Demetri Mitsanas’ new collection of paintings started as utter garbage. After his daughter gave him some strange bottles found in a Berkeley dumpster, he composed them, painted them with vibrant Mediterranean shades and fell in love with all of the possible compositions. Gold leaf and saturated hues may hide the humble beginnings of these paintings, […]
Ken Weiderman
Posted inArts + Scene
Behind the Bark
Sometimes it’s a little stain from a rusty nail that catches his eye. Other times, it’s the cavities chewed into a cheap piece of plywood by beach grime and salt. While most people would rather ignore these aesthetic imperfections, for Arcata artist Zachary Shea, they’re inspiration. The history implied by these marks attracts him. Time […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Contemporary Traditions
In the angled October light of his Orleans home, Brian Tripp slips a simple hitch knot over the leg of his latest woodpecker sculpture and raises it to just above eye level. Like many of Tripp’s sculptures, the bird is a deceptively simple assembly of branches, shaved redwood fragments, matte-black acrylic paint and carefully selected […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Oh SCRAP!
As we speak in the September sunlight behind the Marsh Commons, Tibora Girczyc-Blum is still catching her breath from dancing in the Samba parade at the North Country Fair. Her whole group stitched together its outfits from reused materials. At our table built from used railroad ties, the sun glints off of her shimmery gold […]
Posted inArts + Scene
An Extraordinary “Oddist”
If you’re a regular at Eureka’s Arts! Alive, you’ve surely seen him. He’s the older guy with a ponytail wearing a full motorcycle helmet and pausing to examine each and every work of art he comes across. His signature monthly appearance may be unmistakable, but underneath that magenta and silver helmet, the artist Orr Marshall […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Antique Light
He’s been obsessing over it for half an hour. Standing motionlessly under a lightproof shroud, Vaughn Hutchins peers through his wooden, 100-year-old Empire State No. 1 view camera, tinkering with tiny changes and contemplating every compositional detail. The accordion folds protruding from his cloak keep the lens at just the right distance from the antique […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Between the Black and White
Emotions and identity are tricky. They’re even trickier when attempting to put them into words. It’s one reason why art exists — it allows people to describe the human experience in ways that words don’t, giving voice to the often conflicted, contradictory and complicated nature of living and being. For artists Thaddeus Zoellner and Michael […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Along the Way
“Sometimes I feel pissed,” confesses artist Lida Penkova, “because I do almost nothing else but paint, and I feel that somehow life is escaping me!” It’s not so much that Penkova’s life is escaping her, but that she’s pouring it into her whimsical, worldly and wondrous paintings and prints. “Once you are in this fascination […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Randy Spicer: The Near and Far
Standing too close to an oil painting by local artist Randy Spicer can be somewhat confusing. Smudges of ebony and cream smash together above forceful streaks of brick, olive and eggplant. Dashes of ochre, fuchsia and lime dart about. Inches from the canvas, the shapes elude meaning, their abstract edges seemingly thrown together without purpose. […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Sweet Spinning Wheels
Believe it or not, art and skating go hand in hand. Ever seen a skate video? Someone had to film and edit it. Those decks the kids skate on? Flip a few over and you’ll be surprised at the diversity and vivacity of their graphics. Graffiti is an important element too, and its rebellious, aggressive […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Landscapes in Layers
Even if you’ve never laid eyes on one of Michael Guerriero’s distinctive serigraphs, you have likely seen one of the first works he created after moving here in 1977. Fresh out of grad school in Kalamazoo, Mich., Guerriero put his graphic design skills to use offering sign-painting services to Old Town businesses. Up against other […]
Posted inArts + Scene
A Decade of Creative Cooperation
It’s time to go to the store. You put your list together: butter, milk, coffee, bread — and a small raku-fired sculpture of a frog having tea? OK, so art is not on the typical shopping list for most people. Perhaps that’s why the folks from Arcata Artisans were told “this is never going to […]