Triple exhibit to feature Benicia couple, son

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

THE LATEST INSTALLMENT of “3 Artists in One Place” is a true family affair.

As part of its monthly series, downtown boutique Shirocos will display the work of husband and wife Chuck Potter and Diane Williams, as well as Santino Williams, Diane’s son, starting this week.

What’s it like living in a family of artists? Having mutual interests “is great, because it always brings new ideas to the table, and gives us a common language,” Diane Williams said in an email interview Thursday.

“It gives us a common language, and also the many ideas and opinions keep the work fresh.”

Potter and Williams met at an art auction in 1995. “I have always made things, done carpentry and had a passion for gardening,” Potter said, “so you could appreciate the attraction to seeing a passionate artist like Diane in her studio, red hair, blue eyes, witty intellect and no fear of a chop saw — the rest is history.”

Potter, by day a controller and vice president for a property management firm, refers to his art as cathartic. “The intent of my artwork is to invite you along on my journey and share what I see, what I feel, what I sense, what I cannot put into words, and most importantly, what I have forgotten,” he said.

While he works mostly with acrylics, he says he also enjoys using unorthodox materials such as tar, homemade solutions, fibers and other things as a contrast to refined paints and other media. His interest is in illuminating the contrast between perceived beauty and dull tractability.

“There is so much visual ‘candy’ that we disregard as adults,” he said. “Ideally, I hope my images cause the viewer to stop and really look at all of the wonderful things that surround them. A cherry blossom, fallen leaf, strange shadow, or telephone wires bisecting the blue sky would be the kinds of things that inspire me daily.”

Diane Williams works at Kaiser as a surgery scheduler, and is a teacher and a painter who sees life, and life afterward, in her work. “Working at the hosptal has had a profound influence on my work, inspiring me to focus on arts ability to facilitate the healing process,” she said.

“My connection to nature is absolute. Contemplating nature inspires my paintings just as the act of painting confirms my relationship to nature.”

Diane worked with oils for 25 years but currently works in acrylics and nontraditional media — for example, rust made from vinegar and steel wool. “Chuck and I are discussing teaching a class called ‘homegrown’ which would focus on using materials around the home in the art making process, like salt, hydrogen peroxide, and brushes made from garden plants,” she said.

While Potter and Diane Williams have “day jobs,” Santino Williams is a full-time artist, working in graffiti styles, with stencils and spray paint. “I think that I spent way too much time resisting attempting to do art as a job, but after finally ‘diving in’ and doing it, I feel that it’s extremely liberating,” he said.

Santino now has a manager and recently sold three pieces to a private collection in the Netherlands — so while he may not have “formal” art training, his upbringing provided valuable interactions and experience.

“Some of my earliest memories are of my mother taking me with her to museums, galleries and art classes that she was attending,” he said. His work on display at Shirocos will include his impressions of America’s first celebrity family: John Heenan, better known as the Benicia Boy, and Adah Issacs Menken, also known as the Benicia Girl.

Naturally, this artistic family also collaborates. “Tino and I began collaborating earlier this year when I asked him to add stencils of his to pieces I was doing. Recently Chuck has joined in,” Diane said.

Collaborating can be tricky, though. “Recently I have been working on a series of Lotus flowers based on a stencil Tino gave me. He works with spray paint and stencils. And with this piece, I am using acrylic paint and stencil in a layering process.

“I asked Tino to add some very specific images to the Lotus flowers that I wanted him to make according to my specifications. He told me he didn’t want to work that way. He wanted me to give him my paintings and let him decide what to add. Afterward, I could work back into the piece if I wanted to. So we are getting the feel of how to collaborate with each other,” she said.

The whole show is a fusion of their styles, Potter said. “(Santino is) taking pieces of ours, putting a spin on it, then giving it back to us to see if we want to do more.”

If You Go
An opening reception for “3 Artists in One Place,” featuring the work of Chuck Potter, Diane Williams and Santino Williams, is scheduled for Friday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Shirocos, 216 First St.