10 Mendocino Arts Magazine

A wave of vibrant color will greet visitors to the town of Mendocino this summer. The col-umns of businesses all over town will be wrapped in solid sheets of brilliant, colored, handmade felt; trees will be adorned in knitted and crocheted fabric; electric light poles will be “feltbombed.” The resulting decora-tive assortment will resemble a box of crayons.

This art installation, “Mendocino Crayon Box,” designed by “yarnbomber” and installation artist Streetcolor, transforms Mendocino into a town-wide interactive sculpture. The Mendocino Art Center is sponsoring this event as an offsite exhibit, which will be installed June 8–13, and will remain up through August 13. An open-ing art stroll is scheduled for Friday, June 13, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The installation is part of a worldwide trend of large, community-based, urban textile installations called yarnbombings, in which knitting and crocheting are used briefly and dramatically to change a stable, predictable street into a sudden, sur-prising art space. Town-wide installations have been made in Genova and Firenze, Italy, among other locations, but have not been done on this scale before in the United States. More than 20 Mendocino businesses will participate.

“Mendocino is famous for being preserved as a lively, yet peaceful, retreat for arts and art making,” explains Streetcolor. “It is a wonderful setting in which to do a large site-specific sculpture that uses many buildings of the town as temporary elements in the art piece. The special nature of Mendocino attracts a range of visi-tors who become the attendees at this outdoor exhibition.”

The Mendocino Art Center will sponsor a series of open studios, inviting the community to learn to felt, knit, crochet, and make tags to be used as part of the installation. This will include programs with the Mendocino Yarn Shop and local school children. Streetcolor will also teach “Felting the Town of Mendocino,” June 6–8, as part of the project.

Streetcolor, who will be an artist in residence at the de Young Museum in December 2014, approached the Mendocino Art Center in 2013 with the idea of yarnbombing the entire town. Known all over California for her knitted graffiti, she had worked with the Oakland Museum of California, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and the Crocker Art Museum doing installations and was interested in working on a much larger scale. MAC sponsored a small felt installation on its buildings and trees last July and is delighted to support the large-scale “Mendocino Crayon Box.”Streetcolor photos.

Spring/Summer 2014 11

WE’VE MOVED

Please Note New Address

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6th Annual

Studio tour TWO DAYS! September 27–2810:00am to 5:00pmEnjoy a behind the scenes peek at pri-vate art studios of inland Mendocino County’s finest artists. A self-guided tour to see and buy original artwork. Tour Maps at the Grace Hudson Museum, ukiahvalleyartists@yahoo.com, or Jim Colling, 707 463-0610

6th Annual Ukiah Valley Artists

Art FAirFriday May 30, 3:00–7:00pmSaturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1, 12noon–7:00pmSeventy artists and artisans. Artist demonstrations.Carl Purdy HallRedwood Empire Fairgrounds1055 N State Street, Ukiah

Art for the World

Spring Irises, oil, Graydon Foulger

14051 Highway 128, Boonville CA · 707-489-0981

JOHN HANESFINE ART GALLERY

12 Mendocino Arts Magazine

One of the first teachers at the Mendocino Art Center, and one of the most renowned artists to teach here, Dorr Bothwell also stands out as one of California’s all-time best artists. An innovator in serigraphy (silk screen), Dorr’s works adorn walls around the world and are treasured by their owners.

When Bill Zacha recruited Dorr to teach at the Art Center in 1961, she had been a working artist for 35 years, had mounted solo shows at San Francisco’s de Young and the San Diego Fine Arts Museums, and was regularly teaching at Parsons in New York and the San Francisco Art Institute, where her formal training began. She came to Mendocino as a respected teacher and established artist . . . and she fell in love with the place.

Born in San Francisco in 1902 and interested in the making of art from an early age, Dorr began her work at a time when women, at least in the West, were beginning to seek lives of adventure and freedom as intense as their brothers. Dorr never seemed to doubt for a minute her own powers and resilience. Dorr’s earliest teachers were Albert Valentien, a painter on pottery, and his wife Anna, who threw the pots and taught evening crafts classes, and dancer Jessie Ratliff.

Returning to The City for formal art classes, Dorr studied with Paris-trained Gottardo Piazzoni, whose muted pastels and gentle landscapes were much influenced by his study of natural light. Later, her bold colors were liberated by her studies at the art school run by long-time San Franciscan Rudolph Schaeffer. “My greatest influence: he encouraged me to befriend col-or and taught me how to ‘see.’ He not only made you see color, but made you . . . see that there is design and order in everything around you.”

