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Alms: Offering Art with a Heart
By Lanee Neil
Decorative gourds and Burmese photography - where's the correlation you say? These two vastly different art subjects share a common consciousness: art for a greater cause.
The Topanga Art Gallery, nestled in the peaceful community of Topanga, presents the exhibit "Alms: Offering" featuring travel photographer Felice Willat and gourd artist Karen Saviskas.
Felice captures fascinating vignettes of Burmese life and Karen's decorative gourd art resembles the alms bowls used in Burma to carry food and gifts. Both artists, as in the generous spirit of the Burmese people, are donating the sales of their art to charity.
Karen Saviskas' other-worldly looking gourds are ornamented with organic materials like pine needles and date palms. Traditional basket weaving, hand-staining, and wood-burning designs on the gourds' surfaces also point to her skilled craftsmanship.
Karen's natural creations have been making their way throughout US and Canadian galleries since 1991. One of her exquisitely crafted gourds even ended up on the Clinton's Christmas tree at the White House in 1994. It is now a part of a permanent collection in the Smithsonian Institute.
"I love working with the colors, textures and richness of the gourds and natural materials," Karen explains. "My inspiration comes from nature itself and I strive through my work to honor the beauty and spirit of the earth. My intent is to bring a little bit of nature into our everyday environment so we can appreciate and connect with the wisdom and healing of the natural world."
Karen's 'offering' of her exhibit sales will go to a small orphanage in Ecuador, founded and operated by her sister.
After experiencing the impoverished, oppressed lives of the Burmese people first hand during a visit in 2007, Felice says, "I will make my 'offerings' by donating all profits from the sale of my photographs and book to aid the Burmese people as they endure the cruel oppression of their military government."
From creating time management tools to now capturing moments in time, Felice Willat has had an intriguing evolution as an artist. Being the co-founder and president of the Day Runner personal organizer company, she lived and breathed the concept of 'time-management'.
After juggling a wildly successful corporation, family life and social demands since the 1980's, she longed for a change in her relationship with time. The camera gave her the outlet she longed for. Felice expounds on her love affair with photography.
"I could capture a moment, something sacred or commonplace, an unconscious gesture, a tattered clothesline, a red plastic pitcher, or a worn prayer book. I journeyed to far away places and found new creative passions and the gift of really being present."
The "Quiet Between, Song of Burma" photo series reveals her new found consciousness. She brilliantly and simply captures Burma's stunning beauty yet doesn't shy away from showing the harsh realities as well. One particularly touching photo depicts a villager covered in dirt as he hauls huge bags of coal on his back as a way to make a living.
Her photos also give a peek into the personality of the Burma people, such as shared joke between village boys, Intha fisherman in their canoe's precariously balancing on one foot, sisters calmly bathing in the pristine morning air, and even an elderly nun brightly clad in orange taking a smoke break.
Her experience left her forever changed and "captivated by the poetry of Burma's people, their unforgettable smiles and wide-open hearts, and the courage to maintain hope in the face of extraordinary personal hardship and persecution."
All of the photographs have been printed on delicate watercolor paper giving an unusual matte finish. Some of the vivid landscape shots of pagodas and rolling green hills have been altered to give a painting like feel.
Visit "Alms-Offering" exhibit to have one of your own pieces of art with heart until May 3rd.
www.topangacanyongallery.com
Pine Tree Circle
120 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Suite 109
Topanga, CA 90290
310.455.7909
10-6pm Wed - Sat, 11-5pm Sun