Beautifully painted and polished cars combine with paintings of rusty trucks and tractors for June's First Friday Art Stroll.
The First Friday Art Stroll starts at 6 p.m. Friday, June 1, in downtown Ogden. Many of the city's galleries stay open until 9 p.m., unveiling new exhibits and offering the opportunity to meet the artists. Most of the participating art venues are along Historic 25th Street, from Wall to Jefferson avenues, making it possible to walk from gallery to gallery.
Walking along Historic 25th Street will be especially fun during the June art stroll, because there will be a large display of antique and classic cars, as well as hot rods and motorcycles, parked along the street.
Admission to the First Friday Art Stroll, and the car show, is free.
For more information about the stroll, call 801-393-3866 or visit the Ogden Arts website, http://artsogden.org.
* Eccles Community Arts Center features artwork by husband and wife Doug and Dianne Adams of Deweyville in the main gallery. Paintings by Laurie Kopinski, of South Ogden, are in the Carriage House gallery.
For many years, Dianne Adams has been creating watercolor paintings for her "Sticks and Stones" series, focused on colorful images of rocks, sticks, leaves and other natural materials. This show will include several pieces from that series, and also a few of her latest works.
"I just got into painting old cars, rusty tractors and just old gas pumps that are really fun," she said. "I love the way the rust goes onto the canvas and makes it look so real."
There's more than rust-colored paint making the images of cars look real -- it's the real glass.
"These old car paintings have recycled bottle and window glass in them," the artist said. "It's just fun. People say, 'Oh, that's a real headlight on there.' "
Adams creates the headlights on her painted cars, using a kiln to fuse old window and bottle glass together.
"I place that on (the glass), and pour the resin on it," she said, adding that the resin coating on the painting holds the glass in place.
The resin also holds the paint in place.
"My favorite medium is watercolor. I just love how it reacts on the paper, and love how it does its own magic," she said.
But she had to figure out how to use watercolors on canvas.
"It's a lot harder to do. It doesn't absorb into the canvas like it does into paper -- it kind of sits on top," she said. "On paper I can put a layer of watercolor down, and then put another over the top, but on canvas I can't -- I have to lay it down and hope I've got it right the first time. It's kind of a challenge, but I like challenges."
She solved the challenge of keeping the watercolors on the canvas, in spite of the paint sitting on top instead of absorbing, with the resin coating.
"I've been experimenting with resins for a lot of years," she said. "Doug and I made some tables together when we were first married, and I used resin on those."
She continued to use resin, adding it to paintings on Masonite. She also continued to work on artistic projects with her husband.
"Doug taught me to weld." she said. "I would weld a rock onto a steel frame, and I have some of those pieces in the show."
Now the tables are turned, and Doug Adams is using his wife's skills to enhance his artwork. He bends and molds metal to hold a piece of her glass in many of his sculptures.
"The biggest evolution in my work is the beautiful fused glass work my wife creates in the kiln," he said.
Doug Adams is a retired steel-mill worker, who creates metal sculptures from found objects. Most of the sculptures include a stone, because the combination of stone and steel is considered good fortune in many Asian countries.
"I still incorporate at least one bell into each one," he said.
The bells, and other parts of the sculptures, are made from items that would otherwise end up in a junkyard, such as used fire extinguishers and oxygen cylinders.
The glass he's now including in the sculptures is also recycled.
"We go to the Park City recycling center and get old wine, whiskey and vodka bottles of different colors," he said. The bottles are cleaned, broken and heated into new shapes.
His works are now in homes across the U.S., as well as in Europe, Asia and Austrailia.
"We're living our dream, creating art and having a ball doing it," he said.
Kopinski is also living a dream. A few years ago she stepped away from her long-time career as a sales representative at a printing company, and now she's oil painting full time.
Reception, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. next Friday, June 1. The show continues 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, through June 30, at 2580 Jefferson Ave., Ogden. 801-392-6935. Free.
* Union Station hosts an exhibit of two-dimensional art by Arthur Adelmann and three-dimensional art by Ed Napia.
Adelmann, formerly an art professor at Weber State University, is retired and living in Torrey. The watercolor and ink images he's bringing to Ogden are part of his "Tree of Life" series.
Napia, of Salt Lake City, creates ceramic vessels and sculptures inspired by his experiences and cultural identity. He was born in New Zealand, and much of his work reflects his Maori history. Other pieces of Napia's art are inspired by the time he spent in Hawaii during his teen years, and his respect for the Northern Ute family that adopted him.
Reception, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. next Friday, June 1, at 2501 Wall Ave., Ogden. The exhibit continues 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, through July 3. 801-393-9890. Free.
* Ogden Arts makes mouths water with an early taste of Ogden's farmers market. The gallery is showing entries in the Historic 25th Street Farmers and Art Market poster contest; visitors are invited to vote for their favorite during the opening reception.
Reception, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. next Friday, June 1, in the street-level suites at 2484 Washington Blvd., Ogden. The show continues 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, through June 29. 801-393-3866. Free.