Torn clothes. Withdrawn lovers. Bitter prayers. This is the imagery Kathi Scarminach lifted from a 13th century poem to create one of her latest paintings.
It’s easy to tell from the piece’s title, Flying Too Close To The Sun, that Scarminach’s work probably has reverence for Greek mythology as well. She described her painting as a combination of the Icarus myth and the aforementioned poem, “I’ve Been Tricked By Flying Too Close,” by Rumi.
“It is a poem about how exposing an open heart can have consequences,” Scarminach said. “I combined it with the plight of the Greek mythological character, Icarus, whose wax wings melted from flying too close to the sun. His rebellious, albeit ambitious, nature did not serve him and he died by not heeding his father’s advice.”
Painting the piece prompted the artist to consider her own philosophical boundaries when it comes to guarding her heart versus embracing vulnerability, which Rumi’s poem alludes to, while the Icarus tale led Scarminach to ask herself, “When am I dismissing the wisdom shared with me by my elders as comic relief?”
She surmised that the answers to her questions will vary from “one day to the next, one moment to the next,” into the new year and beyond.
Last year marked Scarminach’s first year as a member of Gallery Los Olivos, where Flying Too Close To The Sun is currently on display as part of the venue’s annual Winter Salon exhibition. She joined the gallery last August and was one of the three artists who volunteered to hang the Winter Salon’s diverse array of paintings in a salon-style format.
The show premiered in December and is scheduled to remain on display through the end of January.
“The definition of a salon-style hanging refers to large groupings of paintings that extend higher and lower than the traditional eye-level single lineup, most commonly seen on museum walls,” explained Scarminach, who worked with fellow artists Karen McLean-McGaw and Rod Aszman to hang the paintings.
“It takes many hands to create the vision for the exhibition—curate it, set it up, manage it, and break it down,” said Scarminach, who described the exhibit as a group effort between several high-caliber artists with a common goal and shared sense of purpose.
McLean-McGaw, a longtime gallery member and participant in previous years’ Winter Salon exhibitions, has two watercolor landscapes featured in this year’s iteration of the show. She described both pieces, Refugio Charm and November Light, as winter coastal scenes.
“I would have to say that November Light would be my favorite, as it captures the light that only occurs at a certain time of day on our coast in November,” McLean-McGaw said.
The artist added that she believes this year’s Winter Salon is particularly exceptional thanks to its singular curator, Pamela Larsson-Toscher, who is also a featured artist in the show.
Larsson-Toscher said that the most challenging, and enjoyable, aspect of curating the show was its themelessness, as its featured artworks capture a variety of subjects not connected to one another. While deciding on which order to arrange the artworks, she aimed to create an unseen bridge between each piece in an attempt to provide viewers with “a cohesive whole” among the show’s eclectic paintings.
Another tricky part about arranging the show was “placing the pieces in a way that makes each artist know they are appreciated,” she explained.
“We have very talented, highly skilled members, and they deserve to be placed where they can best be seen,” said Larsson-Toscher, who has two oil paintings displayed in the exhibit.
Both Light of my Life and Fall Colors were painted on linen, and are described as works of realism, but with a twist.
“I call my work realism reimagined, because although the elements in my paintings are recognizably realistic, the settings are imaginary,” Larsson-Toscher said. “Colors, textures, and designs enhance the objects and create a new way of looking at them.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood has “Pure Imagination” stuck in his head. Send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 6-13, 2022.