Eclectic inside and out

Stremmel Gallery’s new building—cheerily painted in orange and yellow, with panels like rice-paper screens—is as bold on the outside as it is tranquil on the inside. The recently relocated gallery’s clean, open layout, high ceilings and well-lit spaces are muted and tasteful, allowing the viewer to focus on its eclectic collection. No matter what your taste in art, Stremmel is worth a visit. During a recent visit to the gallery, it seemed that there was enough diverse art to suit just about any tastes.

Fred Reid

Fred Reid’s ceramic sculptures are bold and dramatic, catching the eye from across the room. A series of dog-head-shaped pieces is finished in rich washes of color. He uses the raku firing technique to accent his pieces, the color of the finished product always being slightly different, adding an element of spontaneity and surprise to the process.

One untitled piece is a deep ruby wash, with a band of black at the throat suggesting a collar. Another, with a multicolored finish, has the muted gleam of brushed aluminum and beaten gold, shot through with bright metallic threads.

Reid, a ceramics professor at UNR, will be part of a group show next April at Stremmel Gallery.

Larry Williamson

Working in wood, horsehair and bone, Williamson crafts intricately detailed sculptures invoking Western themes. “Great Basin Shrine/ Presenting the Rabbit to the Dogs” looks like a diorama; an open wooden box inset with circles of bone reveals a shaggy figure holding a rabbit in one hand and a bow and arrow in the other. Flanking him are wooden dogs, each claw of their oversized feet carefully carved from bone. Atop the box, a wooden moon rises, next to a slender tusk. The piece feels like a folk tale come to life. It’s tempting to compose a story right there on the spot, so strong is the sense of narrative.

Williamson is also a ceramist. He creates teapots and stoneware figures with desert themes and colors. Tiny lizards perch atop stone-colored teapots with driftwood handles.

A Nevada artist, Williamson taught art for years at Traner Middle School before moving to Las Vegas. He now lives in Virginia City, where he works on his multimedia sculptures and ceramics.

Maurice Nespor

Before he was an artist, Nespor was an architect, and his background shows in his formal, geometric compositions. Nespor incorporates cardboard, paper and graphite in his collages that feature bold splashes of color against neutral, textured backgrounds and, sometimes, other objects, like a torn fragment of the artist’s wicker hat. The effect is clean, elegant and abstract.

In “Real Time,” finely traced lines reminiscent of a blueprint slice across a layered beige and cream background. The letter “E” sits boldly in one corner, although one gets the impression that it’s there more for its design qualities than any linguistic meaning. Nespor’s work will be shown at the gallery beginning Nov. 13.

Phyllis Shafer

Nevada means artistic inspiration as well as home for Shafer. Hiking through remote areas of California and Nevada, Shafer sketches deserts, lakes and rocks. Working from these, she paints landscapes in gouache and oil, using muted earthy tones. Shafer looks for challenging compositions while roaming nature and adds a stylized, almost-cartoonish touch to her landscapes.

Shafer’s "Silver Lake" places the viewer on the rocky shore of a small lake. The surface of the water reflects the elliptical swirls of clouds overhead. A wind blows through the scene, whipping the lake into concentric circles of ripples and bending a lone pine tree into an arc. A tension charges the piece, challenging the otherwise postcard-perfect tranquility of the scene.