Main Street Artists Gallery presents Marilyn Hoffman and Sally Posner, the featured artists for the November gallery show, titled “Real and Surreal.” Gallery members invite the public to view the artwork at an opening reception Friday, Nov. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. with wine and appetizers.
Marilyn Hoffman
Marilyn Hoffman moved to Quincy in 1988. She says she was thrilled to find a vibrant arts community and plunged into activities with Art Works in the Epilog Bookstore and with shows sponsored by the Plumas County Arts Commision, which is now Plumas Arts. She has since taught private art classes and eventually joined Main Street Artists Gallery in 2010.
Over years of painting experience she has explored still life, landscape and portraiture. “But,” Hoffman says, “I have sometimes taken a vacation from reality to explore abstraction and surrealism. It’s liberating and revealing, exciting and challenging. Challenging and exciting is the departure from the traditional still life to a painting that sometimes defies the norm. Liberation happens when you ride with your imagination rather than just paint what you see.”
However, Hoffman’s painting “Inclusion” features many “real” images tied together with abstract elements. Hoffman says “My Favorite Things” is a melange of favorite painting props/subjects and some of her own face.
Sally Posner
Sally Posner is a well-known and much appreciated artist for her love of landscapes and beautiful buildings, say organizers. Her paintings cover a range of styles and subjects. In November’s show Posner presents both the real and the surreal.
Posner says her show is inspired by the area: “This collection of new work is mostly about trees. We are lucky to live among them.” In this show she shifts her focus from the wide scope of landscapes and trees to the leaves themselves. In doing so she expresses a different aspect of her beloved landscape and one that approaches the surreal.
“I’ve always loved leaves … the shape and color, and how they change with the season,” she said. “I tried to paint that. I don’t think of my paintings as surreal … rather, a leaf meditation.”
Posner describes how her love for trees progressed into the present day. “I also like leaves. When I was a fourth grader in Chicago my teacher assigned the class to make a leaf collection. Armed with my guidebook, ‘Forest Trees of Illinois,’ I collected leaves and dipped them in melted paraffin and put them in an album (this was before plastic sleeves were invented). So … I’m still ‘collecting’ leaves … in my paintings.”
Posner is also showing her work at Enloe Medical Center at Cohasset in Chico, October through December. That show features her recent local landscapes.
The Main Street Artists Gallery members invite the community to experience the challenge, excitement and liberation of the surrealistic through the month of November. Organizers say member artwork will complete the walls for a robust show of the “Real and Surreal.”
The gallery is located at 436 Main St. in Quincy. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. More information is available at http://www.mainstreetartists.net.