by Elizabeth Monks Hack
Toni Zybell “Pendant with pyrite”
Alternating days of fog and chill followed by glorious days of sunshine and warmth, let us know that the holiday season is here, coastal style. Christmas concerts, Christmas parades and the decorations in Centennial Park are here as well. Located adjacent to the park, at Cypress and H Streets, is the Cypress Gallery, currently a treasure trove of holiday gift shopping. Decorative artists Joellen Chrones and Toni Zybell have created a walk-in jewelry box in the front galleries with their show “Artful Holidays,” displaying works of functional art that move into the territory of art-for-art's-sake beauty.
The two artists met almost twenty years ago while both were teaching glass-making techniques at a local store. Joellen branched out from glass bead manufacture into fused glass pieces, and Toni moved from fused glass to fine jewelry made of silver, copper and semi-precious stones. Both artists are also adept at other chosen natural materials, including wood and felted wool.
All of the work is lovely, but some of the pieces will leave you gasping; appropriate for the adornment of a Byzantine queen and her palace table. Zybell's extraordinary pendants and rings of combined polished stones and shapes take your breath away. The beauty of Chrones' color-saturated glass plates, bowls, and wall pieces set the heart thumping. Surprising color combinations, transparent glass, polished surfaces and marvelous forms by these two playful and inventive artists defy the boundaries of creative talent.
Artists in the main rooms of the gallery have truly added to the holiday spirit, by contributing works of joy, of the abundant beauty of nature, and the color red! Dee Sudbury exhibits a vibrant acrylic still life of red poinsettias and a persimmon, next to Chris Jeszeck's red acrylic pours. Rosalea Greenwood's stylized watercolor of a fashion-plate woman wears a gorgeous red gown.
Julia Nash's striking paintings this month draw us into an unfamiliar dimension of visual and emotional experience. In “Woman on a Windowsill” and “A Moment in the Dark” the paint is heavily applied, creating tension; from this matrix the colors orange and red threaten to set the images ablaze.
Julia Nash “Woman in a Windowsill”
Cypress Gallery artists revel in the depiction of nature. New member Deborah Breedon is a plein-air painter and pastel artist. In her exquisite “Final Turn,” a grassy path meanders in a flurry of distinctive pastel strokes towards expressive trees. Diane Atturio displays two unique images of the sky as we see it coming into Lompoc from the north on 135. “Let it Rain, 1 and 2” are narrow, horizontal paintings in which large moody clouds dominate the familiar skyline of eucalyptus and oaks. I was especially taken by the unadorned beauty of Bill Morson's “Rainbow Palm.” A photo on aluminum of one palm tree and one rainbow equals the sublime.
Deborah Breedon “Final Turn”
Bill Morson “Rainbow Palm”
Visit us soon for your holiday shopping. Have an artful holiday. Give someone the lasting gift of art!
The Cypress Gallery is operated by the members of the Lompoc Valley Art Association, a 501c(3) non-profit organization, committed to expanding and supporting access to the arts in the Lompoc and Santa Ynez Valleys. 119 East Cypress Avenue, Lompoc. Thursday – Sunday, 11:00 – 4:00 pm. (805) 737-1129 <lompocart.org>
All photos by Bill Morson
Joellen Chrones “Bird of Paradise”
Toni Zybell “Pendant with pyrite”
Julia Nash “Woman in a Windowsill”
Deborah Breedon “Final Turn”
Bill Morson “Rainbow Palm”