by Elizabeth Monks Hack
“A Walk Through the Cypress” monthly column
If you are hitting the summer doldrums, and in need of a burst of exuberant color to uplift your spirits, the Cypress Gallery has a show for you. “It’s All Canvas” by Tonya Schultz, former Lompoc resident and scion of our creative community, is a joyful expression of art-making in the face of challenge and change. Those who know Schultz recognize her positive spirit and love of life, and see her work as a direct reflection of her personality. Unpretentious and full of feeling, the works sing of being alive and invite you to celebrate the fact along with her.
Schultz describes her work as “abstract impressionism.” It has in the past focused on broad strokes of primary and secondary colors to render florals, still life and scenes of nature that veer towards abstraction. A favorite motif is the balloon, of which one is included in this show. However in her new work Schultz has become an action painter. She delights in the physical and emotional process of moving paint across the canvas in her own fluid and unfettered style of pure abstraction.
Canvases are numbered, and not stretched across frames. She even offers the viewer to “take home a piece of the celebration” by selecting a section of a wall size canvas, which will be distributed at the close of the show. Tonya has generously shared her work through teaching and demonstrations throughout her career. “It’s All Canvas” is a natural segue to a life being lived and shared, in living color!
After taking in Tonya’s work, viewers will be sensitized to color, and find beautiful examples of it throughout the main rooms of the the gallery. Linda Gooch revels in the color purple this month, in the acrylic “Lompoc Lavender Harvest” and the watercolor “Summer Work.” Both are small paintings, but bring us the color, tactile quality and even the scent of the lovely herb.
Linda Gooch_Lompoc-Lavender-Harvest, acrylic on canvas
Deborah Breedon plays the rich muted gray and beige of a hillside against a stand of verdant deep green oak trees, in her pastel “Ranch Oaks Revisited.” Julia Nash’s striking “Blue Boats” pits blue and orange against black, white and gray. In the tenderly rendered watercolor “Pound Puppy” by Claudette Carlton, a soft ochre-yellow, shaded with tones of brown and black against white, is all that is needed to create the mood and feeling of vulnerable little pooch.
“A walk through the Cypress” will bring forth a variety of treasures. Joellen Chrones creates free-form glassware in luscious colors, the perfect accompaniment to Tonya Schultz’s work. Steve Scolari has carved a remarkable walking cane. Visit us this month to find your own colorful celebration with 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 am – 4:00 pm, or call for an appointment (805) 737-1129 <lompocart.org> <facebook.com/CypressGallery
IMAGES by Elizabeth Monks Hack
1. Tonya Schulz_ Canvas-2, un-stretched canvas pinned to wall
2. Tonya Schultz_Celebration, section of wall size canvas
3. Tonya Schulz (photo provided by the artist)
4.Linda Gooch_Lompoc-Lavender-Harvest, acrylic on canvas