by
Elizabeth Monks Hack
Start your summer touring locally! The Cypress Gallery is an ideal place to begin the journey. It is in the center of OldeTown, anchoring the newly restored Centennial Park at Cypress Avenue and H Street. We are friendly, accessible and colorful. Our July show, full of sights both wonderful and whimsical, will inspire you to explore, travel and perhaps dream. You may even be tempted to approach your neglected creative pursuits once again.
Claudette Carlton is our featured artist for the month of July. Her show “Watercolor Creations” includes a wide range of subject matter described by the versatile media of watercolor. Carlton chooses a technique of simplicity and purity. She allows her paint to bring out the stories of her subjects, using distinct strokes and clear colors. Pigments on the white paper glow.
The artist has come a long way since the days when she would sketch quick portraits of her students in the few minutes before class ended. There is very much of the teacher still in her; a lover of history, a preserver of personal and cultural memory, attention to detail and a broad range of interests. She has arranged the show into “nooks” of related subject matter, where her enjoyment of the world delightfully comes into focus. Historical buildings, flora and fauna, and watercolor “embroideries” that include Bible phrases are featured.
Her artful depiction of “Mission San Antonio de Padua,” located in Jolon, halfway between Highway 101 and Big Sur, beckons one to visit. Sky, water and land mass are sublimely juxtaposed in “Mountain Lake Sail.” One hopes that Carlton will return to portraits, given the authentic expressive face of her little painting “Pound Puppy.” This refreshing show runs through July 28.
The viewer is a tourist in an art gallery; an explorer of colors and shape, of people, places and concepts. In our main gallery, take in the sights through the eyes of the artists. Janis Knox will show you the extraordinary clouds over the sapphire water of “Coos Bay.” Lee Hill will have you wandering through the countryside to discover an abandoned vintage car in “Glory Barn.” And Linda Gooch will take you quietly and serenely, in a golden light, to the end of your journey in “At Day’s End.”
The Cypress Gallery contains many such glorious sights, rendered in a surprising variety of media and technique. Pay another visit to “Cosmic Kitty” by Joe Goetz, “People’s Choice” winner for the month of June. Small paintings, like that of a ferocious little pug by George Kreutz, are for sale in our gift shop, which has developed into a delightful place to shop. There you will find handcrafted, affordable pieces of art in the form of cards, jewelery, glassware, journals, and more. We are a fine art tourist attraction. Before you leave town, see us!
CAPTIONS (All photos by Bill Morson)