One of the featured artists, Reuter began experimenting with clay at the tender age of seven in Berlin, Germany. Her sister Christiane Gregorowius, an established artist, introduced Reuter to ceramics and taught her how to use the potter’s wheel. Now Reuter passes down her fondness for clay to her students.

“The forms, shapes and colors are fascinating to me. Being a trained potter with consecutive journeyman ship, I feel my creations should have a purpose. I would like people to use them and enjoy them. I still use the wheel but I enjoy the work with clay slaps more and more. There is cooperation between the clay and me - first the clay suggests a way it likes to float and then I will bend it to a certain degree further.
In addition, I experiment with different clay colors (natural or synthetic)  . . . It is so much fun for me to make the pieces and to look at the finished … and discover a figure, a turtle or what ever my fantasy comes up with, ” Reuter said.

Mirza grew up in Montreal, Canada where she studied the Health Sciences and became a medical writer. Yet deep within she carried a fervent passion for visual art and captures images of her beloved New York City via photography and painting every chance she gets. Mirza said it best:

“Painting is a way for me to explore the possibilities of what can be created from nothingness but a mere idea. After establishing an underlying concept of either shape, color, feeling, and/or momentum of a piece, I readily let the paints and brushes feed me with creative input; almost like going through a meditative process where experimentation becomes key and uncertainty is embraced. This process can be exciting and also frustrating, but greatly enables me to appreciate the practice of creation . . . “

Hatfield who is a Colorado native moved to Gilroy in 1986. Her abstract paintings express the emotional landscape the artist was feeling at the time of creation. She doesn’t duplicate her art; therefore no two paintings are alike in her collection.

“Life is a composition of many stories, every person, building, park, animal and plant has a story to tell and it’s these tales that bind us together as we travel through life. It is my hope that the art I create will evoke a new experience or recall a lost memory as you gaze upon it . . .. Whether I feel anger, pain, sorrow, happiness or a combination these emotions are what drive me, but my soul and life are what inspire me, ” Hatfield said.

Lojart Gallery features a different artist every two weeks on the second Friday evening of the month. It is located at 35 East First Street, Suite B near Monterey Road in Morgan Hill. For more information and to view Franka Reuter, Touseef Mirza and Toni Hatfield’s work please go to www.lojart.com or call 408-779-8907.
By Angie Young.