CC Case and Harald Eric Nordvold. Opening Reception at Dolphin Gallery

Harald Eric Nordvold cites potters Warren MacKenzie, Bernard and David Leach and Shoji Hamada as influences. He creates stoneware and porcelain pottery and decorative pieces, and also Raku fired vessels.

Norvold appreciates the intimacy of everyday use of functional pottery, and strives to create quality pieces with a high standard of craftsmanship, while still expressing the warmth and vitality of one of man’s oldest art forms. He believes one of the most beautiful functions of pottery is to display flowers, and that has inspired him to make vases of many different shapes, sizes and colors, including his trademark “pinholders,” which are made to hold just one or a few stems. He added, “I find the intimacy of functional pottery meaningful- the cup or mug that touches one’s lips, or the bowl that one holds to drink tea or for eating their morning cereal or evening dessert. Such things must feel right as well as be appealing to look at. All of the pieces in this show, with the exception of the raku work, are high fired to 2400 degrees F, which creates a vitrified piece that is sturdy and completely safe for food, microwave and dishwasher uses.”

CC Case is primarily a figure artist, drawing in charcoal and pastel, and also experiments with watercolor and other painting media. Drawing the human figure has been an interest since childhood. Life drawing presents the challenge of rendering a form believably while also conveying some sense of the life or spirit within.

Figure drawing is the form of art that currently absorbs and inspires Case the most, and this exhibit features drawings in charcoal, sometimes with the addition of pastel, all drawn from live models during the weekly life drawing sessions at Gualala Arts. Says Case, “the human body is fascinating in its infinite variety—the unclothed figure presents complexities and challenges in depicting proportion, movement, texture, and the interplay of light and shadow in a believable way. I strive to convey sensitivity, and some sense of mood, or spirit of a model at a specific moment in time. I appreciate the mental and physical exercise that drawing from life requires.” She’s experimented with watercolor a bit over the past few years and continues to explore that medium, in both abstract and realistic styles, inspired by the sea and local landscape.

The exhibit continues through July 28.