In the "Centered on the Center", an open art show currently presented at the Huntington Beach Art Center, Thom Wright has two paintings from his recent series, "In Balance with Nature". The entire show of over 250 works is also shown online at their website, www.huntingtonbeachartcenter.org under the "Current Exhibition" tag. The paintings are shown below, followed by his Art Statement for the series and a more detailed description of each composition.
Big trees and large forests have long inspired humans beyond the utilitarian resources they provide. Their spirit is uplifting; some becoming massive, towering and long-lived wonders of great strength. They thrive with earth, water and sun, and they benefit man and the environment. Symbolically they join the earth with the sky. Yet now less than 25% of the earth’s forests remain, and many are in environmental stress from climate change that brings higher temperatures, drought, disease and forest fires.
Choosing trees and forests in stress as my metaphor for the growing apocalypse of climate change emphasizes our collective dependence on nature for survival, that both man as the dominant species must search for and attain a global balance, in contrast with our present dominance of the earth’s resources and excessive pollution/destruction of nature. It cannot keep up with the pace of human impact on the environment. It is complex, diverse and dynamic itself, multiple ecosystems over the breadth of land, oceans and atmosphere, as well as populated with the great diversity of creatures, plants and the gamut of life.
In my geometric, somewhat expressive painting style, I paint abstract landscapes of line, form and space, on hardwood panels. These surfaces sometimes carry their own patterns, and they have their own way of influencing lines, colors and brush marks. My goal is to create a spatial environment of balance and exchange, of patterns, rhythms and relationships, of parts that make the whole. Just as many contemporary artists make compositions of pictorial, dynamic forces in balance, I make paintings to inspire man’s pursuit of balance with nature. I believe that only by achieving this balance can climate change be overcome.
It is immediately apparent that both of these abstract paintings relate to trees and their interchange with the atmosphere. In painting on the hardwood panels, several areas reveal the knot holes embedded in the hardwood painting surface. These circular tree rings are the "natural expression" in the wood panels of their life and growth process. Of course, trees breathe through their leaves by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air and combine those molecules with water (H2O) and sun to generate its cellulose, and also produce oxygen (O2) that is released back into the air. Thus, preserving and increasing the total number of trees in the world helps to reduce the impact of mankind's ever-increasing consumption and associated production of greenhouse gases.
In my painting, the geometric shapes at the bottom represent the trees of the earth. Rising from them are shapes and lines rising into the atmosphere above, suggesting this interchange in nature. The atmospheric layers are mixed with a growing level of CO2 that is heating the planet and its consequent increase in melting ice caps, rising ocean levels, and violent weather with hotter temperatures.
My abstract paintings are not intended to be evocative of climate change, but to emphasize that man and nature must attain an organic balance of all of our processes of modern civilization. In addition, they must also present an effective artistic composition that is in my own style, combining colors, shapes, lines and textures, with movements and rhythms in a dynamic stability, as are the esthetic goals of contemporary art.
Thom Wright
thomwrightart@verizon.net
SCA held a meeting outdoors at the park behind the Irvine Fine Arts Center.
Janet Adams was thanked for hosting the December 2021 meeting at her art space. Present plans are for future meetings to be held outdoors at IFAC and/or at voluntary members’ residences. This also provides the hosting member to informally show their recent art in more depth.
The meeting start was delayed by an auto accident in the IFAC parking lot when Randy Au’s car was struck by another vehicle, both of them traveling at less than 15 MPH. No one was hurt, lots of broken glass, but Randy had to deal with the aftermath and missed the meeting.
All members showed some current work and preparations for new work and informal discussions with the members.
Janet Adams shared a new piece and her notebook:
Thom Wright shared In Balance With Nature #56. He creates his own panels to paint on and framing for his nature-and-climate-based abstracts:
Randall Holbrook shared his interactive map of public art in San Juan Capistrano for TASJA.org, as well as a small oil he has just recently started:
Kathy Breaux shared some of her recent architectural watercolors:
Thanks to those who attended! We are looking to try to meet every two months, so look for an announcement for March. Let Randall know if anyone is interested in hosting. The park in Irvine was a great place to meet, fun had by all!
Laguna Art Museum presents the 40th annual California Cool Art Auction. The museum-curated event features over 100 works by California’s most coveted artists. The American Wall, 2019 by member Karen Feuer-Schwager is up for auction: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/karen-feuer-schwager-the-american-wall?fbclid=IwAR1ngMBkGjbm80piN2bRvKw-lKJDKOaCq9MTVryLAEK7stBPS-8skcArAE8
The American Wall, 2019
Ink Pigmented print, textured cotton rag paper
15 × 31 in38.1 × 78.7 cm
Edition 3/25
Your support of this event ensures that Laguna Art Museum can continue its mission of collecting and preserving California art, providing critically acclaimed exhibitions, and enhancing art education for all ages.
Bidding opens at 11:00am PST (2:00pm EST) on Friday, February 4, 2022.
Bidding for the silent auction will close on Saturday, March 5th at 7:50 pm PST (10:50 pm EST).
Full details and additional content at: https://lagunaartmuseum.org/events/california-cool-art-auction-2022
Courtesy of the Artist:
70% of the proceeds of this sale are donated to LAM.
KAREN FEUER-SCHWAGER has resided and practiced her craft in New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, France, Switzerland, and California.
Following graduating Tyler School of Fine Arts, Temple University and completing an apprenticeship for an art as therapy program, she moved to New York City. Using the arts as a means for understanding the mind and using her understanding of Gestalt techniques to deepen the visual dialogue, she developed her dream imagery subject matter.
In the Late 1960s, she met and began studying with the New York-based artist Don Stacy. Stacy encouraged her to develop her experimental, expressionistic side.
The 1970s-’90s experimentation led her to work on unusual support materials such as stressed Polaroid film and irregularly shaped formatting. It was at this time she began painting with polymer skins and combining them with Plexiglas or her hand-made, used teabag paper.
Karen’s use of polymer skins lead to her developing site specific installations on glass facades. By far, her largest work to date was “Traces”, a polymer skins piece. It was installed at the Laguna Art Museum for Tyler Stalling’s “OsCene 2004 Biannual”. It covered every window and door of LAM's entranceway.
The following year Karen installed “Traces of Spring” (also polymer skins) at Grand Central Art Center’s (Santa Ana, Ca) front window which accompanied her show, Dennis Cubage and Andrea Harris curators.
Karen also designs a line of art wear jewelry using polymer skins now on display in several museums and the “Just Looking Boutique”, Laguna Beach.
She has worked across media, for example collaborating in 2013 with choreographer Jayne Persch, and the Boulder Ballet Co. for the program “STEPPING-OUT” and in 2015, “SHAPE-SHIFT. ” A wall sculpture (used tea bag paper and polymer skins), was the thematic basis for the choreography for a performance and exhibition at the Dairy Gallery, Boulder, CO.
