Artists Ray Ford and Louise Marler Exhibit Work June 24th 2017

This Saturday, June 24^th, artists Ray Ford and Louise Marler are set to be featured in a new exhibition.

At 89 years old Ray Ford has done it all. Although he'll be turning 90 this August, he continues to produce his original wooden sculptures. The artist loves to create new works"each of them different in their own way. Much of his success with his art came with his wood sculptures. Some artists are not as lucky as Ford was, he raised a family on his art"and loved every minute of it. Ford said he always has new ideas, but at his age, can only stand for so long, so now he must take breaks. When asked if he ever thought of stopping"he said. "No. I love doing it. It keeps my mind off losing my wife." His wife passed away in December 2016.

The act of turning a slab of wood into a delicate sculpture is no easy task. He said the process takes years"first preparing the wood on the lathe, then storing it for over a year to dry out. He continued, "Then I put it back on the lathe, I finish turning it, then burning, carving and decorating comes later, depending on the design. I spray 6-8 coats of clear lacquer, sanding it after many of the coats. I usually sand it wet to keep the sand paper from clogging up, then I buff it with 3 different buffing wheels for outside and 3 different buffing wheels for inside. http://hrayford.com/

Artist Louise Marler aka LA Marler has been creating art all of her life. The artist chooses to work on several series at a time. She explains,

"Intensely focusing on a series is necessary to do the deeper work. However, it gives me a sort of break to do another style or type of work and then go back and forth. I have produced Typewriter Art on-going now for 15 years"this naturally lead to the camERA artwork and KeyWords. The KeyWords are a perfect example of how I am constantly noting new keywords then going back to the studio to arrange the letters. Once a new batch of this art is ready, I print and then paint each." The artist mixes, paints, and works on several pieces at each step of the process at a time. Usually ten to twenty pieces are created a phase.

She will be exhibiting works from two of her latest series"camERAs, featuring pop images of vintage cameras and her KeyWords, which celebrates her love of the typewriters and its nostalgic keys. KeyWords is LA Marler's version of typewriter poetry. Needless to say photography plays a big role in her life as well"something that comes through in her mixed media series camERAS. http://www.LAMarler.com

Stop in, Saturday, June 24th from 1-5pm to see Ray Ford's wood sculptures along with Louise Marler's mixed media art. LA Marler Gallery is located at the Santa Monica Airport, 3000 Airport Avenue, Studio B Santa Monica, CA 90405.