Karen Raab, Big Sister

Photograph by Paul Rodriguez, The Orange County Register

In addition to owning and running Chemers Gallery, Karen Raab is also a Big Sister to two amazing girls, Elicet and J-me. Both are now in college, and we at the gallery love hearing how they're doing, from earning straight A's to attending human rights rallys. Karen exposed both girls to different kinds of foods from around the world, artwork and artifacts in museums, and gave them work experience here at Chemers Gallery.



Big Brothers Big Sisters is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and to help mark the occasion, the Orange County Register published an article featuring a few of the organization's volunteers and their stories. Karen was one of those selected. You can read the full article here at the OC Register website.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a wonderful organization that helps so many kids. Being a Big Brother or a Big Sister means that you're mentoring a child and helping them to achieve their full potential. Studies have shown that children involved in the program who meet with their mentors regularly are less likely to be involved with drugs or alcohol, behave in a violent manner, become a teen parent, or drop out of school. Instead, they're more likely to have self-confidence, exhibit a better academic performance, have better relationships and decision making skills, and have a sense of future. To find out more about becoming involved in this great organization, visit their website.


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Through the Eyes of Leslie Lowinger

The City That Does Not Reveal Its Secrets
Leslie Lowinger

Leslie Lowinger has put her own creative stamp on her etchings inspired by living in large cities like New York and San Francisco. Chemers Gallery has just received eight new works by this accomplished printmaker. Leslie uses a method of simultaniously printing and collaging known as chine cole, which translated from French means "Chinese collage." The City That Does Not Reveal Its Secrets depicts huge tower blocks filled with windows. In several of the windows, Leslie has created individual stories about the residents and their lives within their dwelling. An amourous couple, someone pacing restlessly back and forth - all are situations viewable through the windows of an apartment building. Well, all except the tiny witch flying on her broomstick!

Walking Stick-Building continues Leslie's investigation into the lives of city-dwellers. These images are imagined but plausible situations, right down to the couple locked in a steamy embrace. Every image in Leslie's Walking Stick series is on a small scale, and keeps you looking for more hidden elements.

Come into Chemers Gallery and ask to see these and other works by Leslie Lowinger! Or search our website at www.chemersgallery.com!





Walking Stick-Building
Leslie Lowinger

Glass Artists Scott Amrhein and Randi Solin

Chemers Gallery has just received some stunning new glassware from a new talent and an old favorite - Scott Amrhein of High Cliff Studios and Randi Solin of Solinglass!


Scott Amrhein's one-of-a-kind lustre bowls are stunningly simple, yet multi-faceted enough to keep you looking. His elliptical bowls are a work of art in themselves. Each piece casts unusual, organic reflections onto the surrounding surfaces, transforming the very space they're in. The surface pattern of the glass results from the particular metallic glazing and its reaction to the gravitational forming of each bowl. Scott also designs the bases his bowls sit it from a combination of wood and copper, giving the work an elemental feel.

Scott came to glass work from an education in ecomonics and a career in the metal casting industry. He terms his production of art glass as "evolutionary" because it is ever-changing. "It has been said...'man cannot duplicate nature, but only represent it.' I hope every piece I create, combining natural and manmade materials, is a reflection of that statement. It is the discovery and application of various elemental materials which enables me to create a unique body of work." -Scott Amrhein



Randi Solin's new work is stunning. Her glass vessels are beautiful creations with surprising hidden details, like the twisting and turning to suggest a woman's hips and back. She creates amazing depth of color and light in her glass vessels by using layers of glass, sheets of sterling silver, and strands of steel wool. Each piece has a designated "front," which Randi achieves in the same way a painter creates his focal point.

Randi has been blowing glass for over twenty years, using techniques from both the Venetian style and the American Art Glass movement. Her work is housed in permanent collections all over the world, including the White House.

Come into Chemers Gallery to view these and other spectacular glass art pieces!

More postings about Randi Solin:
New Glass Artisans

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The Many Faces of Jennie Tomao

Tulips in Glass

Jennie Tomao's work is a constant and refreshing surprise. She applies her characteristic jewel-like colors to every subject she approaches, but the method in which she carries out each painting varies as much as her subject matter. From Tuscan scenes to floral still life, from forest landscapes to elegant portraits, Jennie's work exhibits the same wonderful attention to light and form and the way the two interact with each other. Each work of art leaves you with a sense of calm and peace. Tulips in Glass evokes early spring days and the excitement of the new growth and life that the season brings. Jennie's tulips seem to embrace that new life from within.

Birch

While painted in a different style, Birch still retains that characteristic inner light. What might be a sinister dark forest in another artist's hands becomes a tranquil meditation on the stillness of the woods in Jennie's talented hands. It's no surprise that Jennie has previously won an Award of Excellence from the Pittsburgh Institute of Art - everything she produces is stunning!

Pale Pink Roses, Book and Horse

Pale Pink Roses, Book and Horse is a sneak peak of a still life we'll be receiving from Jennie soon. It's light, fresh colors are so evocative, they make you want to just jump right into her painting. Let us know if you'd like us to call you when it's in so you can see it or any other of her works in person.

We can't wait to see what's next from this experienced and wonderful artist!