"Wild Things" The Animal Art & Plein Air Landscapes of Kathleen Dumphy

 

~Wild Things~

The Animal Art & Plein Air Landscapes of Kathleen Dunphy

A Facebook Live Virtual Event

Friday, December 11 @ 4pm PST

https://www.facebook.com/KathleenDunphyFineArt

Turbulent 2020 Inspires 'Wild' Virtual Gallery and Facebook Live Show Dec. 11 

 

Nov. 20, 2020 Murphys, CA -- In the midst of a still surging pandemic that has caused nearly every business to pivot and shift to innovative, flexible ways of connecting and conducting business, nationally acclaimed artist Kathleen Dunphy has created a COVID-19 free way to share her works -- and the backstories of what inspired them -- directly with the public.

 

Timed just ahead of the winter holidays, her 2020 solo show is entitled "Wild Things: The Animal Art and Landscapes of Kathleen Dunphy." The virtual gallery show opening and an interactive Q and A with the artist will be live-streamed to the public on Facebook Live Friday, Dec. 11 at 4 p.m. PST at https://www.facebook.com/KathleenDunphyFineArt, where it will remain available, post-event for folks to view at their leisure.

 

Although the Northern California-based painter is represented by several galleries across the country, due to Covid cases on the rise and protocol restrictions, Dunphy chose to create and stage her 2020 show near her home in the picturesque Sierra Foothills. The event will feature animal art, including several of her much sought-after bird paintings along with soulful, light-filled plein air landscapes of northern California scenes, many from the artist's favorite off-trail hiking spots she visited over the past months.

 

Among her larger works in oils (see attached) is "Scram!" in which a gaggle of life-sized, frenzied Canada geese are erupting in all directions across a 48 by 72-inch canvas, seemingly attempting to escape the frame; their movements a flurry of necks, beaks, wings and feet. 

 

"'Scram!’ evolved into a symbol of my feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dunphy says. "As the virus spread, it felt to me as though all the color had been leached from the world and we were all teaming up to fight the enemy. These Canada geese hissing and flapping and chasing the badness away to me summed up our universal struggle against the virus.”

 

The gallery event is being hosted by Ironstone Vineyards, located near historic downtown Murphys. The Calaveras County ranch on which it sits, owned by the Kautz Family for four generations, houses a winery and Gold Rush museum built in the shape of a gold stamp mill. Dunphy's show will be hung in the beautiful Heritage Room, adjacent to the museum and tasting room.  

 

The show will kick-off with the Facebook Live interview featuring Dunphy and local journalist Tori James during which viewers will have the chance to ask the artist questions about her paintings through Chat and see the framed paintings from various angles.

 

This new way of viewing art can be even more convenient than pre-pandemic trips to galleries, according to Dunphy. “I feel like what’s missing from the art world right now is the opportunity to speak directly with artists and to put your nose right up to paintings in a gallery. But fortunately, technology has allowed us to bring the art to the collector in a new and different way. You can see my work from any place in the world and interact much like being there in person.”

If Covid protocols permit, interested collectors and other members of the public may be able to view the show and meet the artist in the Heritage Room Friday, Dec. 11 through Saturday, Dec. 12. Those interested may call ahead to request a specific personal time-slot. For more details, please call (805) 459-8723 and leave a message with your name, requested time and best phone number for a call back.  

ThanksGiving

Ironstone's Heritage Museum celebrates with you this

2020 Thanksgiving.  

Thanks for all our friends and families, thanks for supporting us during these trying times. Thanks for your friendly and sincere words of encouragement as we try to follow the Covid regulations so we can stay open for all of you.  It has not been easy and sometimes most unpleasant. But through it all we would not still be here but for all of you, our guests, our family and our friends.  Thank you. 

Ironstone will be celebrating Thanksgiving by giving staff Wednesday and Thursday off.  So, we will be closed Tuesday & Wednesday as usual and again on Thanksgiving day.   Stay safe, relax, be kind and spread some love this holiday season. 

Come visit us this coming weekend and enjoy the colors of fall at Ironstone's beautiful gardens. Sincere thanks to Larry, Ironstone's Master Gardner for his astronomical efforts in creating this color wonderland for you to enjoy. 

Spring Obsession Art Show 2021

 Ironstone will be moving forward with it's 24th Annual Spring Obsession Art Show & Competition.

