THE GALLERY

New Art Exhibition in Cloverdale On March 16: “Transition”

The Cloverdale Arts Alliance Gallery, located at 204 North Cloverdale Blvd., offers its latest art exhibition, “Transition,” from March 16 - May 17. An Artists’ Reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30pm on Saturday, March 16. Gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, and by appointment.

The guest artists for this exhibit are Sharon Eisley: Oil Paintings on Wood, and Tom Ballard: Pedestal & Free Standing Sculpture, Corten Steel Wall Sculpture. Resident artists are Laura Paine Carr, Jane Gardner, Pamela Heck, Terry Holleman, Jason Taylor Morgan, Clay Vajgrt and Jennifer Weiss. Laura Paine Carr is the featured resident artist for “Transition”.

About

The Gallery is a gallery operated by local artists as a Cloverdale Arts Alliance program. A wide variety of original artwork is offered by the resident artists and invited guests. Approximately six changing exhibitions a year feature new art by the gallery artists. To see a virtual tour of the gallery, click here.

For more information about CAA, visit cloverdaleartsalliance.org

Featured Artist: Laura Paine Carr, Acrylic Painting

Artist Statements

Tom Ballard: Pedestal & Free Standing Sculpture, Corten Steel Wall Sculpture

As an artist I have long been attracted to steel as a sculpture medium.

In my college years I approached the material with an industrial technique, primarily in terms of fabrication and finish; be it paint, chrome plating or galvanizing.

The sculptural shapes, however, had no direct industrial reference. Even while working with other materials such as plexiglass and fiberglass it seemed the road always came back to welded steel. It was the sixties and early seventies, such a great time for exploration.

The joy of creating and building sculpture eventually lead to custom home design and building. From there I became an Architect with a private practice..... big sculpture. My architectural practice spanned over four decades with a few excursions into creating art along the way.

Now retired, and fully involved in making steel sculpture again. Even as I bring a fresh sensibility to my artwork I find myself exploring some of the same issues and excitement from long ago.

Throughout my career as an artist and Architect I am most drawn to the “less is more” dictum, letting shape, texture and finish play against each other.

I am currently focusing on freestanding welded steel sculpture. Additionally, some of the work I will be showing consists of Corten steel wall sculpture which has a strong resemblance to abstract painting consisting of natural steel, polished and ground steel as well as rust and paint.

Laura Paine Carr, Acrylic Painting

In this body of work, abstract paintings representing a biographical exploration of collage, layers of paint, and found materials have created an ongoing conversation with things past, present challenges and changes, and an anticipation of new adventures.

Calla Lilies are also represented in the dialogue, being flowers of funerals, of Easter, of spring, and of Diego Rivera. I seem to fall into their spell at least annually.

Sharon Eisley, Oil Paintings on Wood
Eisley's unique art showcases our human experience and animal natures using traditional techniques woven with the symbolism and beauty of magical realism. Eisley hopes to break you out of your paradigms, just as her paintings carve into and break out of their own frames. She paints to try to capture a timelessness or emotion, a notion of the other, and of our human and animal nature’s.

These animal-headed people and ancient images are then vehicles to carry that idea. Traditionally our cultures painted zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images to represent spirituality, a timeless force, and its intersection with humanity. These chimeras capture the awe of the viewer with their strangeness. In the same way, magical realism acts as a symbolic reflection of that journey. Eisley hopes her paintings tap into this Mystic as modern-day totems residing in their everyday existence, just as we are individual spiritual people living odd and normal everyday lives.

Bio: Was born some time ago. Discovered Art 1975. Started studying chinese brush and ink painting 1985. Got high school art scholarships. Went to college. Studied Chinese brush painting in Taiwan for 3.5 years. Illustrated books at Pyramid Press. Came back. Art School. Discovered print making and oil painting. Graduated CCA (California College of Art) 2002. Painted a lot. Lots of one month solo and group shows. Gallery representation by Valkarie gallery in Colorado 2014 to 2021. Started participating in open studios Sonoma County Art Trails 2016 to present. Member Artist at Sebastopol Gallery 2018 to present. Live north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa. More to come…