Dorr was fearless. Traveling at a time (1928) when “nice wom-en didn’t travel alone,” she explained, “I learned a very determined sort of way. I never flirted. I was all business.” Inspired by a docu-mentary, Moana, Dorr set sail for Samoa, over her family’s protests, on the first of her many expeditions to study the theories of art

Dorr Bothwell: Fierce DelicacyBy Michael Potts

Peonies from Ethel’s Garden, serigraph, 17” x 13”, 1986.

Twin Mola Cats, serigraph, 12.5” x 18”, 1976.

“Dainty Dorr Bothwell—in person and a moving picture at the same time. She told Radio listeners over KPO, San Francisco, that she had been initiated into a Samoan tribe by hav-ing her body converted into a moving picture through the tattoo process. She is a distin-guished artist of Samoan life.”

Spring/Summer 2014 13

embedded in indigenous cultures. After a 13-day voyage, she arrived in Pago Pago, then a U.S. naval outpost. Unwelcome on the navy base, she lodged with locals who advised her to travel to an outer island “where things were traditional.” There, she immersed herself in the life, was tattooed, learned to beat and dye tapa, sketched, carved linoleum blocks and painted.

Two years later, out of money, she returned to San Francisco, where, as “Dainty Dorr Bothwell,” she told a radio audience that she had “converted her body into a moving picture” with her tattoos. She is quoted as saying, “I was in Samoa two years after Margaret Meade, but I was better. I danced with Samoans.”

Dorr traveled to England, France, and Germany (1930–31), France again (1949), Nigeria and Tunisia (1966–67), back to Europe (1970), Indonesia (1974), China, and Japan (1982). At age 83, she returned to the Far East, always seeking different ways of looking. Her book Notan: the Dark-Light Principle of Design, published in

1968, has been translated into dozens of lan-guages. Quoting Lao Tse, “We turn clay to make a vessel / But it is on the space where there is nothing that the utility of the vessel depends.” Co-author Marlys Mayfield makes it clear that Dorr was a teacher, and a teacher’s teacher, for most of her life.

Dorr insisted that her teaching was simply a continuation of Schaeffer’s influence. Of Notan she said, “I didn’t invent any of this. I’m teaching what Rudolph taught. I expected him to write the book, but he wouldn’t so I told him that I would.”

Until the last years of her life, Dorr traveled to teach, but the North Coast was her home. Hearty and direct right to the end, she was a powerful voice for clean, elegant simplicity in design. Like her best friends, the cats that peer out from so many of her works, Dorr was the exemplar of the strong, independent artist.Dorr’s works will be on exhibit at the Mendocino Art Center, May 2 through June 2.

Published at the end of 2013, this book is a welcome collection of Dorr Bothwell’s unique voice and striking works. Gracefully assembled by oral historian Bruce Levene from interviews granted by Dorr over the years, it is a colorful account of an artist’s quest to understand the principles of beauty. The richest trove is in the first chapters, where Dorr recalls the early travels that became the aes-thetic foundation for all her artistic ventures.

The handsome paperback is illustrated throughout with the largest and most conscientious

collection of Dorr’s work ever assembled – an amazing array that shows Dorr’s range, and traces her evolution as an artist. The book’s clarity and flow owe a great debt to book designer Marge Stewart. The pictures

of Dorr, scattered through the book, are an inspiring gallery of an artist’s path through a long and fascinating life, but it is the innumerable images from her oeuvre that make this book invaluable.

Dorr Bothwell: Straws in the Wind is available at the Mendocino Art Center and at local bookstores.

Dorr Bothwell: Straws in the Wind

Yoruba Dancer, serigraph, 22” x 14.5”, 1969.

Island Lap Cat, serigraph, 18.5” x 12.5”, 1980.

14 Mendocino Arts Magazine

MAY–AUGUST clASSeSat Mendocino Art Center

ceramics

5/16–18Ted OkellHeads and Faces: Sculpting the Portrait Bust

5/24Lynne MeadeCarved Porcelain: Tiles and Vessels

5/30–6/1Nancy BarbourInk Spilled on Clay

6/6–8Ben CarterDesign for the Soft Surface

6/16–20Janice JakielskiFlower Fabrication in Paper and Porcelain

6/25–29Vince PitelkaAncient Clay

6/30–7/4Jan EdwardsHandbuilding Pots for the Table

7/7–18Jack TroyWood Firing – Courting the Inferno

7/21–25Lisa OrrLuscious Luminous Art for the Table

8/4–8Steven ColbyBeginner’s Mind

8/11–16Robbie LobellKitchen to Table Pots – An Introduction to Working with Flameware

8/18–22Alix KnipeUnique Shapes: Flat Patterns to Three-Dimensional Forms

8/25–29Rebecca HutchinsonPaper Clay – A Sculptural Approach

fiber arts5/3–4April SprouleContemporary Wholecloth

5/16–19Terry WaldronLove and Landscapes – Quilting Techniques

5/31–6/1Mickie McCormicImage Transfer on Fabric

6/6–8StreetcolorFelting the Town of Mendocino

6/27–30Mickie McCormicInkjet Transfers on Fabric and Paper

7/11–13Barbara ShapiroLet Baskets Inspire You!

