Yaquina Art Gallery Spotlight Shows featuring: Photographer Richard LaFond, Pencil Artist Alice LaFond and Artist Mark Cheney–November 18th to December 1st « Yaa Spotlight

Yaquina Art Gallery Spotlight Shows featuring: Photographer Richard LaFond, Pencil Artist Alice LaFond and Artist Mark Cheney–November 18th to December 1st

In a two week Spotlight Show from November 18th to December 1st, the Yaquina Art Association will be featuring the art of Photographer Richard LaFond, Pencil Artist Alice LaFond, and Artist Mark Cheney. The Yaquina Art Association Gallery is located in Nye Beach at 789 NW Beach Drive. Hours of operation are 11 am to 4 pm every day.

Seal Rock Photographer, Richard LaFond, formerly of Hollywood, California where he was a still photographer for the Steve Allen Show in the mid-sixties. Richard shot for two other major television studios in Hollywood, for over a decade. From there he moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where he shot commercial, architectural, portraiture and glamour photography for thirty years. Presently he and his wife Alice, are retired and enjoying the Oregon Coast, a dream of theirs for many years. Richard shows his work at various galleries along the central coast of Oregon and served two years as a past president of YAA Photographers. His website is: LaFondPhotography.com.

Alice LaFond is inspired by the beauty of the Central Oregon Coast and is often challenged to capture subjects photographed by her husband, Richard. They have lived near Ona Beach in Seal Rock for over a decade after retiring and building their dream home there. An array of colored pencils stands like a bouquet awaiting Alice as she begins each picture. Sometimes the finished result has the look of a watercolor and other times, the look of a photograph. Alice is a member of the Yaquina Art association, the Yachats Art Guild, and the Lincoln City Cultural Center and has shown her work in all three venues. For many years, Alice has volunteered with the Coastal Arts Guild in staffing the Runyan Gallery and the Upstairs Gallery at the Visual Arts Center in Nye Beach. Alice feels her passion for colored pencil art growing daily.

Before retiring from the title insurance business in 2007, the only artwork Mark Cheney had done was to make an occasional piece of jewelry from findings and a tumbled stone. He has had many magazine articles published and has completed an historical novel on the subject of the ancient Maya, his hobby, but had not done much visual art. His novel, Mark of the Jaguar, was published in 2014.

Moving to the Oregon Coast changed his focus. He began finding driftwood on the beach that fit together in the shape of fish. That was very interesting! As he continued beach-combing Mark found more and more pieces of wood that had the “essence of fishiness” and his pieces became larger. He has since sold numerous pieces from five inches up to five feet long, often using jewelry wire with shells, agates and selected beads as eyes, and shells for fins. He calls his creations “Fish Stixs.” His latest work uses driftwood, stones and other objects in frames to create what he calls “Stix & Stones”, a three dimensional art form. After making some scarf necklaces for his four daughters last Christmas he also decided to try them out in the gift shop of the YAA Gallery in Nye Beach

As Vice President of the Yaquina Art Association, Mark continues with his driftwood and stone art, does some hand-built clay work and explores various photographic opportunities, as well.