Birds by Hummer at Twenty 20 Gallery in Oceanside

by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt

Just too fun: a backyard hummingbird
photographed by Debra Hummer (her real birth name!) 

Photographer Hummer didn’t develop an interest in birds until she moved to San Diego in 1987.

“I came here from Wisconsin,” she said, when we talked about her background at the October 19^th opening of her exhibit. “It was California Dreaming! I had 35 dollars in my pocket, I’d never been on a plane before, I was in the snow that morning and on the beach that afternoon. We didn’t really have hummingbirds in Wisconsin and there were so many of them here! So I started photographing birds in my Carlsbad backyard on my smart phone.”

 

Nigel.

 

In the beginning, she was just “snapping pictures,” but her daughter had a good camera, so she started using that.

“You need patience to photograph birds, but I have plenty of patience,” she said. “Over the years, I’ve created a habitat they like and give them what they want to eat. I want people to know that we have these birds in our backyards and they’re beautiful and tenacious and amazing.”

Tea for Two.

 

Violetear.

She began showing her work at the Sedona Hummingbird Festival, the Carlsbad Artwalk, and other festivals, and in 2009, when she stepped into what remains her current position as Office Manager at Pendleton Eye Center, Dr. Robert Pendleton began encouraging her to go even further with her photography.

Rob Pendleton and Debra Hummer with Fledglings.

Rob Pendleton opened his medical practice in 1997, and it’s definitely a practice with a difference: a built-in art gallery appropriately called Twenty 20 Gallery. 

When he was a resident in Chicago, he would go to art galleries whenever admission was free, and he decided that once he had his own medical practice, he’d design the space to include a gallery that would feature local artists. He opened the gallery in 2009… and the first exhibition was bird photography!

He has now given Debra Hummer her first solo show, and even when he retires, he plans to continue the quarterly art exhibits at Twenty 20 Gallery.

 

Hummer with her photograph Serenity and her book: Birds by Hummer.

“I dedicated it to Rob, because he spurred me on,” she said.

To order a copy: birdsbyhummer@gmail.com

Birds by Hummer
Twenty 20 Gallery
Oct 20, 2024 to Jan 17, 2025
Pendleton Eye Center
3637 Vista Way
Oceanside, CA 92056
760.212.4077 (Call to arrange a time to see the whole Birds by Hummer exhibition.)

 

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has been writing about arts and lifestyles in San Diego County for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net

First Annual People’s Choice Best of Show for the Year at Fallbrook Art Center.

 by Patricia Frischer

 

Rosemary KimBal, The Blues Piano,
with  Buzz Blodgett's glass sculpture

At every show held at the Fallbrook Art Center, the public is invited to write down the name of their favorite artist and deposit that slip into a bowl. All those entries are tallied and saved and this People’s Choice show is the result of those votes. It is not curated by a single individual or a committee, but by the patrons of the Art Center. It is democracy in action…just like your right to vote right now in our national elections!

But there is one featured artist chosen by the director Brenda Andrews and Rosemary KimBal’s Contemporary Zen Paintings  are represented by 6 works. KimBal is a Zen Brush painter who sometimes used enormous brushes and the technique of one breath with a stroke. “To paint one stroke and show the variation of the ink from dark to light and end up with flying white is a desired effect in brush painting,” is one of her stated goals,  “Sometimes painting is about not thinking.”

Rosemary KimBal holding one of the giant brushes, center, with Brenda Andrews, Director of Fallbrook Art Center. (Photo by Raymond Elstad)

Brenda Andrews in front of a trio of works by Rosemary KimBal

Rosemary KimBal

Rosemary KimBal

Rosemary KimBal

Rosemary KimBal

Rosemary KimBal "When the stroke in a breath becomes a circle, it means the heart and mind are one. Otherwise, it's a frozen moment."

The following selection of work is a tiny taste of the variety on view in the gallery. Notice the public comments that have been threaded together and are on view. A particular favorite is the mosaic dog by Ann Abbott with instruction to name man’s best friend…no voting for a favorite artist this time.

Frank Waters

Frank Waters

Christine Alfery

Nic McGuire

Ann Abbott

Karen Williams Smith

 
 

A quick glimpse into the gift store on the right displaying a huge variety or styles, mediums in all price ranges.  

Casey O'Connor - vases just right for Halloween!

