Each week, on Friday, the Calistoga Art Center will showcase the current activities of three individuals who endeavor to exercise their creativity even in these     challenging times.

For information about how to participate click here: http://www.calistogaartcenter.org/creative-lives-real-time-info

Friday August 14th, 2020

Stephen Weissman ——— joan brady ——— anna johansson

Steve Weissman

"I have been sculpting for many years and have worked with media from bronze to stone, but most of my work is done using plaster-based resins which are safe, easy to work with and inexpensive. They are also suitable for outdoor display, which is mostly what I do.

My latest pieces, done during the pandemic shut down, are a bit different from my other work in both design and material.

Most of my pieces have been very colorful and involve a lot of curved shapes. They have been cast or built on aluminum wire frameworks.

The two pieces shown here are constructed on foam carvings and coated with Aqua Resin. While there is curvature, there is not nearly as much as in previous work, and they have only a bit of color. The plaster-based Aqua Resin has been mixed with atomized aluminum to create a cold-cast metalic finish that can be polished. The blue is from a tint mixed into the material.

The challenge in doing these pieces was in finding decent foam. Good sculptural foam is hard to find right now and the lower density foam is harder to carve and shape, which requires a lot of time.

But I have plenty of that right now."

Joan Brady

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Cats and Dogs!  All sentient beings! 

Step right up and sit right down.

Feast your eyes on the Ecstasy of Death!

Contrary to popular belief and sssssuperstition, DEATH could very well be the best thing that ever happens to us.  Imagine the RELIEF of relinquishing control! All those sleepless nights of worry and panic. Gone in the blink of a Nova! Just watch those EMOTIONS and DESIRES slough off like the figments of imagination they always were. No more GREED, ANGER or FOOLISHNESS. No more floating down the river of DENIAL- for once you will be free, FREE of IGNORANCE, for all will be crystal clear, FREE of LONELINESS for we will all be together as one joyful universal creator of HARMONY! 

The Ecstasy of Death Series

Phase 1: Transmigration

Doodles -various pens on 8.5"x 11" lavender paper.          

                       •  Wake Up, Little Susie!

                       •  Flower Power

Paintings-   •Reunion

                       acrylic on canvas 20"×16"

                       •Festival of Stars

                        acrylic/metallic enamel on canvas 

                        board 18"×24"

Anna Johansson

Time is different. Less time doing things that filled my time, mostly dropping off or picking up the kids, leaving more time for tasks that never make the front burner. I’m gravitating toward mindless slightly obsessive compulsive activities, marker checks (both magic and permanent), weeding, and beach combing, that become expressions. I fall into the mark making, the pulling or gathering and reach quiet and calm moments.

instagram - annabuilt