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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 will present an exhibit of new oils by Pamela Goedhart and ceramics by Nancy Morgan from the opening Saturday, May 2, 2009 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. through June 3.
Expect vibrant, glowing still life's resounding with the energy Pam shows throughout her work. "In everything I paint, I work to convey the feeling of beauty and the mood of the moment," she explains. The results are radiant. The first series, "Baskets," displays a whimsical sense of mystery as each painting tells a different story with a unique sense of place. Another series, "Peppers", is an array of sizes with great color and attitude. "I take painting very seriously but I often like to add a sense of whimsy too. I don't want anything to look static. I like to convey that creative magic I feel while I paint."
Long before she dedicated herself to painting full time, Pam had a long history with art - "I originally used my artistic skills in the workplace as owner and general manager of my own boutique advertising agency in the Bay Area." For 15 years she produced artwork for television, radio and magazines for clients throughout California. She eventually worked with major motion picture studios in Los Angeles - "That was great fun and great experience," she says. Later, Pam and her husband lived in Puerto Rico for five years where she first began painting in watercolors. She was inducted into the Puerto Rico Watercolor Society in 2001 and invited to display her work at the Museum of Puerto Rico in San Juan in 2002. Since 2003 Pam has been a full time resident of Sea Ranch and is a well-known teacher of on-going watercolor lessons as well. Currently Pam's work is often shown locally at the Sea Ranch Lodge, Spindrift Gallery and Panache Gallery in Mendocino. You can preview many of the painting mentioned here at pamelagoedhart.net.
As her family grew and moved, she found herself spending several years away from her chosen art form, raising her children instead. As the opportunity arose, she jumped back into the clay world, taking a job as the lab technician for the ceramics studio at Santa Rosa Junior College, where she has worked for nineteen years, all the while practicing her art of pottery.
"I really enjoy throwing pots on the wheel, creating functional pieces that people can use in their homes," says Nancy. "There's something very soothing and centering about creating a beautiful form from a ball of mud, pushing and pulling it as it spins. However, I find myself drawn more and more to creating pieces with a different flavor, more whimsical, less predictable." As a result, she finds herself drawn to creating vessels that work on both a functional and sculptural level. As an avid gardener, it was very natural for her to create pieces that enhance her outdoor spaces, either containers for plants or art forms that stand alone in the landscape. One form she has been exploring for several years has been water fountains and bowls. "I really started out by needing a water bowl for my dogs, being a practical sort of person, and had an idea kicking around in my head, but not enough confidence in sculpting to go in the direction I imagined," she remembers.
"As an artist, I find inspiration in lots of ways, looking at the world around me, meeting new people, learning new techniques," she says. "Many ideas get filed away in my head for future reference. I'll be working on a piece when suddenly an idea pops into my head, and I realized it is something that I saw someone show me years ago." Of course one never knows what form things will take. That's the beauty of the creative process. One person has an idea, another a technique, and a third person will take these elements and, filtered through her own life experiences and personality, come up with something really personal. Ideas evolve over time and change constantly. So, what's coming up next for Nancy? One never knows. But you can be sure it will be somewhat whacky, and made out of clay.
The Dolphin Gallery is located at
39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA |
Although Pam Goedhart has long been known for known for her watercolors, over the past couple of years, she has been painting more often in oils and now has several series ready to debut. "It was time for me to explore more as an artist, and using new media allows me to express myself in a whole new way," she explains. "All of a sudden I discovered that I love working in oils!"
Also on display will be many of Pam's abstracts, including "San Francisco Impressions" which captured a Judge's Award last year at Art in the Redwoods. "I use abstracts to express spontaneity. Loose, fluid feelings come out in wild shapes and colors expressing a single moment in time. I find this very exciting." The various abstracts whimsically convey everything from walking home from the symphony, to a bouquet of flowers - to walking on the moon. "Abstracts really give an artist complete freedom," she emphasizes.
Nancy Morgan is a ceramic artist who lives in Healdsburg, a small town in Sonoma County. She has been playing with clay since she was a child, building objects from clay found on the banks of the Napa River. When she took a ceramics class during her college years at Napa College, she discovered that this medium really called to her. Learning to throw on the potter's wheel became a passion with her, one that remains until this day. As she pursued her education, she found herself studying art at Humboldt State University, concentrating on ceramics.
While Nancy primarily considers herself a potter, one rarely remains static in any artistic medium. She continues to explore ideas, forms, glazes, and techniques connected with clay. While a potter is one who primarily uses the wheel to throw pots, there are a multitude of directions one can go. She considers the wheel one more tool to use in expressing her art.
Thus she began working towards her goal in one direction and got completely sidetracked into fish. Fish fountains, fish bowls, fish people, evolving from bowl shapes to boxes, always with that strong element of functionality. Her style is both loose and slightly quirky, with additions of images that are a bit unpredictable.