Arts
‘Passages in Time’
By Anastacia Grenda
Artist Lynn Welker, Newport Beach
Background Welker’s former job as a high school ceramics teacher has influenced her current work, which she describes as abstract narrative landscape painting. “My painting process is very tactile. Having my hands in clay all day transferred the need for texture onto the painting surfaces of my two-dimensional work.”
Creation Welker creates texture on the canvas with coats of a gesso primer, followed by flexible modeling paste she manipulates to mimic a landscape. After drying and sanding the surface, layers of acrylic and oil paints are “applied, removed, scraped, scratched, and applied again to refine the subject and complete the narrative.”
Inspiration “Passages in Time”is part of a series that incorporates stylized shapes of people, horses, or architecture in the landscape; this is the only painting to include all three. “These three identifiable shapes suggest a historical presence beneath the surface of the land, a story waiting to be uncovered.”
See It Welker’s work will be shown Feb. 4 through March 2 at Sandstone Gallery, 384 N. Coast Highway, #A, Laguna Beach, 949-497-6775,
www.sandstonegallery.com. To see more of her work, visit
www.orangecoastmagazine.com/welker.
Front and Center
Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble
Sara Guerrero’s passion for theater and her Santa Ana community led her to establish Breath of Fire in 2003. “This is a Latina theater company that supports Latinas in the visual and performing arts,” says Guerrero, its artistic director.Its first major production in 2006, “The Mexican O.C.,” was developed from more than 35 interviews, says Guerrero, and the company has since covered subjects such as HIV/AIDS and border crossings. The ensemble’s work was recognized last year with an award from the Orange County Human Relations Commission, and its New Works Festival, a production of last year’s winning entry, “Hurricane in a Glass,” opens this month.“I want this to be a place people want to be a part of for a long time,” says Guerrero, “regardless of whether they are Latina or not.” “Hurricane in a Glass” Feb. 13 through March 7. 714-540-1157
Arts Star
Rita Major
For her 40 years with Pacific Chorale; she’s also director of education for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County