Orinda Art Scene – August 2026

    Step into August’s exhibition and expect the unexpected.
    From meticulously staged rooms captured through a camera lens to vibrant abstract landscapes, layered collages and expressive ceramics – this month’s lineup showcases the breadth of contemporary artistic expression.
    You won’t want to miss a surprising number of art genres on display, such as “Constructed Rooms” by Daniel Wallace Hunter, which are photographs printed on aluminum of rooms he builds in his studio.
    He fills them with objects such as small paintings, toys – all chosen with great care which he then photographs.
    You’ll also find two Emeritus Presidents of the Lamorinda Arts Council showing their artwork. Collages by Tony DeMartile and “Bloom, Field & Flow” acrylic and oil paintings by Denise Nomura.
    To round out the show, you’ll enjoy ceramics by Yinling Lin.
    Lamorinda Arts Council invites you to explore the diverse artworks these four artists bring to the gallery Aug. 1 to 28. Meet and mingle with the artists on Aug. 8 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at their reception with light refreshments in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library.
    DeMartile, who is showing collages in this exhibit, attended California College of the Arts where he studied photography and painting. In June co-directors DeMartile and Shira Lompa opened Scraphouse in Orinda, a creative reuse market and makers’ studio at 128 Village Square. Visit tinyurl.com/ykwee2za.
    Hunter is an interdisciplinary Bay Area artist and educator who creates abstract and conceptual mixed-media pieces. Because he taught photography for 35 years, he sees himself as an artist who works with a camera. His favorite artists are Johannes Vermeer, Andy Goldsworthy and Andy Warhol.
    His approach to creating tableau rooms ranges from simple to laborious; sometimes he shoots a scene he’s set up dozens of times; others not so many.
    “It’s what I see that gets my brain going. No matter what I’m working with – ceramics, sculpture, photography, painting – the artistic endeavor is like having a conversation with yourself. You put in the hours to get comfortable with the craft and master the materials. Then it’s all about mining the stuff in your brain,” he said. Look for a dozen plus photographs.
    Hunter’s “Constructed Rooms” are also called tableaus, meaning meticulously composed environments that capture a dramatic motionless but lived experience. Medieval artists were often the designers of public “tableau vivant” – living pageantry of static figures. Visit him on Instagram @Daniel.Wallace.Hunter.
    Lin teaches ceramics at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco – advanced wheel throwing sculpture, glaze technology and ceramic sculpture. She owns a busy ceramic studio, YoLinArtStudio.com. She grew up in Taiwan where traditional pottery became the basis of Lin’s training.
    She interned with ceramic sculptor and author John Toki in 2021 when she worked on the Orinda Art in Public Places Committee’s “Indigo Animal” sculpture, now installed in the Orinda Library Read Garden, adjacent to the Garden Room patio. 
    “Heads Up” describes a group of vessels she paints with cloud motifs. These evolved during COVID-19 when she took the time to look up and began painting vessels with cloud variations. She has more than 20 pieces on exhibit.
    Nomura painted representationally for almost 15 years when she realized her goal was no longer to document what she saw, but to paint something that emotionally moved her. She is at her best when her marks become a visual story of her immersion in nature. “Dipsea Veil,” a 48” x 36” oil on canvas was inspired by a hike on the trail of the same name in Marin.
    “It felt like a dream then and still feels like one now,” Nomura said.
    “My paintings are less about a specific place and more about the experience of being there,” she added. “They explore movement, light, energy and the fleeting, quiet moments that often leave the deepest expressions of awe, wonder and curiosity I feel when in the natural world.”
Catch up with Nomura at denisenomura.com and @dnomura.art.
    Visit the Gallery from Aug. 1 to 28 at 26 Orinda Way. Hours are Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and closed Sundays. Call 925.254.2184 for more Library information or visit ccclib.org/. Questions about the exhibit or need more information? Email gallery@LamorindaArts.org, visit LamorindaArts.org/galleries-2 or call 925.359.4490.