CANVAS + CLAY Gallery is pleased to present WILD : A four person exhibition all surrounding our wild animals and wild landscapes of the world. This group of artists filled the space with brilliantly colored and vivacious works. Come meet the artists and their bodies of work and talk about cute animals and untamed landscapes.
Mike Howard will draw you in with his cute vibrant animal drawings. His palette includes all the bright colors as he pieces together his animals in an organic puzzle like form. Upon viewing you can’t help but get a warm fuzzy feeling studying his work as that is his intent. Mike loves “cute” animals and that is where he draws most of his inspiration from. Another main theme in Howard’s work is “fun” as you can very strongly feel when you see his work. “I want to have fun. That’s my favorite word, fun.” Among Howard’s other hobbies and interests is continuing to collect wrenches and tools and listening to his cassettes. He is a neat and clean guy and prides himself on it, which also trickles down to his work. He uses minimalism and quite a bit of negative space to juxtapose his rainbow-esque figures.
Birdman has been diligently working on this body of work throughout the pandemic trying to get some homey good feelings spread through out our community. Buy a birdhouse and watch the bird family grow from your back stoop. He is an active member of our community and cherishes the people that surround him. He is a ceramicist through and through with not much dabbling in other mediums. While approaching his 50th birdhouse he reflects, “I make all kinds and different ones, he made about 49 birdhouses plus.” From the detailed tree barks cylindrical house to the diamond patterned wall hanging house, texture detail is Birdman’s specialty. He explores his medium through different textures and mixing glazes. While some houses are more traditionally built, like a log cabin or a tall barn like structure; he also breaks the mold with a cat body dwelling. There is a little variety for every bird out there. Come find your bird dream house for that perfect piece of property in your back yard.
Join Rachelle Aubrey as she invites you into the magical lands of the Northern Lights. This wild phenomenon of beauty is captured in her painterly vivid landscapes. First I do the sky. I use a big brush to do the sky. I use thin brushes and use gloss medium, to make it shiny. I just go for it.
“My art makes me happy and excited. I really like my ocean scenery and the northern lights. I really like the painting with the northern lights and the tiger. I have good memories from my trips. Beautiful and relaxing places.
I like Bob Ross and Van Gogh.
It’s fun. My subjects are sceneries, like the red rocks at Sedona Rocks. The mountains in Canada; I visited there. The scenery is so cold and pretty. I like painting skies, northern lights and the sunsets.
I would like people to get excited when they see my art. I hope they think it’s cool, neat and beautiful.”
Liz Kordes captures the animal spirit in both ceramic sculpture, ceramic wall hangings and in her drawings. She displays their character and energy in bold vibrant colors. Dogs and dragons are clearly a major muse, but no animal is left out.
From Aubrey’s uncharted far off lands, to Howard’s vivid representation of a cute Red American Squirrel, you will be reminded of the feast for our eyes that our wild planet has provided us. The show is on display at Canvas + Clay Gallery until March 5th.