ATM: Art, Tiles, Mosaics... an adventure in creativity

TAG (The Artists' Gallery) in Santa Monica

Saturday evening we attended the opening reception at TAG (2903 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404) for a friend, Katherine Kean. Also exhibiting were Anne M. Bray and Carol Kleinman.

I always enjoy Katherine's work which she describes as "memories, dreams and visions." Her paintings have an other-worldly quality which take me on journeys of the imagination... disquieting, yet peaceful and safe, all at the same time. The photo here shows Katherine in the center surrounded by her paintings.

The inset painting of the field of sunflowers (which I couldn't quite squeeze into the photo) is my favorite from this exhibit. I have always loved sunflowers. My mother is from Argentina and made sure we always had sunflowers growing in our garden in England. Of course, Van Gogh's sunflowers have a special appeal for me. Katherine, as always, has her own spin on this subject, not the bright, sunny scene we might expect, but one of mystery. I was especially taken by the one sunflower that refuses to conform and turns its back to the viewer, either out of mischieviousness, or perhaps saying to the other sunflowers, hey guys, let's make a run for it! Or perhaps just wanting to drink in the view for itself.

One of the other artists, Anne M. Bray, showed some landscapes in pastel. I was particularly interested in the sunset over the Nevada desert. Rough, dark storm clouds contrast with the smooth sweep of the foreground hills depicted in rich browns. A line of blue/grey mountains divides the foreground hills from the sky which occupies three quarters of the landscape.

Unfortunately, the TAG website, which is supposed to be at www.tagtheartistsgallery.com, is not currently in operation. But give it a try anyway, maybe it will be back one of these days.

(All photos on this blog copyright roslyn m wilkins and not to be used without permission.)