The Lamorinda Arts Council presents ceramics by Jeannine Calcagno, Rick Nelson’s wood turnings, the fabric art of Tina Nelson, photographs by Wendy Pyman and paintings and drawings by Nancy Vachani in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library during August. Learn more about these talented artists at a reception in their honor on Saturday August 6 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. where light refreshments will be served.

Aristotle said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward experience.” The artists in this month’s exhibit are so skilled that, once you gaze at their work for a few minutes, outward appearances lead to an inward experience. For example, Calcagno’s “Blue Hydrangea” black stoneware vessel, while diminutive in size (9.5” x 6.5”), evokes memories of a shady pathway lined with large globes of lush blue hydrangeas.

Calcagno works out of her studio in Santa Cruz and is showing a dozen ceramic pieces from her own collection as well as 25-30 pieces other pieces.  She said, “I hold to the philosophy of William Morris, ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’”

For 50 years she has made pottery that people use in their homes. Her style pairs a glossy décor with the raw texture of stoneware clay for both decorative and functional pieces. “I keep things fresh by using new materials and firing techniques,” she said. View her YouTube video about colored clay slip decoration at https://youtu.be/MvKDvI9q4kg or visit www.calcagnopottery.com for more about her work.

Rick and Tina Nelson live in Walnut Creek and are longtime members of the Oakland Art Association (OAA). Rick volunteers as OAA President and is displaying 10 woodturning pieces. It is said that simple woodturnings can be challenging and when done will blow away the most complex, over-thought designs. Rick’s designs are often examples of this premise. His “Swirl Bowl,” a 10” x 14” turned wood bowl made of maple, purpleheart and walnut, exemplifies this idea. “The greatest challenge is always to ‘tell a story’ with the finished piece,” he said. See more of his woodturnings at www.oaklandart.org/.

Tina Nelson is captivated by the texture and creative possibilities demonstrated by other fabric artists. She continually collects cellphone images then spends hours mulling them over for new ways to use wool and linen to depict images and communicate the emotion of the moment.

“Wool stitching on linen incorporates all the fundamentals of other fine art media but offers an additional set of ‘tools’ to help communicate emotion and feeling to the viewer,” she said. “Examples of these tools are textures and mixture of colors you would find in heavy oil paintings but because the are stitched with heavy wool, the element of touch is added. Sometimes I stitch on other materials such as mosses and ribbons, which also provide color and texture,” she said.

Tina related that when the project she is working on starts to lose excitement for her she forces herself into a new genre such as portraits, landscapes, abstracts, etc. In “Benicia Train Depot” an 18” x 26” work of wool stitched on linen, the storybook nature of the scene is accentuated by the fabric textures. View a YouTube video of her work at www.youtu.be/uIuevq4KEoo or visit www.oaklandart579.org/.

Pyman lives in San Francisco but worked in Berkeley for 22 years and knows the East Bay well.  For her, photography is a means of self-expression, but she also seeks to convey a sense of place for the viewer. She wants to draw the viewer into the scene and experience that awe and oneness with nature that speaks to her. Pyman says, “It is not just about light, composition or location, but finding harmony and balance between color, lines, textures and rhythmic patterns.” “Transition,” her 20” x 30” photograph on metal, memorializes subtleties of light all too ephemeral in the moment.

Her work has been particularly influenced by Larry Ulrich, David Muench, Ansel Adams, and Eliot Porter as well as other well-known landscape photographers. She challenges herself to intercept the light and capture a scene in all its glory. Her work can be found at the Moraga Art Gallery, ArtSpan, Lamorinda Arts Alliance and the Oakland Art Association. Visit  www.wendapyman.com/ For more information and follow her on Instagram  @wendapymanphotography.

Vachani, of Orinda, is showing about 20 works, mostly oil paintings but also some drawings. She said,  “My theme, ‘On Being Human – a Global Milieu’ is basically about our human condition with all the beauty as well as the troubling problems.”

“Futbolista for Social Justice,” Vachani’s 24” x 18” oil painting was featured in the recent Alice Neel exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco with the following caption: “This young Hispanic woman soccer player in the painting has been active in the Bay Area promoting social justice issues for minorities. She organized an exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center that highlighted the importance of using sports as a means of bridging gaps in communities of color and the injustices suffered by those communities. The chalkboard in this painting was installed at the exhibition so those attending could write what sports mean to them. Dania, the passionate Fubolista in the painting was an inspiring figure to paint.” Visit the de Young’s online site to learn more about the exhibit at www.picturesofpeople.artcall.org/submissions/qr-view/302529. To learn more about Vachani’s work go to www.instagram.com/vachaniart/.

The mission of the Council is to ignite and sustain artistic expression and appreciation for all ages throughout Lamorinda. If you are interested in visual, performing or literary arts, please join us in keeping the arts alive. We are an engaged group of volunteers and donors who develop and produce events, partner w4th professional organizations and artists, give financial support and awards, and advocate for a vibrant, local culture of visual, performing, and literary arts.

In addition to curating two galleries in Orinda with new artwork every month (Art Gallery at the Orinda Gallery & Art Gallery at Wilder), here is a sample of other programs we offer: Lamorinda Idol, High School Visual Arts Competition, Art Embraces Words, Artify Orinda, and Lamorinda Super Shorts. If you are interested in exhibiting artwork in one of our galleries please apply online HERE.

To learn more about the Council go to www.lamorindaarts.org. This exhibit runs Aug. 1 through 31 during normal Library hours in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library at 26 Orinda Way. Hours are Mon. – Thur., 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Fri. – Sat., 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., closed Sun. Call 925.254.2184 for more information about the Library or visit www.ccclib.org/. Email the Curators with questions at gallery@lamorindaarts.org or call the Lamorinda Arts Council at 925.359.9940.