Gualala Arts Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961
In celebration of her 80th year, acclaimed local artist Loraine Toth invites the public into her bluff-top studio in Elk for a rare and intimate look at her evocative ceramic sculpture work—presented in the very space where it’s created. Loraine Toth’s bluff-top studio, located at 1051 Navarro Bluff Road in Elk, will be open to visitors on Saturday and Sunday October 4–5 and 11–12, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This special event continues the journey of her recent “Retrospective” exhibition at the Gualala Arts Center, offering visitors a deeper connection to her artistic process and legacy. Loraine Toth will kindly accept payments by cash or check only. To schedule a visit to her studio outside of her Open Studio hours, please call 707-877-3295.
Loraine’s vibrant and fantastical sculptures are inspired by the European traditions of the Commedia dell’arte, a style of theatre originating in northern Italy in the fifteenth century, which Loraine became acquainted with while studying art in Vienna. The Commedia dell’arte featured actors wearing distinctive costumes and masks who performed with highly stylized postures and exaggerated gestures to convey emotion and intent. Such performances often incorporated jesters, harlequins and acrobats who actively engaged with the theatre audience.
Loraine’s figurative works, always intensely colorful, can range from bold and provocative to sensitive and alluring – with facial expressions, gestures, props and masks contributing to their overall visual impact and messaging. Loraine’s work is large and physical, creating a powerful impact, yet still manages to speak to you intimately. Loraine often chooses to display multiple sculptures together as part of a unified group – evocative of a theatre performance where one
artwork can play off against another in telling a story. Loraine’s ceramic sculptures are glazed and fired, sometimes multiple times, in a large kiln at her studio – with her larger figures often assembled from several smaller components fired individually. Needless to say, there is an abundance of technical skill, knowledge and energy that underpins Loraine’s finished artistic creations that can be best appreciated from a studio visit. So come meet the artist, visit the studio, enjoy the art, stroll the gardens and see the kiln It promises to be a memorable experience!
10% of proceeds will be a fundraiser for Gualala Arts.