Art In Place

(Best viewed on a Desktop Computer)

July 8th through September 6th

Through the generous support of an anonymous donor, the HAC administered the Art in Place COVID-19 Artist Grant program that invited Humboldt County Visual Artists to apply for support in the creation of new work during the shelter in place directive. A committee reviewed over 55 applications and selected 15 local artists to receive $665 to create work reflecting the current pandemic. On view is pandemic- influenced artwork by the following local artists: Amy Fowler, Amy Granfield, April Sandoval, Dan Molyneux, Dylan Steinart, Emily Reinhart, Erica Brooks, Erin Austin, Joan Gold, Megan Atherton, Patrick Garcia, Peggy Loudon, Regina Case, Susanna Gallisdorfer and Taylor Snowberger.

Joan Gold

Well Off, 2020

Acrylic on canvas

66" x 48"

$11,900

“Well Off” was painted during the Sheltering-In-Place experience of the Covid 19 pandemic. My vision is always about luminosity, serenity and harmony. If I make visible the joy I feel for the life in me and around me, I succeed in bringing balance to my own existence. I use pattern and color  and complexity to achieve this end and the process itself is its own reward. My gratitude to The Humboldt Arts Council and The Morris Graves Museum for the opportunity to exhibit a recent product from my shelter.

Regina Case

Lemur, 2020

Acrylic on canvas

16" x 25"  $2,800

For years my paintings have focused on domestic interiors and their relationship to the wild spaces outside the windows and doors. I am pulled to keep returning to this combination of human space with animals and wild landscape, in some manner defining our connection to the planet. The small house we live in is our home, but also the planet is home, and worth preserving. With the pandemic, in the midst of all that is so terrible, the bright bits of wonder have been seeing the wild things come out and reclaim the spaces now emptied of humans. Clear skies and wildlife left alone to thrive seem so hopeful. So, my paintings now might include a cityscape outside the window, but empty of all but wandering wild things. Our planet looking back at us.

Susanna Gallisdorfer

As the World Turns in its Great Awakening, 2020

Acrylic on birch panel

24" x 24"

$1,800

After the initial adjustment to aloneness, isolation and lack of ambition during the on-going shelter-in-place, I became creatively alive again, painting, writing, gardening. My creative process is intuitive, relying on inner guidance and craft. This is how the image for this painting arrived as a voice out of the pandemic experience. What was new to me in this process was a painting contained in a circle as well as strong images. As I worked around the circle, the circle became a wheel. As I worked around the wheel, it turned. It called for me to find balance, to express duality and oneness, and to find acceptance in the cycling of life. This is what I am learning from the painting. I am grateful for this creative challenge and opportunity to glimpse, through the making of art, something of the mystery in this unfathomable time.

ERIN AUSTIN

Statis Collar, 2020

Silver, onyx 

$2,800

In this new world, every day seems very much the same while at the same time incredibly different. I’ve been using this pause to push my work in new directions, taking the time to explore from a quiet space without the usual pressures of deadlines and obligations. To that end, I’m working on a collection of larger botanical pieces that bring together design aesthetics I’ve been working with separately for the past several years with the intention of bringing independent ideas together to work as one.

My progress is often interrupted during times when I feel that my daily activities, relationships, and aspirations have been completely put on hold. It’s as though I am frozen in time. And during these times I often wander into the garden where change is abundant. Spring brings new life, summer nurtures its growth, and fall will bring the harvest as it always does.

Keeping this cycle in mind I am taking this time to practice being still in the moment. Whether it’s laying in the grass watching a ladybug meander over each individual blade, facing the sun with my eyes closed and watching the blood pulse in my eyelids, or laying in a hammock and listening to bird calls, I try to take several extended moments each day to just “be” and experience the things that we often overlook.

“Stasis Collar” is a reflection of the turbulence and quiet of this time. The wearer is held stable as the piece wraps its way around them, meandering and blooming into forms that are somewhat familiar but also unexpected. A tribute to the power of nature to adapt and transform whether we are aware of the process or not and a reminder that we are part of a larger system that sustains us as we live, just as we shall sustain it when we die.

