ARTISTS BRUSH UP FOR SHOW STUDENTS FROM AVC TO DISPLAY THEIR WORKS.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Joe Rara was a little giddy as he and 14 Antelope Valley College art students hung paintings for a Cedar Centre gallery show.

But that was understandable because he started work on his painting after getting a call at 5 a.m. that day from a friend urging him to put a piece in the show.

Rara's abstract painting of a half-open eye was inspired by a doll that closes its eyes when it's lying down.

``I just have a weird pet peeve about people with their pseudo-consciousness type thing and they're not really that awake ... there's a lot more to be seen,'' said Rara, a youthful-looking 30-year-old guitarist. ``It's a social commentary.''

Fifteen AVC art students will display works running the gamut from abstract to contemporary to landscapes in the show that will open Saturday and will end Jan. 26. An opening reception will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Antelope Valley College Art Gallery Director David Badd worked with the students in putting the show together.

Paula Norris will have five watercolors and pastels in this, her first exhibition. A mother of three grown children, she stopped oil painting when her children were small and is now experimenting with watercolors.

``When you raise a family, you get away from it all, so now that the family's all gone I decided that it was just time for me to spend more time with it because I really enjoy it. It's very relaxing for me and it's very calming and peaceful.

``I think working with art makes you more observant of your surroundings and the beauty that is surrounding you in the most mundane things. I really think that's what you get out of art. There's a certain serenity in it and a peacefulness,'' Norris said.

Seventeen-year-old Allison Rice will be displaying three works: a pencil drawing of seashells, a pen and ink drawing of Ronald Reagan, and a watercolor zebra. She is currently studying computer graphics as well as art.

``I haven't taken computer graphics classes yet but it's very lucrative ... hopefully I'll get to use my art talent and incorporate that,'' Rice said.

Rice, who was home-schooled before she entered college, has taken art classes for seven years.

``It just gets my creative juices flowing,'' said Rice. ``It's a chance to be creative, I think everybody should try it. It's very fun and enjoyable. I think just creating beauty from God's creation is something to be valued.''

Karen Weston, a painter for five years and mother of four, ages 9 to 21, has three works in the exhibit. ``Ratios'' features the headings from two major art magazines and blue and pink sticky notes depict the number of full-page ads promoting male and female artists.

``It's always the men as you can see that get the lion's share of the big full-page glossy colored ads into the big trade mags of the contemporary art world,'' Weston said. ``The other thing that was interesting to me was the students at the community college; if you look in every class except for life drawing, women or girls outnumber men. But when you get to the top of the top there's pretty much not a girl in sight ... it's only men. It was just a statement that I wanted to make.''

``Ambiguity'' depicts two human figures that were painted on a canvas that was then sliced into strips and woven.

``It was just interesting. It was different. Nobody else had done this that I could see. I wanted to be original and that's why I did it,'' said Weston, who works in the college gallery.

The gallery is located at 44857 Cedar Ave., and is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Joe Rara hangs his acrylic work ``Wake-Up!'' in the Cedar Centre art gallery as part of the showing that starts Saturday.

(2 -- color) Karen Weston helps fellow artist Joe Rara bring his work into the Cedar Centre gallery for an exhibit featuring Antelope Valley College students.

(3 -- color) Lawrence Bloomfield's untitled digital art will be among the works on display at the Cedar Centre gallery starting Saturday.

(4) Paula Norris hangs her watercolor ``The Barn'' on Thursday as she prepares for the Cedar Centre's exhibit featuring students from Antelope Valley College.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer