Shades of the earth

Visitors to Descanso Gardens can take a break from the heat and still

enjoy nature’s serene beauty.

Boddy House’s “World of Color,” is a group exhibition of oil

paintings, watercolor and ceramics on display through Sept. 22, that

offers natures’ splendor in a more visitor friendly environment.

“As a therapist, I like to infuse my paintings with peace and

harmony,” said Trish Kertes, a marriage and family therapist whose

oil paintings of open landscapes and water scenes help fill the

gallery.

Kertes just completed a series of paintings from her recent trip

to Italy where she was inspired by the Italian’s slower pace of life.

“I just was very impressed how they take the time to enjoy life,”

Kertes said. “I was very mellow when I came back.”

She translates that mellowness onto the canvas so others can enjoy

it, setting many of her scenes at late afternoon or dusk, when the

sun is a rich, hazy gold. She’s found, as an artist and therapist,

that bright colors lift the mood. One scene of Venice, Italy, is

displayed above a painting of Venice, California. Both have water,

which Kertes also said is soothing, but she deepened the colors of

“Venezia, Italy” to more intense shades of peach and amber.

“I call myself a colorist,” said Kertes, a La Canada Flintridge

resident. “I really enjoy painting with bright, vibrant colors. I

think that’s part of what an artist brings to the subject matter --

to make it a little more beautiful and inviting.”

It seems to be working because she’s already sold two of her four

paintings of Italy and the show just opened on Friday.

“So I think I’m on to something here,” Kertes said.

Watercolorist Jeanne Hyland is onto something similar. Hyland said

people don’t have time to stop and smell the roses anymore, much less

grow them, so her oversized renderings of flowers bring the garden

into the home.

“Part of the attraction is the bright, cheerful colors,” said

Hyland who added that her paintings break the pattern of “washed-out”

watercolors. “I’ve had people buy them and they say ‘this makes me

smile.’”

Hyland, a resident of Burbank, doesn’t usually paint landscapes,

but rather focuses in on a flower or two and paints them from a

close-up angle, giving the viewer an intimate connection with nature,

she said. She feels an escape from the inundations of urban living

through her paintings and those who buy her work often feel the same

when viewing it, she said.

Greg Nordwig and Sandy Abenstein are visiting from Minnesota and

brought three of Hyland’s prints.

“This is just a really nice collection of color,” said Abenstein

who loves botany and picked out a series of paintings that mirrored

the seasons.

But for those who want beauty with function, Toshi Kawauchi and

Celeste C. Lida debut their ceramics with this show.

“I want people to use it everyday,” said Kawauchi of his

contemporary sushi dining sets. “It should be beautiful and simple

but it has to be functional because I’m a designer.”

Although Kawauchi, refers to himself as an interior designer more

than a fine artist, he likes working with the natural quality of

clay, calling it therapeutic. As an interior designer, his passion is

to enhance a person’s lifestyle with his work, he said. When someone

buys one of his ceramic sets he feels a sense of completion because

he knows he has helped enrich the aesthetics of their living space.

“If somebody uses my piece it’s more satisfying and it becomes

their therapy too,” he said.