Cibola Arts Oct-Nov: Creative endeavors of Art Etc. / Tomás Wolff Pottery
<center><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Cibola_Arts_Storefront_1.jpg" border=1 align=center alt="Cibola Arts Gallery"><br><font face="Arial Narrow" size=3><b>Cibola Arts celebrates the Art and Artists of Mountainair <br>and the Monzano Mountains Region</b></font></center>
Mountainair – Art Etc. The show opening Saturday, Oct. 4 at Cibola Arts Gallery here is a celebration of the fruits of planting a seed.
The featured artist for this show is really a group of artists that call themselves “Art Etc”. This is a group of artists that meet weekly to paint together, to experiment and learn. The group started two years ago with a beginning oil painting class offered by Shirley Simmons, a local painter. The class was open to all interested and artists as well as novices came together to study the medium and experiment with oil techniques.
That was two years ago, and the group has continued to grow and expand. “The emphasis now is on encouraging the creativity in each other and everyone,” says Simmons. The group is still open to anyone interested in meeting weekly and painting.
The group now explores different techniques and mediums, with professional artists in the group and guest workshops, and from each other. The show at Cibola Arts Gallery in October will show a wide scope of color, technique and creativity due to the nature of the group.
A reception will be held at the Cibola Arts Gallery from 2-4 pm on Saturday, Oct. 4. Come and meet the members of Art Etc and enjoy their eclectic art. The show will hang until October 31. For more information, call the gallery, 505-847-0324 For more information about Cibola Arts Gallery, visit their site at www.cibolaarts.com (http://www.cibolaarts.com).
November: Potter Tomas Wolff retrospective
<center><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/TomasWolff_raku_pot.jpg" border=1 align=center alt="Tomás Wolff Raku Pot"><br>Hand-thrown raku pot by Tomás Wolff</center>
During November, Cibola Arts Gallery will host a retrospective art show of raku and sawdust-fired pottery by Tomás Wolff beginning Saturday, Nov. 1, with an opening reception from 2 - 5 pm. The show will run for the entire month of November.
<img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/TomasWolff_clayvessel9.jpg" border="1" align="left" hspace="5" alt="Unglazed clay vessel by Tomás Wolff">Wolff makes mainly coiled pottery based on traditional ancient pottery from around the world. He began making pottery this way some 25 years ago while living in eastern Pennsylvania.
His childhood in Haiti, Argentina and New Mexico influenced his desire to work with clay in a rudimentary way. “I found even using a potter’s wheel too restrictive,” says Wolff. “I wanted to work the clay without any mechanical interference. I guess I am the ultimate techno-avoidance person! I like the way I am completely at the mercy of the clay and my own abilities. It creates a more intimate relationship with the earthy material,” he says.
In addition to crafting one-of-a-kind lovely pottery, Wolff also creates clay spirit-masks and flutes in the shapes of animals. He uses bits and pieces of broken pottery to create lovely mosaics that have a distinct spirit-world feel to them. They are quite captivating. The memory of the faces embedded in Wolff's unique mosaics and the haunting music of his animal flutes stayed with us for hours after we left the gallery.
“I love the organic sensual shapes of vegetables, fruits and flowers, and in my pottery making I attempt to emulate them.” According to Wolff , “Some art theorists believe there is a perfect ratio that defines how those opposing (or complementary) lines make a beautiful pot. But the ancient pottery makers found the perfect shape by experience and primitive instinct. It is that primitive instinct that I am exploring, that state of intuitive space where natural beauty is realized.”
<img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/TomasWolff_clayvessel7.jpg" border="1" align="right" hspace="5" alt="Unglazed clay pot by Tomás Wolff">Tomás has constructed vessels of all sizes and shapes, from threeinch closed forms to three-foot tall vases using both raku and sawdustfired decorative effects.
Over the years, he has won numerous state and local grants and art show awards for his work. In 2005 he won the “Artist of the Year” award from the Arts Community of Easton, Pennsylvania. Since 2006, he and his wife have lived in New Mexico, and now reside in Mountainair.
For more details about the Tomás Wolff Pottery show, call Cibola Arts at (505) 847-0324 or visit their nicely-done web site at: www.cibolaarts.com.
