Arts Nights

A shot of Forest Stearns’ collaborative process making cards with Tony Van Groningen over beers.

Courtesy of Forest Stearns

stein, The Card Show, with its affordable original artworks, is well aligned with the gallery’s mission to inspire community and include more art makers.

Artist Gina Tuzzi used her cards to explore and re-present female muses who inspired notable historical artworks. She envisioned her card-collages as womb-like environments for her subjects “to exist in, free of the historical confines of the male gaze.”

Oil painter Erica Brooks approached The Card Show this year with a sense of nostalgia. A participant in earlier incarnations of the show, Brooks remembers the experiences fondly and drew on other personal happy memories to depict water and a school of tropical fish from Hawaii on her cards.

On her card, Monica Topping created a world for a Joker, making a field of flowers for him to ride through on his bicycle. There’s a two-fold connection to cards in Topping’s work, as her partner and fellow participating artist Robot Adams collects playing cards he finds randomly out in the world. Topping made the flowers for her Joker out of bits of those discarded cards, so that her entire tiny work is composed of repurposed and reinvigorated material.

Robot Adams’ playing card collection provides a natural entry point for him into this show. With a nod to a Buddhist notion that “One finds what one looks for,” Adams states that he finds about 30 cards a year on the ground around town. He connects the action of creating art out of found objects with “[playing] the hand you’re dealt.” For his work, Adams drew on cultural association of playing cards, making note that there are no jesters in Alice in Wonderland. “If the Red Queen believed in fun,” he muses. “She would have jokers or jesters to make her laugh.” l

Epitome Gallery is located at 420 Second St. in Eureka and is open Wednesday-Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4:20 p.m. The Card Show runs until Dec. 26.

L.L. Kessner (she/her) is an Arcatabased artist and writer.

Paintings by Patricia Sennot at Arcata Artisans.

Courtesy of the artist

Arts Arcata

December 10, 4-8 p.m.

Arts Arcata is Arcata Main Street’s monthly celebration of visual and performing arts, held at locations in Arcata. Visit www.arcatamainstreet.com or Arts! Arcata on Facebook, or call 822-4500 for more information.

ARCATA MAIN STREET Wine Chocolate & Cheese event in the back parking lot of Jacoby’s Storehouse 6 to 8 p.m. and Night Market in Arcata Plaza center circle 4 to 8 p.m., featuring local artists and music by Santamonium and Jacoby Creek School Choir.

ARCATA ARTISANS GALLERY 883 H St. Annual Group Exhibit featuring pieces from 24 artists.

ARCATA GALLERY 1063 H St. Joe Mallory, live painting. Vending by Butterfly Guts.

CAFE BRIO 791 G St. Serge Scherbatskoy, photography. Reception 5 to 7 p.m. No-host bar and snacks.

INFUZIONS 863 H St. Amber Zaztrow of Savage Succulents Garden and special holiday surprises including live music, tea and terpenes.

MOONRISE HERBS 826 G St. Marley Goldman, tile art; Peggy Ho, photography; warm, spiced apple cider made with Moonrise’s own Mulling Spices and good cheer.

THE GARDEN GATE 905 H St. “A Wondrous World of Colorful Explosion,” Augustus Clark, paintings.

THE GRIFFIN 937 10th St. Joyce Jonté, paintings.

PLAZA GRILL Jacoby’s Storehouse, Third Floor. “Mixed Media Representational Works on Paper,” Jay Brown.

JAY BROWN ART & DESIGN STUDIO

Jacoby’s Storehouse, Second Floor (plaza level). “Driven to Abstraction,” recent mixed media works on paper.

TRACI DAY STATE FARM INSURANCE

692 14th St. Special mailbox with Santa letter forms available outside the office throughout December. All letters returned with a special surprise from the North Pole. l