First Annual People’s Choice Best of Show for the Year’s  at Janice Griffiths Gallery at The Fallbrook Art Center
Oct. 19, 2024 - Nov. 9, 2024
103 S. Main Ave, Fallbrook, CA 92028
760.728.1414  info@fallbrookartcenter.org
Tues - Sat 10– 4 pm | Sun noon to 3. Closed Mondays & Major Holidays

Face Off: Portraits and Masks at PHES Gallery

 by Patricia Frischer

 

Gail Schneider

We were first attracted to this show because it includes some of our SD Art Prize and New Contemporary Artists like  Deanne Sabeck, Marianella de la Hoz, Gail Schnider, Irene de Watteville, Cheryl Tall, and Deanne Sabeck. (Our prize opens this month for the 17^th year at the SD History Center Thurs. Oct 24 from 6 to 8 pm. Free but RSVP is required)

This is the first open call for the PHES gallery and so instead of me making a selection of the work, we asked many of those at the opening what were their favorite works.  (Name of choosers are being withheld to avoid any hard feelings.) We hope this tempts you to attend to see the whole show, 

Gail Schneider

Marianela de la Hoz

Marianela de la Hoz

Marianela de la Hoz

Marianela de la Hoz is in a larger show at Art Produce right now. Check out our report at 
Marianela de la Hoz Opens Our Eyes and Minds with Stardust (Polvo de Luz) at Art Produce Picked RAW Peeled by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, photos by Maurice Hewitt

Monica Loss

Monica Loss

Monica Loss

Monica Loss was featured with several pieces in her own small room. This type wearable art is trending and will be featured next year  in the fall at the Vision Museum of Textile Art. 

Cheryl Tall

Irene de Watteville

Deanne Sabeck

 

Tiffany Bociek

Ellen Dieter

Warren Bakley

Kathleen Kane-Murrell

Helen Redman

Rin Colabucci

You have until Dec 1 to go and pick your favorite work. Prices range from $300 - $9000.

Face Off: Portraits and Masks at PHES Gallery
October 13 – December 1, 2024
2633 State St, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Gallery Hours Thurs– Sat 2 – 7pm and by appointment
info@PhesGallery.com 760-696-3022

Transformative Currents: Art And Action In The Pacific Ocean at Oceanside Museum of Art

 by Patricia Frischer

Isabelle Beavers’ Tomb Keepers (Rise)

This two-part exhibition Transformative Currents: Art And Action In The Pacific Ocean is actually two of 4 parts of a PST project funded by the Getty Foundation. The other two parts are at the Orange County Museum of Art  and the Crystal Cove Conservancy on the Newport coast. There are about 20 artists or  artist teams participating in just the OMA part of the exhibition. The curators Cassandra Coblentz with assistant curators Aaron Katzeman and Ziying Duan sites the artists in the museum and the displays are outstanding. They convert the space in a most dramatic way, especially upstairs which is intended to represent the underwater parts of the explorations. Downstairs is above the water, which is a bit counter intuitive, but  both parts are full of screens…hopefully that OMA can keep for future exhibitions.

Officially Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean looks at the harm both culturally and environmentally that has affected the Pacific Ocean, while trying to enact some positive change.   

I am not great at reading titles that are long, small and displayed in a darkened environment. So I took pictures and read about what I was seeing once I got home. And my suggestion is to come prepared to spend time exploring, or do the same.

Upstairs, for example, Isabelle Beavers’ Tomb Keepers (Rise) in the first display that caught my eyes, the subject was polymetallic nodules. I had to look that up to find out that in 2019, the average value of a polymetallic nodule was estimated to be $484 per ton. So the reason for the arrangement was to stop mining of these amazing very old collections of mineral deposits. Imagined reproductions of those nodules were cast in glass, the video showed the mining and symbolic arrangement of Ctenophora which have 8 levels of combs and are vaguely related to jelly fish.

Beatriz Jaramillo’s Connect 27,000 dots represents 27,000 to ½ million barrels of DDT that rest on the ocean floor. The word Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane is spelled out in holes bunched in the images on display.

Alex Monteith and Maree Sheehan in Whiri iwi Tuna: Underwater Worlds of the Tuna (eels) in Te Whanganui share images of the eels in a multiscreen flowing recording of this space that is a confluence of river and ocean. The eels have developed ways to survive the pollution.

SeanConnelly’s Gut Technics demonstrates how the ocean has become a dumping ground for old equipment used to explore those same waters. This constructed display with its reflective surfaces and video was strangely alluring.

Paul Rosero Contreras  shows a sound film Dark Paradise Lost 2 but alongside are intriguing sculptures that represent a combination of natural and plastic element in a new coral configuration. The 3-d printed  forms are actually made from that same combination of plastic and ground coral.

Going downstairs, the large format composition by Genevieve Robertson is Bull Kelp which actually using kelp as one of the mediums.

L. Frank and Jane Chang Mi created a nenvironment interpretation of the Cave of the Whales on San Nicolas Island (off the coast of Southern California) to enter and ponder in She Will Dreams Many Things. This Island was used by the US Navy and to this day is off limited.

Ohan Breiding and Shoghig Halajian (a grad student at UCSD) in Rafters document some of the many object found in the waters after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. They carried wild life along with them, much of which survived because of their attachment. This is rather like trash immagrants!

You can check out all of the artists on the OMA website which has links to the artists sites.  

The Refusion Pop -Up Shop will be part of the OMA Museum Store during Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean.  Refusion, created by Julie Ellis, is a non-profit that teams up with artists who turn single-use plastics into creative, sustainable art

Remember: ART AFTER DARK. The big OMA celebration is October 26,  6:00–10:00pm

From November 1 - 30, OMA and Birch Aquarium Members will receive reciprocal membership access to PST ART: Art & Science Collide Exhibitions OMA's ‘Transformative Currents’ and  Birch Aquarium's ‘Embodied Pacific’ .

