MORE NONSENSE

I had some lettuce on an earthen plate,
But something that I must have ate
Made me feel quite old and sad.
Perhaps the earthen plate was bad.
It was brittle, hard and very tough.
A bite or two was quite enough.
Rick Lyttle 6/8/04

SCROLL DOWN  ¶ 8:11 AM

  AT THE GALLERIES

The KWMR Card benefit now showing in the Music Room at Toby's in Point Reyes Station this month, is just plain fun. Prepare to laugh and to be impressed with the talent of our remarkable, artistic community.

The artist were invited to portray up to four playing cards each. The response was astounding, both for its variety and it innovation.

The effort will benefit our local, non-profit radio station with both silent bidding and raffles for those who want to purchase the images. There will be a poker tournament starting at 7 p.m. June 19, a closing party for final bidding from 4 to 6:30 p.m. June 27, and photos, taken of all entries, will be used to make a deck of cards available for purchase. All proceeds will got to KWMR. You can call the station at 663 0905 for more information.

Meanwhile, come see the show. You'll find just about everything. There are self portraits, plays on words, quotes from the masters, landscapes, shrines, erotica, a book, some sculpture, and many collages.

Jack Kramer, who created the show with the help of KWMR's staff,
tended toward punning. Heart strings with "Pluck ‘em" for the six of hearts and the heads of golf clubs for the four of clubs. Claudia Chapline created a three dimensional Club House for the "King of Clubs." Kathleen O'Neil has a gardening queen holding her spade. Jennifer Thompson presents a bleeding heart, a broken heart, a pierced heart and a heart tomato for her five of hearts. Robin Hextrom had a section of rattlesnake, a diamond back, of course, presenting his two of diamonds.

Animals appear frequently. Lynn Sawyer envisions a crocodile or an alligator for his Jack of Hearts. Mesa Broek has depicted owls in blue and white in a field of sand with bones and feathers for accents. It's an arresting image.

In a collage, Toni Littlejohn also presents owls along with forest scenes and a photo of herself taken a few years back. Dieter Trump presents an engaging frog for the four of clubs. Michael Knowlton uses bears for his king of diamonds. Gene Fisher has created a spider with character for his eight of spades.

David Greene has a Medieval-style, allegorical painting with a sward-bearing saint, a snake, a castle and a lion for his king of hearts. Kathryn LeMieux has two martini-drinking mermaids for her queen of diamonds.

Most face cards are reversible, and Sue Gonzalez has use this to contrast her warm-tone, apple eating Eve with the cool, downside of that allegory.

Three dimensional works include Loretta Farley's shrine-like presentation. Her Jack of hearts is an arresting piece. John Aucoin has made a large metal sculpture for his king of hearts.

Erotica is not neglected. There can be no doubt of gender in Sawyer's seven of spades. Broek's two of hearts is amusingly erotic. Tess Felix has eight nudes, more decorous than erotic, playing cards by the seashore for her eight of clubs. And Andrew Romanoff resorts to his charming whimsey for his king and queen of hearts on a single card.

Sometimes, the materials used provide the interest. Madeline Hope wired together a series of disc to create one of her cards. Inez Store has found some ancient playing cards for her charming collages. Kate Adams has used fabric for her Jack of clubs, four of diamonds and ace of spades. In the one collaboration in the show, Yolanda Porrata provided frames of worked tin for Grayson Kent's nine of spades and seven of hearts.

The computer art is great fun. Judith Selby presents a highly amusing and arresting ten of spades while Daniel Will Harris places a self-portrait in front of stained glass panels. And Antonia Will Harris quotes from a famous Botticelli for her ace of diamonds.

Jan Davidson's paintings combine words and numbers to represent the ace of clubs, nine of diamonds and four of clubs in a style reminiscent of Robert Indiana.

It's impossible to do justice to all the participants in this show, but be on the lookout for work by Vickisa, Betty Wolfolk, Patricia Drake, Hannah Mott, Sara Means, Colleen Conley, Axel Nelson, Ela Haworth, Stu Art, Nea Osbourn, Cariadne, Adrienne Pfeiffer, Laura Leek, Rick Lyttle, Owen Sanders, Molli Milner, Suri, Peter Lee, Carla Steinberg, Mara Nelson, Carl Dern, Geraldine Lia Braaten, Peter Hope, Shirley Saltzman, Carol Beebe, and Denise Breaux.

Congratulations to all.

SCROLL DOWN  ¶ 3:44 AM