San Francisco is Focus for Watercolor and Ceramic Exhibit at Gallery 9

A miniature San Francisco greets patrons as they enter Gallery 9 in downtown Los Altos. From Coit Tower to the Ferry Building, it's all there, complete with illuminated windows and doors as though night has fallen and San Francisco has come alive in the modern, bright gallery on Main Street.

This miniature replica is, in fact, part of Gallery 9's latest exhibit, "Blossoming and Illuminating City," by Japanese artists Shigemi Sanders of San Carlos, who specializes in ceramics and raku, and Miyoko Mizuno of Burlingame, a Japanese artist who grew up in Nagano, Japan.

Helping Sanders and Mizuno bring this vision to the public is Gallery 9, which was started nearly 30 years ago. Today, Gallery 9 boasts 31 artists, all of whose work can be found here.

The gallery takes its name from the nine founding members who worked to make the gallery a way for artists to showcase their art. Each artist pays toward the costs of maintaining the gallery, and in return, the gallery is their vehicle to bring their art to the public.

Part of the benefit of being a member of Gallery 9 is the opportunity to hold gallery exhibits. When Sanders started to plan her exhibit at Gallery 9, she knew she wanted to display something with light. Knowing that Mizuno would display watercolor paintings of the city, she decided to create art pieces of city structures that complemented the paintings.

While Sanders' work takes the form of San Francisco's structures, Mizuno's work comes alive with bursts of color and captures the essence of the city's scenic landscape. Along with her watercolor paintings of the city, Mizuno created a series of silkscreen kimonos for the exhibit. Beyond working with watercolor and silkscreen, Mizuno creates oil paintings and works with other media, too.

She expressed her fondness for watercolor and the complexity of its technique. "The oil painting you can always paint over, but watercolor, once you put a dot of color, you can never go back to the white," she said.

Creating such intricate pieces of art is not a simple task. Preparing for the exhibit took Sanders two years. And creating a single art piece requires perfect timing. If you wait too long, the clay becomes hard and can crack, and if you start too early, the clay is too soft. 

Sanders often works on a single piece, all day and into the night. The process of creation doesn't stop there, however. "Once you finish the product, you have to dry it, then you have to bisque it, then you glaze it, then you have to fire again, so it's a lot of time," she said.

When everything is finished and the pieces are ready to display, the ultimate message that Sanders wants to convey to the public is her heritage. Having come to the United States more than 40 years ago from Japan, her vision is to use her art as a bridge between Japanese culture and American culture.

Gallery 9 has endeavored to help other local artists promote their work, too. In the front half of the gallery, the work of one or two artists is displayed monthly while the rest of the gallery is devoted to displaying the work of its members. The artists' media include everything from painting to jewelry.

"To see 31 people's artwork in just one place is amazing," Sanders said.