by Elizabeth Monks Hack
The corner of H Street and Cypress Avenue has undergone a most welcome transformation. It’s new and pristine, beautiful in the sunshine and enchanting at night. Now dressed in its holiday finest, a towering Christmas tree and glittering gazebo make Centennial Square a delightful causeway into the Cypress Gallery. Like the elves in Santa’s workshop, our artists have been busy preparing gifts. The gallery is full of small treasures for you to enjoy and bring home to most everyone on your list.
A handmade object of art is enough to give your world a festive makeover. We have a charming display of jewelery, tree ornaments, small decorative paintings, books, glassware, watercolors and more, to choose from. C. Wood’s oil painting of Santa is irresistible. He is a flurry of deftly placed expressionist brushstrokes. George Kreutz’s artful, acrylic paintings are of toys and Christmas decorations that we see through the eyes of a child.
Not all the work is small, however. Chris Jeszeck has contributed a marvelously large and fanciful door decoration. It is made of a large round canvas with a small, rectangular piece attached, simulating a huge tree ornament. Jeszeck uses the acrylic pour technique, and maintains a popular YouTube channel demonstrating her varied methods. Occasionally a work created in a demo will go viral, as is the case for another painting on display in the gallery, entitled “Metamorphosis.” It has over 14,000 views and counting! No wonder there; it is a painting full of surprises and gorgeous colors, impossible to duplicate.
For your book-loving friends this holiday, consider Beverly Messenger Harte’s handmade book “To Bamboo.” With Japanese stab binding and handcrafted ink stamps, she illustrates poetry that uses the bamboo plant as both subject and metaphor. Consider also Kathy Badrak’s handmade accordion book series entitled “Life in Lompoc.” These books are exquisitely crafted and filled with fabulous vintage photographs.
It is worth a gallery trip just to come eye-to-eye with Emily Abello’s watercolor “Winter Wolf.” Standing in front of snow-laden pine boughs, this white wolf is a magical creature from another realm. Another striking painting is Ed Heinitz’s “Ocean Cave,” in which light and water blast through an ocean rock formation. I also enjoyed the abstract expressionist painting “Figure It Out Later” by Manic Creative. It invites study, and tells its stories through color, drips, drawn shapes and brushstrokes.
The Cypress Gallery is now participating in the monthly “First Thursday Lompoc Art Walk.” What a great opportunity for us to walk about and participate in our town. View art, fanciful installations, meet people, and come home with a “make and take” from the gallery.
Shop creatively this holiday season! Shop small, shop local and shop art.
CAPTIONS (All photos by Bill Morson)
C. Wood “Santa”
George Kreutz “Christmas Candle”
Chris Jeszeck “Metamorphosis”
Chris Jeszeck “Ornament”
Beverly Messenger Harte “To Bamboo.”
Kathy Badrak “Life in Lompoc.”
Emily Abello “Winter Wolf.”
Ed Heinitz “Ocean Cave”
Manic Creative “Figure It Out Later”