Bandon Library Art Gallery will host a reception for Susan and Steve Dimock, whose show, “Oceans of Texture,” runs through September 30, 2023. Meet the artists on Saturday, August 12th at 1pm. Also showing is sculptor Deborah Unger.

Bandon has many excellent scenic photographers, and we certainly count Susan and Steven Dimock among the very best. This show, their second with the gallery, is a deep dive into those images within their body of work that go beyond the seascape and into a more intimate examination of their surroundings to focus not just on the majesty of a rock, but on the textures in the rock. They pick out glowing bulbs of stranded kelp, the soft colors of stone and shell, or how the sun can turn wet sand to hammered gold. The Dimocks create images that are specific and yet abstracted from the larger picture. They capture a mood, a moment, something unique and fine. It is an unveiling of the small mysteries that make up the whole of our multi-textured world.

The carved basswood sculptures by Deborah Unger are beautiful, mysterious, and often disorienting. She uses her characters to illustrate states of being, feelings, dynamics between and within human beings; feelings of coming apart at the seams, estrangement, loyalty and loss, the distance between us. Her figurines are in poses and situations that describe familial relationships, self-reflection, transformation. Unger carves by hand or with power tools, sews clothes, finds or makes props, sets the stage, and allows us to enter moments in her characters’ dreamlike lives.

The reception will be held in the Sprague Room, from 1pm – 2.30 pm. Refreshments will be served, and all are welcome.

The gallery is open during regular library hours, 1204 11th St. SW, in Bandon City Park. For more information about the gallery, visit the Bandon Library Friends and Foundation website, Bandonlff.org.

Article courtesy of Tracy Hodson, photo “Three Stones” by Susan Dimock.

Reception for the artists on March 4, 2023, 2 p.m., in the Sprague Room, free to all. Refreshments will be served.

Oil painter Morgan Johnson breaks the world into pieces of color and shape, creating images of a mosaic-like reality, rather than a straightforward one. This has the effect of calling our attention to the multitude of colors in a sky and its fractured reflection, the snakeskin-like textures of a tree, or in the form of a swimmer under the disrupted water. Shapes may be geometric or free-form flowing lines, but these lines and shapes of color emphasize the overall image, rather than detract–or distract–from it. The work is almost hyper-real, introducing a micro element to the macro image, merging the two points of view. Johnson’s paintings are up through March 31st.

Cary Weigand’s sculptures are made with stained and glazed cone 6 porcelain, then combined with other materials, such as wood and hair. She finds inspiration in the materials themselves—their connection to the earth—and in the secrets of human and animal nature. She combines rougher slab work with incredibly fine detail, picking out the tiny fingers of a woman or the whorls of an ear. In her work, the animal and human worlds merge to create relationships beyond mere companionship; they all seem to speak the same mystic language, and assume the traits of one another. It is the highly skilled work of a unique imagination. Weigand’s sculpture will remain in the gallery through May 31st.

The gallery is open during regular library hours, 1204 11th St. SW, in Bandon City Park. For more information about the gallery, visit the Bandon Library Friends and Foundation website, Bandonlff.org.

Article courtesy of Tracy Hodson. Art images, “Trying to Surface” oil painting by Morgan Johnson, and “Dreaming Together” Bas Relief Sculpture by Cary Weigand.

The joy of discovery is the experience of these paintings. Geri’s gift is the depth and complexity of her work. There is musicality to these paintings are hung; the violets and blues carry you from one painting to the next. Move in close to be pulled deeper into the many small moments happening within the larger canvas. Interplays of contrasting color create small eddies in the wide stream of each image, and mysterious darkness contains surprising saturations of pure color. And there is texture, created by layers of fibrous papers and sinuations of pure paint. Some of these are made of paper alone, torn sheets overlapping to build up pieces that float within the rectangle of the frame, making a nice change from a rectilinear discipline of the others. In all of these, a spirit of exploration is evoked, and the viewer is asked to take the time required to really see what is there, and to return again and again with fresh eyes. These paintings hold rich rewards for such efforts.

In the cases, Jane Újházi’s jewels reflect the inspiration she also gets from the natural world. Graceful butterfly wing and Autumn leaf porcelain mix with glass beads to make unique earrings. Some necklaces are chunky, some delicate, but all are made with semi-precious stones, pearls, and gold or silver. These exquisite elements she uses are handmade and were made by artisans from around the world. Her work has elements of both the familiar and the exotic, and all of it delights.

There will be a reception for the artists on Sunday, January 15th, from 2 – 4 pm, in the Sprague Room at Bandon Public Library. Refreshments will be served.

The gallery is open during regular library hours, 1204 11th St. SW, in Bandon City Park. For more information about the gallery, visit the Bandon Library Friends and Foundation website, bandonlff.org.

Article courtesy of Tracy Hodson. Art images, “Bright Idea” by Geralyn Inokuchi, Butterfly earrings by Jane Újházi

Painters Jon Leach and Merv Cole bring a collection of abstracts to Bandon Library Art Gallery in August. Working in both acrylic and watercolors, they are well-matched in their aesthetic, and equally strong in the execution of their ideas.

In this collection, Merv Cole’s colors are vivid, the brush strokes bold. His canvases crackle with energy. Jon Leach’s paint is liquid; deep tones swim in pools from which brighter colors dreamily rise and recede. The work of both artists is brilliantly alive.

In the display cases are works from Humbug Mountain Weavers and Spinners, who hand spin, dye, and weave textiles into wearable and wall art. Their group includes felters, knitters and other workers in fiber.

The library gallery is open during regular hours Tuesday through Saturday at the Bandon Public Library, 1204 11th St. SW, in Bandon City Park. For more information about the gallery, visit the Bandon Library Friends and Foundation, bandonlff.org.

Article by Tracy Hodson. Painting detail: “The Discovery” by Jon Leach