April Artists 2008

Laurie Brainerd
I quilt because I love the transformation the fabric takes both visually and tactilely.  I am able to play with color in an intense way with the fabric choices and yet also express subtle elements with the tone-on-tone quilting and the lines, shapes, and dimensions that emerge.  Both the process and the end-product are enhanced when I am able to be present with making and executing design choices. Click images to enlarge
Roland Mazuca & Gilbert Tarin at Bihl Haus
Roland Mazuca
Roland Mazuca, received a B.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, with concentrations in printmaking and sculpture. Mr. Mazuca also studied art at Cooper Union in NYC where he developed an interest in ceramics. Currently, Mr. Mazuca works in the medium of clay. Roland’s recent work includes large platters, tripod vessels and drawings on clay slabs. Mr. Mazuca utilizes low fire clear glaze, majolica, colored slips and terra sigilatta to embellish earthenware pieces. Click images to enlarge
Colored slips and oxides on earthenware with clear glaze
Terra sigillata on earthenware
Terra sigillata on earthenware
Gilberto A. Tarin
Sensual innocence is the inspiration for my new body of work. It conveys a world that is pure and clean, devoid of evil and sin, where nudity is not something to be ashamed by. It is the feeling that the figures are portraying that is important in my new works. Images to come
back to top
Steven DaLuz
I have a love affair with paint—a medium that has often been much maligned in certain art circles over the past 20 years. With the advent of film, digital modes, and other photographic processes, many curators and critics seem to have relegated painting to an archaic, irrelevant art form. I embrace painting as an exquisite, relevant art form. For me, the smell and physicality of paint is all at once seductive. I have found this to be true also of encaustics. Painting is a passage to another reality—an illusion of space, and often a reflection of the world within. In painting, I hope to tap into a slower time, before the existence of supercomputers and hundreds of cable channels. A time before art could be created by the manipulation of bytes and digital information. My goal is not to represent that time, but to bask in the materials and process that is painting. Many art lovers thirst for that which is still created by hand—that thing able to evoke a notion of aesthetic beauty for its own sake. I am one of those people. I am compelled to do work that conjures up a sense mystery and ethereal beauty, whether figurative or abstract. My interests are evenly split between the two, for which I make no apology. When intense observation takes its toll, I relish the opportunity to simply work with shapes, color, and textures to convey a particular mood or sense of place. Though I dabble in mixed media, paint remains the constant—a partner with whom I joyfully wrestle and dance. Click images to enlarge
Dancer in a Chair
Redscape III back to top
Roberta Buckles
Light cast upon a surface alters its appearance the same way personal beliefs and ideas color or alter perception and therefore meaning. These paintings of light on shiny surfaces act as a metaphor for this  very human phenomenon.
Click image to enlarge
Exuberance, oil on canvas
Penelope Speier at Parchman Stremmel Gallery
As a painter, I have drawn on diverse studies of man’s attempt to “know.” I continue my exploration of light and reflection in my choice of the glass beads used on the surface of the oil paintings that you see here. The tiny and perfectly round beads reflect the light shown on them causing the viewer to see the painting differently as one views the painting from different perspectives. I have used this technique metaphorically to explore the concept of “knowing.” Scott A. Sherer, Ph.D. says “her paintings encourage meditation on the central tenet of the impermanence of material things.”
Click images to enlarge
back to top
Dale Jenssen
Having fun combining form and function is my M.O! Using fabricated and/or found elements in a variety of materials, I create work that is infused with sensuality and humor. I have the most fun when I am making new work, challenging myself both technically and artistically. With my sculptures I usually begin with one or more used objects that have caught my eye somewhere during my travels. I’ll play with these pieces, juxtaposing them in various ways, allowing them to dance around in the back of my mind. While working, I only occasionally think in terms of making a particular statement with the piece at hand. It is usually after the work is complete that I see in it some current concern of mine, whether personal, political, or both. I use a number of techniques during construction of a piece; woodworking, welding, and sheet metal forming are the ones I employ most often. Several years ago I started incorporating light into my work, and it seemed so "right" that I have made it part of my signature style. Click images to enlarge
Jupiter Lamp
Memories back to top
Cody Bustamante at REM Gallery
Concretions This body of hybrid drawings (works on paper, mounted on panels, and variously re-worked with carving, collage, and low relief sculpting), continue my ongoing fabrication of a fantastical world populated by monster-like concretions of line and pattern. These creatures are inspired by bizarre aquatic life-forms, medieval & pre-Colombian monsters, and the longings expressed in Mexican folksongs about La Sirena.  They also reflect my ruminations on the patterns of culture, engineering, and evolution; and my love for the stockpiles of attempts to express our experiences as human beings, which I find are more accurate in their poetry than rational description. These drawings were completed between Dec 2007 and March 2008 during a Visiting Artist residency at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and the Majestic Ranch Art Foundation in Boerne. Click images to enlarge
29" x 23" [w h], crayon, charcoal, acrylic on paper
back to top
Stuart Allen
My work deals with fundamental elements of perception such as light,  space, time, and gravity. I aim to distill complex phenomena into manageable, visual gestures. I experiment with many methods before committing to one approach.  Some experiments fail miserably. I choose not to exhibit those results. I work in a variety of media because different problems require  different tools. Maintaining a high level of craft is important because my work's  content is generally conveyed in very subtle details. Beautiful things draw attention. Making beautiful objects provides  the opportunity to communicate with a larger audience. Though my work is often described as minimal, I am not interested in  simplicity. I am interested in the complexities that inevitably  surface within seemingly simple ideas and forms. I am neither a technophobe nor technophile. I am willing to exploit  any technology if it will solve the problems at hand. I work with ancient technologies such as kite and sail-making, as  well as contemporary technologies such as digital photography and the  world-wide web. My work is often designed to call attention to something else. For  example, a kite calls attention to the wind and sky; a fabric  installation calls attention to light and architectural space. Click images to enlarge
"Box Kite: 23,890 cu. Inches / Approximate Volume of Air I Breath in One Hour (at rest)", 2007, sailcloth, maple, spruce, stainless hardware, 28.8" x 28.8" x 28.8"
"Baja Caifornia Sur / Sky No. 5, 100 Pixels", 2007, photograph - pigment print on rag paper, 30" x 24"
"Seven", 2007, sailcloth, aluminum, turnbuckles, stainless cable, 72" x 138" x 11"
back to top