Margaret Bolt, Ceramics Chris Johnson, Gourds Opening Reception: Saturday, October 3, 2009, 5:00 p.m. Exhibit remains through November 19 Dolphin Gallery

The Dolphin Gallery will present Maggie Bolt showing ceramics and Chris Johnson showing gourds from the opening Saturday, October 3, 2009 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. through November 19.

About Maggie Bolt

Maggie tells us about her art, "Creating is a passion for me. I am a self taught artist and have no fine arts degree. My main media are hand built clay, clay monoprints on fabric and paper, oil ink monoprints, mixed media and collage. I use many of my "scraps" from other media to create one-of-a-kind, handcrafted cards, bookmarks and matted ready to frame small works.

"My clay work is always highly textured and I make many of my own texture tools and imprint using things I find in nature. The clay monoprints on fabric are usually abstracts, with an Asian or African flavor. One of my most popular items are my "Cloaked Figures" (handmade clay statues that hang on the wall). Each one comes out differently, no matter how many I make and I would guess that I've made hundreds since their appearance in 1994. Some evoke the feminine and some the masculine spirit, all are unique.

"Born and raised in San Marino and Newport Beach, I have lived in Northern California since the early '60s. I met and married my husband in San Francisco and we put down roots in the rolling hills and orchards of Sebastopol in the early '70s.

"I have been part of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts Open Studio program, Art at the Source, for eight years and am Guest Artist at the home of Janet and Harvey Charnosfsky.

"I exhibit at Local Color Gallery and Ren Brown Gallery in Bodega Bay plus The Artisan Co-Op Gallery in Bodega. I am one of the partners in the new Sebastopol Gallery which opened in April, 2007. I also participate in Art in the Redwoods."

About Chris Johnson

In the early '90s artist Chris Johnson attended several basket making and gourd classes at the Caning Shop in Berkeley. She later joined the Bay Area Basket Makers and the East Bay Gourd Patch and traveled to Australia with another gourd artist to teach gourd art to the basket makers in the Melbourne area. Her work has been featured at Art Under the Oaks in Livermore and at galleries in Fremont, Dublin, Danville, Castro Valley and Oakland, not to mention as part of the Bay Area Basket Makers that frequently show in Gualala in May. She loves to teach and often volunteers to teach at her basket and gourd guilds.

Johnson has a passion for gourds. "Each gourd is uniquely shaped, and it often suggests what I should do with it. My artistic style had its origins when, as a newly married Navy wife in the early '60s, I lived in Japan and fell in love with the Asian motifs. Since then, my travels have taken me to many other Asian countries, which inspire the design of most of my creations, however I still enjoy U. S. southwestern , natural and contemporary designs."

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.