| The
best one-word description of the Art Guild of Pacifica’s Annual
Members Show is “grand.” Art Guild members bring their best works
to this show, making it a joy to see and a real celebration of art
in Pacifica. This year’s show marks 20 years of the Art Guild having
a permanent home for this annual exhibit at Sanchez Art Center.
The 58th Annual Members Show opens Oct 7, and runs through
Nov 13, filling both East and West Galleries. An opening reception
will be held from 7 to 9 pm on Friday, Oct 7, with music provided
in the East Gallery by Vivacé, with Rob Hughes (flute) and Alan
Lee (piano). In the Main Gallery music is by guitarist Mark Sessler.
Jennifer Farris and Rab Terry of Studio Gallery in San Francisco
will select this year’s merit and exhibition award winners, and
the four 2016 exhibition award winners will exhibit in the Main
Gallery in fall 2017.
Exhibiting in the
Main Gallery this year are Joel C. Fontaine, Charles Dennis McDevitt,
Nancy Mona Russell, and Wendy Thieler, the four exhibition award
winners selected in 2015 by artist and Skyline College instructor
Jody Keane.
After a successful
career as a theatrical set designer, Joel Fontaine turned his artistic
talents to drawing with pen and ink and painting in acrylics. His
award-winning pen and ink New Shoes Triptych depicts three
eras in a woman’s life through her footwear, going from Mary Janes
to heels to slippers. Says Fontaine: “My recent works hover around
the theme of lifeswork (yes, spelled like that), the necessary work
of humans and animals.”
Charles McDevitt’s
oil and acrylic paintings portray realistic images of manmade objects
in natural sunlight and shadow, in a manner sometimes approaching
photorealism. McDevitt’s works for the awards show are all acrylic
on canvas, 40” x 30” in size. His subjects are mid-twentieth century
home appliances and toys, to which he brings a sense of warm appreciation
and compassion.
Nancy Russell is
an abstract painter who works in acrylics and oil sticks. Her award-winning
piece, titled Push, was done in oil stick. According to
the artist, her works are either abstractions of visual memories,
or the results of a process of discovery. Russell often highlights
her bright colors with a liberal use of white, making for happy,
joyous images that uplift and enliven the viewer.
Wendy Thieler is
a photographer, painter, and collage artist. Her award-winning photograph,
Plant Life II, looks like a painting, capturing the light
and shadow on folds of fallen tree bark. Her part of the awards
show will include photographs and mixed-media collage works. Thieler’s
photography is notable for the sensitivity with which she approaches
her subjects, and she brings the same delicate touch to her collage
materials.
The four award-winning
artists will talk about their work on closing Sunday, Nov 13, at
4 pm in the Main Gallery, with Jennifer Alpaugh, Art Guild of Pacifica
President, moderating the discussion.
Also happening on
Nov 13 is Open Studios, with twenty Sanchez Art Center studio artists
opening their doors to visitors from 11 am to 5 pm. There will be
all kinds of art to see—jewelry, photography, painting, assemblage,
colored pencil drawings, weaving, printmaking, and mixed media.
You can explore the studios, engage with the artists, and ask questions
about their work. There will be live art demos as well, offering
another chance to explore various techniques and approaches.
Sanchez Art Center
is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica, about a mile east
of Highway 1. Following opening night, galleries are open Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, and by appointment, through Nov 13.
For more information call 650.355.1894 or email info@SanchezArtCenter.org.
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