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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
The Dolphin Gallery will present the pottery of Brenda Phillips and photography by Mel Gerst from the opening Saturday, February 5 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. About Brenda Phillips
Throwing is my favorite part of working with clay. When I put the lump of clay on the wheel I'm fascinated by the many different forms that can be made. I use a wide variety of glazes, mixing my own from recipes, but tweaking them for my use. I'm experimenting with the firing schedule which makes a huge difference in the glaze. That's very exciting. Making pieces of pottery that are for everyday use definitely makes me happy. Hopefully I'll be a potter for another 20 years. About Mel Gerst
Besides his technical expertise, his work reflects his creative and artistic abilities. He has won several awards and many of his photographs are well know by their title . . . such as The Prayer, The Look, The Light, The Strike and The Green Flash. He captures nature's activities at the most appropriate moment in time. Whether it's the distant sun or the lady bug up close, he lets you see it beyond the superficial. His greatest joy in photography is when a person walks up to one of his images and with a gasp exclaims, "Oh, my."
The Dolphin Gallery is located at
39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA |
Functional pottery has been my passion for over 10 years. My son, Jay, won a Gualala Arts scholarship at Point Arena High School for ceramics, which encouraged me to try my hand with clay when I retired from teaching.
My formal training has been with Paul Stine of Manchester and many years with Kaye Like at Brandybuck. I took classes at Mendocino Art Center, a Sierra Nevada College summer class with Jeff Ostreich, a Grass Valley glaze workshop with Chic Lotz, and recently a San Diego workshop with Kristen Kieffer.
Mel Gerst started developing an interest in photography at the age of fourteen. During his first career in the aerospace industry he acquired considerable experience using photography to obtain scientific data testing rocket engines. Over the next three decades he founded two companies using his photographic skills in commercial environments. Upon retirement in 2006, he finally had the time to pursue his interest in wildlife and nature photography. Now a full time resident of the North Coast, he and his wife Janet and their dog Scarlett live on The Sea Ranch. It's not surprising that most of his subjects are along our local coast.
His last company provided services in photography, graphic design, digital & offset printing. All production steps were performed in-house, including scanning and color separations. He continues today with the concept of total control by printing, matting and framing all his work in his home studio. He recently upgraded his printer to the Epson 9900 that uses 11 different inks, printing a very wide range of colors on paper or canvas up to 44 inches wide. Mel says that the materials he uses in printing and framing permit his photography to be enjoyed with no noticeable change in color for up to 200 years.