Guest Post by Art Stand artist, Sally Delap-John

Truchas Tales:  Pilar

Sally Delap-John has been writing of her painting adventures in New Mexico, where she has bought a home to also serve as studio and gallery.

To paint the church at Pilar requires parking up a little, bitty non-road and then hiking with gear farther uphill. There was supposed to be a group going. The skies looked threatening, but I didn't want to be the light-weight, so off I went. When I arrived, I missed the little road/path to the sight. Took many tries backing up to get about ten feet. I took the even smaller, steeper track up the hill, backed in and parked.   I was just getting things out when Freckles stealthily got out and disappeared over a ridge.  I called and whistled, but no sign of her.  I carried stuff up to the spot, kept looking for her, set up and started painting. I had upset a nest of very large ants, ones that you could see all of the parts of their bodies while standing. Slight adjustment in location.  Later as I was into the painting I saw her on a road below, called and whistled and she kept going.  I saw other dogs, so was just waiting for the snarling sound of a meeting.  Later, she came quietly up and I took her to the van.  It was then I saw that I was parked in part of a rock wall and cactus.  The van sliding door would not close all the way.  I tried and tried, but it wouldn't budge either forward or backward. I went back up and completed my painting - three hours total. Packed up and got out of there. I stopped at the Rio Grande, just a little way on. Tried the door again - no luck. Where the road meets the road to Taos, I got out and gave it one last heave and finally, it moved so I could close it. Did I mention I was the only one there to paint?   That night at dinner I reached down to pet her and pulled out an inch and an half cactus thorn from her side. 

Guest Post by Art Stand artist, T.S. Wood

Sunday, 18 January 2009

Phew! What a winter break! Two trips to Arizona to visit my beloved sister and her family (11 hours each way, times 4!), an evening trip to the Phoenix Zoo http://www.phoenixzoo.org/ for the bright and glorious Zoo Lights experience (what I'd give for flirtatiously velvety caresses at Stingray Bay!), a visit to Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden to see the fantastical Chihuly glass installation exhibit (like walking into a fairy tale... you turn a corner and lo! a forest of exquisite, hand-blown glass reeds writhing skyward amid the prickly pear cacti; then you come close to a bridge and notice on the riverbed the most fascinatingly large glass baubles/bubbles spilling out of a wooden boat!)  http://www.dbg.org/index.php/chihuly , and a delectable 3-fondue dinner on New Year's Eve (oy! oy! Such richness! A truly sumptuous feast!) What a grand Christmas season I had!

Last December I made a collection of luminarias for a special exhibit at the Williams Gallery West http://www.galwest.com/ in Oakhurst. And two days ago I happened to be in the area with a friend, and found out that only two of these luminarias were left. Ack! I have to get busy making new ones. I'd been too involved with my Christmas break and trips that I'd been neglecting clay work. So yesterday afternoon I cleaned out my studio, which for about a month had been a catch-all location with Christmas stuff and weird odds 'n ends I couldn't find any place for (read: junk I couldn't let go of) towards the end of last year. My word! Cleaning is exhausting work! Definitely not my favorite activity. But by the time I was done, or I should say, by the time the work table had a bit more than a square foot of work space and the potter's wheel was emptied of most of the old and dry clay bits, I only had enough gumption to throw two luminarias. My plan was to throw a couple three more today first, and then carve the two I made yesterday. We'll see how it goes today.

So to the studio I go! --t.s.wood

Update on Winter Workshop Classes

                                                                                               

The Winter Workshops are coming to a close this coming weekend. They have been well-attended and well-received and the levels of enthusiasm of the participants and the instructors have been high. This weekend is the dichroic glass class (both Saturday and Sunday) which should be very exciting.

Both Sally Delap-John and Tiwi S. Wood have volunteered to write a post for The Art Stand Gallery blog so those 2 articles will be appearing in the very near future. Other artists will be posting articles in upcoming posts as well.

January 30th and 31st/Dichroic Glass Classes by Kay Gaston

More information to follow soon about glass artist, Kay Gaston, instructor for next weekend's classes!

About Kay Gaston and her class on January 31st and February 1st

On Saturday, January 31st and Sunday February 1st Kay Gaston will be teaching a fused glass workshop, a new offering on the roster of classes given at The Art Stand Gallery. The class is open to all comers.

