Ashland Gallery Association December Art Exhibits
Celebrate Ashland’s Visual Arts during the AGA First Friday Art Walk, December 1st from 5 to 8 pm!
Stroll the galleries and take in the visual delights in downtown Ashland and the Historic Railroad District. Enjoy this free year-round community event, filled with a diverse array of artwork, live music, artist demonstrations, refreshments and lively conversation!
For more information about all of our exhibits, please visit: www.ashlandgalleries.com
View and download the download the December Gallery Tour map at the bottom of this post.
AGA December Spotlight Exhibits
Studio 151
Birds, Buddhas, Books and Snakes
“Birds, Buddhas, Animals & Snakes,” Mixed Media by Elizabeth York
Currently on display is mixed media sculptural art by Elizabeth York. The work includes various buddhas composed in wall relief form, sacred geometry and a series investigating her experiences of relative “time”. Also on display are sculptures from 2 books, the Book of Beings (various ego structures) and Embracing the Shadow (exploring emotions) both arising from the processing of childhood traumas.
Elizabeth’s most recent work includes a playful series of animals and a variety of birds. Much of the art will be part of a sale in December, creating space for 2018.
Studio 151 is located at 151 N. Pioneer Street in Ashland. The studio will be open Friday, December 1st from 3 to 8 and Saturday, December 2nd from noon to 4:00. studio151ashland.com
All proceeds from the studio support Shine a Light, a 501(c)3 organization committed to raising awareness about, preventing and rehabilitating victims of sex trafficking locally and abroad. iwillshinealight.org
American Trails
Pueblo Storyteller Pottery
Pueblo Storyteller Pottery
Helen Cordero of the Cochiti Pueblo is known as the first person to make a storyteller doll. The people of the Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico, situated between the Rio Grande River and the Jemez Mountains, have been making distinctive pottery featuring black designs over the top of layers and layers of white clay slip for over one thousand years. Traditionally the potters of Cochiti made useful items such as pots, bowls, and other containers. They also made small figures of animals and people. Some of these figures were decorative. Others were used for ceremonies. One of the most common was a mother holding a child. These mother-child figures were known as “singing mothers” because their mouths were always left open to let the lullaby out.
In 1964, drawing on the “singing mother” motif, Helen created a clay figure based upon her grandfather Santiago Quintana. Mr. Quintana was a renowned pueblo storyteller. What she most remembered about is seeing him with lots and lots of grandchildren, like herself, climbing on him, begging him for stories, a request that he almost never refused. He told stories of Coyote, Rabbit, and Badger, the little people of the American desert. He told stories of Corncob Boy and Corn Mother, mythic beings. He told tales of times past, and of people in the pueblo. He never ran out of stories, she remembered, because he could makeup stories that were as good as the old ones.
The figure she made was unlike any before made in the pueblo. It was a grandfather with children climbing onto his lap. She added children climbing up the storyteller’s braids, peeking over his head, sliding down his arms. The storyteller was large compared to the children, as if to suggest the size of his influence. However, Helen Cordero never referred to her little figures as children. She called them “little listeners”. She believed that what they were doing was as important as what the storyteller was saying. Wisdom, she believed, came into the world, not because it was spoken, but because it was heard. Echoing the older singing mother figures, Helen Cordero left the mouth of her storyteller open to let the stories out. She left the eyes closed. Her storyteller was always thinking of the next thing in the story.
Since those early storytellers back in 1964, the art form has blossomed in all directions. No longer are the eyes always closed and the central figure does not have to be a grandfather. Mothers, grandmothers and animals all can be the storyteller. Turtles especially were thought to be a special friend of pueblo children. It was said that long ago when neighboring pueblos were at war, Turtle came and took the children away. He hid them and kept them safe. In another story, turtle takes dreaming children on a journey to see the whole world, but only if they promise to keep their eyes open. They must see the beauty, or they will be dull people all their lives.
Ashland Art Works
Winter Wonders: Holiday Gift Show
Give this holiday season a more meaningful touch with gifts created by local artists. The artists at Ashland Art Works have been busy designing unique holiday creations sure to delight your friends, family, and – of course – yourself!
On First Friday in December, along with our member artists we’ll be hosting some talented young artists. Students from the Advanced Jewelry class at AHS collaborated to create an amazing jewelry collection. Each piece features a faceted garnet, in response to newly learned techniques. Students Sasha Aazami, Grace Honeycutt, Rachel Feinberg, and Eliana Olsen will also show other works created during their three jewelry classes at AHS.
As always, join us to wander our sculpture garden under starlit skies, meet the artists, and visit our five beautiful galleries where you’ll find:
• Elin Babcock’s assemblage & paintings
• Marydee Bombick’s functional and garden pottery
• Michael Gibson’s paintings
• Bonnie Morgan’s decorative and functional pottery
• Cheryl Kempner’s garden art & crazy clay birds
• Elizabeth Ellingson’s silver and stone jewelry
• Tamara Enz’s nature photographs
• Suzanne Etienne’s paintings
• Claudia Law’s art quilts
• George Popa’s dimensional wire sculptures
• Lorene Senesac’s Raku sculpture & wall reliefs
• Connie Simonsen’s handpainted silk scarves
• Angelique Stewart’s hand woven scarves, tea towels, and home goods
• John Weston’s Fine Woodwork & Cutting Boards
Art and Soul Gallery
“Gazing with Awe: Rogue Impressions and Beyond” Oil Paintings by Silvia Rothschild Trujillo
“Talented Hills” oil painting by Silvia Rothschild Trujillo
These are paintings that communicate mood and a sense of time by coloring the light and shadow of each season, scene, or still life with a perception of beauty that begs for acknowledgment. These works encourage and inspire the viewer to see more; to see the awe in everyday occurrences or commonplace surroundings which sometimes go unnoticed during our hurried days.
Silvia’s painting will be exhibited November 28 through December 31, 2017.
website: http://silviatrujillo.com
blog: http://silviatrujillo.com/blog/
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