Two talented artists will be featured this month at the Lassen County Arts Council’s gallery on Cottage Street, with an artist reception planned for Tuesday evening.
Jessica Bowman
Jessica Bowman has worked in public education for many years with both urban and rural programs. Having the privilege to work with so many students of different nationalities, heritage, religions, perspective and values has provided a tremendous worldview reinforcing the importance of tolerance and acceptance of others. Diversity truly is the spice of life.
As a member of the Cosmic Cowgirls, Jessica paints virtually and in person with an amazing art tribe of women across the globe using the amazing concept of Intentional Creativity within the Contemporary Symbolism movement. She is very interested in the Sacred Feminine found in the archaeological record and world mythologies across time.
She finds the practice of making art to be a wonderful vehicle for personal transformation and is captivated by the idea that making art is an active form of prayer. Jessica has facilitated workshops using concepts from art and spirituality for women suffering from the devastating loss of children.
In addition to single subject teaching credentials in English and Social Science along with administrative services credentials, Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and a master’s degree in Women’s Spirituality. In addition, she has studied alternative healing methods such as medicinal herbalism and aromatherapy resulting in her own botanical business, The Spice of Life. She will begin a PhD program in the fall researching the role that women have played in the religious/spiritual art collections of the world and the concept of creativity as sacred practice.
Bowman says that she is delighted to collaborate with the amazing mosaic artist, Debra Card.
Debra Card
Debra Card is a new resident of Lassen County and is the mother of two wonderful sons. She was an inadvertent world traveler due to her father’s role in the U. S. Navy where he developed the tracking radar system used on carriers. This experience contributed to her appreciation of all things aesthetic with a multicultural perspective and created the role of the observer as she was very shy due to always being ‘the new kid on the block.’
Her world travels also connected her deeply to her own Scottish heritage. She loves to hear the Scottish bagpipes and is very drawn to Celtic imagery and mythology.
Debra joined the U.S. Navy as weather observer during peace time. She learned an attention to detail and a deep appreciation of Mother Nature. She has dabbled in the arts for years making creations with oils, needlepoint and acrylics. Her generous nature and kind personality also contribute to her unique perspective of the world. Debra often uses trees and leaves in her composition and resonates with the Tree of Life. As above, so below.
Debra is drawn to the great mosaic artists of our time, Laurel True, Lillian Sizemore and Laurel Skye. She especially likes the style of embedding tesserae without grout. She is drawn to mosaics because she has to let the perfectionist take a holiday. Breaking beautiful things was initially shocking but Debra grew to love the hammer. This, combined with the fact that all of her ‘junk’ can now be called tesserae, a valuable mosaic art supply, really appeals to her sense of style. This is recycling at its artistic best.
Both artists are very connected to the concept of working in community for the greater good.
Everyone is invited to attend the gallery opening at 807 Cottage Street, July 8th, beginning at 5:30p.m.
