John Natsoulas Gallery

Exhibition Dates: August 25 - September 22 , 2007
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 8, 7-9 pm

Esther Shimazu has been sculpting the male and female nude for over three decades. Shimazu goes to great lengths to make humans that are overstuffed, robust, happy, sad, innocent, and naked to the world. Her great ability to use the natural tones and textures of the clay makes the work agreeable and approachable. But Shimazu pulls no punches—she spares no anatomical detail, often causing laughter or discomfort in her viewers—this is exactly what allows her to speak the truth about what is. What results is a direct statement about the human condition.

Detail is very much Shimazu’s strength, revealing a depth of traditional influence and craftsmanship. The construction of her work employs the timeless craft of pottery, by which she fashions the modular forms that become the arms, legs, torsos and heads of her figures. In the process, with the subtle use of glaze, an individual personality emerges, as if grafted onto the elemental female form.

Shimazu received her Bachelor of Fine Art in 1980 and Master of Fine Art in 1982 from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She currently resides in Hawaii where she has established herself over the years as one of Hawaii’s best-known artists.

René Martucci has become one of the most well known ceramic artists in the region to sculpt dog imagery. Much like a portrait painter, Martucci creates three-dimensional commissioned portraits of dogs in addition to making her own original artwork. Martucci is a figurative artist, focusing on people and animals as her subject matter. Through her work Martucci seeks to represent thoughts, emotions, simple truths and states of mind. An abiding interest for Martucci is the retablo—a format stemming from her intrigue with her Italian heritage and from the Mexican culture in California—allowing her to create intimate, autographical narratives. These stories address common, everyday scenes—walking the dog or watering the lawn—stories that are immediately accessible to the viewer.

Martucci received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, where she studied with Robert Arneson, Manuel Neri and Wayne Thiebaud. Working under the inspirational guidance of Arneson, Martucci developed solid craftsmanship and a desire to explore and stretch herself as an artist.

William Maul graduated from Central Michigan University in 1980. His primary media are oil and acrylic. Maul's most successful works express his deepest interest: "I love the influence TV and film have on the mind. My vision has been thoroughly transformed [or rather corrupted] by television and film." Maul's images have been the true beneficiaries. The figures in his paintings are allusions to the influences of popular culture. With a dash of funk, a pinch of surrealism, and a touch of humor, Maul's unique work is thoroughly entertaining.

Maul's work has been exhibited in the Thomas Oldham Gallery, Sacramento, California; South Bay Contemporary Museum of Art II, Long Beach, California; Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, Michigan; Battle Creek Art Center, Battle Creek, Michigan; Toledo Art Museum, Toledo, Ohio and Birmingham Fine Arts, Birmingham, Michigan.

Marti Walker Born in Ohio, Marti Walker spent her childhood in Europe. She attended the University of Colorado where she studied languages and anthropology. After having lived in many different places, she settled in Sacramento in 1978.

Her first glimpse of one of her favorite locales, the Sacramento Delta, occurred 11 years after moving to Sacramento when a friend moved to the town of Locke. She began exploring the levees, sloughs and farm fields, most often by bicycle. Originally a watercolorist, she could often be seen alongside the river, sketching and painting the scenes that continue to excite her today. Five years ago, she began using soft pastels as her principle medium, liking especially the vibrant color palette she achieves with them. Her favorite scenes depict the flat, horizontal landscape, vast skies, colorful clouds, rivers, levee banks and orderly crop rows, all accented by the backdrop of Mt. Diablo and the coastal range.

Studying with numerous local artists, Marti Walker has learned her craft from such notables as Gregory Kondos, Susan Sarback (School of Light and Color), and High Sierras watercolorist, Lady Jill Mueller.