APRIL SANDOVAL

-Blue Necklace, 2020

Silver, fiber

$350

-Red Studs, 2020

Silver, fiber

$150

-Contrast Ring, 2020

Silver, fiber 

$300

While sheltering in place I began a series of rings. I looked at my hands in a different way, they became a danger, my own enemy. Left to embrace ourselves and void our hands of touch; the world had become a cold and skeletal place. I have always gravitated towards the textural juxtaposition of metal and fiber. However it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that I began to interpret their relationship with each other and myself more intimately. Through experiments of applying fiber to silver; a mirror into my own isolation became apparent. The sleek and polished sterling silver shapes represented the cold and barren world. Yet amidst the coldness a sensation of warmth from inside came forth when thinking of a familiar smile, a long night’s company, and above all my own self-reflection. This blanket of the warmth paralleled the fuzzy and colored fiber nestled inside the silver shapes. In the forthcoming weeks I expanded the jewelry line with the reminder of how our hands have always shaped the world.

ERICA BROOKS

Nocturne, May 2020

Oil on linen 

40" x 32"

$900

I was planning on attending a live nocturne workshop in Paris, France in early May, during which participants would paint the streets of Paris at night over the course of five days. In light of shelter-in-place restrictions due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the workshop was postponed. Casey Baugh, the artist hosting the workshop, shared his nocturne instructional video online. This painting is my interpretation of what I learned from watching that video. The painting will continually serve as a reminder to me to keep everything in perspective and make the most out of difficult situations.

AMY FOWLER

Garden Bouquet, 2020

Fiber art, crinoline 

NFS

I have used the time available during the pandemic to work on developing new techniques for working with crinoline. Crinoline is a synthetic braided fabric that I have manipulated by dyeing, pleating and shaping with heat. Each flower is made of multiple individually made pieces and all hand sewn. This piece will be the inspiration for many other pieces featuring these new ideas and techniques. 

PATRICK GARCIA

As Time Passes, 2020

Cyanotype on paper 

$250

With the onset of the pandemic, the meaning of the home has shifted from a place of solace and comfort into a symbol of isolation. As the days turned into weeks, which turned into months, it has become difficult to see an end in sight. Social distancing practices have severed our connection to our neighbors and forced us to create new ways to engage with our community. 

My new work directly reflects this massive shift in our daily lives. In an effort to create work from home I move away from traditional photographic practices and experiment with the cyanotype process. Using the home as a motif, I call attention to the boxlike structure we isolate ourselves in, as well the slow but persistent passage of time. 

DAN MOLYNEUX

-MintBronze Teapot, 2020

Slab built porcelain 

21.5" x 14" x 8"

NFS

-Chroma Teapot, 2020

Slab built stoneware

20" x 17" x 8"

NFS

As a sculptor sharing in the same quarantine experience as much of the world, I decided to transition into making a series of teapot forms. The influence of the Covid-19 virus and my experience of community here in my corner of Eureka has swayed me from making objects that seek contemplation to making an object that represents service to others, from the hand of one, to the cups of many. Making art during this quarantine has offered a tremendous solace and helped me begin to wrap my head around what we are all going through. Both of these teapots are more about the idea of a teapot, the elegance of form within the simple parameters of a vessel with a spout, a handle and an opening. The teapots are technically functional and were inspired by a 30 lb. oversized, solid-clay Japanese teapot I once encountered in a private collection in Philadelphia. I knew in that moment that I could throw out the playbook on how I was allowed to interpret the teapot form.

TAYLOR LEA SNOWBERGER

Evidence of Human Life, June 2020

Oil and acrylic 

48" x 60"

$2000

Since Tuesday, March 17, the day which marked the beginning effective date of the shelter in place order, I have oscillated between gratitude and resentment regarding life's new conditions. To be honest, mostly gratitude, more than usual even. I might have felt pressured by myself to work hard because I’ve fared so well, being in Humboldt County and having a great job, still. I think I must have felt like, if you don’t make art right now, when will you? So I set to work pretty much immediately.

I think if you look at my painting as almost like maps where I give myself very detailed and structured shapes to be free with paint in, they might make more sense. The conceptual idea is there and the representational drawing is there but the paint is so satisfying to enjoy applying loosely that I can’t resist, and that ends up being the whole point of the exercise for me is this part of the process where I get to be so loose. The drawings and under paintings for my paintings are such a painstaking long haul that the painting part usually feels like a nice coast downhill. That might be why I’m so well adjusted to shelter in place, I love a long arduous challenge, and it makes small pleasures really satisfying.

I chose Chicago because I’ve been daydreaming of seeing all the art there and the architectural idiosyncrasies of downtown Chicago are so charming and under recognized. Since I’ve never been there I have so much flexibility to imagine things about it, and what it’s like there now during shelter in place. Would it be an even better experience to go there now and have the quiet empty streets to myself? Does a depiction of a city with all the residual evidence of recent human activity but without human life accurately depict shelter in place? How many accurate conclusions can you gather about a place without seeing the people that inhabit it? I look at this painting and think, I guess a lack of people makes it look unfinished in a way, but since it’s intentional, the city itself is unfinished.

AMY GRANFIELD

Phoenix, June 2020

Oil on wood panel

48" x 32"

$4,000

The Phoenix outside my window

Art in the Time of Covid

When the shadows of this life have gone, 

I'll fly away; 

Like a bird from prison bars has flown, 

I'll fly away (I'll fly away) 

-Albert Brumley,1929

I have always been grateful that I do not live in interesting times.  That changed.  The advent of Covid definitely makes this an interesting time.

To make money I have an Airbnb and I paint, and I sell those paintings.  I can do neither at the moment.  There is the world and then there is the world.  Other than money how has my world changed?  My skies are not bluer from the suppression of human activity.  I live in Humboldt County.  There was a particularly good trillium bloom this year.  The hummingbirds left early.  I read the news, my heart aches for all of those who have died, who have lost loved ones, who can't make ends meet.  And all of this amid the foreboding angst of climate change. 

How can I possibly make sense of this time in history other than with art.  I can try to intellectualize this, but I can't make sense of it really, it's all too big.  It is only through images of beauty, of life, that I can make any sense of this whatsoever.  It is only with our hearts that we can see.  I prize my intellect, but it is of no use here.  Here there is only feeling our way through the universe.  What I know is that life wants to live.  So the birds continue to come to the feeder, the squirrels and chipmunks scavenge for what they can.  They have babies to feed.  The most basic kind of love goes on.  So today, we experience, we love, we bear witness to this time. 

My paintings aim to persuade you that there is beauty in this life, that there is hope.  This is what I offer.  We are in this world together, and it is a miracle; this small blue planet has created life.  Even Covid cannot stop this.

Let me be honest.  I do not know how I feel about this time of Covid.  I won't know for anywhere from six to 12 months.  The paintings that I create will tell me how I feel.  I think it will have something to do with birds.  Our own tiny dinosaurs, reminders of a distant past’s cataclysm and rising.  The Phoenix is sitting on the bird feeder outside your window. 

DYLAN STEINERT

Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, 2020

Colored pencil on cardboard 

40" x 28"

$425

With this piece I recorded a memory, not something important just a simple moment of joy. Whatever it may look like to others for me it is a beacon of happiness that is worthy of the gilded frame it is within. Holding on to moments like this has been an important part of staying sane during this time of shelter in place.

PEGGY LOUDON

-Hearts on Metal Stand, 2020 (7)

Ceramic

$125 each

-Hearts With Hands, 2020 (3)

Ceramic 

$150 each

-"Hope is a thing with feathers"-Emily Dickinson, 2020 (2)

Ceramic 

$175 each

-Thank You, 2020 

Ceramic

$175

-Hanging Hearts, 2020 (25)

Ceramic 

$100 each

The focus of the work created during this quarantine was originally inspired by my nephew, Bryce. He is currently working as a ER doctor in Austin, Texas. His wife is a pediatrician. My concern for them, sparked a need to make "something". Something tangible that could help release the emotional quagmire of "bad news" and attempt to shift those emotions in a more positive direction. I made an anatomical heart with the word "hERo" stamped on the surface.(The "ER" in capitals to honor my nephew.) or the word "Warrior" when I saw an interview with a nurse who referred to her hospital as being a "war zone" when I received the news about the grant, the floodgates opened and I went to work.

My hope is to recognize and honor all the front line workers who show up every day...driving the bus, delivering the goods, checking out our groceries, sweeping the floors, ....tending the sick…day after day....holding the hands of our loved ones when we can't....doing the work...showing up....heroes. With appreciation...thank you.

EMILY REINHART

Remotely Immersed in Music, 2020 (set of 9)

Charcoal on wood, mixed media 

$1,200

Pandemic viruses take down everything deemed non-essential, including everything essential for sanity's sake of creative souls such as, venues for music, arts, performances, and all the interaction with our audiences and supporters. Though my life revolves around art, the creation of it, and understanding that I need to create my art in order to thrive, I still have a job that requires my full-time attention - it's enjoyable and essential to society, but not related to art. I know what it’s like to be in a position where your job isn’t essential and your income is not stable. I understand that far too many musicians are not able to maintain an income, because the world cannot operate in a way that all jobs are essential...at least, not in the times of pandemic crises such as this virus, and its predecessors such as H1N1 of 1918 – music is not seen as essential, and most venues are a petri dish for contagion.

That being said, I've taken my income that I normally spend on coffee shops and restaurants, and redirected its flow toward keeping musicians and the art scene alive in these times of being denied live gigs and exhibitions. I have been hiring musicians to team with me on weekends, so that the world can enjoy both music and art simultaneously, safe from all of our socially-distanced homes! The musician I hire for the day, play a 2 hour set while I create my charcoal pieces currently in the works for an MGMA exhibition in the semi-distant future.

Livestreams are pushed to YouTube and a myriad of Facebook pages and groups (just search for EmRArt, and you'll find us!); one of the Facebook groups belongs to The Sanctuary in Arcata, whom hosts regular live streams of musicians playing in their various corners of creative spaces! Other Facebook groups include Arts Alive! Humboldt's page, Art Center Arcata's page, a few international pages and the locally-operated Shelter-n-Play, which is a significant Facebook group to Humboldt, as its purpose is to continue the Open Mic Nights that occurred in Old Town Coffee & Chocolates, Xeff Scolari and I host Open Mics every Friday with the intention that the musicians aren't left without an outlet. Having an outlet for your creative processing, is essential to the health and well-being of your mental and spiritual status. This not only promotes the local music scene to stay alive, but also permits musicians and viewers/listeners the social gathering with familiar faces and companions, that so many cannot have right now.

Each piece is created using the same medium (charcoal on birch wood) as the aforementioned exhibition being worked on (titled, Perfect Blend) during live streams. Each piece is joined by used guitar strings that were provided by Mike Anderson, the host of our Old Town Coffee & Chocolates' Open Mic Night that occurs on Thursdays (when venues were, and will someday able to host). 

Clockwise from bottom left:

 -2nd Open Mic Night:

Mike Ivan, Randy Cordeiro, Ernest Whaley, Richard Chase,

 Jamie George, John ‘El Flaco’ Nelson

- Masaya ‘Masa’ Rider; Tokyo, Japan

 - Nelly’s Echo; Baltimore, Maryland

 -1st Open Mic Night:

Beth Isbell, Linda Faye Carson, Ashley Beach, Tony Roach,

Curtis Biondich

 - Courtney Bowles; Ontario, Canada

 -3rd Open Mic Night

Chad, Galaxy, & Stella Brents, Xeff & Donovan Scolari, Matthew Green,

Rob Christensen, Steven Pitsenbarger, Korinza Shlanta

 - James Zeller; The Sanctuary, Arcata, California

 - Jessie Andra Smith; Temecula, California

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