7/17–20Carin EngenHollow Felted Shapes and 3D Effects

7/25–27April SprouleFabric Painting with Stencils

7/28–31Deborah FellPaint, Stitch, Create Quilts

8/1–3Tricia GoldbergTapestry: From Image to Loom

8/8–10Vicki FraserNon-Toxic Natural Dye

8/15–17Mickie McCormicCreating Dolls from Pieces of the Past

8/22–25Susan ElseLet’s Make a Village

fine art5/2–4Miriam DavisPainting Without a Brush

5/3–4Michael ReardonWatercolor and Light

5/17–18Victoria BrooksMendocino Plein Air (oil)

5/17–19Mira M. WhiteStunning Abstracts in Soft Pastels

5/23–25Rosemary AllenA Brush with Color: Mix and Match (acrylic and gouache)

5/24–25Patricia Martin OsbornePainting Loose Juicy Watercolors

5/30–6/1Jeannie VoddenFinding Focus and Fulfillment (watercolor)

5/30–6/1John McCormickOil Painting for Beginners

6/2–5Dale LaitinenThe Language of Landscape

6/6–9Kath MacaulayPocket Sketching: Totally Portable

6/7–9Dale LaitinenFrom Line to Design (watermedia)

6/9–12Tom SolteszMendocino Plein Air (oil)

6/12–15Susan GrossReinventing Collage with Mixed Media

6/16–20John HewittPlein Air Watercolor

6/20–22Jonathan PalmerRelief Printmaking: Bold and Beautiful

For a complete list of classes, descriptions, and to register, visit MendocinoArtCenter.org, or call 707 937-5818, ext. 10.

MAY–AUGUST clASSeSat Mendocino Art Center

Spring/Summer 2014 15

6/27–30Mickie McCormicInkjet Transfers on Fabric and Paper

6/28–29Larry WagnerDigital Magic: Camera and Composition

7/10–13Rogene ManasPaint, Paper and Paper Clay

7/11–13Sandy DelehantyAbstract Adventures

7/18–20Ada B. FineExplorations in Collage

7/18–20M Kathryn MasseyCapturing Light and Atmosphere in Pastels

7/21–24Charles BeckerStill Life Painting Like the Masters (oil)

7/26–29Mira M. WhiteMixed Media Meets Melted Wax

8/1–3Beth ChangstromMixed Media with Mixed Styles

8/1–3Patricia Martin OsborneWatercolor Fun and Free

8/4–7John McCormickThe Luminous Landscape

8/4–7Nancy CollinsGlass Made Easy (watercolor)

8/8–10Susan StoverEncaustic Intensive

8/8–10Bryan HewittLandscape Photography

8/11–14Birgit O’ConnorRocks, Sand, and Sea Glass

8/16–17Sandy OppenheimerPainting with Paper

8/16–18Erin DertnerPalette Knife Painting

8/18–22Jacqueline SullivanDriven to Abstraction

8/22–24Clark MitchellVibrant Plein Air Pastels

8/29–31Jeannie VoddenGlazing with Rainbows (watercolor)

jewelry5/3–4Penny Nisenbaum, Ling-Yen Jones, and Devon BillingsFinely Strung

5/9–11Arlene MornickMetal Clay Bracelets: Three Days – Three Ways

5/16–18Lynette CederquistGranulation with Argentium, 24-Karat Overlay

5/22–25Marne RyanNot Your Mother’s Beads

5/30–6/1Alison B. AntelmanTubing Technical: An Exploration in Fabrication

6/6–8Duke WilliamsFiligree Fineness as Metal Art

6/20–22Suzanne PughSteel and Gold

6/25–29Sarah DoremusJewelry that Moves

7/7–10Sandra EnterlineSculptural Jewelry: Hollow Form Techniques

7/11–13Jack da SilvaChasing and Repousse: Oh What a Relief It Is!

