Earth, Air, Fire and Water

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Earth, Air, Fire and Water

a three women show of artists who work closely with nature for inspiration

August 5th - 28th

Opening Reception August 5, 2005 5pm to 7pm

Water color artist, Jennifer Bundey believes that colors heal the soul, both of the artist and the viewer. She will be exhibiting water colors painted in a technique called 'veil painting'. The technique is a layering of color upon color with each layer requiring a drying period before proceeding to the next. Jennifer begins with one or two colors in transparent tones. As the layers build and overlap, new color tones and values are created. Some areas intensify and become opaque, some are left as almost invisible veils. She is currently working on her "Fire Series" which are predominately warm colors and inspired by the loss of her home in the Oakland Firestorm. Also on display will be paintings from her "Gualala Series", incorporating the movement of wind, water, fire and birds.

Desert Awakening....................................

Guardian of All God's Creatures ........

Miriam Owen finds dried kelp, driftwood, beach stones, shells and other natural elements such as parrot feathers to fabricate her figurative sculptures. The Kelp People are usually pairs of anatomically correct sculptures that interact with one another in a tilt of the head or curve of the body. Free standing figures called Guardians, combining a striking piece of driftwood with feathers or natural reeds for a dramatic head element, are more recent inspirations. Miriam embellishes these figures, once reviewed as 'shamanistic' and 'playful', with beads from all over the world. Most recently she has been using beads from Nepal made out of the core of a conch shell inlaid with antique turquoise and coral. A world traveler, she found exotic ox and whale bone carvings in Tonga. Whales, manta rays, turtles and other totemic creatures become focal embellishments adorning her sculptures. Driftwood animals, mythic and one of a kind, are her "Rare and Endangered" series.

Susan Shaddick will be showing sculptures made from bull kelp. Susan views all her creative work as an interaction, a collaboration, between her and the materials. She is very drawn to work with natural materials in as "pure" a form as possible. When a piece is begun, it is not at all clear what shape it will take. The shape becomes apparent in the process of the making. She views her role as that of a midwife through whom the art reveals itself. Using her intuition as a guide and her hands as the primary tool, each piece is made manifest.The work is all about transformation of the material, the artist, and, hopefully, the viewer.

Rolling Kelp Wave ...........................