Coming Exhibition: Linda Sue Price, Joan Ransohoff, Joan Vaupen

May 20 - June 14 2014

Opening Reception: 

Saturday, May 24, 5-8 p.m.

Artist Talk: 

Saturday, June 10, 3-4 p.m.

Garden of Virtue, Linda Sue Price

Linda Sue Price, Jesse, Neon Mixed Media, 23x23"

Neon mixed media artist Linda Sue Price’s current exhibition experiments with cast neon light and textures while exploring themes of virtue, mentorship, and the nurturing qualities of gardens. Working with washers, acrylic spheres, rods, and paint, Price manipulates different textures in contrast to the light medium. Using flower boxes as a structural base, Price strives to make her neon works more accessible to viewers. “Most of the neon tubing in my art is bent free form, which means there is no pattern. Shapes may be similar but each is unique,” says Price. “When starting a new series or project, I bend different shapes until I find one I want to explore or one that expresses something I have been thinking about.” While abstract in design, Price’s works make reference to individuals and current events that have made an impact in her life. Three “mentor” pieces - titled “Jesse,” “Cynthia,” and “Rose” - are dedicated to these individuals as a form of gratitude for their specific guidance. Other works make literal references to cultivation, as abstract soy beans and dragon tongue beans grow from flower boxes. Meanwhile “Consistency is Not a Virtue” playfully references political attitudes. Price’s work exhibits a technical mastery of vibrant neon tubing injected with thematic wit.

From the Garden, Joan Ransohoff

Joan Ransohoff, Meyer Lemons In a Garden Pot, Oil on Canvas, 30x24"

In Joan Ransohoff’s latest exhibition she transitions from plein air landscapes to reflect upon her artistic roots - natural studies. Beginning often from her own garden, Ransohoff’s oil on canvas paintings portray a spectrum of colors and textures. Elegant floral compositions feature magnolias, apple blossoms, and roses, juxtaposed against a delicate brandy glass or arranged in a Chinese vase. In another, luscious Meyer lemons still hang from leafy branches. “After years of plein air painting, still lives present a different and complex challenge - slowing down and taking the time to really see in a controlled setting,” says Ransohoff. “Sometimes something interesting happens when I’m painting that has nothing to do with the original set-up, and I always follow it, intuition is essential to me.” Ransohoff’s luminous work celebrates beauty in simplicity while paying homage to the impressionist masters.

New Work, Joan Vaupen

Joan Vaupen, Underworld, Mixed Media Monoprint, 19.5x20"

In her latest exhibition, Joan Vaupen continues to experiment with varied mixed media to create abstract monoprints. Mixing acrylic inks and water on slick yupo paper, Vaupen’s high-contrast, liquified compositions portray an ethereal quality. After completion, each painting is then photographed and printed as a single edition. While these optical images begin with a sketch, Vaupen notes that there are equally challenging and spontaneous elements to her process. “They look otherworldly, yet things of the earth pop up,” says Vaupen. “Even though my work is abstract, there is a sense of the familiar.” Cool-colored, amorphous shapes emerge as pigments bubble and colors separate to create organic landscapes that recall the night sky or the depths of the sea, all beckoning viewers to step closer.

Call for Entries: 2014 California Open Exhibition

Featuring juror Laddie John Dill

Deadline June 27, 2014

Online entry only

For more information, click here

To apply, click here

Coming Exhibition: Shelley Adler, Sally Jacobs, Carol Kleinman

April 22 - May 17, 2014

Opening Reception:

Saturday, April 26, 5-8 p.m. 

Artist Talk and Mother’s Day Open House: 

Saturday, May 10, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Artist Talk at 3 p.m.

Local Color, Shelley Adler

Shelley Adler, "Teeth" Oil on Gessoboard, 10x8"

In her current exhibit, Shelley Adler fuses the colorful and bizarre. Inspired by the traveling carnivals that temporarily occupied her West Adams neighborhood over the last two years, Adler’s paintings pulsate with intensely saturated hues. Local street signs, eerie clowns, tents and carnival games create a surreal environment that blurs the line between playful and frightening. “Carnivals are a perfect storm of lively street life with the blatant primitive aura of a medicine show,” says Adler. “In contrast to this were evenings of wonderful pink, mauve sunsets that were sublime, and a total contrast to the manufactured features of the carnivals and signs.” It is the dichotomy of this imagery that attracted Adler to her subject matter. Coupled with the challenge of cataracts and later surgery, Adler says her sense of color changed dramatically as she continued her series. “Local Color” presents a detailed study in color that simultaneously examines the co-existence of grotesque and manufactured objects within the natural world.

Up Close: Plant Portraits, Sally Jacobs

Sally Jacobs, "Freesia I" Watercolor 16.5x20"

Watercolor artist Sally Jacobs dramatizes the defining nature of a range of flowers and succulents. Departing somewhat from traditional botanical art where an entire plant is depicted, Jacobs focuses her viewers’ eyes on a plant’s subtle or unique features.
Whether she’s painting delicate freesia petals, the leathery skin of a pomegranate, or the bold swirl of succulent leaves, Jacobs uses her keen eye and layered watercolor technique to capture incredible detail. Her work has been exhibited in numerous juried shows in New York and San Francisco; and at museums in Minneapolis and Phoenix. She was an award winner at the Brand 37 Works on Paper exhibit, and was featured on the CNN show, “Your Money.” She is one of the artists included in “Today’s Botanical Artists,” a book of contemporary, well-regarded nature artists.

Westside Windows, Carol Kleinman 

Carol Kleinman "Superman at the Farmers Market" Single Exposure Photograph on Canvas, 20x24"

Through the lens of Carol Kleinman’s camera, the reflection on a restaurant window at Santa Monica Beach is transformed. With one single exposure, Kleinman combines interior with exterior. The tables and chairs merge with sand and sky, creating an abstracted world. Kleinman’s images blend illusion and reality - a door opens as a portal to the shoreline, a superhero keeps watch over bustling sidewalks. “Reflections fracture, layer and transport visions of reality into the realm of fantasy,” says Kleinman. “They are a common occurrence all around us that most of us don’t notice. I seek and find these visual treasures and say, ‘Look at this!’” These reflected images are further enhanced as Kleinman prints her work on canvas, creating a textured, painterly effect. 

Kleinman has traveled the world capturing reflections on windows in places such as New York, Paris and Hawaii. Her current series, “Westside Windows" consists of reflections on the windows of Los Angeles’ Westside. From the beaches to the farmers markets, to the streets of Venice, these images open doors into a surreal world that nevertheless exists for all to see.