October 7 – November 2, 2009
A public reception for the artist will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 during Arts! Arcata at the Upstairs Art Gallery located at 1063 G Street inside the Umpqua Bank.
Harris has spent the past 30 years as a black-and-white photographer. That changed last summer when he traveled North Coast back roads capturing scenes of forest devastation in one of California’s worst fire seasons on record for an exhibit titled Season of Fire.
This month, Returning to the Redwoods showcases his personal growth as an artist, capturing images that have eluded him his entire career. Scenes from Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Avenue of the Giants and the Arcata Community Forest are among the 20 photographs in the show.
“When you’re in a forest there’s a feeling of almost walking inside a living organism,” Harris said. “That life force that is the woods is the feeling I get when I’m there. It’s not a particular tree or river scene, but a sense of place.” It is that sense that Harris strives to convey through photography, an expression of what being in a place feels like. However, black and white images of forests never met his personal standards. Harris didn’t photograph them.“Instead of a dark gray nearly black tree in a dark forest, that you would have with black and white, with color photography you’ve got a variety of reds and browns, even purples, in the trunks and greens on the ground that speak of life and the living forest that is the redwoods,” he said.Color also presents the opportunity to learn. “People are always looking to expand their abilities, to face a new challenge, and for me that is to now explore the world in color,” Harris said. “It’s a challenge to myself to grow as a photographer and image maker. My goal is to describe what it means to be alive, to be moved by the world around you.”
a Trunk show too….
During the evening of Arts! Arcata, local weaver Nancy Kennedy will once again display a selection of beautiful handwoven scarves and area rugs.
Nancy works with a loom using a range of fibers including bamboo, cotton, ribbon, silk, rayon and nylon. It’s that time of year for scarves and they make great gifts.
Kennedy has been a weaver for 20 years, showing nationally in galleries as well as juried shows of the American Craft Council and the Art Furnishings Show in Pasadena