Tag: Kathy Wosika

Environments-BlueSkies-SecretSpaces

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“Environments, Under Blue Skies, Secret Spaces”
An Exhibit Featuring the Photography of
Larry Cusick, Sally Stallings and Kathy Wosika

 

October 7 – October 31, 2021

ArtHop Reception: Thursday, October 7, from 4PM to 8PM

Cusick 1
Larry Cusick -- Untitled

ENVIRONMENTS
by
Larry Cusick

My journey into the world of photography began in college when I took a photojournalism class. I was hooked by the idea that you could tell a story with pictures. Each assignment challenged me to find an image that spoke words. And the opportunities seemed limitless. Everywhere you look there is a story playing out. Even now, I find the work of photojournalists to be most compelling.

Since then, I have been a shutterbug, taking pictures of family and vacations. I became more seriously involved in photography after retirement when I discovered birding and bird photography. The challenge of capturing wild birds in the field rekindled something in me that I found mysterious and rewarding. I thought of this quest as environmental photojournalism. I see stories everywhere–in wildlife and in human interaction. My goal is always to capture a story.

I entitled my small part of the show Environments. This awkward title is a perhaps best ignored, and to just let my photographs say it all. You’ll see some birds and some nature, as well as people, in their own environments. I hope that each picture says something to you. It might not be exactly what I intended, but that is okay.

Golden Fields -- Sally Stallings

Under Blue Skies
by
Sally Stallings

Starved for color, beauty, and a piece of blue from above. I craved splendor of the California I have always loved. This was my focus.

Recently we lost our California. Acres of fiery infernos have incinerated homes and forests once teaming with wildlife and cherished irreplaceable memories. Homes that hosted family dinners, wedding celebrations, children off to school, graduation parties all gone… charred beyond recognition into smoldering black crusts, stumps, slabs of blackened concrete, and grey powdery earth. Grey ash, like fish scales, wandering from putrid skies poisoning every breath you take.

We lost security and safety from a horrifying pandemic that smacked everyone in the face with fear of sickness, death, and necessary isolation from family and friends. This unrelenting oppression from Covid and smoke saturated skies has been suffocating. I have felt psychologically imprisoned in a smothering nightmare…

There were times, however, on 8:00 o’clock morning walks I found relief in my 1920 neighborhoods. Stretches of sidewalks threaded together cared for homes, neighbors, and grassy colorful front yards. There were “good mornings” and “hellos, and “how are you”? from residents watering flower beds, pruning bushes, and mowing lawns while pajamaed kids roller skated in driveways…all home because of the shutdown.  

Wearing my N95 I heeded friendly neighbors conversing from one side of the street to the other.  Social distance maintained. I nodded to straw hatted mothers planting flowers with babies close by in netted play pens. All were friendly. All courageous. Everyone a warrior struggling to maintain some sort of normalcy exerting sheer will and smiles to keep going forward.

Some of these photos were taken on these morning walks.

I dedicate my portion of this show to all our 2020-2021 medical personnel who fought and are still fighting the spreading Covid and to our fire fighters who suffer beyond measure, but continue on, braving the all -consuming firewalls of hell. 

I am so profoundly grateful.

Phalaenopsis old age-Close-up -- Kathy Wosika

Secret Spaces
by
Kathy Wosika

In February of 2020, right before the Covid virus sent us all running for cover,  I had my first ever photo exhibit at Fig Tree Gallery here in Fresno.  The photos in that exhibit were taken over a 20+ year period of time from airplanes, flying between the East and West Coasts of the U.S. at 30,000 feet!  Originally, these photos were never taken as Art Photography per se – they were primarily collected as resource materials – ideas for use in teaching design, or to be incorporated into my creative work in ceramics or fibers. From such a distance, the earth below offers us a rich canvas filled with beautiful yet ephemeral compositions.  This amazing “aerial art gallery” is created by rock, water, soil and plants, as well as man’s interactions with these elements.  Change is ever the constant.

All of the images in this exhibit, Secret Spaces, were taken under the sequester imposed on all levels of our lives and society by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus.  Just 2 weeks after my exhibit closed, life as we knew it also shut down as we faced, too often alone and apart from loved ones, a devastating world pandemic that has yet to release its’ grip on us.

