Home
Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
The Dolphin Gallery will present an exhibit featuring Arna Means, printmaker, and Brenda Phillips, ceramics, from the opening November 1st from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. through November 20, 2008. More about Arna Means
Retirement has given her more time to concentrate on pursuing her own art. She has a small etching press and has been experimenting with intaglio prints since the late sixties, where she learned the skill at the art center in Carmel, CA. Her husband and she were very involved in the art world at that time and had studios and a gallery on Cannery Row where the Monterey Bay Aquarium stands now. She later lived in the Bay Area with her family and studied art further at San Francisco Graphic Arts Studio and California College of Arts and Crafts.
In July, Arna will be participating in a workshop at Crown Point Press in San Francisco. This is a well known center where artists from all over the world meet and experiment with intaglio printing. She is looking forward to doing something beyond the limitations of what she can do on her small press at home and excited about working with experts at etching techniques.
Arna has shown her work in many galleries and exhibits in California and the west coast in general. She has won several awards. She welcomes any who would like to visit her studio to give her a call.
"I took beginning classes with Paul Stine and spent many good years at Brandybuck with Kaye Like. I've taken classes at Mendocino Art studio and Sierra Nevada College.
"There is something warm and friendly about a handmade bowl. My favorite cup for my morning coffee fits nicely in my hand even with slight 'imperfections.' I feel very fortunate to have found something that 'grabs' me at this time of my life. There is much for me to learn and I like the idea that there are many potters working into their 90's. That's my goal."
The Dolphin Gallery is located at
39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA |
Arna Means has been involved in art all her life. She has a degree in art and in art education from San Francisco State. She taught art and other subjects in California schools since 1956, retiring from full time teaching 10 years ago, but continuing as an art instructor at Kashia School.
She loves making prints and the surprise element it affords each time an etching is pulled from the press. She also enjoys figure drawing, painting from nature and all other forms of painting and drawing. At this stage of her life, she finds it still fulfilling and a very important and rewarding part of her daily life.
Brenda explains her love of clay, "When my son won the Gualala Arts scholarship for ceramics, his beautiful bowls stimulated my interest in pottery, so when I retired from teaching I purchased a pottery wheel and my love for working with clay began. My studio opens to my garden.
"To me it is miraculous to sit down to a lump of clay and with this spinning wheel form a plate or bowl or cup or vase. The feel of the clay taking shape is exciting to me. Mixing my own glazes has been an on-going challenge for me. I'm always looking for the 'perfect' glaze. I decorate many of my pieces with shells that I've found from the ocean.