It’s Valentine’s Day and you’re still wondering what to get for your loved one. Roses? Too typical. Chocolate? How original. This year, spice it up with Valentine’s Day inspired artwork.
The “For My Valentine” art show will be displayed at the Schriver Gallery and Studio at the Tannery Arts Center on Feb. 7. The show features pieces from various artists, including gallery painter and sculptor Stephanie Schriver and world famous guest artists Jack Ferrell and his wife AJ Ferrell.
The art pieces include Schriver’s humorous, whimsical paintings and sculptures of various family members to the Ferrells’ elegant tile paintings of different animals and women.
“Because I grew up in Hawaii and my husband and I lived there extensively, the things he and I paint have this Pacific Rim flavor,” AJ Ferrell said. “We go into Japanese or tropical flavors and Santa Cruz can be very accepting of our art.”
From the floral patterns of the women’s dresses to the chic painting style of the sea creatures, the Ferrells’ use of Pacific Rim and Asian styles shine through their work. One unique set of tile paintings AJ Ferrell describes is the “Valentine Women.”
“There are two large ‘Valentine Women’ tile paintings,” AJ Ferrell said. “One of them is called ‘Pomegranate Rouge’ and the other is called ‘Bleu Silk Rose.’ Our art is very decorative.”
Jack and AJ Ferrell are known around the world in places such as Japan, Hawaii and even Sweden for their glazed tile paintings, which are works done on small ceramic tiles. After they’re painted, liquid glass, or glaze, is baked onto the surface of the tiles at very high temperatures in a special oven called a kiln. Glazed tiles allow artists to produce an unlimited assortment of designs, hues and designs while also providing a shine as well as protection from dirt and water.
“We loved working with the medium,” AJ Ferrell said. “There’s always excitement because you never know what’s going to come out of the kiln. It’s because of the unpredictability. It’s a high gloss.”
Gallery artist Stephanie Schriver will sell her work at the show. Some of the pieces for sale include her family member sculpture series, such as the stereotypical bird-watcher father figure and her rebellious granddaughter sculpture. Other art pieces will include Valentine’s Day inspired paintings of couples and various kinds of animal sculptures.
“I have an entire family sculpture I’ve been working on,” Schriver said. “I have a rebellious teenage granddaughter. She has a dragon tattoo on her back and she’s full of earrings, like alternative punk.”
Schriver’s mission behind the gallery is to also promote the Tannery.
“The place is still new,” Schriver said. “My gallery has only been here for two years and a lot of us are just signing our third year lease. A lot of what we do is to introduce the Tannery and what we all do here.”
But overall, Schriver hopes attendees will come in and appreciate the art and hopefully buy artwork for their loved one as a special Valentine’s Day gift.
“My role is to represent the Ferrells’ work as well as my own and to invite the public in to my gallery,” Schriver said. “I love to show them because we have so many prolific pieces people will like. There’s just a lot to see.”
