2014 Winter Show January 12 – February 28, 2014
Robert Bohné Donna Cotzen Michael Guinn Anders Hansen Harriet Kline Alice Meyer-Wallace Susan Stromquist Rick Wright
Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Frank’s
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What a great year it will be March 2 ‒ April 25
Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition 10 Opens Thursday, March 6, 7‒10 pm
M L M M E 10
March 2 – April 25
Russell Brodie Jon Laidacker Tecu’Mish Munha’Ke April 27 ‒ May 30
From the Collection of Jay McConnell Opens Thursday, May 1, 7‒10 pm
Thursday, May 8 11:59 pm
Submission Deadline for Ninth Annual Community Juried Show
June 1 ‒ August 1
Ninth Annual Community Juried Show Opens Thursday, June 5, 7‒10 pm
August 3 ‒ September 19
2014 Midsummer Show Opens Thursday, August 7, 7‒10 pm
September 21 ‒ November 21
2014 Autumn Invitational Opens Thursday, September 25, 7‒10 pm
Thursday, October 30 11:59 pm
Submission Deadline for Tenth Annual Juried Exhibition
November 23 ‒ December 27
Tenth Annual Juried Exhibition Opens Thursday, December 4, 7‒10 pm
December 28 ‒ January 9, 2015
New Year s/Mummers Break
on the cover, clockwise from top: Rick Wright s Daphne, Alice Meyer-Wallace s Cala Deià, Susan Stromquist s Sa Costa #2 and Robert Bohné s Into Town.
You have the love the Majorcan flag. That castle on its side. It speaks to new perspectives̶quite possibly ones you cannot find anywhere else.
A different point of view
Once you spend time with this show, which emerged from a 10-day trip that members of our sister organization The Plastic Club made to mainland Spain and Majorca in September, you begin to believe there is a certain magic at work.
These eight colleagues sketched, painted and photographed in and around Deià and Sóller, villages on the rugged, gorgeous northwest coast of Majorca. But rather than trail off into a travelogue, we need to go places words alone can t take us. Enter the 42 works of Tierra Reveladora. Although you are just now meeting the art, you already know several of the artists from past Off the Wall shows. Just two artists are making their debuts, with captivating sets of watercolors̶Donna Cotzen and Harriet Kline, who presents hers as giclée prints. Michael Guinn, long-time Plastic Club volunteer leader, together with his wife, Cynthia, also offers giclées, of his deft pen-and-inks, and adds a stunning oil painting. The Club s exhibition chair, Susan Stromquist, stretches that medium with her oil transfer drawings. Anders Hansen, indispensable Plastic Clubber and indefatigable source of good cheer, reveals the next stage of his evolving work in ink. His roommate on the trip, Robert Bohné, wrapping up his year as a Mary Liz Fellow, again shows his mastery of plein air art-making. And while the last thing our artists did was take touristy snapshots, happily there was a gifted photographer in this group, Rick Wright, who fell under the spell of the olive grottos. Last, and most of all, is the chief muse of the trip, the amazing Alice Meyer-Wallace, who has a home in Deià. Her inspiring watercolors̶ no doubt from long practice and thousands of comtemplative hours ̶do the greatest justice to magical locations embraced by artists of generations past, including Robert Graves, Anaïs Nin, George Sand and Frédéric Chopin. It s our turn to share in that embrace̶and quite simply fall in love. Jody Sweitzer Curator
Togo Travalia Manager
robert bohnĂŠ
I roomed with Bob in Majorca and Madrid, and I can truly say that he never had his sketchbook out of his hands. I remember falling into bed late one night and picking up the book I d been reading. Bob came in a few minutes later and got into his bed, and as we talked about the party, I realized he was working on a drawing the whole time! There is not artist in our circle who is more committed to honing his craft in order to realize his vision completely. The uniquely poetic works of his in this exhibit give testimony to his ability to distill a moment in time and space and always put upon it his unmistakable stamp. ĚśAnders Hansen Visit Bob online: robertbohne.com Garden Wall pencil and gouache 350. Gossip pencil and gouache 250. Into Town watercolor 700. Rooftops of Madrid pencil and gouache 250. Shades and Shadows pencil and gouache 350. Uphill pencil and gouache 350. Uphill
Who can forget when Bob was so engrossed in his drawing that he didn t notice his spaghetti bolognese (from Rick s Cafe ) had been invaded by an army of aunts. Loud curse, then he ate it anyway and kept drawing. ̶Susan Stromquist Editor s note: We got one heck of a scare last week. Robert Bohné suffered a heart attack. He didn t lose his sense of humor for, well, a heartbeat, regretting from the ER that it wasn t an art attack. Friends and colleagues from this show and beyond rallied to his side. Two chose to share stories about their time together in Majorca.
above and right: Rooftops of Madrid, Garden Wall
donna cotzen
When I started out on this trip, I had no idea how it would turn out. After all, I was taking ten days o. Would I be bored and lonely painting all day, for days on end? It ended up being the reverse. I was inspired by the museums in Madrid and the landscapes of Majorca. Each day was a surprise, as I uncovered motivations that were naturally present in me. I discovered the desire to paint every day. My fear of loneliness dissolved, replaced by the sheer excitement of the act of painting. I became absorbed in the question, what will I paint today? How delightful when that s the only decision you have to make!
Blue Door watercolor 125. Long Road Down watercolor 150. Olive Tree Couple watercolor 200. Peaceful Majorca watercolor 150.
