“Blue Boat Waiting” by Marianne Woosley
Remember the cool days of autumn, when the smell of rain is in the air? The leaves change color and a walk on the beach is brisk with crashing waves. These senses all come rushing back with the Gallery at 48 Natoma exhibit Stormy Weather, featuring watercolors by Juan Pena, pastels by Marianne Woosley and glass by Barbara Grauke, Sept. 30 through Jan. 12, 2023.
Pena is an experienced plein air painter who has participated in many invitational events. The watercolors in this show were all painted on location or from his imagination. These paintings were painted with the use of the three primary colors (plus an occasional use of white). Pena can mix and match most manufactured colors ( watercolor, acrylic and oil.)
“Painting outdoors is my excuse for being outside and loving every minute, whether it’s stormy, cloudy or sunny; be it an ocean, river, town, city, animals or people,” he explained.
As well as an award-winning artist, Pena is a published author, instructor and internationally collected.
Woosley refers to the French philosopher Paul Desjardins in 1889. who described the messy medium of pastels, “Pastel is the lightest, most fugitive of techniques – like the pollen of a lily or the dust from a butterfly’s wing that an artist scatters and fixes on paper.”
Taking a sketchbook and watercolors along on hikes, being less fragile and more compact, the artist captures the scenes around her sketching and painting trees, flowers and landscapes. With the great coastal California weather and subject diversity, she does most of her pastel painting outdoors. Woosley has received numerous awards form plein air and pastel painters groups.
Grauke lives near the Pacific Ocean, where she often observes and imagines the undulating cosmos under the sea. Her many years of working with different forms of glass materials culminated with her recent venture with glass powders. Like a painter and their canvas, she uses her powders on a palette of fiber paper. Her previous years as a glassblower taught her how to see a piece for its shape, thickness, translucency and color. This extensive training in the world of glass work has allowed her to understand the intricacies of all aspects of her glass powder pieces.
Grauke’s education has been both formal with a BFA at the Tyler School of Art and with workshops at the Pilchuck Glass Center and Penland Craft Center.
The popular Folsom Focus Photography Contest will be on display in the Community Gallery, Oct. 7 to Jan. 10, 2023. This contest encourages amateur photographers of all ages to submit their favorite photos that showcase Folsom from their own unique perspective. Contestants are not required to be Folsom residents, but all photographs submitted must be an image taken in Folsom and identifiable as such. Categories include outdoors, wildlife, urban and macro photography. This year’s judges are Sally Cullen, Terrie Gray and Kathy Kayner.
Don’t miss the annual Glass Pumkin Patch at the Art Center. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 8 & 9.
An opening reception for both exhibits is planned 6-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14. Entrance is free and open to the public with live music by Peter Morgan. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.
The Gallery at 48 Natoma is located at 48 Natoma St. in Folsom. It is managed by the Folsom Parks and Recreation Department and displays art by regional and national professional artists, area museum collections and traveling exhibitions — offering high quality, original art exhibits to the community that otherwise may not be experienced in this area. More information is available at folsom.ca.us , the Gallery at 48 Natoma.
The Folsom Art Center and Gallery at 48 Natoma are open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and evening hours from 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; call (916) 461-6601 for current hours or to reserve a free tour appointment time. For more information contact Gallery Director Cindy Abraham at [email protected] .