Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.                                John Berger – Ways Of Seeing‍

I was expecting to have an in-person show at Partners Gallery in November though obviously that did not happen. I chose November as it is election month and the show would have opened the Friday after the election. This series was inspired by events related to those who are in positions of power who are acting like snakes. A portion of a boa constrictor skin is included in each work as a metaphor for the powerful. My time in the studio has been an escape for me from troubles in the outside world beyond my control and the lush color of these paintings is a contrast to the dark inner thoughts the snake metaphor conjures. For more information about my work, please contact me at mcohen@mcn.org.

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With the exception of Storm Coming In (Jan. 2020), I began this work at the onset of the shelter in place orders and have continued through to the present. I started with 6” squares because that felt manageable in the midst of uncertainty. Those became a 9-part piece I titled, Sheltered, pictured on the blog. My points of reference during this time have been my house, the garden, the beach, the headlands and my imagination. I am grateful to be living on the Mendocino coast surrounded by so much natural beauty. Two works, Wall View I and Wall View II resulted from thinking about being confined in an urban setting. For more information about my work, please contact me at pdhahn@mcn.org.

I’ve been thinking about time and its various incarnations and for this past year, specifically, the time of noon. It’s not a “me” subject—I’m a night person. That makes it a bit challenging. I start with the color that seems appropriate and then go from there. I draw a lot on the canvas—line to me is a vector among a field of energy. I’ve always been interested in expansion, structure and in the creation of a space that is full, containing a kind of presence. The paintings are constructions—mysterious and novel: they have to have surprise. For more information about my work, please contact me at vs@pacific.net.