Love Comes to the San Pedro Art Walk with a Group show at Michael Stearns Gallery

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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On Thursday, February 6^th, the Michael Stearns Gallery presents “Love and Other Considerations” in conjunction with the San Pedro ArtWalk. The opening reception will take place from 6-9pm.

Stearns has had his gallery/studio in San Pedro for the last 2 years. He is an active participant of the San Pedro ArtWalk. Each year Stearns hosts a Valentine show. This year, Stearns put out an open call for artists and was quite pleased with the turnout. Thirty artists will participate in the show featuring paintings, giclee, sculpture, photography, assemblage and books. When asked what he looks for in the work, he answers, “Knowing their medium. Seems kind of simple sounding I suppose, but that and telling the story/sharing the messages we receive the best way we can. People don’t have to get it, many won’t.”

Sculptor Hadiya Finley’s work will be featured. “I like the whimsy, says Stearns, “I think the pieces are deeper than they appear. Great talent. She seems to know her medium quite well.”

The sculptor has been traveling to China since 2004, staying two to six months at a time with her son and Chinese daughter in-law. Finley had participated in an art residency in the seaside city of Xiamen and has had one of her sculptures included in a show at Fei Gallery in Guangzhou.  She explains, “I have been getting to know other people here including some artists, among them a famous Chinese sculptor, Xu Hongfei.  I have found that bronze casting is very reasonable in China and work in wax to create small-scale bronzes.“

While in China, Finley was commissioned to create a piece of public artwork in the Northern part of Guangzhou. Her sculpture “Tree People” had a successful unveiling this month. Her next project…she’ll be creating a bicycle rack sculpture of a runner titled “Sculpture with Purpose” at Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hadiya’s art was recently seen at bG Gallery in Santa Monica. For more information on the artist, see her website at http://www.barefootbird.com/

Also participating in “Love and Other Considerations” is photographer Scott Tansey. The artist has been taking photos for over 40 years and has traveled all over the world.  However for this show he will not be showing his panoramic photos that he has become known for, but will be showing a black and white up close rose that he caught just after a rainfall.

In addition to his photography, Tansey has been busy with post-production. “My process is first to take the images and then work on post production,” explains the photographer.  “Sometimes I work in High Dynamic Range (HDR), where I take five images of the same image, so that I can get the full range of highlights and shadows in the same image.  Over the past 3 years I have spent more time improving my post-production skills.  Now I am responsible for my images from capturing the image to the print.”

Tansey has participated in group shows at galleries such as Trunk Gallery, Santa Monica Art Studios as well as the Venice Art Crawl. His work is also featured at Figtree’s Café, (429 Ocean Front Walk) in Venice. His photography was recently accepted to show at haleARTS S P A C E in Santa Monica in October of 2014. For more info about Scott Tansey, see his website at http://scotttanseyphoto.com/

Don’t miss the opening reception of “Love and Other Considerations” this Thursday, February 6th from 6pm-9pm at the Michael Stearns Gallery (347 W. 7th St., San Pedro 90731).  The show will remain on view through March 31st. For more information about the gallery and the artists see http://www.michaelstearnsstudio.com;