During Women\u2019s History Month, two women with a long history of their own \u2014 as artists, friends and Alamedans \u2014 have joined forces for a special exhibition.<\/p>\n
Titled \u201cDifferent Dimensions,\u201d the exhibit centered on the artwork of Alameda residents Beth Bourland and Barbara Buhrz is on view through March 28 at the city\u2019s Frank Bette Center for the Arts (frankbettecenter.org\/current-exhibits<\/a>).<\/p>\n At the opening reception this past Saturday, dozens of people gathered to celebrate and meet the artists. Margaret Fago, the Bette Center\u2019s president and executive director, said she\u2019s excited to have Buhrz and Bourland showing their work together.<\/p>\n \u201cI always think it\u2019s fun when we have two artists that are sort of playing off of each other and exchanging ideas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent Dimensions\u201d marks the women\u2019s second joint exhibition at the Bette Center. In the \u201cSignature Gallery,\u201d a spacious, airy backroom, Bourland\u2019s watercolor and ink-and-wash pieces coexist among Buhrz\u2019s sculptures and watercolors. Some works are framed and hang on the walls; others are positioned on tables set up throughout the sun-filled room.<\/p>\n Many of Bourland\u2019s scenic paintings in the exhibition are odes to places she\u2019s visited, including towns and coastal areas such as Monterey and Bodega Bay, as well as places beyond the Golden State, like the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Florida Keys. Titles include \u201cWinter Serenity,\u201d \u201cAbaco Dunes\u201d and \u201cA Good Rainy Season,\u201d the latter depicting a creek and bridge stonework at Alvarado Park in Richmond.<\/p>\n \u201cI enjoy incorporating art into my travels, either sketching while there or getting reference material to paint later,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Bourland, a former copy editor, has lived in Alameda for about 25 years. She\u2019s taken art courses at Academy of Art University, the Mendocino Art Center and elsewhere, along with numerous painting and sketching workshops. She cites her father, an engineering technician and amateur artist, as having a profound impact on her, in particular on her art.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a fantastic sketcher, so he influenced me to see the world in terms of shape and color and dimension and shadows,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n She and Buhrz have known each other since 2005.<\/p>\n \u201c[We connected] through friends, community events and just getting to know each other, and then we discovered we had art in common, so that\u2019s been a shared interest for us,\u201d said Bourland.<\/p>\n Buhrz, a native San Franciscan, is a lifelong artist who began dabbling in ceramics at the City College of San Francisco. She eventually moved to Oakland, working as a technician for Pacific Bell (now AT&T California). Determined to continue devoting time to making art, Buhrz enrolled in painting and ceramics courses at Oakland\u2019s Merritt College, which was close to where she lived at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI was working evening shifts so I could take day classes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For the past two decades, Buhrz has called Alameda home. Now retired, she participates in art classes offered at the city\u2019s Mastick Senior Center. Staying creative as one ages is important, she said.<\/p>\n \u201c[Art] gives me something to do,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very relaxing and stimulating \u2014 my mind sort of goes with whatever I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent Dimensions\u201d showcases discernible subject and title connections between Buhrz\u2019s sculptures and watercolor paintings. For instance, a whale sculpture appears near a painting of a whale, and both are titled \u201cOrca.\u201d The same pairing concept applies to other works, including \u201cGroundhog,\u201d \u201cSnow Owl\u201d and \u201cVolcano Man.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes she\u2019ll start with the sculpture and then paint its complement; other times, she\u2019ll pick up the paintbrush first and later mold the clay. Buhrz\u2019s pieces depict sea life, birds, animals and other creatures. She said one fun aspect of creating art is taking some turns along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it just goes wherever it goes,\u201d she said. \u201cI just sit there with a piece of clay and try to work with it until it becomes something, like an animal, but it might be distorted in some way \u2014 usually humorously.\u201d<\/p>\n Buhrz\u2019s sculptures, including a cat driving a car, one-eyed aliens and a sweet-looking character named \u201cThe Little Guy,\u201d are all capable of eliciting smiles from onlookers. Buhrz says they make happy too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sometimes hard making them, but in the end, it\u2019s always worth it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At the Bette Center, visitors will also come across some connections between the two artists\u2019 works as they peruse the exhibition.<\/p>\n Buhrz has two music-themed paintings, \u201cSound Waves\u201d and \u201cJam Session,\u201d hung on one wall. In proximity to them is Bourland\u2019s \u201cViolins of Hope,\u201d a painting that references the same-named concert project involving contemporary musicians playing violins salvaged from World War II.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw an exhibit of the violins and a concert in San Francisco, and I was inspired to paint the instruments,\u201d Bourland said. \u201cThey\u2019re so beautiful with that rich, warm tone.\u201d<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s the connection between the women themselves \u2014 as residents of \u201cthe Island\u201d of Alameda, close friends and ever-devoted artists presenting their shared \u201cherstory\u201d in an art-filled room.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really wonderful to have them back here for a show again,\u201d said Fago.<\/p>\n At 1601 Paru St. in Alameda, the Bette Center is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. To become a Bette Center member, visit frankbettecenter.org\/membership<\/a> online. For more details, email gallery@frankbettecenter.org<\/a> or call 510-523-6957\u200b.<\/p>\n