“Board Bats” by Heather Johnson

I was lured by the bats.

They hang in a cluster from the edge of “Bat Board.” In “Bats,” they’re fluttering three-dimensional shapes pinned on the wall and fashioned from paper, human hair, food waste and glue. And in “Untitled,” the silhouettes of bats float against dark blue Nepalese paper.

There’s a few more reasons I’m drawn to Heather Johnson’s work which is currently on display in “human/nature” at John F. Kennedy University’s Arts and Consciousness Gallery in Berkeley.

First, Johnson is obviously passionate about the natural world. Her small canvases and precise drawings are heartfelt elegies to small things like seeds, bees and crushed earwigs. She memorializes a dead robin found outside of a post office in an oil painting which manages to be both scientific and tender.

She’s also concerned, according to her artist’s statement, about the interchange between humans and the natural world and our disconnect from the environment. She aims to “push material’s physical nature towards vulnerability and fragility” and is “interested in attempting to save what is unlikely to be saved.”

That could apply to some of her most delicate art works, like the swarm of porcelain moths that circle a lightbulb, and the subjects she depicts.

“human/nature” is on display through Oct. 25 at 2956 San Pablo Ave., 2nd Floor, Berkeley. For information, call 510-649-0499 or visit http://www.jfku.edu/gallery/

Sixty 19th century Dutch paintings from the collection of Bay Area residents Dr. Jan and Mary Ann Beekhuis go on display this weekend in “The Second Golden Age of Dutch Art” at St. Mary’s College of California’s Hearst Art Gallery.

The exhibit, which represents a fraction of the Beekhuis’ collection, is divided into three main groups: The Dutch Romantic School, The Hague School and the Dutch Impressionist School. Pastoral landscapes, seascapes and moodily-lit interiors form the bulk of the Romantic School. The Hague School’s loosely painted still lifes and landscapes point towards the crisp hues and bold brushstrokes of the Impressionist School.

Thumbing through the catalogue, I see echoes of Rembrandt Van Rijn in Jozef Israel’s contemplative “Grace Before a Meal.” There’s traces of Franz Hals in the ribbons and fabric adorning the young woman in Johannes Hendrik Veldhuijzen’s “Portrait of Meta Meese, Bride.” And Petrus van der Velden’s “Workers in the Fields with Tulips” is the sort of heroic “salt of the earth” painting Vincent Van Gogh’s idol, the French painter Jean Francois Millet, might have created.

A lecture with Dr. Jan and Mary Ann Beekhuis and curator Thea Grigsby will be held at 2 p.m. Oct. 12 followed by a ribbon-cutting and reception with the Consul of the Netherlands Douglass Engmann and Hon. Vice-Consul Johan P. Snapper at 3 p.m. Admission is $5.

The exhibit is open 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m Wednesdays-Sundays through Dec. 14. Admission is $3, free for children under 12 and group tours. Visit www.hearstartgallery.org.

Take a look:

Dirk Peter Lokhorst Van de Velden’s “Cows at the Water’s Edge”

Nicolas Johannes Roosenboom’s “Beach Scene with Ships”

Piet van der Velden’s “Workers in the Fields With Tulips”

Johannes Hendrik Veldhuijzen’s “Portrait of Meeta Meese, Bride”

Attention local shutterbugs - there’s a photo contest you should know about.

The Tri-Valley, California Convention & Visitors Bureau is holding their second annual regional photo contest and they’re looking for photographers who “can best capture the ‘Tri-Valley, California Experience.’ That includes sporting activites, shopping, dining, wine tasting, arts and celebrations and more in Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville and the surrounding region. Images need to be high-resolution (300 dpi) and submitted on CD. Contest specifics and an entry form can be found at www.trivalleycvb.com.

For some inspiration, take a look at the work of Bill Owens, whose images captured the look and feel of the Tri-Valley area so many years ago. An image from “Suburbia” is pictured below. You can read about him here.

mural by Ed Cassel

Only Las Vegas and crappy Reno gas stations can mimic the sweet sounds emanating from the Marin Country Fairgrounds this weekend at it hosts the Pacific Pinball Exposition, the second year this event has has rocked the socks off silver-ball enthusiasts across the Bay Area.

Ok, that was silly. But still.

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I’ve got some images of two new shows opening this month at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design that have me really excited.

The first exhibit is “Birds + Their Dwellings” which opens Oct. 11 at the Design Store. It’s a juried show of “hand-crafted, one-of-a kind” works inspired by birds and their dwelling places. Nearly two dozen artists are contributing works in clay, glass, metal and other materials. Plus, the work is for sale.

Here’s a peek:

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I think this is something I’d like to see Oct. 13 through 15 in Oakland. Read carefully. You get to actually cut a soldier’s uniform off of him. I am not sure how I feel about it, but it sounds like art to me. 

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