the presence of the collages and arose from a similar place of finding connections among discovered fragments. They accompany the Dream Vessels, but do not describe or explain them.
The arranging and rearranging of found images in collage-making, laid the groundwork for assembling and staging objects in the “Crow” series. “Spirit birds” and wings play a supporting role in the collages; birds star in the still-life series. “Through this work, I found a way to bring hope together with darkness. Assembling these found images was like taking the broken pieces of the world and putting them back together.”
Both the collages and the crow paintings entice the viewer to look closer and follow a path of discovery. The paintings are also homages to other painters, such as “Thinking of Emily Carr.” And there is humor, Connell confided, “The longer these crows were in my studio, the more trouble they got into!” evidenced by their activities and positions in the paintings.
When words finally came, they emerged from the “dreaming in the day” dance practice of Authentic Movement. The resulting poems were often written in the presence of the collages and arose from a similar place of finding connections among discovered fragments. They accompany the Dream Vessels, but do not describe or explain them.
The arranging and rearranging of found images in collage-making, laid the groundwork for assembling and staging objects in the “Crow” series. “Spirit birds” and wings play a supporting role in the collages; birds star in the still-life series. “Through this work, I found a way to bring hope together with darkness. Assembling these found images was like taking the broken pieces of the world and putting them back together.”
Both the collages and the crow paintings entice the viewer to look closer and follow a path of discovery. The paintings are also homages to other painters, such as “Thinking of Emily Carr.” And there is humor, Connell confided, “The longer these crows were in my studio, the more trouble they got into!” evidenced by their activities and positions in the paintings.
"Dream Vessels #125: Metronome," Collage. Marsha Connell
Small Works Showcase: Andrea Cleall
Andrea Cleall
The Small Works Showcase exhibit on the stairway features works by Andrea Cleall. These works are an eclectic mix from landscape and wildlife to musicians and still-life.
Andrea Cleall
Current Show:
"Art From The Heart" February 2019
Artist reception: Sunday, February 17th, 2-5pm
current exhibit runs to through February 24th
Linda Barretta
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Carolyn Wilson
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Donna Schaffer
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The February Window features heartfelt artworks by Linda Barretta, Donna Schaffer, Carolyn Wilson, Ron Sumner and Cynthia Jackson-Hein. And, for your sweetheart, fall in love with a special piece of jewelry or a locally handcrafted gift.
Ron Sumner
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Cynthia Jackson-Hein
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Small Works Showcase: All 16 Gallery Artists
Carolyn Wilson
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Phyllis Rapp
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Cynthia Jackson-Hein
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The Small Works Showcase exhibit on the stairway displays artwork by all 16 gallery artists. As individual as the artists themselves, this exhibit features small paintings expressing connections to the people, places and things that these artists love most in life. Some artists display their passion for painting wildlife; others their bliss in observing nature's details or favorite places discovered while outdoors capturing the beautiful landscape of Sonoma County, and beyond. “This exhibit really shows the common thread of their passion for making art”, noted Carolyn Wilson, Gallery manager, adding, “all art comes from the heart.”
Susan Greer
Linda Barretta
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Cynthia Sumner
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