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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 is pleased to be showing photography by Elizabeth Shepherd and fused and Dichroic glass by Meris Emory from the opening reception on Saturday, October 2, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. through November 19, 2010. About Liz Shepherd
As I've grown older, I still love to carry a camera, and capture images, in part because I have a poor memory, and the photos are a time capsule of my life, but mainly because the camera has given me an outlet for some creativity. (I was told when I was in the 6th grade in art class, that I didn't have any talent, so I lost desire to do creative things with my hands). My love of travel and exploring the world is a great blend with my love of photography. Through these, I have found a way to share a deeper part of myself, and the way I see the world and all its beauty.
Most of my photographs have only been shared with family, friends and colleagues, however the Dolphin Gallery in Gualala has given me opportunities to share my images with the public, and I am eternally grateful for that. I love the chance to share and collaborate with Meris Emory for my shows, as her glass work mixes and shows well with my photography. I can't wait to share my most recent travels on safari in Africa with the Dolphin Gallery in 2010.
About Meris Emory
In 1994 I began making fused glass flower holders as a "second job" to my career as a full time x- ray technician to make money for an upcoming trip around the world. With only word of mouth advertising I easily sold many. It was very exciting! In 1995, away on my trip for a year, as I was strolling down a peaceful sandy beach in Koh Samui Thailand, I said to my traveling companion and long time friend, "I am going to return, get a loan from my father, and give all my time and energy to start my glass art business." And I did. I was filled with certainty that it would succeed. And it has. Meris Emory Enterprises became a dream come true. I returned to Oakland and got all the supplies I needed to get my first show off the ground in February, 1996. My little Pinto kiln, run by a regular wall switch, was replaced by a very expensive custom built kiln that has 10 times the capacity of the little Pinto. I was in heaven.
I did my first show, selling my flower holders, at the San Francisco Orchid Show in February 1996 at Fort Mason, sharing a booth with a wonderful hybridist. We shared a booth for the next 10 years. I have enjoyed doing lots of shows all over California and Nevada and Arizona. Most of the shows were art and wine sort of venues. I have also enjoyed being in the Dolphin Gallery up in Gualala, California and doing a lot of their fun shows. The setting is gorgeous and the art appreciating community is the best. My work is mostly functional. I like my glass to flow with soothing color combinations and design that provide a visual treat with tones of playfulness and elegance. I use a full fuse to allow the eye to wander. Through the years I have made flower holders, sconces, framed mirrors, wooden boxes with fused glass tops, sand blasted napkin holders, decorative bowls and platters, a whole line of jewelry, wall pieces, picture frames, clocks, and done photos with frames to match.
The Dolphin Gallery is located at
39225 Highway One in downtown Gualala, CA |
I have had a love of photography since before I really knew what photography was. I remember I always loved looking at and holding old photographs in my hand, trying to read the emotion, or the history of the events of the day that created that image. I loved taking pictures from the time I was quite young, I remember using a Brownie box camera, taking grainy black and white photographs at Girl Scout camp when I was 8 or 9 years old. I relished the images because they helped to remind me of the fun and memories I had made while at camp.
Although I have been doing a variety of art media, starting when I was 8 years old, doing oil painting lessons in the back of a piano store; the medium that took me by the wings was fused glass. While attending California College of the Arts in 1968, I had decided I just wanted to do art "when and how I wanted to do it;" so I became an x-ray technician instead, which I approach as an art form. However, after a class at SFSU in 1986, in glass fusing, which was encouraged to me by a long time friend, I was totally in love with fused glass. After the class, my friend and I took a road trip up to Portland to visit Bull's Eye Glass and see how this magical glass was produced. After that trip my strong passion for glass was sown. I sought out classes and seminars to learn all I could about fusing, slumping and sand blasting glass.
