| | Published March 26th, 2014
| Contemporary Art in Downtown Lafayette
| | By Sophie Braccini |  | | Jennifer Perlmutter in her studio. Photo Sophie Braccini |
Jennifer Perlmutter paints. Standing in front of a large 48 inch by 60 inch frame, armed with a big brush, she applies strokes of color on the canvas; it is a very physical process, a dance between her, the thick paint and the image that forms. The process is long, weeks, months; and layer upon layer, the vision that transcends the painter materializes as fine art. Perlmutter invites people to come and see her work. The young Lafayette resident opened an art gallery in February, located at 3620 Mt. Diablo Blvd. - in the back of the gallery is the studio where she paints and teaches.
"When we moved back to northern California, and Lafayette, five years ago, I started working in a studio in Berkeley," says the artist, "then I realized that my son was growing up in the community, but not me; that was weird." She left the Berkeley studio and looked for a large enough space to work in Lafayette. When she found the place on Mt. Diablo Boulevard (where the Soccer Post used to be), she knew she'd found her new home. "At first I was just looking for a place to paint, but here I have both, an artist-run gallery and a studio," says Perlmutter.
The gallery is luminous with white walls and Perlmutter's large, abstract, mixed media pieces immediately attract attention. "I owe gratitude to my community because when I told my friends last October that I had rented this place, they all started to come out and help," she remembers. There was not a day that she came to the studio and did not have help scrubbing the floors, painting the walls, and choosing the lighting system - the biggest investment, but a must in an art gallery. She describes it as "a barn-raising project!" On Feb. 1 she opened the gallery doors and celebrated with a party for everyone.
In the gallery, Perlmutter shows her own work and that of guest artists. Different periods of her maturation as a painter are recognizable. "I'm working in series," she explains. "A series can be 10 to 12 paintings, and it's only complete when it evolves into something else."
On the wall hang very large and much smaller pieces of non-figurative mixed media. Her vision is bold and warm, with a palette of colors that is bright but not shrill. There is also a series of landscapes; smaller, more figurative, but as seen through a dream. A large green and blue painting with brush strokes does not incorporate any collage. "This is a new series I am starting," she says, "before, everything was softened and feathered out and now I'm craving a lot of brush strokes." As an artist she wants to push herself and when something becomes too familiar and comfortable, she has to start exploring something else.
Perlmutter also invites other artists to her gallery to display their work for a few weeks. "There is no reason that people should have to go to San Francisco to find quality art," she says.
She is planning to invite artists around a specific theme. Poetry reading with Amy Glynn and an exhibit of Shelly Hamalian's photography will be combined in the gallery on April 19. From June 7 to July 19, the gallery will feature painter Carol Aust and sculptor Laura van Duren. "The exhibit will explore home, belonging and our place within it all," says Perlmutter. "We'll display figurative oils and interactive installations of sculpture."
Perlmutter also teaches in her Lafayette studio, mostly individual lessons for now but she may offer group classes in the future. "Most of what I know, I learned through my work," she says.
Perlmutter studied communication in college, with a specialty in television and film production, and went to work in the film industry in Los Angeles. There she discovered that she had a talent working with her hands and started making props, then furniture. "Maybe it comes from my German ancestry, but I first saw art as something that had to be useful," she says with a smile. As her confidence developed so did her ability as a painter. "I am very fortunate that there are forces outside of myself that are coming through me to create," she says, "so I get out of the way so my muse can express itself." She does not think that she is in control; she might have a vision of where she is going, but has to pay attention to what it is telling to her as she creates.
For more information about events and classes go to www.jenniferperlmuttergallery.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA