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“Afternoon Magic” by Fayne Muldoon is among the paintings on display in “Road Trip,” the current main exhibit in the Harrington Gallery at the Firehouse Arts Center.

The Harrington Gallery is presenting “Road Trip,” an exhibit that features artwork by professional artists from Allied Artists West from Santa Clara.

In partnership with the South Bay-based group, 16 additional artists are showcasing their talents in a group setting located inside the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton.

“We have many different artists who specialize in different mediums. So you’ll be able to see a lot of variety from photography, pastels, oil, paintings, acrylics, you name it,” said Sydney Tang, curator of the gallery.

From international trips to Ireland to quick trips down the West Coast in California, the artists used their unique experiences to create art interpreting what a road trip means to them.

“Some of these artists chose to do landscape, whereas others did more abstract paintings, as well as portraits of people they encountered during their various travels,” Tang said.

A local writers’ group, known as the “Monday Night Poets,” contributed to the overall exhibition by writing poems and interpreting the artwork.

“It was also fascinating to see how each poet interpreted the artwork, since the artwork came first, then each painting was paired with a poet and they basically did their interpretation of the image that they got,” Tang said.

Some of the highlighted artists include:

“Into the Mist” by Vincent Liu.

Artist: Vincent Liu

Artwork title: “Into the Mist”

Poet: Mimi Ahern

winter morning

at the edge of the sea

she repeats the prayer

According to his website, Liu is known for his contemporary expressive figurative oil paintings of figures or portraits.

“Road North” by Gary Coleman.

Artist: Gary Coleman

Artwork title: “Road North”

Poet: Mary Dederer

gray ahead

on the left tall stems

of yellow-orange blooms —

let’s stop here!

“Gary Coleman who took the Best of Show prizes in 2014 and 2016 for the Pacific Art League’s ‘All Abstract’ competitions,” according to gallery officials.

“Casa Grande New Almaden” by Annie Haines.

Artist: Annie Haines

Artwork title: “Casa Grande New Almaden”

Poet: Mimi Ahern

warm gentle breeze

through the palm fronds … we sway

with the sound

According to her website, Haines strives to emotionally connect people to the natural environment through her work.

“Where the Wind Grows” by Kaaren Marquez.

Artist: Kaaren Marquez

Artwork title: “Where the Wind Grows”

Poet: Patricia J. Machmiller

snake’s skin

left behind — the house

of my childhood

The exhibition is a collection that showcases different techniques combined with another artistic process that resulted in a creative and unique way of expression and interpretation.

“It just ties well with the timing of summer, and a lot of kids are out of school, and we have many visitors coming from even out of state,” Tang said. “So it’s just a nice little summer road trips themed exhibition at the Firehouse Arts Center.”

Gallery hours are Wednesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The exhibition will be on display through Aug. 13. To learn more, visit www.firehousearts.org/gallery.

The exhibit is at the Harrington Gallery in downtown Pleasanton until Aug. 13. (Photo by Sydney Tang)

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