Art Works,Inc. Richmond, VA. March 2007 Art Shows & Events

ART WORKS March 2007 Art Shows & Events

The monthly 4th Friday Art Show opened March 23rd with a reception by the artists, music by Valerie Kay and Mike Bogle. The evening events featured:

March 2007 ALL MEDIA SHOW

This juried art show features many artists from Richmond and Virginia. Submissions are accepted from any artist and any medium.

Living in Reverse by Wane Potrafka

Wayne Potrafka from Portsmouth, VA exhibited his paintings and mixed media in the Jane Sandelin Gallery. Wayne Potrafka's initial medium in art was pottery. Health problems required him to reinvent himself and he started painting 3 years ago. He has developed a mixed media technique that allows him to use the carving and etching techniques used in clay work with the vast array of colors available to a painter. His work is often described as primitive, or outsider art. He is self-taught as a painter. Recent complete detachment of his retina and subsequent surgery has left Wayne with a very distorted image in his right eye. He uses this distortion in some of his work. He says, "I believe that it is the obligation of the artist to attempt to show the world as he or she sees it." He readily admits to enjoying the "child like tendency to break rules", and feels that in many ways his work reflects an inner desire to reach back for a childhood that he skipped on the way to adulthood.

Shackled by the server restrictions of a fundamentalist family, the early childhood years moved directly to the expectation of being an adult. By the age of eleven, he was preaching in churches. By 15, he was the featured speaker in a group that traveled and performed in churches throughout Michigan. Now in his late 50's, the child that could not play then, uses his art as an opportunity to play now! Kind of like, Living in Reverse! "When at my best, I manage to put all thoughts aside and merely react to the color and the image as it evolves. While I am a very politically active person, it is not the focus of my art. My desire is that my art be a reflection of my sub-conscious inner thoughts. My primary interests are always color, texture, and movement. Actual subject matter is usually irrelevant to me. My work is not designed to make you think. If is intended to make you feel. " Wayne has his own gallery, Riverview Gallery in Portsmouth, VA.

Watercolors, Near and Far by Christopher Wynn

Christopher Wynn is a painter of contemporary realism who currently works exclusively in transparent watercolor. Originally from California, in 2005 and 2006, Christopher circumvented the globe alone, with a backpack and watercolor supplies, to spend seven months painting plein aire. From the fjords of Norway to the beaches of Bali, he presents a gallery of his work.

GO FISH - FINS IN MOTION by Nicole Sandberg

Nicole Sandberg exhibited a solo show of ceramic fish in the Corner Gallery. Nicole is also known as the "fish lady". Nicole joined Art Works at the National Folk Festival in 2006. Her work is in ceramics and is all about sea creatures, mostly fish. Since Nicole is so proficient as the "fish lady", Art Works invited her to present a solo show to coincide with the "shad's return to Richmond", the James River Fish Festival and Earth Day Festival. The festival is scheduled for April 21st in Manchester and Nicole's exhibit will be on display from March 23rd through April 22nd.

NATURAL CURLS BY ALLI BAIRD