Chris Dewees I was first introduced to the specialized medium of fish printing (gyotaku) by Tom Sharp in 1968 when we were graduate students in fisheries biology at Humboldt State University. Tom had seen a demonstration and we spent much of our free time exploring fish printing methods and materials with fellow fisheries students. Since then I have continued to pursue my understanding of the printing process as well as the fish and fisheries themselves. I earned a Ph.D. in Ecology at U.C. Davis. I was the Marine Fisheries Specialist at UC Davis since 1972, serving as a link between the University of California and the state's commercial and recreational fishing industries. My research focus was on marine fisheries management. My job as well as my passion for fishing brings me in contact with a lot of fish to print. Japanese fish printing, or gyotaku was first done in the mid-1800s in Japan to celebrate fishes caught for a samurai lord’s feast. In the past 50 years, artists in Japan and elsewhere have refined these techniques into a sophisticated art form. There are two primary fish printing techniques. The direct method involves brushing or rolling ink (water soluble) directly onto a fish or other object. Paper or fabric is then laid over the top of the fish and the ink is transferred with gentle rubbing with one’s fingers. The indirect method is similar to a rubbing. Paper or fabric is placed over the fish and then moistened with water. The paper or fabric is gently molded to the fish and allowed to dry. Oil-based inks are then applied with cotton-filled silk tampos. Chris's personal website
Jill Van Zanten
Jill Van Zanten lives in Davis with her husband and two sons and makes pottery in her outdoor studio. She appreciates all forms of art but especially work that reminds us of the beauty and intricacy of the natural world and our responsibility to be good stewards of the earth.
All of her pieces fired to Cone 5 for high durability and are dishwasher-safe, microwave-safe and lead-free, ready for your everyday use. Because of the hand-made nature of her work, each piece is unique and has its own character, though many of the pieces will work well together as sets.
Clyde Elmore Clyde is a professor emeritus in weed sciences, but now spends more time looking at animals rather than plants - sometimes big animals, like polar bears - through telephoto lenses, of course. "I use two SLR camera bodies (12.6mp), 70 to 200 mm F2.8 lens, 200-400 mm F4 lens, 1.4 or 1.7 and 2.0 extender, Polarizer filter (s), Off camera flash (w extender), Lots of high speed chip memory"
Sharon Dugdale
Sharon is a retired UC Davis faculty
member whose affinity for the natural world is reflected in her jewelry
designs.Her work features the
striking patterns and colors of semi-precious stones.Each unique piece incorporates some of nature's
most remarkable gems and stones.All earwires are either sterling silver or 14K gold-filled.
Harvest McCampbell (Iroquois and Cherokee descendant) began weaving baskets and working with clay in her ancestors’ shadow. As a tiny child she sat at her grandmother’s knee, often with a basket start, or a lump of clay in her hands. After her grandmother was gone, she continued to indulge these life-long passions through study with various teachers in each of these arts.
In the realm of ceramics she undertook an extensive independent study with the late Jim Kaneko, which was followed by additional study with one of his protégés, Alfred Pierson. She has also taken classes and workshops with various artists, with a focus on hand processing clay and traditional pit firing. This is a direction she is leaning towards for future work. The work Harvest is sharing with Magpie Plaza at this time is from her own collection, which is being downsized. The pieces are primarily hand built high fire stone ware, although we may see a piece of raku from time to time. The body of work we are drawing is dated, primarily, between 1988 and 1999.
Harvest has had the pleasure to study basketry and other forms of weaving through a number of classes, including coursework at Marin Community College and UCSB. In addition to her grandmother, she was also taught and encouraged by a number of traditional basket weavers; most notably Ramona Dutschke (Miwok), Vivian Hailstone (Yurok), and Josephine Peters (Karuk). While Harvest draws on traditional teachings to inform her work, her baskets are ultimately of her own design and should be considered contemporary art.
Cheryl Murphy A lifetime love of camping, nature, gardening and art combines in Cheryl's work, expressed thanks to an inspired gift of art supplis from her sister Carol. Each piece of hand-painted glass is an original design, signed on the bottom with a special detail.
Kaherisakhe “Crystal” Henry Crystal is Oneida, the “People of the Standing Stone,” one of the six nations that form the Iroquois Confederacy and also Anishinaabe (Chippewa). She and Terry continue the traditional arts and crafts that our family has created for generations and also enjoy working with the traditional materials and incorporating them into their own contemporary style. He does the woodwork and carving and she loves working with beads and leather. Visit her personal site.
Joanne Andresen Joanne has been painting for some 40 years and is pretty well known in Davis for her recognizable local landscapes. She paints animals, still life, adn landscape images in both oils and watercolors, favoring a warm and sunny palette. Her inspiration comes from"life and imagination".
Stella Stevens Stella is a nationally known wildlife artist. Pieces of her work reside in private, corporate and public collections around the world. Her primary medium is watercolor, however she does work in acrylic as well. Recently, she has done several small landscapes. The reception has been enthusiastic. Most of her work is by commission. In 1999, the United States Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Services commissioned pieces for their Threatened Species program. Her work was used in conjunction with all educational and outreach materials. In 2001 and 2002, Stella was invited to be the Featured Artist for the California Sandhill Crane Festival. "Unison Call" was used by the Festival and California Fish and Game on all promotional materials. Another commissioned piece done specifically for this festival was the feature of the University of California Davis International House fall 2001 exhibition.
Stella's work is highly regarded by wildlife and art experts alike. What distinguishes the work is her unique capacity to capture the soul of the animal and its anatomical authenticity. Watercolor, considered to be one of the most difficult mediums in which to work comes easily to Stella. Her rare sense of color as found in nature has resulted in many mistaking her work for photographs. Stella paints wildlife because the animal kingdom is one of her great loves in life. She has said,"By painting animals, you get to know them. You learn about their habitats, their needs for survival and how humans effect their very existence either intentionally or unintentionally. You can not just paint them. Painting wildlife has been a great learning tool for myself, my family and friends...teaching us to take care of the world around us." (from her profile on the Helen Jones Gallery web site.)
Jason Dayne JEEBA was established as a "Cottage Industry" in the spring of 1981 in the city of Melbourne, Australia.The word JEEBA is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning Springtime Corroboree (let's get together and have fun). Much of the JEEBA collection has been inspired by the rich Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. There are also many original and unique designs inspired by the unusual flora of Australia and the lovely cottage gardens of England. The Jeeba Jewelry collection is designed and created in Davis, California. Jason began making jewelry in high school and continued after graduating from the University of California in San Diego. For the past 28 years he has been designing and manufacturing jewelry. The jewelry is created by using the lost wax casting technique, and all the metals are sterling silver. Some of the more popular semi-precious stones that he uses are moonstone, garnet, amethyst, onyx, blue topaz, lapis and peridot.
