Now Showing:

Elisabeth Pollnow & Tracey Roberts 

June 4 - July 30, 2017

Elisabeth Pollnow

Elisabeth Pollnow’s most recent work incorporates re-claimed found objects that speak to her sense of place. Whether it’s clay she makes herself using locally found materials and primitive smoke-fring methods or painting on eucalyptus bark and palm fronds, she is inspired to create work that evokes a response to the surrounding beauty.

She always had an internal drive to create, whether it was drawing, playing with clay or collecting organic matter. Growing up in remote areas of North Dakota and Alaska gave her a deep sense of belonging in the solace of nature. She earned a B.A. in Fine Art from Evangel University in Missouri and pursued a career in graphic design for 10 years. After moving back to Southern California in 2009, her direction diverged from digital work to return to more tactile mediums and sculptural forms.

She has exhibited at Fuller Teological Seminary, taught drawing in Orvieto, Italy and exhibited at galleries in San Fernando and Joshua Tree, CA. She has been a member of the Twentynine Palms Art Gallery since 2016. She has also collaborated with several sculpture projects in Los Angeles.

To see more of Elisabeth's work visit www.elisabethpollnow.com

Tracey Roberts 

 Born in Las Vegas, NV to blackjack dealing parents, Tracey has been known as a creative child, with a flair for dramatics, and a deep love of art. When she wasn’t hosting imaginary radio stations, or hauling around a dolly of mangled electronic parts to build robots, she was drawing. It was during art class in junior high that Tracey discovered oils, and feel in love with the medium.

While choosing a different path in college, Tracey took a break from creating art while pursuing her interests in political science, and later a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies, her love for art, and her natural talent, never disappeared. While recently completing her second Master’s Degree, she found herself drawing again. The intricate patterns and lines helped relieve stress, and offered her mind a break from her intensive studies.

After doing a virtual tour of the Edvard Munch Museum Tracey was inspired to visit the museum in Oslo, Norway in person. This experience of seeing Edvard Munch's work in person, and dealing with the loss of a loved one, influenced Tracey's creative direction, and led her to her current style. 

She describes her current creative process as a playful experiment in art. It started when she accidently spilt a cup of old paint brush cleaner across her white counter, and watched in awe as it crept along the counter, creating complex and unusual patterns. Inspired, she tossed some paint brush cleaner on a painting she was working on and watched what happened. This began what she describes as her art experiment; playing the reactions of mixing various chemicals with oil and acrylic paints.

These reactions of the paints, her hand drawn lines, and simple sketches all embodied in artistic influences such as Edvard Munch, Jasper Jones, and Jackson Pollock (particularly “The Deep” 1953), led her to the style of work she does today, where sketching and paint come together to create fantastic worlds.