Springtide is Surging Save the Date

Posted on by Diversions LA

Springtide is Surging Save the Date – Genie Davis

Opening March 14th at the brand new Diversions Fine Arts Gallery in Manhattan Beach, Springtide is a verdant collection of spring, sea, and seasonally sweet dreams bursting with beauty and energy.

This inclusive new gallery space opens with a group exhibition featuring a wide range of local, national, and international artists working in oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, neon, sculpture, and photography.

The beautifully immersive waters of Springtide include artists:

Linda Sue Price * Dave Clark * Jeffrey Sklan * Kaye Freeman * Danielle Eubank *  Scott Trimble * Bernard Fallon * Karen Doyle * Jennifer Chan * Rebecca Hamm * Glenn Waggner * Michael Stearns * Karen Hochman Brown * Stephanie Sydney *   Judy Herman * Nurit Avesar * Dellis Frank * Nancy Mooslin * Skye Amber Sweet * Esperanza Deese * Linda Stelling * Annie Marini-Genzon *  Beth Elliott * Caron G Rand * Lydia Nakashima Degarrod * Christina Shurts 

 The exhibition explores each artist’s vision of spring, its colors, its flora and fauna, its textures, and the promise of resilience and rebirth this season carries from sea to shore, from perfect petals to wild wind.

                                     Maybe it is the springtide. I am so happy I am afraid.

                                    The sense of living fills me with exultation. I want to sing,

                                    to dance; I am dithyrambic with delight.

— Robert William Service

 

Danielle Eubank brings a vibrant painting of calm, aqua Santa Barbara waters to gallery, while Scott Trimble exhibits a wildly surging green sea.

Jeffrey Sklan’s photographic flowers dance besides Glenn Waggner’s painted blooms.

A dark blue pool surrounds ecstatically floating flowers from Annie Marini – Genzon; a dazzlingly abstracted blue “Bloom” unfolds from Linda Stelling, and an electrifying bouquet shimmers from Skye Amber Sweet.

 

Sculptural works include delicate orbs from Lydia Nakashima Degarood…

Intensely alive and motion-filled forms arrive from Dave Clark, while neon dances from Linda Sue Price’s glowing abstract.

 

There is a jubilant image recalling a Greek spring from Christina Shurts, vibrant and edgily floral work from Kaye Freeman, and enchanted swirls of emerald from Jennifer Chan.

Karen Doyle takes viewers to a fecund purple and blue landscape while Bernard Fallon directs us to a serene seaside coffee shop.

Rebecca Hamm and Michael Stearns each offer unique, lustrous abstract depths filled with watery wonder.

Karen Hochman Brown takes viewers on the wings of a lush butterfly, while Nancy Mooslin leads us in the sunlit Irish woods.

Esperanza Deese playfully expores the Palos Verdes shoreline, and Judy Herman dreamily takes us on a starlit train ride.

Dellis Frank and Nurit Avesar each bring viewers into very different abstract worlds that pulse with color.

Stephanie Sydney creates an entirely new dimension in her glowy mixed media work, while Caron G Rand offers a circular twinned image that dazzles with complexity.

To truly experience all these unique images, each explosive with the energy and passion of spring, be sure to join us for the arrival of Springtide. Isn’t it time to explore the beauty of art that grows and gives joy all year long?

The exhibition opens Saturday, March 14th from 4-7 p.m. (pies for pi day not forgotten!) at Diversions Fine Arts Gallery, 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. just off the 405 in Manahttan Beach. Disclaimer, I had the pleasure of curating this gorgeous show.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artists

 

 

First Foot: Landscapes for a New Year

Posted on by Diversions LA

While this new year has certainly been fraught as far as the current national and global news goes, individually and collectively we still have the chance to put our “first foot forward.”

With First Foot: Landscapes for a New Year, opening this Saturday, January 17th from 4-7 p.m. at Garel Gallery in Manhattan Beach, five artists are doing exactly that with vivid and exciting looks forward at scenes both beautiful and edgy, ranging from the representative to the abstract.

In Scottish, Northern English, and Manx folklore, the first foot refers to the first person to enter a home on New Year’s Day, with that person thought to be a bringer of good fortune for the coming year.  Attending the exhibition might just bring good luck to all viewers, and it will certainly bring five unique visions to start the year right.

Working in oil, Eileen Oda brings lush and dreamy magical realism in her vividly colored, richly dimensional seascapes and desert vistas that sing with light. There are fields of pale purple flowers with a sky lucid and pink behind them, royal blue mountains, and dimensional, exsculpainted flowers blossoming on a sweeping coastal cliff.

Linda Stelling’s hypnotically blissful, motion-filled images of nature’s beauty invest her mix of the impressionistic and the abstract with wonder. Here are opalescent ocean tides and delicate, moody sunset skies that shimmer dreamily.  Her acrylic on canvas works are immersive and wondrous.

Lynette K. Henderson’s startling urban realism juxtaposes familiar Los Angeles landscapes with the hauntingly visceral animals whose habitats our lives have upended. From a startled bat outside the Odeon Theater marquee to a vigilant coyote by the Santa Monica pier,  and voluptuous flightless cassowaries luxuriating in island palms. these are stunning images pull the viewer

Valerie Wilcox focuses on the landscape of the architectural, reinventing the world around her with mixed media wall sculptures that lead the viewer into a bold, riveting new world. Abstract and utterly involving, these wall sculptures are as compelling as they are contemplative.

Also exhibiting is gallerist and artist Joanna Garel, whose cool, clean, beach-centric landscapes feature iconic images such as lifeguard towers and sky-brushing palms in a rainbow of colors.

Above: Gallerist and artist Joanna Garel, left; myself, right

Self-involvement noted: I had the pleasure of curating these beautiful works, and with a nod to the (near) future, I will soon be taking over this gallery space with a new name, Diversions Fine Arts Gallery, and many amazing artists. So come get a taste this weekend – after all, we have to step into this new year first foot and all!

Garel Fine Arts is located at 1069 N. Aviation in Manhattan Beach. Tons of free side street parking.

Opening reception: Saturday, January 17th 4-7 p.m.
Artist talk and closing: Saturday, February 7th 3-5 p.m.