The images that had previously captivated me from my airplane flights were vast and expansive, but I now found myself turning inward and looking deeply into the plants, and especially flowers growing in our garden.  I found myself wanting to crawl around the interior of a flower – much like its’ pollinators do by nature – and experience its’ internal secret architecture.  And so, I spent many hours a day working with flowers, tripod and an iPhone fitted with a macro lens, while the news of the year played out in the background.  Here too, I found that Change is ever the constant. A flower’s passage from youth through old age exposed some amazing visual surprises.  I very often found a suggestion of bird-like forms in these internal spaces.  There were also figures which seemed to have large bulging “eyes”, but actually were the flower parts that contained the seeds of the next generation.  I used to tell my Papermaking students that once you’ve made paper out of your own garden plants, you’ll never see the plant world the same again.  I can now truly say the same about the experience of exploring the mysterious interiors of a flower!  I hope you enjoy this journey.

New Members’ Exhibition

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September 5 – September 29

Spectrum Art Gallery is proud to present the 2019 New Members’ Exhibition. This exhibition will show a collection of our newest members’ work. Come on down to the gallery for ArtHop and view original and refreshing photographic art by our fine members.

Rachel Clark lives in Fresno with her husband, Alex. She was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, just south of Fresno. At the tender age of nine, she developed a love for the study of North American birds. As she grew older, it morphed into an all-consuming passion. Rachel earned her degree in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University, and today works as a wildlife biologist, but her primary aspiration is to work as a bird guide in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the surrounding areas. Although she has been watching birds for most of her life, she has only been photographing them for just over a year.

Larry Cusick is an amateur birder and photographer. Now retired from a career in higher education, he is finding time bird, take pictures, play music with friends, and wander in nature. He has never been busier.

Joshua Moulton enjoys being outside and taking photographs of the beauty of nature. He went to school with the intention of being a data guy and ended up getting a job being a data guy. Turns out being a data guy all day every day was driving him a little “batty.” He already liked to hike and travel so Josh figured he’d try taking pictures; it looked fun! It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with the art. Photography means so much more to Joshua than just preserving sanity now.

Bonnie Polson is a local amateur photographer who initially learned photography using black and white film. She now uses a digital camera and gets inspired to shoot when the right light appears. Landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, as well as little details easily overlooked catch her eye and are caught by her camera. Now that her real-world title is “Retired Speech Pathologist”, she intends to spend more time traveling to catch, edit and print her images.

Art Serabian was born and raised in Fresno California. While he has used a camera most of his adult life, his experience was limited to taking an occasional snapshot or documenting events; it wasn’t until he retired that he had time to redefine his craft and truly grow as an artist-photographer. Art enjoys photographing a variety of subject matter including landscape, urban scenes, architecture, creative images, and still life. He creates both color and monochrome images with a mild bias towards monochrome images. Photography is a deeply personal and self-fulfilling proposition for him; his goal is to make images that engage the viewer, taking them along a mental journey filled with memories that trigger the imagination.

Ronald Webb embarked on his photographic journey while teaching life science and physical science classes on the Micronesian island of Kwajalein in 1977. Black and white darkroom photography seemed like a logical hobby choice for a science-oriented guy looking for a creative/expressive outlet. That spark of interest soon became a burning passion. He immersed himself in learning all he could about the art. It wasn’t long before his teaching interest shifted from the sciences to photography. By 1980, he was a full-time photography teacher at Clovis High School in Clovis, California. He continues to photograph for clients and pursue his own personal photographic experiences across the continents. Ronald has always considered his career as a passion that became a profession.

Kathy Wosika studied music and art at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana from 1966-1970 and completed her B.A. and M.A. in Art with an emphasis in Craft Media at California State University, San Diego in 1974. From 1975 – 2012 she coordinated the Craft Program and taught Textile Structures, Hand Papermaking, and Ceramics, as well as 3 Dimensional Design and Art Appreciation at Fresno City College. Since 1988, she has traveled to Africa, Thailand, Mexico, and Ecuador to meet with artists and study traditional paper and textile arts as well as clay work. In 2008 she taught papermaking in Ghana and Morocco and also visited local traditional textile and craft media artists. In 2012, Kathy retired after 37 years in the Art Department at Fresno City College and currently works in her home studio. Not able to abandon music altogether, she also plays fiddle with a local Fresno band called BLIND DOG, which features an eclectic mix of traditional music from Ireland Spain and America. Having taken thousands of photos over the years as a resource and inspirational material, she has only recently begun to personally explore the creative and artistic potentials of this vast world of Photography.