7/15Frances CaseyButton Jewels

7/18–20Andrea KenningtonInterpretive Raising

7/25–27Arlene MornickMetal Clay Intensive: Three Days – Many Ways

7/31–8/3Erin Fagen & John CornacchiaFire+Laser+Glass: Transform Custom Laser Etched Metal Designs Into Enameled Masterpieces

8/7–10Harlan SimonFascinating Flame Work! – Glass Bead Making & More

8/15–17Julie BrooksMake Your Mark – Enameling Techniques

8/21–24Jeff GeorgantesStone Setting Sampler

8/25–29Marne RyanVessels – How to Raise Wrong and Come Up Right

sculpture5/2–4Walt PadgettSand-Cast Aluminum Sculpture

5/9–11Chris ShookForge Welding & Damascus Steel Welding

6/6–8Mary T. Anderson Recycled Glass Fusion

6/9–14Alan OsborneHot & Heavy

6/21–22Robert RhoadesRecology

7/9–13Paulo FerreiraBronze Casting for Beginners

7/19Sue BrownCement and Mosaic Day Camp

8/1–3Paul ReiberBeginning Woodcarving

8/15–17 Ellen SachtschaleGarden Vessels and Expressive Totems

8/21–24Walt PadgettFabricated Mold/Plaster Cast Sculpture

8/23Sue BrownCement and Mosaic Day Camp

For a complete list of classes, descriptions, and to register, visit MendocinoArtCenter.org, or call 707 937-5818, ext. 10.

16 Mendocino Arts Magazine

By Debbie L. Holmer

Nancy Barbour is currently Coordinator of the Ceramics Program for the Mendocino Art Center. She received her MFA from the University of Florida in Gainesville and holds a BA from Humboldt State University in Arcata. Nancy coordinated the Ceramics Program at Colorado Mountain College from 2001 to 2010. She has been an Artist in

Residence at the Mendocino Art Center and at the Carbondale Clay Center in Colorado. Her work has been exhibited all over the world.

Nancy is a well-traveled artist and has recently returned from Tianjin, China, where she lived and taught for three years. In fact, two days after marrying Adam Thompson, they headed

to China, where he “taught music of the world to children of the world,” and Nancy did some after-school teaching. In addition to the

Orient, Nancy lived in the montane tropical rain forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica, for two years.

The pieces that Nancy brought to the interview to show me were made in Jingdezhen, China, where she did a residency at The Pottery Workshop, the birthplace of porcelain in China.

The romantic beauty of Chinese gardens is reflected in the pieces that she shared with me. “Nature-inspired and welcoming,” Nancy comments, “these gardens offer solace in crowded cities. A water

park near my home in Tianjin provided walks along a lake with pagodas and bridges. Looking across the lake brought me peace; the sound of waves lapped gently, the wind stirred the water’s sur-

face. The scenery unfolded like a screen as I passed through it.”What does she most enjoy working on? She answers, “I always

come back to the cup. It can be the most challenging. It’s something that I find endless pleasure in.”Her work is “a happy place to be. I wake up, I meditate, go to the studio.

I’m usually inspired by the seasons. Right now, it’s the season of winter – the time of rest. I’m really enjoying multiples at the moment, thinking of how pots relate to each other. And I’m also working on roof ornaments, the fanciful, fantasy-like protectors you see on Chinese buildings.”

Nancy’s body of work has been about personal and historical exploration. Ancient history is very important to her: “My work is mostly about peace. I’d like

– Meet the Staff –Nancy Barbour

A Peaceful Potter

Nancy in Beijing, China.

Pedestal Ice Cream Servers, porcelain, soda fired to cone 10.

Spring/Summer 2014 17

to be like the ancient Chinese poet who wanders the hillside noticing every subtle variation and record-ing it. My social message would be about the purity of water, the need for water, access to water.”

How does she begin a piece? “It begins with a sense of place. I take walks; notice the shadows, the way the wind blows amongst trees, watching the waves as they crash across the rocks. I love the milky jade/celadon colors as they come in with the dirt and soil and sand. And the sounds. I try to let all that play upon me for a while. I enjoy using the soda kiln, which introduces atmospheres that influence my work, much like a storm coming across a mountain range, with rain on one side and desert on the other.”

What drew Nancy to the Mendocino Art Center? “There’s a friendliness of the human here that drew me. Once I was here, I felt the magic and beauty of the area, and it was just an unfolding of my work in a new way.”

How has formal training helped Nancy? “It’s very important for the artistic process to be both encouraged and challenged by people that we respect and trust.

“Mendocino Art Center’s nine-month residency program is a won-derful thing. Here you really get to land. It’s a time for the residents to concentrate on themselves, their work. The supportive atmosphere and access to the world of clay is so important to fire artists.”

