By Rozann Grunig

The Coast Highway Art Collective is hosting an opening reception featuring the works of local artists Chris Grassano, monochromatic oil painting and Colette Coad, fused glass works. The reception is on Friday, September 3 from noon to 5:00pm. The show runs from September 2 through 26.

Chris Grassano started drawing while still a young girl growing up in New Jersey. She attended Montclair State College, where she received her BA in Fine Art. Grassano has worked in a variety of mediums, including pen and ink, acrylics, oils, glass mosaics, copper relief and now monochromatic oil painting.

During the time she lived in San Francisco, Grassano earned a BFA in Illustration from Academy of Art University. She was introduced to the work of the preeminent nature artist Robert Bateman, which further inspired her career as a painter of the natural world.

Now living in Cazadero, she explains her “daily life is made more human through interactions with the plants, birds, and animals of the Russian River area.” She endeavors to capture the flora and fauna in all their wildness. Her goal is to blend realism, imagination, emotion, and design in communicating a personal vision that touches the universal.

Grassano says “I have been painting the natural world for half a century. The North Coast has been my inspiration for most of that time. My oil paintings of nature focus on the birds and animals I encounter near my home under the Redwoods and throughout the North Coast. My goal is to capture in paint, the feeling of excitement and wonder in the moment the animal is first seen.

CHAC Grassano 1-White Breasted Nuthatch (1).jpeg

“I have chosen monochromatic oil painting (black on white) for my new body of work. I start out with a white gesso board. I cover the surface with a thin coat of black oil paint. Using brushes, cotton swabs, Exacto knives, steel wool and engraving tools, I lift off the black paint to render my images with a wide range of values and textures. In this way I interpret fur, feather, and petal."

Colette Coad says glass has always intrigued and fascinated her. Ten years ago, she took an introductory class on glass fusing and fell in love. She bought a kiln and some glass (enough to fill a stand holding eight pieces). She now has two kilns, five stands and two crates of glass.

Coad enthuses “I love glass. It is not only my medium, it is a source of great joy and sometimes great frustration. I think the dichotomy of it being both dangerous and fragile while being so beautiful is captivating. I love the way it looks in different light and the almost endless combinations of colors and even textures that can be created. I do fused glass, which is also known as warm glass. This is somewhat ironic given that I fuse at a top temperature of 1480 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes about 14 hours for the kiln to work its magic so this is not art for the impatient. There is no instant gratification.”

Coad says over the last ten years working in her medium, she believes she has found her “inner artist.” “I have come to believe that this inner artist exists in many, if not all, of us. I was lucky to find glass and the Mendonoma area, which offers so many opportunities to explore and discover what will unleash the inner artist in us all.”

The Coast Highway Art Collective is located at 284 Main Street, Point Arena, the little red building next door to the Redwood Credit Union. Regular gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 11:00am to 3:00pm or by appointment. Visit the galley’s website at www.coast-highway-artists.com to view the collective members and see the range of work available regularly at the gallery. Collective members work in multiple media, including painting, printmaking, ceramics, metal sculpture, steampunk, glass, textiles, basketry, photography, jewelry, woodworking and modern art forms, uniquely expressed in the creations by award-winning artists.