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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
Sonoma 8
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. The Sonoma 8 will present an exhibit at Gualala Arts Center from the opening Saturday, April 10, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. through May 2, 2010 in the Burnett Gallery. The group of eight Sonoma County artists was drawn together to support and encourage each other in the creation of their art. At their initial meeting in 2007 the members found that they all had a similar goal: to rediscover their emotional connection with the Sonoma landscape and to vividly capture this landscape through form, light and color. Plein air painting is one of the key elements used by the members to capture the stunning landscape and seacoast of Northern California. Exploration of styles and pushing the boundaries of representational art is also encouraged to produce creative and emotionally moving works. The group urges each artist to follow their own muse and not conform to a group style of painting. The members are Joyce Delario, Pat Spiz and Andrea Way of Petaluma, Mariel Green and Char Wood of Santa Rosa, and Kath Root, Chris Stover and Henry Violin of Sebastopol. The artists work in various media including oils, watercolor, pastel and acrylics. The group occasionally exhibits together in Sonoma County venues.
For more about the Sonoma 8 group, visit
www.sonoma8.com.
The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA, |
Joyce Delario is a native of New York City where she attended the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students' League. From an early age, Joyce benefited from the rich New York City artistic climate with its many wonderful museums, galleries and art schools. Since moving to Northern California she has immersed herself in plein air oil painting of local landscapes.
Mariel Green became interested in pastels through taking classes from Brook Allison, master pastelist, at the Chicago Art Institute. Mariel paints in her studio and in plein air using watercolors, acrylics and pastels. She experiments extensively with encaustics, silk dyes, photo imagery and emulsion transfers. Her works range from representational landscapes to bold abstract designs.
Pat Spiz is a watercolorist who attended art classes for many years at the Art League School at Alexandria, Virginia. Pat explores with various watercolor effects to produce unique figures, landscapes and abstract works. Since she has a double interest in the arts and in science she can appreciate the unique freedom of creating her watercolor pieces: "The pigments, paper and brushes each have personalities and mix in myriad ways. It is always a bit like an experiment. I have all these combinations ruminating in my head. And sometimes it happens magically on the paper."
Kath Root's artistic career began by seeing Gainsborough's "Blue Boy" and Thomas Lawrence's "Pinkie" at the Huntington Museum. She has an associate of arts degree and has studied with nationally recognized artists. Since moving to Sonoma County she paints both plein air and studio scenes of the local countryside. She strives to keep the emotive power of nature intact while moving the viewer with the effects of light and shadow. Her oil paintings are hung in Sonoma County venues and appear in shows around Northern California.
Chris Stover specializes in vibrantly colorful landscapes, abstract animal forms and imaginative fantasy scenes. He experiments widely with form and color to capture the spirit of a subject rather than a realistic rendering. In pushing the boundaries of color, Chris has been influenced by Post-Impressionist Fauve painters such as Matisse and Derain. Chris began his artistic work in 2004 in pastels and in 2007 began oil painting to explore new powerful ways to portray landscapes and animal forms. His pictures have appeared in the Wet Paint - Best of 2005 and Best of 2006 shows sponsored by the North Coast Artist's Guild.
Henry Violin is a trained oil and watercolorist whose works are done mainly in plein air. Regarding his creative process he says: "the inspiration I feel to paint a subject comes from within a meditative moment". Henry has a degree in Graphic Arts and Design and had an active teaching career spanning 25 years. Since retirement, he pursues his lifelong passion for painting full-time and exhibits in many Sonoma County art shows.
Andrea Way is an oil painter and pastelist who moved to Sonoma County from Southern California in 1997. Her depth of artistic knowledge has been augmented by workshops from many nationally recognized artists. She has exhibited widely in Sonoma County, Sacramento, southern California and Tucson. Her paintings are in many collections in the United States and Japan. Her corporate collectors include Sprint, Kaiser-Permanente, and the U.C. Davis Medical Center. She has taught plein air workshops in both Sonoma County and Southern California.
Char Wood is a passionate plein air artist who goes on location to paint Sonoma County landscapes at least once a week. She has taken dozens of art workshops over an extensive career for the past forty years. She has exhibited in the San Diego Watercolor International Show and the Pastel Society's Annual Show in Sacramento. For a number of years she owned and operated the Artist's Collective Gallery in Santa Rosa.