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Gualala Arts
Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961.
Archive of past events: 2004 through 2014
Anita Kaplan and Matt Presley will be exhibiting their work in the Front Gallery at the Sea Ranch Lodge from April 1 - May 31. Anita's medium is art quilts. She will be showing small, dynamic pieces. Matt's medium is wood. He will be showing original boxes including handcrafted wine cases. Anita is thrilled that her co-artist in this show is her son-in-law, Matt Presley. In addition to sharing their love of Anita's daughter, Zoë, they share the love of the natural world, which both informs and inspires their artistic instincts.
She has exhibited at museums and galleries internationally. She is the subject of magazine articles, is published in a new book, "500 Art Quilts", and has won many awards. Her work is currently on exhibit in the prestigious ArtQuilt Elements show in Philadelphia. "Having learned to sew at as a child at my mother's side has connected my spirit to the visual and tactile beauty of fabric. Art quilting has given me an avenue of expression and melded my skills with my aesthetic. Working with fabric is a joy and a challenge that feeds my soul." www.anitakaplan.com
Working primarily with domestic woods, locally sourced and milled whenever possible, Matt begins each project with careful selection of materials, often from the same tree, to ensure artistic continuity. Through this selection, particular attention is paid to use of the woods natural grain patterns (such as book matching a set of door panels) so that the finished piece has visual harmony. Once the materials are selected and milled to size, they are assembled using traditional, time-honored joinery techniques such as mortise and tenon or hand-cut dovetails. "In building these pieces I challenged myself by celebrating the unique natural characteristics of each board." www.oldgreenwoodworking.com
The Sea Ranch Lodge is located at |
Anita Kaplan brings a lifetime of experience as an artist and seamstress to her role as a master quilter. Vivid color and texture, dynamic line and contemporary design are hallmarks of her quilts. Anita gathers images from her environment and from her travels. She works spontaneously, sometimes starting simply from a fabric that sparks her interest. Her work is pieced, fused and appliquéd, hand and machine quilted and embellished. She incorporates her own hand dyed and hand painted fabrics.
Matt Presley is a self taught woodworker and owner of Old Green Woodworking Company, a custom furniture and cabinetry studio. Growing up in a home that was in a perpetual state of construction, he has been a lifelong builder of things. Though he is experienced in working with stone, steel, and mixed media, it is woodworking that has been his foremost passion. From his shop nestled in the forested hills of northwestern Oregon he draws inspiration from the natural world around him.