Bounty of Work Displayed at 'Harvest Of Images' Show

A fresh crop of work went up on display at the Pajaro Valley Arts Council gallery when the "Harvest of Images" show opened this month.

A reception Sunday was standing room only, both inside and out. Sweets, savories and wine lured artists and guests onto to the patio, while others moved through the nooks of a gallery that consistently hosts museum-quality work.

A hundred etchings, woodcuts, screenprints, monotypes, monoprints and mixed media prints were painstakingly hung for the opening. The works speak to the geography, history, agriculture, labor, cultures and habitats of the Pajaro Valley region.

Printmaker Ann Miya is one of 48 artists living in the Monterey Bay area whose prints are hanging at the Pajaro Valley Arts Council gallery on Sudden Street.

Miya of Santa Cruz said she wanted to be a vet at the Bronx Zoo.

"But I'm out here in the zoo of California," she quipped. She expresses her love of animals in her small etching of a horse and woodcut of a chicken, both featured in the show.

In the gallery, guests' eyes were attracted to a lovely variety—including Patricia Colman's "Lily of the Valley," copper etching and aquatint; and Ray Gwyn Smith's monotype with Chine Collé, "Mudflat." Eva Bernstein's "Estuary" is a monotype, as is Robynn Smith's "Bounty." A.V. Pike's "Hives and Hoops" was made with gum pochoir and drypoint.

"Her beautiful work is cosmic," artist Mary Weeks said of Pike. "A.V. combines a sense of nature and earth with the celestial. In 'Hives and Hoops,' she combines imagery of bees juxtaposed to what appear to be planets."

Pike had something to say about Weeks' long, thin vertical prints.

"One of Mary's prints shows trees burned in the 2008 Trabing fire. She captures beauty where the average viewer might see only destruction."

Pike admitted that her art is a quest. "I'm trying to find out what the structure of the universe is."

Linscott Elementary School student Hannah Day seemed to be a discriminating art appreciator. She was happy for her mother to hoist her up so she could see better. Her mom said Hannah takes art classes at school with Linda Cover.

The Harvest of Images exhibit was curated by Howard Ikemoto, who lives near Watsonville and has taught art for 30 years at Cabrillo College. The artists themselves belong to The MPC Printmakers, an association with a goal to provide a forum where printmaking ideas can be shared among members and the larger community.

"Harvest of Images" will be up in the gallery until April 17 at 37 Sudden St. in Watsonville.

The Pajaro Valley Arts' Council was founded in 1984. In February, PVAC received a $10,000 grant from the NEA to produce this summer. This exhibit is designed to teach youth artistic alternatives to graffiti. A previous $25,000 grant from the Rydell Visual Arts Fund allows even more outreach to schools