Friesen Gallery celebrates the contemplative works of David Kimball Anderson, drawings by Susan Russell Hall and a book signing by Marie Manuchehri, R.N., all in tandem with the Sun Valley Wellness Festival.  These three talents bring together a cohesive event that is entirely in tune with wellness on all levels. 

A sculptor for four decades, Anderson’s exhibition, "Blue Sky:The Space Between Thoughts" is represented by three bodies of work inviting the viewer to quietly consider benevolence, beauty and awakening.  Susan Russell Hall, artist and illustrator, offers beautiful carbon dust and graphite drawings of Ethereal Flora and original illustrations from the book "Intuitive Self-Healing" by Marie Manuchehri.  Manuchehri, one of the presenters at the Wellness Festival, will be signing her newly-released book from 6:00-8:00 during  the opening reception.

The opening reception is 26 May 5:00 - 8:00 PM.  Anderson, Hall, and Manuchehri will all be present for the reception.  In addition to regular hours, Friesen Gallery will be open Sunday, May 27 in honor of the Sun Valley Wellness Festival.  

Friesen Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 p.m, Sunday 27 May 11:00-4:00,  and always by appointment.  www.friesengallery.com   phone: 208-726-4174

In tandem with the tone of the Sun Valley Wellness Festival, is the May/June exhibition by DAVID KIMBALL ANDERSON.  "Blue Sky: The Space Between Thoughts" represents the fleeting moment wherein the potential for suspending one's self-centeredness is most available.  Anderson uses a forthright minimalistic style in three bodies of work that direct the viewer to tune into the space: Offering Boxes (Benevolence),  Little Village (Beauty), and Bodh Gaya (Awakening) showcase sculptures in bronze and steel and watercolor paintings.  The centerpiece of the exhibit is a Buddha hand that is 4 feet in length. 

Joining in the celebration are Marie Manuchehri, speaker at the Wellness Festival, with a signing of her book "Intuitive Self-Healing" and the book's illustrator, Susan Russell Hall with drawings as illustrated in Manucherhi's book and a body of floral "energy" drawings of carbon graphite on paper.

The artist reception will be during the gallery walk 26 May from 5:00-8:00, and the book signing is from 6:00- 8:00 the same evening.  Anderson, Manuchehri, and Hall will all be present. This is the same weekend as the Wellness Festival and on an open evening on the Wellness Festival schedule.

Friesen Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 p.m, Sunday 27 May 11:00-4:00,  and always by appointment.  www.friesengallery.com   phone: 208-726-4174

The current exhibit of works by Jeff Fontaine make an intriguing focal point for an outside space and may be incorporated into a variety of designs.  The metal panels are "quilted" together, using both salvaged as well as new metal. Fontaine speeds up the natural process of rusting and pitting to create the desired composition, with the focus on the innate beauty created as manmade objects break down and naturally age.  Based on the artist's photography of old signs, rusting train cars and crumbling architecture, many of the patterns and the imagery used in each work are taken directly from these documented surfaces. This process employs Fontaine's controlled attempt to both replicate and suspend the natural law of entropy and the break down of things. 

Each "Khor-Lo" by Catherine Eaton Skinner carries the symbolism of the mandala into the everyday world of patterns: graffiti, old walls and sidewalks, fish baskets, manhole covers and even the sides of old train cars.  The found objects adorning these encaustic paintings have been carefully chosen from Skinner's collecting drawers.

Khor lo is Tibetan for circle, wheel or spiral. Dkyil’khor literally means concentric circles from the center to the periphery, and so becomes mandala.  The mandala simplifies chaos and complexity, unifying many elements into one pattern of existence.  The central point is the axis mundi, the point of emptiness, the midpoint of self.  Outward from the center are the four walls, encompassing the external world.  These four directions of life, balanced around the center, may represent the four elements: water, earth, air and fire.  The four directions also represent the life qualities of us as living beings: our feelings, emotions, body and mind.

Friesen Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 p.m and always by appointment.  www.friesengallery.com   phone: 208-726-4174

On view now at Friesen Gallery are vigorous contemplative paintings by Ron Ehrlich.

Ron Ehrlich’s paintings combine the very American dynamic of action painting with the Japanese aesthetic of pottery glazing. His application methods include throwing, pouring, brushing, scumbling and glazing. To achieve his remarkable surfaces, some glistening and others matte, he mixes recipes of oil, wax, lacquer, shellac, porcelain dust, and marble dust; and then turns a blowtorch on some areas to fuse the materials into a lustrous glazed finish. The resulting canvases, with their dense layers of oil paint and other media, are simultaneously energetic and tranquil.

