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The current show at Petaluma Art Center's G.K. Hardt Gallery is a celebration of the painting and sculpture of Mary Fuller and her late husband Robert McChesney (who died in 2008 at the age of 95). Both are renowned artists who moved to Sonoma Mountain in 1952 and, with the help of friends, built their own home and studio there.
The show opened June 14, but it continues through Aug. 2. It's a chance to see a select retrospective of the couple's work in one place rather than view individual pieces, which are in various museums, libraries and galleries across the United States.
McChesney is quoted on the Petaluma Arts Council's website as having said, "My paintings are made of these things: a walk through the oak and bay forests of Sonoma Mountain, the light of the sun reflected off the vernal pools, the colors of the sunset." (Looks like in addition to mastering composition and color and all the intangibles that go into making worthwhile visual art, he had a way with words.)
Fuller's giant cast concrete sculpture "honors her ancestral ties to family, both animal and human."
The gallery right next to Petaluma's train station at 230 Lakeville Street at East Washington is inviting and spacious. It's open Thursday through Monday, noon to 4 p.m. The vibrant, varied and arresting work is worth a look.
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