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.