12 May Joy & Lucille von Wolffersdorff May 10-31
The Opening Reception will be on Saturday, May 10 from 3:30 – 5PM
In early January 2013 Lucille and Joy von Wolffersdorff decided to set up a simple still life and paint it together. It included a coal oil lamp that reminded Lucille of one she used to carry upstairs to bed when she was a girl on the family ranch. Joy wanted to paint pomegranates. For over a year the process evolved and grew into the eight pairs of paintings now being shown at Redlands Art Association. Mother, Lucille and her daughter, Joy are both accomplished artists.
Joy & Lucillie Wolffersdorff
Lucillie’s on the left, Joy’s on the right
Lucille, now in her young nineties, resides at Plymouth Village in Redlands. She was instrumental in convincing the retirement facility to provide a painting studio for the residents. Lucille has been tirelessly teaching and painting there to whomever wanted to learn how to paint. Before retirement she taught elementary school, art at many levels and many mediums, as well entering a long list of juried exhibitions and receiving awards for her work.
Joy challenged her mother to paint with her a new still life once a month for a year. She said “We found it delightful to work together – the quiet companionship, the impromptu critiques, the inspiration gained from each other’s work, taking breaks, having snacks and meals together while studying our paintings. We learned much from the experience, from each set up, from each painting.” All the paintings were done in oil on canvas. The viewer can see the differences between mother’s and daughter’s individual approach, point of view, technique, palette – everything that goes into creating a painting.
Lucillie’s on the left, Joy’s on the right
Joy is currently a Professor of Art at California State University Northridge. She has a Masters of Fine Arts in Studio Art and lives in Pasadena. She is especially interested in environmental and climate change issues and is creating a website linking scientists and artists in order to address the problems. She has worked at Glacier National Park where she painted 24 oils to record the 26 rapidly receding glaciers, in 2009. She also documented climate change effects to the meadows and avalanche trails, also at Glacier NP. Joy has exhibited many times and places and received numerous awards.
“We would simply paint together in a shared space with a shared subject matter. Each painting presented different challenges and solutions. We enjoyed seeing the subject change with the year’s seasons. Now, we prefer to paint together. When either of us paints alone, something is missing, namely the other. It has forever changed us and, we think, for the better.”
Lucillie’s on the left, Joy’s on the right
Their “Duets” exhibit will be shown at the Redlands Art Association Gallery at 215 E. State Street, Redlands from Saturday, May 10 to Thursday, May 29, 2014. Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday, 10AM to 5PM. The Opening Reception will be on Saturday, May 10 from 3:30 – 5PM. The public is invited to attend.