Gualala Arts

Meg Oldman (glass art) & Walt Rush (fine jewelry) Opening Reception: Saturday, February 2, 2008, 5:00 p.m. Exhibit remains through February 27 Dolphin Gallery

The Dolphin Gallery will have a free exhibit of glass art by Meg Oldman and fine jewelry by Walt Rush from the opening Saturday, February 2, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. through February 27.

Meg Oldman has been creating beautiful sand carved crystal and glass art for over twenty-five years. She uses both representational and abstract designs to communicate in a language of emotion and empathy. Much of her work is inspired by the current events that shape our lives; the delightful and the dreadful.

Through her development of distinctive etching and carving techniques, Meg creates a broad spectrum of artwork in glass and crystal. Her work includes architectural scale installations, fused crystal and gold pendants, finely detailed crystal vases, and kiln-slumped bowls. Meg carves her designs using pressurized sand; inventive in her approach, accentuating the deeper carved areas with light etching techniques for balance and expression.

Currently, Meg is focusing her energies, using cultural symbols and images to create synergy in her designs. One of her goals is to bring harmony and balance into homes and offices through her elegant art work. A recent project for a Japanese client incorporates cultural symbols by the use of cranes to represent long life and success. An additional pair of cranes in flight symbolizes a lasting partnership, and oshi-dori birds represent brotherly love.

In The Cycle of My Art I. I seek the discovery of beauty, in my life and in my creations- I believe Beauty- Created even out of grief or sadness, still serves to balance Life- sustaining us. II. I create a design to capture a moment- to incorporate new life Into the clear, unblemished surface of crystal. This moment, captured within my design, carved into the glass Creates a greater beauty- the complex combination of a vision Etched across glass through which I view the greater world. III. Crystal- hard, brittle, and bright is also Soft, gentle, forgiving. It accepts the contrasts imposed- It accepts this play of dark and light, It accepts the order of design and the chaos of a vision- Just as we try to accept our own contrasts, In our search for meaning...

For the past six years Walt Rush has been serving the Redwood Coast community with their jewelry needs. Many customers have been very appreciative to be able to have Walt rework pieces of jewelry which have been sitting in a jewelry box or in the bank safe for one reason or another. By using the customer's materials they have been able to save a great deal of money. They receive more value by redoing a piece of jewelry to a new design rather than selling it for scrap.

Walt has been a jeweler for over 36 years now and uses many different and unique techniques in creating his wonderful wearable works of art. Walt's inspiration comes from living on the coast and he likes to create one-of-a-kind jewelry that reminds him of the ocean and his natural surroundings. Walt believes jewelry should enhance the human body as a painting or sculpture does to a room.

For the past three years Walt has won first place in the category of jewelry and ornamentation at Art in the Redwoods which is held every third weekend in August.

Walt is a Gemological Institute of America associate member, a member of Gualala Arts, President of the North Coast Artists' Guild, and a member of the Mendocino Art Center. He also is a docent at the Dolphin Gallery where he can be found every Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. He can also be found at the Prentice Gallery every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. just a quarter mile south of the Fort Bragg Botanical Gardens on Highway 1.

The Dolphin Gallery is located at 39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA
(behind the post office on the south side). Open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-3896 for more information.