On exhibit and for sale through March 5, 2016

“Classical, Old World, earthly, warm, and inviting” — those are some of the words that may come to mind for visitors viewing the exhibit, “Earthly Journeys.” The oils of Ernest Vincent Wood III, pastels by Don Coons, and pottery by Tom Unzicker will be on display and for sale through March 5.

Wood says that his “representational oil paintings are about light’s elusive atmospheric quality and achieving ‘noble simplicity and quiet grandeur.'”
“Almost tactile in nature, each inspired narrative or still life is marked by dynamic contrast through intense value shifts and slight color exaggeration which allows the viewer a glimpse of an idyllic sensory experience,” Wood said.
Coons uses soft pastels and works on black cotton paper. His creation process involves shooting photos of rural scenes and Midwestern skies and using them as his reference point. He then creates a basic sketch and transfers that to his paper to make a final drawing.

“I add my own dramatic light source and apply and blend pastel with my fingers,” said Coons. “I hope that the use of light in my paintings engages the viewer in an experience that is a reminder of how vital nature is to us. Pastel is a very permanent media which allows my artwork to remain vivid and beautiful for hundreds of years.”
Unzicker’s one year with potters in East Africa had a lasting impact on his approach to clay. “I spent a year with potters there working to develop glazed pottery and learning how to work with limited resources,” he said. “While my horizons have expanded over the years with further study, stints abroad and mentoring from accomplished potters, I have maintained a love of technical and aesthetic simplicity rooted in that earlier experience.”

Unzicker fires his work in a wood burning kiln, or in a gas kiln using a few simple glazes. “I hope that my pots reflect a quiet, visually interesting balance of form and surface, and suggest something of the materials and processes by which they are made,” he said.