Friesen Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 p.m and always by appointment.  www.friesengallery.com   phone: 208-726-4174

Showing now at Friesen Gallery is an amazing exhibition of glass sculptures and drawings by Ginny Ruffner whose work has revolutionized glass art.  The Idaho premiere of Ruffner's story, "A Not So Still Life" was a sell out last weekend at the Sun Valley Film Festival.  Ruffner was also recently honored at the Smithsonian’s prestigious Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. with a special screening of the award-winning film. 

Ruffner is a Seattle artist whose body of work has been a major influence in the resurgence of lampworked glass world-wide.  Her goal is to create accessible art that moves you beyond the initial beauty of the glass and into the world of a living piece of art.  “I find the description ‘glass-artist’ amusing.  It implies you are an artist made of glass,” mixed-media artist Ruffner laughs.  “And glass is only about twenty-five percent of what I do.  My art is thinking.”

To learn more about Ruffner's art and passionate approach to life, click this link: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/arts/Artist-Reinvents-Herself-After-Near-Fatal-Accident-143467306.html

Friesen Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 p.m, Saturday 10:00 - 5:00; and Sunday 11:00 - 4:00 and always by appointment.  www.friesengallery.com   phone: 208-726-4174

Friesen Gallery opens an exciting exhibit for the remaining of the season, showcasing  three artists with very diverse styles.  

Primarily a figurative painter, Pamela Wilson's art transcends the commonplace to develop haunting images that evoke moods and memories inspired by real life, and to create a remarkably compelling narrative. The physical and emotional isolation of her characters has emerged as a hallmark of her work, speaking to the dark and hilarious absurdities people often endure... while creating themselves.

Ginny Ruffner  is a major artist whose glass sculptures helped create the field of lampworked glass art world-wide.  This Ruffner exhibition is in tandem with the Idaho Premiere at the Sun Valley Film Festival of the Ruffner documentary “A Not So Still Life."

Ron Ehrlich’s paintings combine the very American dynamic of action painting with the Japanese aesthetic of pottery glazing. The resulting canvases, with their dense layers of oil paint and other media, are simultaneously energetic and tranquil.

The opening reception: 9 March, 5:00 - 8:00 pm. Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 am - 6;00 pm; Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm;  Sunday 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. Always by appointment.

Feature film: THE LORAX opens today - Worldwide! "Speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues." -Dr.Seuss/The Lorax. A Ketchum bumper sticker with these words of wisdom inspired the book "Speak For The Trees"!  http://www.speakforthetreesbook.com/

Please "Like" the book on facebook and share the link with your friends.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-For-The-Trees/211147943272

Also Today: Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss!!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/03/happy-birthday-dr-seuss.html

Come into Friesen Gallery any day of the week to view the exciting exhibition by Catherine Eaton Skinner "Tashi Delek" (May All Auspicious Signs Come to This Environment).  Encaustic works with mixed media and found objects, the works are provocative and contemplative, inviting the viewer to enter their domain.

From the 10" x 10" Khor-Lo's (translating as circle, wheel, or spiral) to the 96" x 6.5" works that add grace and interest to any vertical space, the mostly 3-dimensonal works evoke the natural world and a sense of timelessness.  Shown individually or grouped, they will stand the test of time.

This exhibition is on view through Sunday, March 4.  Friesen Gallery Hours are 10:00-6:00 Monday-Friday, 10:00-5:00 Saturday and 11:00-4:00 Sunday.

Meet artist CATHERINE EATON SKINNER at Friesen Gallery this Friday, 5:00-8:00, during the gallery walk.  The Exhibition, "Tashi Delek" is Tibetan for  "May All Auspicious Signs Come to This Environment".

Encaustic and mixed media, Skinner's works incorporate objects such as antique nails, bits of cloth, pottery shards, porcelain pipes, and other found objects---creating a sense of timelessness in tandem with a voice that speaks to "now."   The tone of all the works evokes the natural environment--- from majestic old trees to wrapped rocks, inviting the viewer to see not only with their eyes but to feel the connection with the earth.

This exciting exhibit, ranging in size from 10" x 10" panels 96" x 6.5" works, will be on view throughout February.  Friesen Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10:00-6:00; Saturday 10:00-5:00; and Sunday 11:00-4:00.