Summer at Main Street Artists Gallery is “the promise of warm days and beautiful vistas,” report gallery members. The walls are filled with all of that and more as the gallery members present a fresh new show and opening reception June 7 with wine and appetizers from 5 to 7 p.m.
Main Street Artists Gallery presents the works of two artists this month: Debbie Kercmar Boyd and Barbara McCabe. Their different styles provide the viewer with a rich and diverse perspective, promise organizers. “These artists together create a duet of expression that delivers the essence of summer in the Lost Sierra.”
Both artists will attend the reception to present their works. The gallery membership will also have new pieces and fresh art displayed through the rest of the gallery. Gallery members will be in attendance to welcome the community in what they say has become a lively gathering of friends and folks who appreciate local art.
Debbie Kercmar Boyd
Debbie Kercmar Boyd expresses her creativity in many mediums. This show features her love of painting and appreciation of animals and Western style.
Kercmar Boyd says she had a history of art and entrepreneurial endeavors — until she entered a period of 10 years where she did not. With the return of her muse in 2020 Kercmar Boyd fell in love with watercolors and painted mostly animals. By 2022 she switched to oil paints and a more impressionistic style.
Her 10-year hiatus was quickly put behind her as seen by her list of recent shows. Kercmar Boyd presented a show at Patti’s Thunder Café in April 2022, then another solo show at Main Street Artists Gallery in June 2022, followed by a half-show at Plumas Arts in September. Kercmar Boyd was then featured in a half-show in March 2023 at Main Street Artists Gallery and now again in June 2024. She is definitely “in the flow,” say organizers.
Kercmar Boyd is currently painting animals in an expressive style full of strength and movement. Her colors are richly Western, with sky blues, warm orange tones and wheat-colored highlights. She celebrates the spirit of animals. Kercmar Boyd says she likes to paint animals, horses in particular. “Horses have moved me lately,” she said. “I enjoy capturing the movement of horses, and capturing their eyes. The way they look at you and the connection you feel.”
This current group of paintings uses a common color palette, which has the effect of tying all the frames together. They seem to tell a larger story and feel like a mural. Two pieces together cover a nice space that is unified in theme and energy. These colors, textures and lighting work together to deliver her love for animals, painting and her home in the Lost Sierra.
Barbara McCabe
Photographer Barbara McCabe offers thoughtful images created through the alternative processes of cyanotype, kallitype and pinhole photography. McCabe’s cyanotype series utilizes antique lace alternating with botanical arrangements. McCabe said her intent was to feature the lace, which often includes floral and natural patterns, along with the flora in the natural environment. Both the cyanotype process and the handmade lace are historical and she thought it would be interesting to bring them into the present day.
McCabe is known for using images of herself as a means to invite the viewer into the frame, to step through to the space of nature. A new direction for Barbara is including her husband, Greg McCabe, in a self-portrait black-and-white film series. Barbara said Greg’s strength, literally, has been in the background role as a “roadie” and extra pair of hands. Greg has now been elevated to being a subject within the frame.
Barbara said, “I thought it would be really interesting to look at how a man interacts with nature and compare that to the female presence in the same frame. I am using 4×5 film to record both myself and my husband separately in the same location and then flipping one film image so the images ‘talk’ to each other. Sort of a yin-yang. I am really excited about this new venture.”
For this “new exploration” she said she is searching for classic attire for Greg, which will include a bowler hat acquired during their recent trip to Barcelona, Spain, and also an antique cane from 1917 that belonged to Barbara’s grandfather.
McCabe has been busy in addition to her shows at Main Street Artists Gallery. She was featured in Black and White magazine’s August 2023 Portfolio Contest Awards and was selected for an award in the Alternative Printing Processes category to appear in Black and White magazine’s December 2024 issue No. 169. McCabe was also accepted to present two images at the 2024 Wild and Scenic Film Festival Art Exhibition in Nevada County and won the Judges’ Award. McCabe continues to focus her main work on the natural environment and the harmonious blend of the human interacting with the landscape in local wild places.
Information provided by Main Street Artists Gallery