Collaborative work for “Water as Source”
Formally, we would like this work to portray a sense of clarity, simplicity, beauty and balance. Conversely and conceptually, we are trying to create a feeling of apprehension that suggests that things are not what they appear to be.
This series, titled “Water as Source,” pays homage to places where water meets land, or in more symbolic terms, places where the known meets the unknown. In these landscapes, we are trying to create enigmatic spaces that evoke a perception of distance and emptiness.
These collaborative pieces also deal with ”tenuousness” in the sense of one’s precarious status and existence in nature. Most of the images are ungrounded or floating to emphasize the notion that things are in a state of constant flux. In some of the work, we place the figure and images from nature into the landscape to create a sense of longing and vulnerability, and perhaps anxiety, wondering what the future might bring. In other work, objects float in space with surrealistic overtones, addressing the fragility of man’s existence in nature.
Margitta Dietrick-Welsh grew up in Southern California but also spent two years in school in Germany, where she illustrated her own notebooks and workbooks as part of her class work. She and Stan Welsh are married and both have worked as artists in their studios in Oakland and Santa Cruz for over 30 years. Margitta received her MFA in Painting from the University of California at Berkeley and is currently an instructor at Cabrillo College. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.