D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July
2008
Jan Gunlock
Page: 2In the large physical therapy room, numerous Gunlock pieces cover the walls. The majestic bird in "Golden Eagle" seems to watch over patients using a rehab bench. Two scratchboard pictures of cacti flank a full-length mirror behind another piece of equipment. On another wall, three large pictures build on a theme of rosy-red desert flowers. Three hummingbird pictures hang on the wall above the staircase.
At the base of the stairs, patient Netty Hendrickson sits in a chair, working on range-of-motion exercises with Thomas. "I love them," Hendrickson says between rounds of stretching a thick elastic therapy band. "The pictures create a very uplifting atmosphere."
In her sunny studio, her own creative aerie, Gunlock muses on why she creates her art and the joy that the act, itself, brings her. "I like working with my hands, to see the results of what I'm doing right there in front of me. I even like the sound of pencil on paper! Now doesn't that sound funny?" she asks with a little laugh.
"Really, I'm a rather simplistic person. I love birds and trees. The animals. I just love nature," Gunlock says. "Nature has so much to offer. The beauty is right there, for anyone to see."
A broad smile on her face, she throws her hands up in a gesture of something akin to wonder and adds, "I just draw it!"
You can contact Jan Gunlock at 534-9630. Her work is on display at Desert Springs Physical Therapy, 310 W. 11th St., Silver City, 534-1187, desert-springs-physical-therapy.com, and also at JW Art Gallery in the Old Hurley Store, 99 Cortez Ave., Hurley, 537-0300, www.thetown.com.
Donna Clayton Lawder is senior editor of Desert Exposure.