SEPTEMBER EXHIBIT: CONVERSING WITH NATURE
EXHIBIT DATES: August 30 – September 26, 2021
RECEPTION: SEPTEMBER 4, 2021, 4 PM – 6 PM: Meet KAREN MILLER and GAIL MORGAN; talk with the artists about their inspiration and work to create these special collections.
Sonoma County artist, Karen Miller, presents Conversing with Nature, a collection of pastel paintings that translate the artist’s passion for subjects in nature, especially trees and flowers. Flowers star in two key paintings in the collection. “Chard Amongst the Roses” was juried into the International Association of Pastel Societies annual show this year. The flowers steal the show in “Conversation with Daffodils,” an interior scene with the artist’s son. These works masterfully demonstrate the saturated color quality unique to the pastel medium – skies glow, trees shimmer, flowers sparkle. “I like finding new delights in my surroundings. Life is weird. Find beauty.” Miller remarked in summing up her inspirational philosophy.
Born in Sacramento, Miller has lived in Healdsburg for the past 30 years. She studied fine art at UC Santa Cruz, then pursued a career as a structural engineer. Pivoting back to fine art, she started working in soft pastel in 2014. Miller has exhibited in numerous juried shows, including the prestigious Pastel Society of the West Coast; she earned Signature Member status in only three years.
Gallery Hosting Dates: Karen Miller will host on September 4 and 18 from 11 am to 2:30 pm.
The Staircase Showcase features Gail Morgan’s Warmth of Wax, a collection that highlights the artist’s recent explorations of encaustic painting and monotype. Encaustics is an ancient art, some panels dating from 100 – 300 AD. Mixing beeswax and resin, heat is applied to fuse layers, giving depth and translucense to the work. “I love the spontaneity and fluidity that allows for images filled with moving forms and colors. It seems to be lit from inside,” noted the artist. Morgan studied art history at UC Berkeley. She has exhibited regionally, including with Art at the Source and will teach a class in collagraph printmaking this fall at the Sonoma Community Center.
Gallery Hosting Dates: Gail Morgan will host on September 11 and 24 from 11 am – 6 pm.
Upstairs Art Gallery, 306 Center Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448. (707) 431-4214.: OPEN DAILY: 11am – 6 pm; www.upstairsartgallery.net
For further information: Contact: Beverly Bird, Press Contact, at bvdrio@sonic.net or 707-799-1490.
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Upstairs Art Gallery
306 Center Street
- Healdsburg