I hadn’t planned it this way, but I find myself writing once again about an artist whose work interprets our local marshes. This artist, Ellen Land-Weber, has focused on a specific place — the Arcata Marsh. It’s fascinating to see how different two artists’ approaches are when the inspiration is the same. The work that […]
Art Beat
Artists, galleries, museums, arts nights and shows around the county.
Posted inArts + Scene
What the Brits Are Up To
At the moment I’m on holiday, as they say here in Jolly Old England. We’re here visiting relatives, but I thought I mightas well take the opportunity to suss out the British art scene. This, of course, is an impossible task for a three-week visit, but I’ll tell you about a few interesting things I’ve […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Capturing the Birds
It’s easy to forget in this modern time full of bewildering and exotic grist for the artistic mill, that it was wild nature that first compelled human beings to put pen to paper. The wonder that we feel watching the birds in the sky or the colors of a sunset have inspired the artist in […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Inside the Brain of Carl Muecke
Carl Muecke likes his artwork, and that’s refreshing. He’s not arrogant or obnoxious about it, but he really likes what he does, as all artists should. He likes the bright colors, the ideas and the uniqueness of his work. Looking around on the Internet and talking to other artists, he says he’s never found anything […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Pollution as Art
Walking into the Foyer Gallery on the HSU campus yesterday, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of oppression. The installation piece there consists of a net of plastic garbage, glued, stapled and tied together and suspended from the ceiling. The idea is to give the viewer a feel for what it might be like in […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Photographic Alchemy
Call it alchemy. It isn’t, really, but there is a certain degree of sorcery involved in the creation of a fine photo using the old-school method. You know, the kind of print made back in the day, when photographers used film and did their post-shoot work in a darkroom, not at a computer screen. More […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Exclusion Zone
One of the most challenging shows you’ll see around town right now is John Mahony’s photography at the First Street Gallery. As a river kayaker, Mahony is witness to the increasingly evident fact that there are few wild spaces left on the planet that are untouched by humanity. "You rarely go on a river without […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Agates and Myrtlewood
When you read about an artist as well known as David Groth, you find a lot of "artspeak." Being an art historian, I am, of course, familiar with artspeak and have a basic understanding of it, but it still puts me off. It put me off when I was in school, and I might have […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Books as Art
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the 15 years Eureka’s Arts Alive! has been in existence, it’s that some of the most interesting art is often found in unexpected places. I considered this fact as Scott Brown led me toward the back of Eureka Books, weaving his way through shelves, tables, chairs and boxes […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Shredding, Wrapping, Knotting
It seems to me that there are generalists and there are specialists. I’ve always been a generalist — I’m interested in so many things that I’ve never taken the time to get really good at anything. My life is a litany of unfinished projects and grandiose dreams that never come to fruition. It’s frustrating at […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Cool, Clear Water
Making art is more about what you do with your eyes than what you do with your hands. I came to the conclusion some years ago, and that theory has been confirmed over and over again in my conversations with painters. “What I get out of painting is looking,” says Judy Evenson. “I see things […]
Posted inArts + Scene
What Good is Art?
It’s a cold and rainy afternoon. Christmas is upon me, and then the New Year. A time to reflect, and what I’ve been thinking about is why I write this column (roughly) every two weeks. I often feel like I’m shouting in the wind. Why do I bother writing about art and artists when people […]