EMERGING AND ESTABLISHED - July & August

OPENING RECEPTION: July 11, 6:00 - 8:30pm.

Joe Mariscal and Ben Miller are the featured artists of the Knowlton Gallery's summer show. The concept of the show is to pair an established artist from the region, ceramicist Joe Mariscal, with an emerging artist of great promise and talent, painter Ben Miller. Mariscal has been exhibiting and working in sculpture in the Central Valley for over three decades. His newest series of burnished ceramic figures are directly influenced by Pre-Columbian art. Mariscal calls his contemporary interpretation "Post-Columbian." Ben Miller graduated from the University of the Pacific with a degree in graphic arts. He has pursued painting since college and has been catching the eye of collectors with his extraordinary cityscapes and nightlife scenes.

EXHIBITION DATES: July 1 - August 30, 2008
Gallery hours: Tues – Sat, 11am – 5pm.
Or by appointment: (209) 368-5123

PURE PIGMENT - September

OPENING RECEPTION: September 5, 2008, 6:00 - 8:30 pm.

Noted painter Gil Dellinger returns to his roots in an all pastel show throughout the month of September. Dellinger is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, as well as a Master Pastelist. Although Dellinger has worked primarily with acrylics for the past decade, pastels are his first love. “The pigments are derived directly from the natural world,” explains Dellinger. “They’re very pure. I love working with them because they create a gorgeous surface.” Dellinger taught drawing, figure drawing, illustration, painting and design for 28 years at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award for teaching excellence and professional accomplishments.

EXHIBITION DATES: September 2 - 27, 2008
Gallery hours: Tues – Sat, 11am – 5pm.
Or by appointment: (209) 368-5123

TRUNK SHOW - FEATURING JEWELRY DESIGNED BY ANNA WHITMORE

JEWELRY SHOW: September 20, Noon - 4pm.

Jewelry designer Anna Whitmore will present her complete Fall-Winter jewelry collection, in a one-day trunk show at the Knowlton Gallery, Saturday, September 20, from Noon - 4 pm.

This event is free and open to the general public. Come by and shop! Anna will be bringing earrings, necklaces and rings, and she is more than willing to take orders for your own special stone/pearl combinations. Each and every piece is handmade.

Anna Whitmore began her journey in jewelry design while still in high school; over the following years, her education within the craft of metal work continued and she eventually begin her own design company. Anna works from her studio in beautiful Sonoma. Her distinctive work features free form pearls, oxidized silver and natural stones.

YOSEMITE ON CANVAS: 13 Western Artists Paint the Park

OPENING RECEPTION: October 3, 2008, 6:00 – 8:30pm.

Thirteen women painters from northern and southern California, as well as Utah and Nevada, painted together in Yosemite Valley for a week in May. The resulting work, both plein air and studio paintings, will be exhibited at the Knowlton Gallery

Artist Cynthia Britain, based in Laguna Beach, California, took the lead in organizing the thirteen artists, all women, though she says that serendipity played a big part. “A group of us talked about this for about three years,” she says of how the idea was formulated. “We wanted to paint together as a group of women. When we talked about doing this last year everyone said they wanted to make it happen in 2008. From there things have come together effortlessly. When we had to decide where to paint, Yosemite was the place everyone wanted to go.”

Zenaida (Zee Zee) Mott, from Marin County, also played a key role in making the event fly. Her connection to Yosemite goes back two generations. “My grandfather,” explains Mott, “came into Yosemite in the 1800s and spent many summers there with John Muir. I was brought up hiking and horse packing all over the area with my father.” Mott reserved cabins in Camp Curry for the painters. “It was a no-frills trip. We were there to paint.”

Robin Knowlton, owner of the Knowlton Gallery in Lodi (CA), was approached in 2007 about the idea of hosting the exhibition, she agreed enthusiastically without knowing any of the details. “When I saw the list of artists, including some of the best contemporary painters in California,” says Knowlton, “I knew this was going to be a quality show. Also, I’m a big advocate of artists forming alliances that encourage camaraderie and opportunity."

The group of artists includes: Anita Hampton, Debra Huse, and Cynthia Britain from Southern California, and from Northern California, Kathleen Dunphy, Peggi Kroll-Roberts, Jeanette Le Grue, Kim Lordier, Camille Przewodek, Terri Ford, Carolyn Lord, and Zenaida Mott, as well as Kate Starling from Utah and Jean LeGassick from Nevada.

EXHIBITION DATES: September 30 – November 29, 2008
Gallery hours: Tues – Sat, 11am – 5pm.
Or by appointment: (209) 368-5123