Moss Landing Galleria Dos

I am in California visiting my mom and we drove to Moss Landing yesterday...I wanted to see the ocean--living in Colorado I don't have the opportunity to do that too often.

We had lunch at a fantastic restaurant on the slough...ate fresh seafood while watching the otters cavort...fun...

Then we walked "downtown" and went into an antique shop which had some wonderful pieces...there was a French African chest from the 1940s with exquisite carving all over...a variety of carousel horses, not restored, including a pair of miniatures from Mexico that were completely unfamiliar to me.

Next I saw a gallery and went in. Galleria Dos is what she called it...they had just had an opening reception and so when I went in they were vacuuming the carpets...

This gallery is a collective of local artists. Sometimes that sort of gallery is a collective of not so great stuff. I am pleased to say that there were some really nice pieces here. Not enough sculpture for my tastes (but then I am a bit--!--biased on that point) but there was a good variety of images and styles. Appropriate for a small town gallery wanting to appeal to a broad cross-section of visitors.

There were some wonderful paintings I was admiring...I was surprised when I saw they were actually giclees. I used to do color approvals for giclees, so I know how difficult it can be to get a good giclee and represent the textural aspect of paintings. These were very well done. I pointed out some of the pieces to my mom and she looked and said, "I know him!" Turns out she had taken a workshop from Michael Linstrom many years ago.

There were also some marvelous photographs by Craig Lovell. Really rich saturated colors, great detail, interesting compositions.

I love how different artists see things...we each have our own vision and interpretation of life and sometimes when another artist shows us how they see something it can truly transform our own vision. That is one of the best gifts artists have to offer the world. A good artist changes us--perhaps in a small way, perhaps in a grand way--but our perception of the world is never quite the same when we have truly experienced art.

Thanks Moss Landing for a great day and some new insights!