Long Road Down
Deià or Deya. Who knows which spelling is correct? Both, I suspect. It s been on my socalled bucket list for 40 years, ever since Alice Meyer-Wallace began to promote a trip.
michael guinn
It was a revelation to discover the actual village after so many years of imagining it. It was smaller than I thought. And there wasn t any square with a café. It was up and down always. But a sweet spot nonetheless. I did four ink drawings with a new pen that I had never used before. Now I am ready to make more. See more of Mike’s work: plasticclub.org/guinn.html above and left: The Street Where We Live, Late Afternoon, Deià
Late Afternoon, Deià oil on panel 250. These pen & ink originals are reproduced as giclées for this show. Multiple framed prints are available for 75. each:
Coming Down The Road to Alice s House Stair Street, Deià The Street Where We Lived
Where we
made our art Cartography by Alice Meyer-Wallace
anders hansen
When I visited Majorca five years ago (in the company of several in this show and, of course, dear Alice), I fell in love with the place immediately and knew that I would return. This year it happened̶and not for the last time!
We stayed in a rural setting on the outskirts of the village of Deià, where the chief sounds were the baaing and bleating of sheep and goats, with the occasional importunate basso profundo of the he-goat. Near our houses were ancient olive groves̶unchanged since our last visit, and probably for hundreds of years̶ and it was there that I went every day to draw. In these magical groves it is not hard to conceive the presence of the gods, nymphs and demiurges that the old Greeks and Romans knew. I hope something of this is in my drawings. Nearby was the sea, and in the distance, the mountains; and far, far away, the concerns of life in the 21st century. To visit Minotaur the groves on a moonlit night is to chance an encounter with great Pan or risk seduction by a leafy Dryad. You d better have a bottle of wine handy̶and we did!
But that was not the totality of our trip, which included three days in Madrid, and which I summarize thusly: Goya, Velázquez, Tintoretto, Titian, Bosch, Grien, Brueghel, Rembrandt, Rubens, Picasso (Guernica), Gris, Tapies, Buñuel, van der Weyden...food...drink...a beautiful street violinist... breakfast next to the building where Juan Gris was born and grew up.... above and left: Dryads, Pan and Chloe
Deià Pastoral ink and graphite on paper 200. Dryads ink on paper 200. Minotaur ink on paper 250. Pan and Chloe ink on paper 200.
Majorca and especially Deià, our beloved little mountainside village, were full of surprises! Not only in what was there̶to be seen and to be felt̶but what was within me to be revealed.
harriet kline
As a new watercolorist, the views and vistas were exciting to discover, as was learning to find my way or listening to the moonlit night. Deià s ancient rocks and trees, her old stone buildings, and her cala (the beach looking out over the Mediterranean ) were all bathed in ever-changing light that formed new colors and shades by the hour̶and all this was mine to capture. Working plein air in a small watercolor sketchbook, the goal was to collect the moment before it passed̶a challenge readily met with every opportunity. Trolley Tracks in Sóller
These watercolor originals are reproduced as giclées for this show. Multiple framed prints are available for 60. each:
Across the Valley Angel Overlooking Us On the Terraces Secret Doorway Serra de Tramuntana Surprised by Cactus Trolley Tracks in Sóller Surprised by Cactus
Thank you, Alice, for sharing your corner of the world with us. See more of Harriet’s work: facebook.com/pages/HarrietKline-Arts/135981819883707
alice meyer-wallace
Majorca is part of my soul.
I have lived most of my life in Deià. Every image is filled with memories of many aspects of my life. Para mí, esta es una tierra conocida̶even though there are always surprises. clockwise, from left: Chopin s View, Swimming at the Cala, Valldemossa
Visit Alice online: alicemeyerwallace.com
Cala Deià watercolor 395.
Sóller Fountain watercolor 250.
Chopin s View watercolor 395.
Sóller Railway watercolor 395.
Olive Tree watercolor 395.
Swimming at the Cala watercolor 375.
Plaza Sóller watercolor 250.
Valldemossa watercolor 395.
susan stromquist
I ve kept one painting from The Plastic Club s first trip to Majorca̶ a view across the valley from Alice s. (You can see it in the Club s Travel and Transport show, which runs February 2‒20.) I ve thought about that painting ever since and, five years later, returned to the same spot. It s a place that holds great memories of beautiful times with friends. There are no phones, computers, television or radio. The only sounds are church chimes and goats sporadic bleating. I had no need for a clock. For days I would wake up, step outside and work as the morning fog gave way to afternoon sun, and eventually it was dark and time for dinner. I continued with my favorite materials: gouache, known for its flat application and color quality, and oil transfer drawing̶a printmaking method I learned from my aunt and adapted to be portable for traveling. It offers a way of making a printed line that is somewhat unpredictable and reflects traces of the hand. Susan Stromquist Sa Costa #1‒ 4 oil transfer drawing and gouache 650. each
Sa Costa #3
See more of Susan’s work: vimeo.com/susanstromquist
rick wright
The great photographer Minor White once said that we should photograph things not only for what they are, but also for what they might be. That is, with care and awareness, familiar subjects can be seen anew and addressed as though they were awash in mystery. And so it was on my daily, rocky walk along a precipitous ravine, that I spent my time photographing the what they might be nature of Deià s olive grottos. Sometimes moody, sometimes ominous, always morphing, the olive trees hold spirits within them. Daphne herself grew into a tree before my eyes and lens. Four of these works are straight-up film images using an old twin lens reflex camera with prints made in a traditional darkroom. The tall color image Daphne was made by vertically panning with an iPhone 5 and then pressing the color into a Mediterranean palette. nm These silver gelatin prints are made from medium format negatives and are 375. framed and 225. unframed:
Cala Walk Grotto Guardians Mother & Daughter Santa Claus
Guardians of the Grotto
Visit Rick online: wrightartstudio.com
From the artists & volunteers of OFF THE WALL GALLERY,
HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANK YOU for helping make 2013 so very special...
7 shows 71 artists 347 works countless new fans & 131 sales We’re excited to start filling 2014 with great new art, inspiration, discovery and our growing community!