Entry forms are available either on the page tabs at the top of this post or by emailing cgomez@ironstonevineyards.com.  Please put in the Subject line "Spring Art Entry forms" and you will receive both the Theme Division and Open Division forms.

Coming soon you will also be able to enter the show by going to www.ironstonevineyards.com and clicking on the Art Show tab.  All works will be juried prior to acceptance into the exhibit. 

Theme Division entries will be due January 1st. 2021 with OPEN Division entries due January 31st, 2021.

Please refer to the entry forms/prospectus for complete details and rules.

We will notify all entrants of any complications arising out of the Covid19 situation. As we all know, this has been a touch and go situation for everyone.  Here at Ironstone we have in place all the regulated safety precautions and will continue to do so.  Lets all stay safe and hope we can be back to our regular activities come this next year. In the meantime, paint paint paint!

Petrified Wood

Ironstone Vineyard's Heritage Museum now features and outstanding collection of petrified wood.

Visit free of charge, the collection is located just outside the Heritage Museum & Gift Shoppe.

PETRIFIED WOOD COLORS

M.P. Hunerlach, 2016

Which minerals produce the colors found in the petrified wood?

Red and Pink colors are produced by the presence of hematite, a form of oxidized iron - Fe₂O_3. The intensity of the color depends on the quantity of hematite present in the petrified wood.

Ø  Process: Iron dissolves in ground water when no oxygen is present. The ground water becomes re-oxygenated as it moves though the tree trunks causing oxygen to bond with the iron. The iron then precipitates to produce a solid form of iron called hematite. This hematite is incorporated into the log's cell walls. The same process occurs when iron stains porcelain sinks. The soluble iron in ground water becomes oxidized into a solid form when it comes in contact with air, causing a reddish stain.

Yellow, Brown and Orange colors are produced by the presence of goethite - HFeO₂ and Fe₂O₃. Goethite is a hydrated iron oxide that is derived by weathering from iron bearing minerals. It crystallizes into tablets, scales, needles, radial and concentric aggregates.

Green colored petrified wood is produced by pure reduced iron that is a magnetic, malleable mineral. The chemical composition is Fe. Referred to as native iron, it is quite rare in terrestrial rocks but common in meteorites. Native iron combines with chlorophyll to give tree leaves and plants their green colors but rarely attaches to wood cells.

White is produced by pure silica - SiO₂. Since silicon, Si, and oxygen, O, are the two most abundant elements in the earth's crust. Silica group minerals are common worldwide. Free silica, SiO₂, referred to scientifically as silicon dioxide, occurs most commonly as quartz. Quartz is the principal element of glass. In many respects quartz is the most interesting of all minerals. It has a larger number of distinct varieties with wider differences than any other mineral. Petrified wood, also referred to as silicified wood, is a common illustration of a quartz pseudomorph - wood is slowly replaced, cell by cell, by silica, until not a trace of the original material remains.

Ø  Process: The structural arrangement of silicon and oxygen creates an open bonding structure that permits other ions such as various forms of iron to occupy interstitial positions in the molecule and bond to it, thus producing variations in color.

Organic carbon or pyrite - FeS2 (iron sulfide), the most abundant and widespread sulfide mineral, produces Black. Because it was mistaken for gold it is often called "fool's gold." Pyrite, translated freely, means "fire mineral", a reference to the sparks given off when struck.

Ø  Process: The wood was affected as hydrogen sulfide from decaying organic matter interacted with iron forming pyrite.

Purple and Blue are produced by manganese dioxide - MnO₂. This is a secondary material formed when water leaches manganese from igneous rock and re-deposits it as a concentration of manganese dioxide. As a result, it occurs more often as coatings on other minerals than as large crystals. Manganese is very important in the manufacture of steel.

Tan indicates silica dioxide is the predominate replacement mineral. This color is most often seen in permineralized wood. In permineralization, the wood's cell structure is better preserved, giving it the appearance of real wood. It should be noted that not all petrified wood is permineralized. Permineralization also transpires when wood is preserved with calcite rather than silica.  

Ø  How the very fine detail of the cell structure is preserved is not well understood. It would appear that less than cell sized gradients in acidity created very small re-precipitation gradients, replacing the wood on almost an atom by atom basis.

Good Information on the Formation of petrified Wood:

http://www.geo-logic.org/Minerology/Petrified%20Wood1.htm

http://geology.com/stories/13/petrified-wood/