Fire and Water 2015

Fire and Water • Juried Exhibition

September 25—November 13, 2015
Receptions: 
Otober 9, 5-8pm + November 13, 5–8pm

Juror:Donna Seager and Suzanne Gray 
of Seager / Gray Gallery, Mill Valley California • www.seagergray.com 

Featuring: 

Barbara Aliza, Douglas Andelin, Alexis Arnold, Marie Bergstedt, Kevin Brown, Shanna Bruschi, Carol Dalton, Suzanne Engelberg, Carol Fregoso, Alex Friedman, Janey Fritsche, Wendy Goldberg, Deborah Hayner, Douglas Heine, Robert Hersey, Mary Huntsman, Ronnie Hutton, Cynthia Jensen, Stephanie Jucker, Judith Klausenstock, Diana Lee, Mary Ann Leff, Linda Lieberman, Cathy Locke, Raewyn McMains, Merry Meier, Barbara Milman, Dawn Nakashima, Will Noble, Lynda Nugent, Cecily O'Connor, Patricia Oji, Christopher Olsen, Susan Press, Victoria Reynolds, Kay Russell, Marie Van Elder, Jonah Ward, Michael Welch 

What a timely topic for an exhibition in Northern California during a time of severe drought and extreme fire. Some of the works were beautiful representations of either fire or water while others were more abstract representations. With a selection of nearly 400 entries Donna Seager and I were presented with many different expressions and mediums.

One of the works that stood out for us was My Husbands Glass of Water by Diana Lee for it’s beautifully rendered image conveying a basic connection between human beings and water.  In clay and book theme, They Burn Books Don’t They by Raewyn McMains appealed to us because the book is burned both literally and figuratively.

Among the photography submissions, we appreciated Suzanne Engelberg for her thoughtful expression of the power and drama of both fire and water independent of each other.

We absolutely loved the painterly quality of Christopher Olsen’s Buddies: Guido and Ernest and Marie Bergstedt’s Zee for her whimsical portrayal of a figure standing in a puddle of water created from buttons and lace.

Marie Van Elder offered interesting contrasting imagery of both fire and water landscapes in Beautiful Disasters and the conceptual work, Burning Water No. 4 by Jonah Ward intrigued us in its use of materials to combine fire and water in a single work .

In the end we selected about 50 works that we felt represented the idea of fire or water or both and each artist demonstrated an understanding of their materials. It was a pleasure to jury this exhibition.

Suzanne Gray 

Images: Cremation of the Past © 2015 Michael Welch (left column top); Multiple Scenes of Disaster © 2012 Victoria Reynolds (left column middle); The World Without Us © 2014 Alexis Arnold (left column bottom); Pacific Contained © 2015 Robert Hersey (2nd column); Devil Wind © 2014 Barbara Milman (3rd column top); Hell or High Water © 2011 Lynda Nugent (3rd column bottom); Sea Shepherds © 2014 Janey Fritsche (right column top); The Great Fire © 2015 Stephanie Jucker (right column bottom)