Artist of the Month wall featuring Joan Desmond’s work
Photos and story by Catherine Stachowiak
Life in the Valley was the theme for the, May 11, reception of the Kern River Valley Art Association, this spring.
During the reception, the art piece titled “Let’s Celebrate,” a resin and acrylic creation by Steve Selznick placed first. Coming in second place was an acrylic on canvas painting titled, “Golden Trout,” by artist Margie Farmer. The third place winner for the reception was the oil on canvas painting titled, “Prospector,” by Joyce Dean.
Along side the association’s reception was a special wall reserved for the submissions to the Kern Fire Safe Council’s art contest, whose names were announced, May 5.
Teri Whittaker won first place in that contest for the mixed media piece titled, “Prepared/Unprepared.” For second place in the same contest, the piece called, “Cycles,” won, which was a mixed media work on canvas by Elizabeth Carde-Leipnik. The third place winner for the same contest was, “In Search of Safety,” a felting piece, created by artist Robin Harmon. Tied in third place with Harmon was the piece titled “Combustion,” an acrylic on canvas by Stacy Lomeli Munoz.
There were many entrees to the youth section of the Kern Fire Safe Council’s gallery showing, which focused on Building a Fire Resilient Future.
The artist of the month featured at the association’s reception was Joan Desmond, who is also featured as the cover artist of the upcoming anthology publication the association puts out this June. Desmond’s showing included abstract mixed media collages that were compositionally structured. She explains that these works are as small worlds unto themselves. They are impressions coaxed from hidden places. She said, “The working method is a give and take, a dance of sorts, responding to what the artwork needs to come together.”
