Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
These ceramic sea anemones are part of artist Marshia Hall's contribution to the 'Reinvent Yourself' exhibit at Elemental Arts Gallery.
Clay, glass artists show works at local gallery
By Shari Kaplan
Elemental Arts Gallery in downtown Los Gatos is, by its very nature, a venue for several dozen eclectic artists to exhibit their equally varied works, which comprise or reflect one or more of the four elements--earth, water, fire or air. Paintings, jewelry, photography, handmade paper and bubbling fountains are just a small sample.
Through April 30, however, one portion of the gallery is devoted solely to art of the glass and ceramic persuasion, in an installation titled Reinvent Yourself. Gallery owner Tracy Halgren puts together a spring show each year, and this year it features works by members of the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California, most of whom live in the Bay Area and several of whom are Saratoga or Los Gatos residents.
"There are many different ways to look at this theme," Halgren explains in her statement on the exhibition. "The artists may reinvent themselves by creating something entirely new, the customers may reinvent themselves by purchasing something that is completely new to them, and we will be reinventing ourselves by coming up with some creative display ideas for this show."
The owner of Iguana Galleries in Los Gatos, Janet Fullmer Bajorek, has brought some of her distinctive ceramic sculptures for display at Elemental Arts. These include Embrace, a Picasso-esque image of a kneeling person, colored in blues and greens with fish and ocean motifs on her (his?) body; and A Small Token of Peace, which comprises a large body with a small head, holding an even smaller white dove in its hand.
Saratogan Linda Hansen Mau is a teacher and writer, as well as an internationally exhibited ceramicist. Her interest in Asian art and in creating a sense of serenity and purity of form in that art is evident in her contributions to the exhibit: pit-fired ceramic sculptures and smooth stones in various sizes and colors. They'd be a fitting complement to a peaceful rock garden.
Joyce Clark Binen, also of Saratoga, has created salt-fired vessels of varying shades of gray, with iridescent splashes of colors, such as mauve and turquoise. The two smaller ones resemble hearts, while the larger looks as if it is something that might rise from the sea.
Although she lives far from the sea, Marshia Hall from the Tuolumne area didn't let that stop her, when she sculpted and fired the pieces of her Oceanscape series--wavery sea anemones in soft hues of white, pink, aqua and gray, sitting in beds of polished glass pebbles in similar colors.
Among the glass pieces are Los Altan Jeri Goodman's clear platters and bowls, containing colored shapes both angular and smooth. The pieces gleam brightly in shiny iridescent colors. April Zilber of Berkeley also uses clear glass infused with textured, colorful pieces, to create curved shields perfect for placement in front of votive candles.
Then there's San Jose resident Nina Koepcke's mixed media staffs that combine elements of both glass and ceramic, not to mention sticks, tree bark, nuts, yarn, string, beads and fabric swatches. There is something mystical about these staffs, perhaps due to the faces of totem animals sculpted at their tops, including birds, fish and cats.
Other glass and ceramic artists contributing to Reinvent Yourself are Bruce Bangert of Half Moon Bay, Joseph Battiato of San Jose, Barbara Brown of Sunnyvale, Jackie Butts of Ben Lomond, Mahoko Dahte of Cupertino, Jude Dunbar of Upper Lake and Paula Prekowitz of Boulder Creek.
Elemental Arts Gallery is at 104 University Ave. at Mullen. For more information, call 408.354.6608.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
