April 2016: Janet Ronacher & Sally Squire

Janet Ronacher "Well Monitored Basket" plastic/mixed media Janet Ronacher creates colorful, textural and unexpected baskets. Her work is experimental and contemporary as her materials change and can be natural, obsolete industrial items or just found objects. Currently she is working with plastic bags of various types and using the colors of the original bags by layering them and fusing them together to make a fabric. Some works are sewn into various shapes and most are woven and formed by weaving techniques. Earlier works were primarily barks, reeds, leather, fish skin, grasses and fabrics. “While I enjoyed using all the different natural materials, they lacked color for the most part. Once I began fusing the plastics just the way the bags came, my work became more expressive and joyful. Some pieces are combined with contrasting materials to be three dimensional collages. I look forward to continue developing new works and adding new materials as they become available. I find plastics to be fun and acquiring special bags from friends as my way to keep some bags out of the oceans away from wildlife for now anyway.”

Sally Squire "Song" aluminum dryer vents/mixed media Sally Squire entitles her mixed media show "Collapsing Into Color", marrying color with texture and light. Sally explains, “As my daily life goes by, I sometimes like to imagine it only as color, no thoughts, opinions or worries. Most of my wall pieces represent this fantasy.” For the past two years she has been working in ceramics and melding that into her work. Her clay is porcelain with paper pulp mixed into it. The paper burns out during firing and leaves microscopic holes. The resulting piece is lighter than traditional clay. Sally applies alcohol inks post-firing. Due to the clay’s porosity, they are readily absorbed and produces a vibrant transparent finish. To further her work of re-purposing materials, she uses aluminum dryer vents, strapping, and screen spline. “The aluminum allows me to work with light and reflection. I play with reflected light by using a translucent paint that softens the surface, while allowing a reflected glow to come through. The pieces are so heavily textured, that you can change the look by positioning the light source. Strapping is translucent. It picks up light, and makes it dance around the art work.”