“DARK AND LIGHT – The Pulse of Life” is a new exhibit featuring the works of Doug Volz. The exhibit opens at Gualala Arts’ Coleman Hall Friday, January 13, 2023, with an opening reception set from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. “Dark & Light” continues through Sunday, February 5.

Doug Volz is a Visionary Realist oil painter, although he also works with Prismacolor pencils—a brand of professional visual arts supplies originating in the 1930s—and with acrylics. He comes from an artistic family, and has been painting all his life. For this exhibit, Volz presents two different sets of 12 paintings each, the first called “The New Light Show”, and the second, “Dark and Light”. “My work is spiritually motivated; I seek to portray both the struggle of life, and the awakening into Higher Consciousness, brought on by work done on the Earthly Plane. It is the interplay of dark and light, which brings us the beautiful colors of the spectrum. I am in love with Life, and Color, and Dance and Elevation of Spirit. Welcome.”

Color is clearly central to Volz’s Art. As he tells us, “For many years now, I have been intrigued with the Spectrum, sometimes called the Sacred Octave, for it is the fabric of our lives, with 7 colors of the rainbow, 7 musical notes, 7 divisions of the Table of Elements, and 7 chakras in the personal energy system; I am a trained clairvoyant, and have long been entranced with the interplay of Light and Shadow. The Tantrics say that ‘before there was Anything, there was Nothing’, and that that Void of Space is seen as the Womb of the Mother, out of which all things are born. Light by itself can be seen as White, but it is only when it comes in contact with Matter, such as, say, a crystal, that we see the multitude of colors hidden within it.”

When Volz was young, he travelled extensively with his mother, Jan Volz, who is also a professional artist. By the age of 20, he had lived half of his life in Europe, and the other half in the States. He decided to stay here, and work to perfect his craft. “I was influenced very early on by all the amazing art I had seen all over Europe, especially the Louvre and the Prado museums, and was drawn especially to the Impressionists. I love color, and the interactions between colors, and light, and shadow. Beauty is such a transitory thing, and I feel, often, blessed, when something comes ‘through’ me, and I can step back, and be thankful that this little speck of Light made it through.”

Volz lived in Mendocino County for more than 30 years, and 5 years ago moved to Lake County, where he currently lives. He is the Creative Director for the main showroom of Main Street Gallery, in Lakeport, which is slowly evolving into a place where fine quality, professional art can be found. Volz is hoping to initiate a yearly show of Visionary Art there, as it is an art form whose time has finally come, and that the World could always use a little more of.