by Elizabeth Monks Hack
The Lompoc Valley Art Association wishes a Happy New Year to all! Happily, we are still thriving, and have many wonderful art experiences planned for 2026. Art practitioners, aficionados, and anyone curious to try something new, consider the Cypress Gallery a resource. Owned and operated by the LVAA, we’ve been bringing art to our community here for over thirty years. It’s a place to find a fresh perspective, a new hobby, or a new look at the world through the eyes of an artist.
On display this month is a small but delightful show, entitled “Simple Pleasures.” Gallery artists sought to bring together pieces that reflect the importance of little things in a big, often troubling world. Small things we experience at home that give us joy.
A plate of cookies, a cup of tea, a pooch, beautiful flowers in a vase; these art works are as varied as the artists. Meditate upon them, and one gets a surprising sense of peace. Or perhaps a chuckle, as in front of Linda Gooch’s iced cake doughnut “Bite Me,” or Jasmine Gonzalez’s “The Good Stuff,” portraying a can of high quality Italian tomatoes.
One stand out of the show is a ravishing painting entitled “A Quiet Moment,” by Vicki Andersen. It focuses in on a child reading a book, her head resting on a pillow. The paint strokes, the color choices, and animated light of this painting are truly remarkable.
Throughout the gallery are works that bring visual excitement and energy to the viewer, who may have become exhausted over the holidays. Vigorous paintings of animals can give us a recharge. “Simple Freedom” by Joe Gliebe-Goetz depicts a small horse trotting over textured golden hills, silhouetted against a startling sky. In the modernist painting “Year of the Horse” by V.C. deMille, a playful white stallion seems to dance across the moon.
Magnificent white birds gaze at us imperiously from the walls. Chris Jeszeck’s owl “The Sentinel,” and Lee Hill’s “White Egret” draw us into their powerful beings. If that gets too intense, simply gaze to the right at “Peaceful Beach,” by Sharon Hedman. Its aquamarine blues and a sign that reads “Turks” are soothing to the soul. Such is the magic of art.
The Cypress Gallery has two community-participant shows on the horizon, and we very much want you to participate! February brings “The Art of Renewal,” in which the artworks are made from recycled objects. Scheduled for March is “Flight of the Imagination.” This show belongs to our series of wood “cut-outs,” wherein artists are asked to transform a simple animal shape. This year it is the butterfly. Visit the gallery this week to get started.
All events and information about shows and classes are posted on our website. Join us on Sunday, January 10 from noon to 2:00 PM for the “Simple Pleasures” reception. Get to know our artists. Get to know art, for a fresh start to a new year.