January 24 – March 3, 2018
Beginning on January 24 and running through February, the Back Gallery will feature the artwork of five member artists who work in a variety of mediums: Jim Carlson, Carolyn Lancaster, Julie McCue, Irina Place and Barbara Schaefer.
Jim Carlson was born in Los Angeles, grew up east of San Francisco Bay and migrated to Seattle for an engineering position at the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory. He pursued oil painting and photography as a youth and remained active as an amateur astronomer and photographer during his engineering career. He finds the process of transfer printing digital photos onto various media and adding hand painted elements most expressive. This relatively new process along with special artist’s materials was developed by Bonnie Lhotka. His choice of images for transfer printing is wide ranging and include: landscapes, high-speed photographs, nightscapes and botanical images. The finished pieces for this show are transfer prints onto watercolor paper or plastic each with added hand painted elements. “I hope that these pieces evoke an emotional response in the viewer.”
Carolyn Lancaster is an award- winning artist and prior to moving to Hawaii, her work was featured in galleries on the Mendocino Coast of California. She is now residing, painting, and drawing here in North Kohala, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Having explored many media throughout her lifetime, she began focusing her attention to watercolors in 1995 and became fascinated by the serendipity and intensity possible with this medium. Carolyn truly enjoys capturing in watercolor, as well as in acrylic, oil, and charcoal, the beauty and Aloha Spirit she sees in the world. It is with deep gratitude and joy that she shares her art with you.
Julie McCue retired and moved from Minneapolis to North Kohala in 1994. With more time on her hands, the urge to try painting kicked in, and she settled on watercolor as a medium. Julie concentrates on nature and a majority of her paintings are of flowers. She likes to focus on close ups and the textures you find when you zoom in on a flower or even a tree.
She especially likes to use bright color and is experimenting with pouring colors. She was greatly honored to have one of her paintings purchased by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts for their Art in Public Places program.
Irina Place started painting when she came to Hawaii as a response to the natural beauty of the island. She paints mainly in watercolor, as it is the most unpredictable and fascinating medium, but also experiments with acrylic, oil and collage. She considers the Firehouse Gallery the most stimulating venue for the Big Island artists. Irina also had one of her paintings purchased by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts – a result of their visiting the Helen M. Cassidy Memorial Juried Show, an annual event held by the Waimea Arts Council.
Barbara Schaefer – Ever since wandering the family farm in Wisconsin with her father and picking wild berries with her mother when she was a child, Barbara Schaefer has always enjoyed a “walk in the woods.” Her rural childhood and her profession in astronomy gave her a deep appreciation for dark night skies and other beauty of the natural world. Barbara’s
photography has allowed her to share nature and special moments with others. Her small solo photography show titled “Trees” will feature an assortment of trees native to Hawai‘i along with a few iconic tree scapes from the mainland. The images capture the majesty, the beauty, and a bit of whimsy of Trees.
