The Corner Gallery will feature two Willits painters in the front windows for the month of September. Though Laura Fargey and Judy Chance Hope know each other through the art world that they both inhabit, they are neither coordinating nor collaborating on this particular show. Interestingly, however, both women have independently chosen to focus on rivers as their main theme. They both mentioned the calming and rejuvenating effect that water has on all of us after our long dry summer.

 

Laura Fargey has been painting for over fifty years. About nine years ago she made a major shift from using mostly people and animals as her subject matter to  focus entirely on nature, especially the Eel River close to her home. "My large paintings take me almost a year to finish," she says, though I don't spend all of my time in my studio. My style is very detailed and labor intensive... that's the approach I've always used. I was studying to be a commercial artist, but I like fine art better, and this very intricate style works for me." Laura's paintings are large and quite valuable, but there will also be high quality giclee prints of some of the pieces available for sale.

 

Judy Chance Hope says "I've been painting all my life. I moved to Mendocino County forty-five years ago with the 'Back to the Land Movement' and took classes at Mendocino College while getting an art degree at Humboldt State. I knew I couldn't make a living at art here, so I became a drafter. I drafted house plans and worked for a manufacturer, so at least I was drawing... that kept my hand exercised for all those years." Judy continues, "I'm pretty much only doing landscapes now that I'm painting again... I want to honor these special places in nature that need to be recognized, and share the calming meditative effect that they have on me. Some of my subject matter is inspired by photos that I took of rivers while on road trips with my late husband, so they are very special." Judy will have affordable prints of many of her works in her display, as well as original paintings.

 

The First Friday opening of these front window shows will be on September 6 from 5-8pm. Live harp music will be provided by Suni Smith throughout the evening.  The show lasts through September.