<center><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Cibola_Arts_Storefront_1.jpg" border=1 align=center alt="Cibola Arts Gallery"><br><font face="Arial Narrow" size=3><b>Cibola Arts celebrates the Art and Artists of Mountainair <br>and the Monzano Mountains Region</b></font></center>
Mountainair – Art Etc. The show opening Saturday, Oct. 4 at Cibola Arts Gallery here is a celebration of the fruits of planting a seed.
The featured artist for this show is really a group of artists that call themselves “Art Etc”. This is a group of artists that meet weekly to paint together, to experiment and learn. The group started two years ago with a beginning oil painting class offered by Shirley Simmons, a local painter. The class was open to all interested and artists as well as novices came together to study the medium and experiment with oil techniques.
That was two years ago, and the group has continued to grow and expand. “The emphasis now is on encouraging the creativity in each other and everyone,” says Simmons. The group is still open to anyone interested in meeting weekly and painting.
The group now explores different techniques and mediums, with professional artists in the group and guest workshops, and from each other. The show at Cibola Arts Gallery in October will show a wide scope of color, technique and creativity due to the nature of the group.
A reception will be held at the Cibola Arts Gallery from 2-4 pm on Saturday, Oct. 4. Come and meet the members of Art Etc and enjoy their eclectic art. The show will hang until October 31. For more information, call the gallery, 505-847-0324 For more information about Cibola Arts Gallery, visit their site at www.cibolaarts.com (http://www.cibolaarts.com).
November: Potter Tomas Wolff retrospective
<center><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/TomasWolff_raku_pot.jpg" border=1 align=center alt="Tomás Wolff Raku Pot"><br>Hand-thrown raku pot by Tomás Wolff</center>
During November, Cibola Arts Gallery will host a retrospective art show of raku and sawdust-fired pottery by Tomás Wolff beginning Saturday, Nov. 1, with an opening reception from 2 - 5 pm. The show will run for the entire month of November.
<img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/TomasWolff_clayvessel9.jpg" border="1" align="left" hspace="5" alt="Unglazed clay vessel by Tomás Wolff">Wolff makes mainly coiled pottery based on traditional ancient pottery from around the world. He began making pottery this way some 25 years ago while living in eastern Pennsylvania.
His childhood in Haiti, Argentina and New Mexico influenced his desire to work with clay in a rudimentary way. “I found even using a potter’s wheel too restrictive,” says Wolff. “I wanted to work the clay without any mechanical interference. I guess I am the ultimate techno-avoidance person! I like the way I am completely at the mercy of the clay and my own abilities. It creates a more intimate relationship with the earthy material,” he says.
In addition to crafting one-of-a-kind lovely pottery, Wolff also creates clay spirit-masks and flutes in the shapes of animals. He uses bits and pieces of broken pottery to create lovely mosaics that have a distinct spirit-world feel to them. They are quite captivating. The memory of the faces embedded in Wolff's unique mosaics and the haunting music of his animal flutes stayed with us for hours after we left the gallery.
“I love the organic sensual shapes of vegetables, fruits and flowers, and in my pottery making I attempt to emulate them.” According to Wolff , “Some art theorists believe there is a perfect ratio that defines how those opposing (or complementary) lines make a beautiful pot. But the ancient pottery makers found the perfect shape by experience and primitive instinct. It is that primitive instinct that I am exploring, that state of intuitive space where natural beauty is realized.”
<img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/TomasWolff_clayvessel7.jpg" border="1" align="right" hspace="5" alt="Unglazed clay pot by Tomás Wolff">Tomás has constructed vessels of all sizes and shapes, from threeinch closed forms to three-foot tall vases using both raku and sawdustfired decorative effects.
Over the years, he has won numerous state and local grants and art show awards for his work. In 2005 he won the “Artist of the Year” award from the Arts Community of Easton, Pennsylvania. Since 2006, he and his wife have lived in New Mexico, and now reside in Mountainair.
For more details about the Tomás Wolff Pottery show, call Cibola Arts at (505) 847-0324 or visit their nicely-done web site at: www.cibolaarts.com.