Glorious Expressions

Exhibit Dates: May 9 through July 13, 2014

Reception at the gallery, free to the public: Saturday, May 10, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Alamo Danville Artists’ Society will host the opening of Blackhawk Gallery’s Exhibit ‘Glorious Expressions’. This exhibit features 2 guest artists and 40 member artists. Artwork by guest artists include lacquer wares by Jesse Nguyen and ceramic figures by Virginia Rigney. Member artists’ work include oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, sculpture, ceramic, glass, fiber art and jewelry.

Our Guest Artists:

• Jesse Nguyen

Growing up with both Eastern and Western cultures has taught me to love, appreciate and learn to benefit the best of both worlds, especially to make efforts to preserve the ancient traditions while embracing modern innovative practices. This belief has repeatedly manifested its soul in my design processes. In fact my lacquer art works were based on traditional lacquered MDF wood panels. Their top surfaces were silver-leafed for the ancient pigmented ink to be painted over to render that attractive iridescence and vibrant colors. I also apply some ancient inlay work of eggshells and seashell at certain sections of the paintings to give extra dimension and depth. However despite of all these old techniques, my works look quite contemporary with its abstract and modern motif and deep passionate colors. Modern MDF wood was also used as substrate base material to avoid warping and cracking over the years (unlike hard wood). Another new element is the high gloss poly-urethane top-coat, which protects it from humidity, UV and fading as well.

Working with all these exciting materials and techniques, my utmost pleasure still is to be able to simply express myself through drawing and painting at certain quiet times of our life where mind, heart and soul connect and prevail…!

• Virginia Rigney

Virginia Rigney’s love of clay began with the making of a ceramic pig in the third grade. She still remembers that first magic of feeling a form come to life in her hands. Her forms have changed since then, but not the feeling. She received her BA in Art from Stanford University as a painter. At the Richmond Art Center, the Center’s Director, Ernie Kim, taught her to throw on the wheel and the magic of clay reclaimed her. She continued wheelwork until the 1980’s when she became fascinated with extruded forms at Mission Clay in Fremont California. As a resident sculptor she worked with leather-hard eight-foot tall cylindrical sewer pipes. There she began a Sentinel Guardian series, which she has revisited through the years. “Passages”, a sculpture from that series, was installed in the California San Bernardino County Government Center in 1984. Virginia’s current sculpture continues to utilize the initial energy and subtle movement of extruded forms. Her manipulation of the clay deepens the initial extruded birthing of the pipe.

She finds that the forms like to relate to one another, as in a family. Her goal is to allow the invisible reality of a form to evoke a feeling, a sense of the spirit made visible. Guardians and sentinels have been a recurring theme since the 1980’s when she was at a time in her life when she needed a protective guardian spirit. Recent work has become more representational. She says, “ Clay is a transformative process. I feel a co-creator present with me as I create these forms. They come intuitively and from some deep universal space within.”

Our exhibiting member artists are:

Claudia Bossert, Barbara Davies, Peter DeFao, Elena Doronkina, Don Eagling, Jack Garasky, Bobbi Garrop, Lynn Glenn, Gene Gracey, Greg Gutbezahl, Eric Haggin, Douglas Heine, Debby Koonce, Maryann Kot, Roseann Krane, Walter Krane, Tom Lemmer, Jim Luhmann, Andrea Markus, Claudette McDermott, Elena Morris, Mitchell Neto, Wendy Oliver, Julia O’Reilly, Lin Padden, George Rammell, Michael Rizza, Joanne Robinson, Diane Rodriguez, Betty Rothaus, Stanley Satchell, Goldie Schnitzer, Amal Shihabi, Pat Smith, Greg Starnes, Kerima Swain, Azar Vaghefi, Tony Michael Vecchio, Norma Webb, Charles White.

All exhibits are free to the public and will be on view seven days a week. Monday-Saturday 10AM-8 PM and Sunday 11AM-6 PM.

The exhibit is curated by ADAS Blackhawk Gallery Show Committee Pete DeFao, Debby Koonce, and Kerima Swain.