What other ceramic artists does Nancy most admire? “I kind of think of populations of people. However, I really like the work of Japanese potter and painter Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743). His pieces were noted for their perfect rela-tion between design and shape.”

I asked Nancy what her goals were for MAC’s Ceramics Department: “I love the sense of retreat that our studio offers people. At the same time, I’d like to build up the vibrancy of the local community and their presence here while also building up the national program by bringing in teachers of renown. I feel like I have a strong program planned for the summer and am excited about that and looking forward to teaching ‘Ink Spilled on Clay,’ May 30–June 1.”

What does Nancy want others to feel when they pick up one of her pieces? “I want them to feel the relationship between the curves in the work and the way that it feels in your hand, to slow down in the moment.” Nancy’s work evokes just that – peace, quiet, contemplative moments. Holding one of her cups in my hand, I could feel the story coming out.

Fuchsia Plate, porcelain, soda fired to cone 10.

Stacking Porcelain Floral Bowls, soda fired to cone 10.

18 Mendocino Arts Magazine

M e n d o c i n o A r t c e n t e r ’ s

Mendocino Coast Garden TourX SATUrdAY, MAY 10 X

For 22 years, the Mendocino Art Center has been bringing you the best of Mendocino’s coastal gardens – and we are not the only ones who think so. We are very proud that one of our favorite gardens received remarkable recogni-tion from the Smithsonian Institute. In 2013, Bob and Judy Mathey’s Garden at Harmony Woods was designated a Smithsonian Heritage Garden. Congratulations to the Matheys on this special honor. We are very grateful to Bob and Judy for their continuous support of the Mendocino Coast Garden Tour in which they have participated on three occasions, most recently in 2012. It has been a privilege to see the changes and development of one of this country’s most unique and inviting gardens.

This year we will be making a change in the date of the tour. Mark your calendars for May 10, the Saturday before Mother’s Day. Our coastal gardens will be dressed in their most colorful floral garb following the winter drab. Bring Mom – she’ll love it.

The always-delicious gourmet luncheon at the Ravens Restaurant is not to be missed. Our hosts, Jeff and Joan Stanford and the beautiful Stanford Inn by the Sea, are long time supporters of the Mendocino Art Center and the Coast Garden Tour lunch. Take time to view the inn’s historic China Gardens, established by Chinese workers brought in to support the lumber industry in the early 1900s. The gardens are a source of much of the organic produce used at this award-winning vegan restaurant. Gardeners will be on hand to explain gardening methods

and philosophy employed here as you wind your way up to the restaurant, which enjoys a beautiful ocean view.

The Garden Tour committee has been working dili-gently to bring you five glorious new gardens, including a beautiful woodland garden in the sunbelt traversed by meandering pathways with interesting plants around every turn; a hillside garden with dry river rock “streams” and ocean view; a large woodland meadow garden protected by unique fencing; and a village garden with an ocean view. And, don’t forget to take a turn around the Mendocino Art Center’s gardens when you visit the Garden Shop, open both May 9 and 10. Special thanks to Geraldine Pember and Fort Bragg Garden Club members for the many hours they have donated beautifying the Art Center’s grounds.

The Garden Shop will feature garden art from local artists. Marty Roderick is also rounding up many fabu-lous plants, including a stunning array of maples from Mendocino Maples. I’m sure you will find some surprising and beautiful additions for your own garden.

Please join us for a fun-filled day on the Mendocino Coast. We look forward to seeing many old friends and new friends, too. If you plan to stay overnight, book early. The New York Times travel section just named the Mendocino Coast one of the top three destinations in the United States. Garden Tour tickets ($40) and lunch tickets ($20) may be pur-chased by calling the Mendocino Art Center at 707-937-5818 ext. 10, or by visiting MendocinoArtCenter.org/Garden.html

By Liliana Cunha

Leona Walden photos.

Spring/Summer 2014 19

M e n d o c i n o A r t c e n t e r ’ s 2 2 n d A n n u A l

Mendocino Coast Garden TourSATUrdAY, MAY 10 X 10:00am–5:00pm

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes glimpse of some of the Mendocino Coast’s most beautiful private gardens on this self-guided tour.

Visit the Garden Shop and plant Sale at the Mendocino Art center, May 9 and 10

Gourmet VeGetarian lunchravens restaurant, stanford inn by the sea©Dorr Bothwell. Used with permission of

Marlys Mayfield, Dorr Bothwell estate.

707 937-5818 • 800 653-3328 ext. 1045200 Little Lake Street, Mendocinowww.MendocinoArtCenter.org/Garden.html

Rain or Shine! • Tickets: Tour, $40; Lunch, $20