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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
Verena Borton (weaving)
My pieces are intended to be functional. I like to have beautiful colors, interesting textures and warm, comforting items around me in everyday life. I wish the same for others. The rugs are to step on, the shawls are to wrap yourself in when the sea breeze kicks up, the scarves will give you a bit of extra warmth on a bluff top walk or a touch of elegance for an evening out, the baby blankets are soft and washable, and the throws are the perfect comfort item when you snuggle up with a good book or take a nap. It is my hope that some of the joy, care and love with which I craft each item will be transferred to its new owner and add a touch of beauty and comfort to daily life.
Ray Borton (photography)
Art is indeed where you find it. I use a Hasselblad medium format camera and a 35 mm Canon. The resulting prints are mounted on folded cardstock for photocards, or matted and framed for hanging. Some of the larger images are printed digitally. Many of the Sea Ranch scenes were taken within walking distance of our vacation home or at Bowling Ball Beach, one of my favorite haunts for photography.
The Dolphin Gallery is located at
39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA |
From earliest childhood, I remember yarns in all stages of processing as part of my environment, both at home and in my mother's studio at school. Wool was being spun and dyed, skeins were waiting to be unwound, baskets filled with potential yarn combinations perched in corners and then as now, there was a loom in every room. Weaving in many ways involves the whole family, the whole living space and as much time of every day as you can make available.
Combining colors, textures and patterns into one-of-a-kind articles is my favorite mode of creative expression. It sometimes takes a year or more to find all the ingredients required for a certain project - and then it may well turn out differently from the original plan. This element of surprise provides the incentive for further experimentation and some lovely results, as well as the occasional disappointment. Using unique, often hand-dyed, fibers that tend to be in short supply ensures that I can rarely repeat a product; as a result, I never get bored.
Finding and recording artistic moments in nature has been the goal of my photography for more than half a century. A rock, a flower, a reflection - each becomes something worthy of being seen again when captured by my camera.