Coast Highway Art Collective Presents Guest Artists Bobbi Jeanne and Ron Quercia of Bodega Bay
Just as the spring wildflowers are emerging on the coast, so are many of the local businesses that have been shuttered since March. A slow, careful unfolding, one store at a time. During this next phase of reopening, the Coast Highway Art Collective in Point Arena is exhibiting member’s art work on the front patio of the building on Fridays, from 11:00am to 2:00pm. Customers are welcome to come by and browse, properly attired in the facemask of your choice, and all items are available for purchase.
In addition to new and exciting works created by Collective members during the shelter-in-place order, guest artists Bobbi Jeanne and Ron Quercia of Bodega Bay are exhibiting a collection of ceramic and coastal paintings in their new show, Birds Eye View II. While access to their work at the gallery is limited at the moment, visitors are encouraged to access the virtual gallery the Collective hosts to see their work in detail. Visit https://coast-highway-artists.com/virtual_tours#Next.
Bobbi Jeanne Quercia was born into a family of artists. “My interest in ceramics began at the age of 14 when I made pottery for our ‘Family Gallery’ in Mendocino, Ca. My mother, Lois Need, a sculptor and watercolorist, instilled the desire to create. My stepfather, Al Need, a renowned seascape painter and my father, William Dailey, a wild life painter. The ‘Family Gallery’ carried my work and the work of my family for more than a decade, from 1965 through the 1970's,” says Bobbi Jeanne. She studied with Sasha Makofkin and Jack Sears and was influenced by Brad Perry, Sophia Southern, Lois Need and Japanese Ceramics.
Bobbi Jeanne says she is fascinated by the “magical transformation of alchemy from clay to stone, figurative sculpture with clarity, simplicity and spontaneity that can bring motion with emotion.” Inspired by coastal life, her new direction is building totems that support the connection between humans and the earth, telling a story of balance. “This new series of bird totems are about new life supporting one another through our thoughts that create another thought, our ideas that create another idea. Totems are spirit guides that can protect the earth and its inhabitants.”
In 1985 she opened the second “Family Gallery” in Duncans Mills, Ca., featuring the creative work of three generations. In 1995 the gallery merged with the Quercia Gallery, also in Duncans Mills. Bobbi Jeanne and Ron Quercia, a coastal painter, were married in 2000. They continued the Quercia Gallery, exhibiting their work and representing selected Sonoma County artists, until the gallery closed in 2016.
Ron Quercia says his awareness in art started at an early age with a painting by Van Gogh in Life Magazine. Encouraged by his mother and grandmother, he started drawing whatever he saw. In junior high, he had my first art teacher who gave him serious artistic encouragement. From then on, he pursued every art course available to him.
In 1969 through 1973, Ron attended the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) in Oakland, Ca. There, he was influenced by the Bay Area Figurative School of art, as well as artists Jacque Faberet, Arthur Okamura, Vincent Perez, Ron Dahl and Ralph Borge.
Privately collecting and dealing early California art from 1975 to 1990, Ron opened of his first gallery in 1980 in Petaluma, California. His interest in contemporary art continued as he added post World War II paintings to his gallery. Then, in 1990, he moved his gallery to Duncans Mills, where he met and married Bobbie Jeanne, merging their lives and their galleries. Ron also offers frame restoration services, that he has been developing for the past fifty years.
At the present time, the Quercia’s live at Salmon Creek, just north of Bodega Bay. Ron says “I've been painting coastal images for the past thirty years. Fascinated by the coastal light and color, my work is a reflection of what I see. We are working full time in our studio and have our studio open to the public most days.” Visit their website at www.Qcoastalart.com for more information.
The Coast Highway Art Collective gallery is located at 284 Main Street, Point Arena, the little red building next door to the Redwood Credit Union. More information is available at www.coast-highway-artists.com.
