THE BEAUTY OF IMPERFECTION

10th Annual Wabi Sabi Exhibition

June 4 –27, 2013

juried by Miwako Nishizawa

Opening Reception: Tuesday, June 4, 6 – 8 p.m.

Artists’ Roundtable Dialogue: Tuesday, June 4, 4 – 6 p.m.

 

On Tuesday, June 4, from 6 to 8 p.m., O’Hanlon Center for the Arts will present an Open House and Reception for June’s show “The Beauty of Imperfection: OHCA’s 10th Annual Wabi Sabi Show,” a mixed-media group exhibit.
The show runs through June 27, 2013 and will be juried by Miwako Nishizawa, Japanese woodblock print artist.

Also on June 4 from 4 to 6 p.m., the Center will host a Roundtable for the Arts dialogue, where artists whose work is in the Wabi-Sabi show will discuss issues relating to their creative processes.  Participating artists include Anabelle Wasserman, Anki Elbaz, Barbara Levin, Bonnie Himberg, Brian Huber, Carol Witten, Carolyn Planakis, Cayen Robertson, Diana Shore, Elaine Nehm, Emily Wong, Erika Gagnon, Gary Weatherford, Gretchen Blais, James Vogel, Jenny Hynes, Julie Javrotsky, Kathryn Meehan, Larry Berger, Mary Walsh, Maxwell Margulies, Megan Wilkinson, Nancy Head, Shannon D. Schmidt, Sonja Bakalyar, Susan Aulik, Svetlana Kronik  Pantenkova, Virginia Stella, Zinab Bakhtiarikish, Zoe Borkowski.

What is “Wabi Sabi?” Wabi Sabi is based on a Japanese aesthetic and is the beauty of things impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete.   It honors the simple, the rustic, the unpretentious, the modest, and even the decayed.  A quote from Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” describes the feel of the subject:

Ring the bells that still can ring.  Forget your perfect offering
There’s a crack in everything.  That’s how the light gets in.

This group show will be the 10th year OHCA has explored the Wabi Sabi theme and the Center will host related programs during the month of June.  The opening show on June 4 is part of the Mill Valley Art Commission’s monthly Gallery Walk, First Tuesday.

The event is free of charge and open to all ages.  Artwork on display is available for purchase.  Sales support local artists and the O’Hanlon Center non-profit.  Signed copies of Leonard Koren’s book, “Wabi Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers” will also be available for sale.

Photo: Joan Sadler.

SEE ALSO: The OHCA Wabi-Sabi page

 

 

 

Also on Exhibit:

RUTH GENDLER: “Seekers and Dreamers”

“Seeker & Dreamer – Listener #s 1 and 2″

 

Artist, writer, and teacher J. Ruth Gendler is committed to the transformational potential of the arts. Her experience with the rhythms of creativity is evidenced by a diverse background in art, writing, publishing, teaching, and lecturing. Her first published piece (when she was 8) described how she wanted to go to the Louvre and see the paintings. This was followed the next year by three poems about color. She has been interested in the intersection of art and writing, language and vision ever since then. See Ruth’s newest drawings, paintings, and prints in her exhibit, Seekers and Dreamers.  The Loft Gallery is adjacent to the O’Hanlon Gallery on the Center grounds.

Ruth will also be leading two workshops in conjunction with her Loft exhibit:

The Creative Impulse
Sunday June 9.  10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  $50, $40 OHCA members.

Writing for artists. Drawing for writers. Let’s mix it up and try new ways of listening, imagining, observing, making, expressing. Let the colors speak. Let the words become shapes. Vary your rhythms. Invite your muse to lunch. Be inspired by inner and outer nature. Claim your creative strengths and let them go. When we break out of our usual ideas of what kind of art we make, we risk awkwardness and authenticity. Serious fun in a respectful environment.  RSVP by June 5.

Cultivating and Befriending the Imagination Talk
Tuesday, June 11.  7 to 9 p.m  $12, $10 OHCA members.

The human imagination is an essential natural resource, not rare, but precious. Based on her work as a poet-in-the-schools, her practice as an artist, and her great love of metaphor and dreams, Ruth’s experiential talk celebrates the immensity, wisdom and beauty of the imagination. After presenting some of the children’s art and poems as inspiration, Gendler will offer exercises that invite us to look with the eyes of imagination, put our ears to the ground and listen, and befriend our imaginations. We also consider how to sustain the creative impulse and keep the creative spirit alive in daily life.  This talk is for everyone, not just those who consider themselves “creative.”  RSVP by June 7.

O’Hanlon Gallery hours:  10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tues. through Sat., or by appt.