Transformative Currents: Art And Action In The Pacific Ocean
Curated by Cassandra Coblentz with assistant curators Aaron Katzeman and Ziying Duan
August 17, 2024–January 19, 2025
704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054
(760) 435-3720
HOURS: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday11:00am–5:00pm
Friday 11:00am–8:00pm

My Intimate Partner at Oceanside Museum of Art

by Patricia Frischer

Carlos Castro Arias detail

Although this exhibition My Intimate Partner at Oceanside Museum of Art curated by Smadar Samson is undeniable about domestic violence aka IPV (Intimate Partner Violence), it presents survival and hope instead of only taking us down the usual path of terror and harm. The show is divided into four sections Intimacy, Power and Control, Fallout, Transformation.

Smadar Samson says, "The intention is for visitors who may have experienced or are experiencing violence in their relationship to feel less alone, and for the community to recognize our responsibility in showing to survivors, perpetrators and their families that we care, and that we do not look away."

The detail above from Carlos Castro Arias shows the bullet holes in what appear to be a  decorative rosette maybe from a church and is part of the Power and Control room. Each one of the works in this show deserve a close look and a private interpretation.  

Carlos Castro Arias  A gun in the home increase the risk of homicide fivefold (500%) for women, though its danger reaches everyone nearby.

The quotes that begins the show, “…Nothing can be changed unless it is faced.”  sets the tone for an exploration with the implication that actions can be taken that are helpful. The end quote, “…even a fist was once an open palm…” is full of hope.  The  blissful colors of Irma Sofia Poeter’s womb-like installation are a sharp contrast to the manipulation voice in Dark Sound, and the words, “I’m Sorry” could  refer to the victim, but I choose to think they are the perpetrator’s.

Designed by Smadar Samson - walking on egg shells, with dialogue performed by 
Jessica Yaffa (the script writer) and Dave Franco

Irma Sofia Poeter

Intimacy

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio - the intimacy of hands stroking hair takes on a scary premonition of hair being pulled because of the context of this show. 

Power and Control

There is a cycle of abuse that builds tension between violence and then reconciliation which is so harmful. Keeping victims off balance and doubtful

.

Mely Barragán

Lisa Bryson -Inaudible is the tile for these silent screams

Hugo Crosthwaite

Fallout

Irma Sofia Poeter

VALYA - each circle in felt represents a soul with a testimony (gathered by the curator) below each taken from a survivor at a shelter. Self worth is one of the most important processes in recovery. The quotes below the works are gradually more and more positive as the layout demonstrates that help is just around the corner. 

Trinh Mai - demonstrates time as a healing agent

Trinh Mai detail

Trinh Mai detail

Transformation

Irma Sofia Poeter

Other artists in this exhibition include: Patrick N. Brown, Fatima Jamil, Marco Miranda, The Rosin Box Project Dance Studio (Synergy Art Foundation funded the dance performance at the opening)

Given the widespread concern over the prevalence of IPV in many states, the exhibition is planned to travel to different cities across the United States. The curator Smadar Samson tells us, "At the heart of the exhibition is the collaboration between social service organizations and the art world. The selected artworks serve not only as catalysts to engage visitors in examining their own relationship to power and control but also as a platform for the social service organizations I have collaborated with during my curatorial research. These organizations will lead educational programs on healthy relationships within the exhibition space, using the art to initiate dialogues that might otherwise be too difficult or uncomfortable to approach."

October is officially Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It is especially important to list the resources for anyone needing help to prevent/resolve IVP:

Local Services:
WRC  Woman's Resource Center
CRC  Community Resource Center
One Safe Place
Jessica Jaffa Coaching Institute
Center for Community Solutions

State:
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence 

National:
CDC Center for Disease Control IVP
National Domestic Violence Hotline
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
List of national organizations compiled by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services 

Over 61 million women and 53 million men (about 41% of women and 26% of men) have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Promoting healthy, respectful, and nonviolent relationships and communities can help reduce the occurrence of IPV.

My Intimate Partner at Oceanside Museum of Art
Curated by Smadar Samson
October 5, 2024–March 16, 2025
A World Design Capitol SD/TJ 2024 exhibition for Equity and Social Justice.

704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054
(760) 435-3720
HOURS: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday11:00am–5:00pm
Friday 11:00am–8:00pm

Watch for our report on Hugo Crosthwaite’s Adventures in Color at Bread & Salt  is a Picked RIPE  choice by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt. Both of these reports are Oct 2024 features.

Hugo, Mely Branegán and Irma Sophia Poeter are all SD Art Prize recipients. Remember San Diego Arts Prize 2024 at San Diego History Center Oct 24, 2024 to March 30, 2025 featuring Gabriel Boils, Francisco Eme, and Marisol Rendón.  You are invited to the opening reception on Thurs. Oct 24 from 6 to 8 pm. Free but RSVP is required.