Kay grew up in a world of textiles. She was taught to sew, knit and crochet at an early age and found her first artistic muse in the textile medium. She is a physical therapist and that calling allowed her to discover the wonders of the human body which she adorned when she was creating wearable art. She melded the two worlds when she began making cloth dolls in 1993 and started ' plain & FANCY by kay' a small textile art business. She hastens to thank elinor peace bailey for her whimsical patterns of Monique and Amethyst. Making those dolls started her love for this art form.

One of the beauties of making cloth dolls is that she learned so many skills to embellish them. This led to beading and jewelry making that ultimately led to fusing glass into jewelry. "If I'm not creating a cloth body, I'm embellishing it," Kay says.

In July of 2005 she began working with fused glass and immediately became enthralled with the possibilities. The dichroic coating has a luminescent glow and every time the kiln opens it is full of surprises. "It's like quilting a patchwork but with glass". Kay has subsequently added silversmithing to her art forms to enhance her jewelry.

You are encouraged to visit Kay's website for more about the artist and her work. www.plainNfancybykay.com

Watercolor Class on Sunday, January 25th. by Sally Delap-John

Sally Delap-John works in her studio at the base of the Sierra Nevada.  Her work reflects her years of studying various forms of art, her joy in creating it, and love of the world around her. She enjoys representing the local landscape in her work and often works en plein air.  Sally Delap-John finds excitement in pure pigments and the endless, beautiful combinations they create.  She enjoys the immediacy of watercolor to capture a scene, a mood, or the light at a particular moment as it illuminates a subject.

Her work is displayed year round in her studio, which is open to the public by appointment.  She regularly displays with Door Art Gallery, the Alliance of California Artists and the Art Stand.  She is a co-founder of the Art Stand, a cooperative of a dozen or so artists who have converted a former fruit stand to accommodate their art.  For many years, she has shown in the Reedley Fiesta, Fresno District Fair, and Madera Art Council Celebrate Agriculture with Art.  Her work can also be found in the Sequoia View Bed and Breakfast/Winery.

You can view her website here for more information and images.

Just a reminder--Artist Journals and Books class this coming Saturday!

There is to be Mixed Media class in "Artist Journals and Books" this Saturday, January 24th. The instructor is Kathleen Mattox and she and the class have been written about in previous posts. Participants should bring mixed media supplies, any collage papers they have, drink coasters (if they have any), and perhaps a small purchased notebook or journal to embellish.

Suzie Stach, Pastel Class, Sunday January 18th

Suzie Stach is an outstanding local pastel artist, nationally-known for her "fire art", depicting scenes of firefighters in action. She also does wonderful watercolors and oils. She planned, designed, and executed the "new look" on the doors and the signs at The Art Stand Gallery. 

She strives to put the viewer into her paintings by evoking a memory or experience. Her paintings are consistent award winners at juried shows and she has been recognized in national magazines as well. For more information and to see photos of her work, go to her website at fire-art.com

For Sunday's pastel class, Suzie will teach how to create strong pastel paintings through underpaintings and the use of rich color. She will demonstrate each stage of a painting and provide individual help to students. Come out and be prepared to learn a lot about painting a pastel painting if you are new to the medium or gaining additional knowledge if you are already a pastelist. 

Kay Owens, Pastel Class on Saturday January 17th

Kay Owens is a well-known artist in the Fresno area. She paints in watercolor, pastels, oils and makes jewelry. She will be teaching a class in pastels this Saturday. In her class, she will be having students work with hard and soft pastels on a variety of supports. She will demonstrate and give information on the medium and equipment and then students will paint and have fun!

Kay has taught for Clovis Adult Education for many years and many artists have studied with her. She serves in key positions in many art organizations. She is a demonstrator and a juror, proficient in many media and skillful in executing various techniques and subjects. 

Go to her website for more information about this well-known local artist.

The classes this weekend

This weekend, The Art Stand Gallery had the first 2 Winter classes of 2009. Yesterday was Jeri Burzin's photography class and today was Elaine Towne Lane's glazing class. Both were well-received and productive. Today's photos were taken with an iPhone and the glare of the sun--once it came out!--was very strong. This morning's fog was terrible, most likely because yesterday was such a gorgeous sunny day. Next weekend, Kay Owen's and Suzie Stach's pastel classes! More biographies and photos to follow in the next few days.

