Gualala Arts

Marty & Matthew Covington: photography & Tom Haines: woodworking Opening Reception: Saturday, April 5, 2014, 5:00 p.m. Exhibit remains through April 30 Dolphin Gallery

Tom Haines

Tom Haines has a special ability to enhance the inherent beauty of wood by creatively employing a variety of materials and designs that raises a craft to the level of fine art. His combinations of materials illustrate both his skill as a wood turner and his vision as an artist.

Bud vases, by Tom Haines

He can create a vase from staved olive wood, a plate from a collection of scraps joined with black epoxy grout, a centerpiece from a manzanita root ball, a lamp with a copper and walnut base and a pine shade. By combining different woods such as mango and purpleheart or wenge and maple in one piece he adds contrasts of color and variety of designs. These designs and many more can be found on his web page - www.tomsturnings.com.

Haines began turning wood after his retirement when his son and daughter gave him a one-day class with an accomplished wood turner as a Christmas present. Soon, he acquired a second-hand lathe and began experimenting. Sometimes his work would fly off the lathe or split at a crucial moment, but after many trials and errors he has honed his skills to an exceptional level.

Although his woodturning is fairly recent, his interest in wood began at his father's knee when his dad built him a workbench equipped with a hammer and saw. As a teenager he built his first wooden boat. As a young adult he built two wooden racing sailboats of red cedar planks over a frame. He still remembers the fragrance from that wood. He also built a complete set of living room furniture.

Box elder burl, by Tom Haines

Tracing his interest in wood back to a grandfather who was a carpenter, Haines finds the variety of textures, colors and even smells found in this natural material very satisfying. His raw product may come from a discarded scrap, a fallen acacia, or even a warped table. Each piece offers a special challenge and a new opportunity.

The examples found in this show, his second at the Dolphin Gallery, take a craft as old as mankind and raise it to a new level of artistic achievement rarely seen.

Marty and Matthew Covington

The father-son team of outdoors photographers Marty and Matt Covington returns for their second Dolphin show in three years. For this exhibit, entitled "Trees," the pair has ventured farther afield. It features a brief two-hour period of one magical morning in the Blue Ridge Parkway of Tennessee when the colorful fall maple foliage still intact on the trees had received a dusting of snow.

"It was a photographer's dream - actually a fairyland," remarked Matt. "For those precious minutes it was virtually impossible not to get memorable shots as we worked our way slowly back and forth along back roads. The rising sun put an end to it all, but not before a leafy treasure trove was captured in our cameras."

Trees, by Marty Covington

Much of Matt's photography incorporates substantial advanced planning that includes scouting unknown and remote areas, as illustrated in their first exhibit of images of the Southwest, the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Northern California coast. This time they were handed a serendipitous gift of nature.

The collaboration began when Marty accompanied his son on photographic forays. He progressed from equipment wrangler to kibitzer and eventually opinionated critic. When Matthew thrust a camera into his father's hands so he could experience for himself the challenges and rewards of the creative process, the team was born.

Now a full-time resident of The Sea Ranch, Marty and his wife Bette first came to the area in the mid-1970s when they built a vacation home for the family. That's when the photographic avocation began. Marty also has participated in the Gualala Arts lecture series where he is known for using magic tricks to illustrate his message.

Trees, by Matthew Covington

Matt is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a partner in an international law firm, DLA Piper. His clients include commercial lenders, contractors, oil companies and real estate developers. Marty is Professor of the Graduate School in the Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley. He has taught at Berkeley for the past 56 years where he continues to work. Among other awards he is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of Graduate Student.

Dolphin Gallery is located at 39225 Highway 1 in downtown Gualala, CA,
behind the post office on the south side. Open daily 10am - 5pm
(closes at 4pm January-March).
Call (707) 884-3896 for more information.