Gems and Masks Shine at OASIS « Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley

Gems and Masks Shine at OASIS

Artisans have a chance to shine right along with the holiday lights this month. Indeed, every day in December until Christmas, the public can catch artist-geologist Stuart Mercer at OASIS Fine Art & Craft, 10am-6pm, at work cutting and polishing Virginia gemstones.

As OASIS’ December Artist-in-Residence, Mercer provides an award-winning lapidary demonstration. On the mezzanine, he offers an extensive exhibit of his jewelry, along with samples of the rocks he has mined to yield each type of gem. Mercer is outgoing and informative in his demos. He says that if a visitor smiles at him, he is likely to invite them to work on a cabochon at the lapidary grinder. He and OASIS welcome school groups, clubs, college classes, and other groups to take advantage of this opportunity to “dig into” the subject. Visitors to the first program in 2010 lingered to give the exhibit in-depth attention, and enjoyed the chance to buy gifts directly from the artist. Mercer has made special additions to the exhibit for 2011.

Another artist shining at OASIS in December is mask designer Janet Marshman, the month’s featured artist. As a mask designer, Marshman focuses on design and transformation. She explains, “Masks are an ancient form of disguise and revelation.” Marshman creates masks which can be worn or exhibited as standalone art forms. Although she has never had any formal art training, she says “my inner creativity takes hold and a magical transformation occurs” as she designs each dramatic creation. Her exhibit continues through the end of January.

OASIS invites the public to enjoy music and refreshments at a free opening reception for both the lapidary and mask exhibits, on Saturday, December 3, at 3-5pm. Both Stuart Mercer and Janet Marshman will greet visitors and share their excitement about the work they do. OASIS will not hold its usual Friday opening this month.

Marshman

Disguise and Revelation

In the early 80′s, under the name “Masquerade”, Marshman had her first mask making business. She designed her first mask as a gift for a friend. The response to the piece was, “Wow, you should make these to sell!” She designed her one-of-a- kind masks, and drove to a Charlottesville art gallery. The gallery’s owner took one look at her work, asked if she had any more to show and promptly paid cash for 16 masks which ranged from $25 to $75 a piece. Many of the masks were created with feathers from peacocks, ringneck pheasant, golden pheasant, amherst pheasant, macaw parrot feathers, ostrich, chicken and duck.

She has participated in Richmond Craft Show, Wearable Art Show in Charlottesville, and other art/craft shows, and has shown at galleries from New Orleans to New York City. She collaborated with Earlynn Miller and Shirley Waxman to design wearable dance art. Masks have been purchased by Mike Seeger, musician, Olga Hirshhorn of the Hirshhorn Museum and “Plumber Joe’s.”

After adopting five children and pouring her creative energy into developing them “from crumb grinders to young adults” as she puts it, she has decided to return to mask designing. In her second phase of mask design, she has broadened her range of masks to include camera parts, both antique and circuitry, natural leaves, seed pods and grasses, sequin appliqué’s, bamboo, fans, printed word and anything may become a part of the magical design. MaskMuse is the name of her second business which comes from Greek mythology and the nine muses. She invites you to try on a mask and feel the transformation of a new “persona”. Marshman also designs seasonal “Razzle Dazzle” holiday pins which are individually designed for men and women to wear.

Marshman explains the meaning of masks:

The magical power of each mask exists, not in the mask itself, but in the layer of anonymity with the mask and the synergy that arises when a mask is worn. There is a connection made between the wearer and the spirit or character of the mask. The famous maskmaker W.T. Benda noted in 1944, the magic inherent in the mask “is not due to any exceptional merit on the part of the artist who made the mask.” In this art of creativity, the skill of the artist who has created the mask is simply a conduit, transforming a spirit into a mask that will inspire the wearer of the mask.

Mercer

Cherished possessions

Stuart Mercer has changed his lapidary exhibit from the inaugural show last December, by adding what he calls “some of my most cherished possessions”. Enclosed in glass cases, he exhibits treasures from his personal mineral collection, the result of a lifelong passion and pursuit. Some of the items in the exhibit are:

An Alaskan gold nugget collected in 1963
A Kimberly Mine diamond crystal from the A. E. Foote collection, pre 1904
A large specimen of Virginia gold in quartz.

Mercer is also exhibiting antique mining tools, human-powered tools that allow us to speculate on the life of a miner in early America.

Restricting himself to using only Virginia gemstones, this creative limitation has pushed Mercer to actively seek cutting materials within the Old Dominion. He says, “I love my job, but a day of rock hunting is as good as it gets”.

Mercer moved into the area in 1969, attended Turner Ashby High School, and graduated from James Madison University in 1975 with a degree in geology. He is a licensed Virginia contractor, operating Mercer Roofing, Inc. and self-employed as proprietor of Elk Run Mining Company. He personally mines, cuts, and polishes Virginia gemstones, and individually creates settings of sterling silver or 18-carat gold.

Holidays at the Oasis Gallery

OASIS Gallery for the Holidays

OASIS continues to offer specials for ibogo cardholders, and sells the discount card as a fund-raiser to support the non-profit’s activities. OASIS also urges artist and artisan applicants to OASIS to take advantage of the $60 savings it offers them. Applications are due by the fifth of each month, to be juried for exhibiting in the following month.

Countryside Garage Band, hosted by Bob Bersson, will perform a free concert at OASIS on Friday, December 9.

Mercer’s collections, lapidary demonstration, and jewelry sales will be open to the public on the mezzanine at OASIS Fine Art & Craft each day in December, 10 am – 6 pm, until Christmas. The artist will be on site and at work. Marshman’s one-woman featured artist exhibit includes many imaginative and transformative masks and continues through the end of January.

Both artists will be available at OASIS free opening reception, Saturday, December 3, 3-5pm, at 103 S. Main St., Harrisonburg. “Deck the Halls” holiday exhibit continues throughout December.

See : www.oasisartgallery.org or call 540-442-8188.