Warm up to November with functional pottery Brenda Phillips & paintings by Bruce Jones

Phillips began taking pottery lessons around 2002 after retiring in 1995 from teaching at Manchester Elementary and as a resource specialist at Point Arena High School. She has studied under Paul Stein and taken classes at Brandybuck with Kaye Like and at the Mendocino Art Center. Phillips is showing some new work at this show, including large footed oval bowls and globes. She says “It’s a challenge for me to make new shapes that I haven’t tried before. I love it when a lump of clay can become so many different shapes and forms. Glazing is still fun especially when different colors are layered onto a single piece. I love to challenge myself by mixing my own glazes, then brushing, dipping, pouring, or spraying them for so many different effects.”

Jones comes from a long line of artists, including his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. He has always dabbled in drawing and painting for fun and relaxation, but was finally able to indulge as a fulltime artist when he retired in 2000 and moved to Gualala.

Everything around him seems to inspire him to create. Art lovers who follow Jones’ work are familiar with his watercolors and drawings of peoples’ faces, hands and bodies, insects, trees, rocks, flowers, and gardens, the ocean with all its moods, cityscapes and engines.

Jones says “Unlike most watercolor artists, I like strong darks and distinct shapes. Use of inks is helpful with darks so I often use pen & ink in many of my watercolors and pencil drawings.  And sometimes the art is just ink, as it often was in the past.”