Join us First Friday for the reception at the gallery, 201 South State Street, Ukiah. April 3rd, 5-8pm Live music by Michael Oberg
“Riff on The Starry Night”
Art Center Ukiah, your community gallery
“Nine Voices: Mendocino Quilt Artists”
Corner Gallery Front Windows
Svetlana Artemoff
guest artist Mendocino County Art Association
Patrick Graeme, Sylvan Arts Revival
guest artist in the Corner Gallery
Patience MakePeace Gruey
Corner Gallery Young Artist
And all the members of the Corner Gallery bring in new work each month.
Do consult our website, cornergalleryukiah.com
Art Center Ukiah “Riff on The Starry Night” the Van Gogh masterpiece
articles by Laura Fogg
In the ACU space, the show organizers are expecting a wide variety of interpretations of Van Gogh’s famous ‘Starry Night’ painting. The point is not to copy the well-known painting, but to take some part of it that seems inspirational and do a creative run with it. That riff could be the swirls of the starry sky, the broad and textured paint strokes, the image of the bright stars or whatever… it’s wide open to individual interpretation.
Another fun aspect of this theme is that artists were challenged to use any medium… not just paint on canvas like the original work. Board member Jill Schmuckley is trying to track down a couple of chairs that she saw at ACU’s ‘Chair Affair’ in the past, both of which were fancifully decorated with a starry night theme. There could be ceramics, weavings, paper mache, quilts, sculptures or photographs gracing the walls and pedestals in this show, but (as usual) the organizers won’t know what they have until they see what artists bring in on hanging day.
Front Windows, Corner Gallery “Nine Voices” Mendocino Quilt Artists
Mendocino Quilt Artists (MQA), a nationally known group of nine creative women united by a shared love of art and quilting will be featured in the front windows of the Corner Gallery. For over thirty years, they have met twice a month in each others’ homes to share their art and inspire/support each other. They also gather biannually for multi-day quilt retreats in Philo and on the Mendocino coast. While their many passions include music, dance, nature, travel, books, family and food, quilting is the main thread that continues to weave their busy lives together. Through their artwork, they celebrate life’s richness and honor their deep connection to inland Mendocino County and the vibrant community that inspires and sustains them.
In spite of their years of growing closeness, each of these artists maintains an entirely individual art practice. Some favor intricate piecing, while others focus on looser collage techniques or abstract work. Some sew exclusively by machine, admiring others who have the skill and patience to incorporate hand stitching into their work. For some the focus is the play and interrelationship of color they can achieve with multitudes of fabric, and for others the impetus that draws them to quilt is to make statements about social and environmental issues.
Whatever the differences, however, the language of art quilting is universal to group members. ‘How can I tell my story through this piece?’ or ‘How can I make this composition flow better?’ are frequent topics of discussion. Without labeling anything as ‘good’ or ‘not good’ the group tries to help each artist see where they are in the process of creating through a respectful and questioning lens. ‘Do you understand what the artist is trying to say with this piece?’ is a common question, as is ‘How is the color balance working?’
Artists in the group are Deanna Apfel, Holly Brackmann, Laura Fogg, Ann Horton, Leila Kazimi, Betty Lacy, Dede Ledford, Joyce Paterson and Marilyn Simpson.
Mendocino County Art Association Guest Artist Svetlana Artemoff
Collage paintings are the epitome of recycling and artist’s studios are full of dusty, thrifted frames, art that needs re-sizing or even a total facelift. Therefore, in honor of “Earth Day” I challenged myself to re-use as much as possible. You might even be able to see the “ghost” of an earlier painting beneath a new one. I read the “masters” did that frequently and it makes perfect sense. Weren’t they called “starving artists?”
It was also fun to weigh two styles of presentation —Modern and Classical to give the viewer a chance to see if they preferred the “Gilded Age” or our Modern version with an emphasis on simplicity.
As a member of MCAA for 20+ years, I’ve been grateful for their workshops. They taught me to be inspired by many different ways to “paint” …oil, watercolor, pastel, collage, pen/ink, etc… And, there were so many fun times to learn, share and grow as an artist. I can’t wait to see what’s around the next corner.
Corner Gallery Young Artist Patience MakePeace Gruey – April 2026 – May 2026
The gallery’s new Young Artist is Patience MakePeace Gruey, who was raised and home schooled in Covelo. Homeless with her mother for the past seven years, she is now housed in Ukiah and attending Mendocino College, where she is taking a heavy load of mostly art-related classes.
“I’ve been making art all my life,” says Gruey, “just about since I could hold a crayon. My family, and especially my mother, are all artistic and my home was always a place of creativity even when we were living in a tent where there wasn’t enough light to see what color we were painting with.”
When asked about what medium she likes best, Gruey waxed eloquent. “My very favorite medium is colored pencils,” she began. “It’s super fun to play around with the colors and they can be so nice and soft, or super hard and clear. Then, there’s the Ticonderoga pencil. I love sketching faces with those and smudging the lines for the shadows. And then acrylic is my favorite medium for painting… it’s so forgiving since after it dries I can go back over it with another color as much as I want till it’s just right. I want to try oils eventually when I have a real studio. And I would like to do more with watercolor but generally I get too impatient and ruin it. I also love working with clay and am so happy with my class at the college, where I finally get to work with real clay that is going to be fired and glazed and everything. Oh… and I also love paper machè, I’ve done a bit with that but have lots of ideas and plans to do more.”
Gruey’s plans for her future are to become a college level art teacher, write books and make lots of art, plus to put on plays and make movies (mostly stop motion but also just beautiful animation) of her stories. “I want to start my family as soon as possible,” she says, “and to live a very enriching life and do as much good in the world as I can.”
The First Friday opening celebration for all of these new shows will be on April 3 from 5-8pm. Live music will be provided throughout the evening by Michael Oberg. The Corner Gallery and Art Center Ukiah are located at 201 S State Street in Ukiah. Normal gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 5pm.
