Friday Night in Pacifica

Leslie and her Photography

Last Friday night, my family and I went to the opening of the Art Guild of Pacifica’s “Buddy Show”.  It opened on June 1 in the West Gallery of the Sanchez Art Center.  The “Buddy Show” gives non-AGP members an opportunity to show in tandem with a member, as well as an opportunity to join the Guild.  Yet in terms of confidence and validation, it’s a wonderful way to affirm your art in public.  Leslie and I entered the show together, which made it really special to me.  She framed and entered her black and white triptych called “West Hollywood 1977”.  It’s three candid photos of an elderly woman knitting, taken from different angles, and posing a study of her fascinating hands.  Despite using photography as a creative outlet for years, this is the first time Leslie’s had one of her works on a gallery wall. I know from first-hand experience how awesome that feels.   

The Gallery Store

I’ve got cards, jewelry and other doo-dads in the Gallery Store, just in time for Father’s Day.  I’m sharing the Store with Jude Pittman and Linda Devers, so there are a wide variety of items in different styles and applications to choose from and purchase.  I consider it a wonderful combination of artistic goods.  We'll be in the store through the month of June.

That wasn’t the only thing going on at Sanchez, however.  There were three other shows happening simultaneously.  In the East Gallery, we viewed the 20^th Annual Art With Elders Exhibit, which I believe is the result of a class. I was personally surprised at how much talent that show represented, but more, I was fascinated by the artist’s biographies. 

A captivating piece of art.

In the Main Gallery, we viewed The Rydell Visual Arts Fellows, which comprised of work by Andrea Borsuk, Tim Craighead, Victoria May, and Andy Ruble.  Curated by Susan Hillhouse Leask, the show was an impressive display of interesting textures in commonplace items and ideas.  The visual lines of each piece pulled me in to look closer, until I was led about by one piece after another.  As a whole, the presentation was an adventure.

From Michael's show.

In the Mildred Owen concert hall, which is adjacent to the galleries, Michael Risenhoover celebrated his photography show, “5am waiting for buffalo”.  This show paired photos from previous photography series, but what really stood out to me is Michael’s sense of humor.  Obviously enamored of mundane items like shopping carts and orange netting, Michael manages to imbue his subjects with personality as he captures them with his lens.  Then, he successfully projects that personality back to the viewer in his images.  I really enjoyed Michael’s presentation, and will keep my eye on his work going forward.  Luckily, I can expect to see plenty of it in the Guild’s shows coming up.

I find it hard to believe that our daughter, Elizabeth’s freshman year of highschool has come and gone already. At the end of the year, she rode a crazy wave of activity, had a blast with drama club, and then eased on into finals. Now, she’s decompressing.  Consequently, the three of us can look forward to spending quality time together over the summer.

A large part of that time will be enjoying the rich artistic community Pacifica has to offer.


Visit the artists mentioned herein at ...
donnalouisefaber.com
risenhoover.com
Dever Designs
judepittman.com