Works of 3 local artists blend yet stand apart

The art of Lou Ann Heller, Judith Romney Wolbach and Jennifer Worsley — on display at the Finch Lane Gallery through Dec. 30 — is a testament to compatibility. Heller's oils, Wolbach's ceramics and Worsley's pastels co-exist effortlessly, yet each artist makes her own statement through technique, medium and style.

Heller's larger works are her most successful: "Red Branch," "Wyoming Exit," "Blue Streak" and "Green Melt." In these, her ample, gutsy swipes of eye-blasting paint are allowed to roam with room, enticing you with smart, linear movement and coruscating color.

Heller (who works in the Deseret Morning News art department) tells you in her gallery statement that she begins with a subject, loosely based on a black-and-white photograph or remnant of a landscape sketch. Using an additive process, "color suggests other colors — strokes suggest other strokes. I do a lot of 'erasure' as well, swiping the surface with thin glazes, then wiping off color with a sponge, thick cardboard, a rag or my fingers."

As a very competent colorist, Heller creates paintings that are a rich harmony of form, color and line.

Wolbach's ceramic aviary is a hoot; her sculptural pieces range in height from 12 to 33 inches, are hand-built (coil and pinch method) from red and black clay, carved or incised, and finished with oxides.

With her skillful hands and wit, she gives you a look at birds that border on the totemic — their posture, gaze, demeanor and finished patina make you wonder if perhaps the sculptures are ancient relics from some avian-worshipping culture.

As a self-taught artist, Wolbach credits her inspiration to "many years of dirt under my nails gardening," the study of Aztec and other primitive art, "camping trips to the red-rock country with my husband," and years of "intermittent bird-watching, especially on the shores of the Great Salt Lake."

There are the occasional reptilian sculptures in the show, but they are minor compared with the birds the artist creates with such whimsy and care. They are a delight.

When you first encounter Worsley's art from a distance, you will swear it is color photographs of rivers and surrounding flora. However, on close inspection, it is discovered that the artist has employed pastels with remarkable dexterity, rendering a running river, brush, trees and rocks.

Worsley employs pastel "because of its immediacy and linear quality," which allows her to work outdoors. She uses pastel chalks she makes by hand and works on paper she has prepared with marble dust powder and acrylic pigment, which produces a sandpaper texture that holds the pastel.

The beauty of her art is more than evident when you stand in front of works like "September Evening, Big Cottonwood Creek," or "July Evening, Parley's Creek," or "August Morning, Big Cottonwood Creek." Worsley is mesmerized by the linear patterns formed when water rushes over rocks, producing waves of endlessly shifting shapes. Her ability to transmit this wonder to us is what makes her art worthy of our investigation.

---

E-mail: gag@desnews.com