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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 Gallery will present an exhibit of Geoffrey Bolt's hand-crafted baskets and Jan Krunic's paintings from the opening Saturday, January 2 through February 3. About Geoffrey Bolt
When he retired from his Internal Medicine practice, his wife Maggie decided that he needed a hobby so that he would not be under her feet all day. She gifted him some lessons from the famous Sebastopol wood turner, Chuck McLaughlin. From the very first lesson, Geoffrey felt that he had found a creative outlet that he enjoyed and could achieve some measure of satisfaction in doing. There was a great deal of pleasure in taking a rough block of wood and turning it into a thing of beauty such as a bowl, vase, goblet or lidded box. Perhaps the most attractive aspect of the process was that it did not require him to do any precise measurements; the lathe and a careful eye could produce an object that was pleasing to the eye. This was a revelation to him, this realization for the first time in his life that he could indeed make something that even he recognized as being beautiful. He continued to make a lot of turnings and eventually reached the point that most wood turners reach - a decision as to what to do with all the objets d'art that accumulate on shelves and in closets. For some years Maggie had been producing art in the form of clay objects, collages, and later clay monoprints, which she had been selling in galleries and also at the Open Studios held once a year in June, sponsored by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. For the latter she had been a guest artist of Janet Charnowsky.
However, by 2009, he found himself in somewhat of an artistic backwater, and, having lost a lot of his enthusiasm for wood turning, did not participate in Open Studios. The previous year he had taken a class in Pine needle basket making from Gerda Randolph at the Gualala Arts Center and found it to be a satisfying experience. From the start of the class he noticed that he, as well as the other members of the class, was able to grasp the fundamentals and almost by the end of the first session was able to make an elegant basket. The baskets are mainly non-functional, although they could be used for some purpose if desired, but are beautiful as objects, with form and color from the waxed linen thread, beads and other embellishments that are added.
Recently he realized that it would be possible to use some of his small turned bowls as a base for the pine needle baskets and he now uses a turned wood base for almost all his "hybrid" baskets. This has not always turned out as well as he had hoped since his skills are not yet up to a level that will allow him to do some of the things that his imagination wants him to. He hopes that you will be patient with him until the day comes that his ability catches up to his vision.
About Jan Krunic
The next 60 years I spent my time exploring my physical and intellectual capabilities. I became an accomplished athlete and also received my Physical Science degree from California State University Long Beach in 1970. I taught math and physical education for 10 years. While traveling in 1980, I discovered a beautiful home with land in Annapolis and immediately relocated to the North. I established a successful cleaning business for 16 years. Upon retiring from my cleaning business in 2000, I moved from Annapolis, CA. to Cloverdale, CA. At this time I decided to pursue my latent artistic talents and joined a drawing class for seniors. I soon discovered the joys of painting with water-based oils on canvas. I recently moved into a technique I developed of India Ink drawings on Yupo paper. The satisfaction that I derive from creating artwork is tantamount to winning a coloring contest, setting an athletic record, getting a college degree, and yes, washing a window. Hope you too, enjoy my work.
The Dolphin Gallery is located at
39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA |
Geoffrey Bolt is a retired physician who practiced in Sebastopol, CA, after moving from San Francisco in 1972, until 2001. While he enjoyed art, it was as a spectator and not as a producer, no one having told him that he was, or could be, an artist. He had always been told that the wrong side of his brain was dominant for him to have any artistic proclivities. Even paint- by- numbers paintings he attempted did not look very "painterly" to his eyes, although his mother thought they were "very nice."
He was invited by Janet and Maggie to join them in the Open Studio, and with some trepidation he did so. He was pleasantly surprised in the acceptance of his work by the public, and continued with the Open Studios for a few years.
As a young person I had a recognized talent for drawing cartoon characters. In a coloring contest at age 6, I won 2 tickets to the movie "Alice in Wonderland."