"Manna from Heaven" Artist Talk. 

Feeding the Body * Mind * Soul

Welcome back to another BobBlast!  This week's BobBlast is a bit different from our usual format... instead of a painting demonstration, this is a video recording of our Artist Talk prior to the opening of the "Manna from Heaven" exhibit at the Elverhoj Museum in Solvang, California.

The Director, Esther Jacobsen Bates, introduces us for an impromptu conversation amongst us three artists - myself, Jim McWilliams and Bob Nichols. During our chat, we suddenly realized our connection as college teachers and our universal concerns about hunger. It's a fun talk!

The following statement was written by Esther Jacobsen Bates about this show:

This exhibit addresses universal hungers, gifts of nourishment, and the vessels that hold them - physically, mindfully and soulfully.

Three accomplished and well-respected artists - Robert Burridge, Jim McWilliams and Bob Nichols - have come together to share their broad views on this subject. Collectively they have 150 years of experience working in the arts.

The artworks displayed are intended to provoke and inspire. They challenge us to seek and understand our various hungers. They ask us to explore ways we provide sustenance to ourselves and humanity as a whole. They also encourage us to nourish an ever-expanding circle of giving and receiving.

Robert Burridge creates in paint and combination media, fueled by his career as an art teacher. Jim McWilliams works with a variety of materials reflecting his long history in graphics and conceptual work. Bob Nichols employs clay as his primary medium as both artist and teacher.

Though individual in their approaches and mediums, these artists have given themselves, and us, a gift by coming together and sharing their personal visions.

In this current time when local and world events call up fears such as scarcity, loss, and separation, this exhibit reminds us that "manna from heaven" is infinite, unbounded, and always available.