Life Lessons
Summer weddings are in full bloom this time of year with outdoor venues booked a year in advance, florists and dress shops are at their peak of the season. Going into the wedding season, most people want to learn the secret of a good relationship. Advice from those couples that have made it for 30, 40 50 or more years is remarkable.
What is the magic formula for keeping a couple together for a lifetime? Surveys report that only 7% of marriages will reach the 50-year mark. Everyone who enters into a committed relationship wants it to be forever, make it through thick and thin, and live happily ever after. It is sad, but fact show that 40-50% of marriages may fail.
In the next exhibit at the Gallery at 48 Natoma in Folsom, three fantastic artists explore different aspects of relationships in a variety of media. Maybe a few words of wisdom can be learned from the exhibit, “Life Lessons,” with fabric portraits by Sandra Poteet, sculptures by Amanda Paoletti and paintings by Chris Foster.
The exhibit opens on Friday, July 13, and continues through September 8, 2018.
Sandra Poteet
Poteet, Allow to Grow
Sandra Poteet portrays couples in life-size silhouettes all formatted in a similar fashion. They appear to the outside world as one of millions of couples, encircled by the formal and informal bonds of convention and commitment. “But within,” says the artist, “their relationships are as unique as are the individuals themselves.”
Each piece is an actual portrait of a real couple that has been married for over 30 years and is accompanied by a written story, personal lessons and recommendations from their relationships. The award-wining artist’s work has been widely exhibited across the US in competitions and museums and been published in several magazines and books. “Fabrics and other familiar textures have great power when melded by the artistic hand precisely because of their everyday-ness,” says Poteet.
Amanda Paoletti
Bronzed Lovers Ceramic Sculpture, by Amanda Paoletti
Amanda Paoletti has been sculpting with clay since she was a child, marveling at the process of bringing lumps of mud to life with the likeness of mice, rabbits, frogs and little people.
“My figurative works explore narratives and the human form as vessel and vehicle, a hosting of energy, emotion and self,” says Paoletti about her current work. “It expands the singular narrative voice to a dialogue between interior and exterior, self-embodiment and environment.”
In 2008 Amanda began what is now a decade long endeavor and entrepreneurial adventure as owner and director of the Artists’ Studio in the Foothills, a visual arts center and gallery located in Grass Valley, California.
Chris Foster
Chris Foster’s paintings are about emotion. “We are all emotional beings,” she says. “The Art that I love is the Art that touches me. There has to be a connection. This connection is why I paint.” Presently, she is working intuitively, expressing emotions abstractly with shapes and colors.
She feels that as an artist, she must trust her intuition and listen to what the painting wants. What needs to be resolved, and how, leads Chris to spontaneous painting decisions. In this “what if” journey, she explains she gets lost and found repeatedly. Living in ones’ imagination is exciting and fulfilling to her way of thinking.
Her interest in brush lettering, bookmaking, paste paper, watercolor, color theory, fabric painting and even stone carving, culminated into a degree from University of Berkeley California, in Graphic Design.
United We Stand, by Chris Foster
Free Entry
The gallery is free and open to the public and art is available for purchase. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm, with additional hours Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm and Second Saturdays of each month from 9am-1pm. Free tours can be arranged by appointment. For more information contact Gallery Director Cindy Abraham, (916) 355-7285, or [email protected].