Elaine Towne Lane, Instructor on Sunday, January 11th

On Sunday, January 11, 2009, Elaine Towne Lane will offer a class called "Tile Glazing for Potters and Painters", a new offering on the roster of classes given at The Art Stand Gallery. In the class, participants will experiment with different glazes and techniques to produce a variety of colorful, interesting, decorative, and painterly designs on different clay items. A sense of imagination and adventure will be helpful to the participants in this exciting new class.

During the past year, Elaine has produced several new "series": teapots and teacups, tiny lidded pinch pots, "beaded" pots, new nativity sets, and many animals and figures--all are very creatively executed and beautifully finished. Elaine's work and Tiwi Wood's work add a much needed 3D element to the work at the Art Stand.

It is very obvious in Elaine Towne Lane's pieces that the 20+ years she and her husband spent in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America have had a great influence on her work, inspiring her creativity and the frequent use of certain cultural icons, textures, patterns, and colors. Her love of pre-Columbian art is admittedly a dominating influence for her works in ceramics, glass, and jewelry. Her work is very popular at The Art Stand Gallery, at local art shows, and at the Kingsburg Art Gallery. You will enjoy seeing Elaine's work and adding it to your collections as well as meeting her at upcoming Art Stand events.

Jeri Burzin, Photographer

Today, Chieko, Elaine, Tiwi, myself, and my husband convened at The Art Stand Gallery to set up the space for our winter classes which begin this weekend. If you haven't taken a class at the gallery, you really should try it. Classes are small and well-planned and presented, with a lot of personal attention and interaction between students and teachers--they are also a LOT of fun! It's not too late to sign up and you can find details below in an earlier post. 

The first class, to be held on Saturday,  January 10th, is a photography class taught by Jeri Burzin. Jeri lives in Visalia and is one of the newer members of The Art Stand Gallery. She takes wonderful photographs of different areas of California, focusing particularly on Yosemite and the mountain areas, ocean scenes (often with birds and animals), and local area scenes. Natives of Visalia area will certainly appreciate her personal views of the area, as will Sanger and Reedley natives love her Blossom Trail photographs. In addition to photographs of California, on her website you will view wonderful panoramas of Italian vistas and the American southwest. Please go explore what she has available online and at The Art Stand Gallery in Minkler and the Wooden Indian Gallery in Visalia.

On her website, she tells about her past and current artistic accomplishments, and explains how valuable a communication tool photography has been in her work as an educational therapist with children.

In this weekend's class, "Photography: The Basics and Beyond", Jeri will focus on the basics of light, composition and the camera. It is open to beginners and anyone else who wants to learn more about taking a "good" picture consistently, using either film or a digital camera. Hands on activities will be provided and we hope you can join us for an enjoyable, productive Saturday!

Kathleen Mattox, Mixed Media Artist

Kathleen Mattox is a native of the San Joaquin Valley who specializes in watercolor and mixed media paintings. At the end of college, at Fresno State, she took a few exciting painting classes and then didn't paint again until 2000. She was apparently "mentally painting" during the whole 30+year hiatus, because since 2000, she has been prolific! A lover of color, line and texture, she applies the basic elements of design in everything she creates. Thriving on exploring alternative subjects and approaches, she describes her work as "wet, wild, witty, and whimsical" and expects that all her pieces be interesting and fun for both the artist and the viewer. Each venture is looked upon as "just a piece of paper", but she loves the challenge of trying to rescue paintings that she doesn't feel are her best works. Each new painting is a thrill in itself as well as a jumping off point for the next step in the creative process.

Recently retired, Kathleen now has time to paint more frequently, go to workshops, and gather inspiration for new paintings. She is greatly enjoying having time to pursue her passion with energy and enthusiasm. Her creative life used to begin at 5 PM; now it can happen at any hour of the day or night.

Kathleen currently belongs to the Alliance of California Artists, the San Diego Watercolor Society, and the California Watercolor Association. She currently shows her work at The Art Stand Gallery, the Madera Arts Council Circle Gallery in Madera, and at Timberline Gallery in Oakhurst. She teaches a limited number of classes in mixed media and collage, both to groups and individuals. Her home studio gallery may be viewed by appointment.

Her blog is mixedmedia.kathleenmattox.blogspot.com and on her blog are links to gallery and club associations.