Fiery Resurrection II by Dorothea Heger

Their paths had crossed once, but two Conejo Valley painters found the common ground in their art explorations when they agreed to a duo show next month at Buenaventura Art Association’s gallery at Ventura Harbor.

Dorothea Heger of Newbury Park and Robin Tripaldi of Thousand Oaks will offer a journey into their unseen worlds in “Elements Unknown: Abstraction” from Sept. 4-30 at Harbor Village Gallery. Heger has painted professionally for 13 years, while Tripaldi has done it full-time for six years, but both are lifelong artists who create nonobjective, abstract expressionist works, often in mixed media. They paired up for this show at the suggestion of BAA Executive Director Sharon Taylor.

For Heger, the media mix includes acrylic paints and ink on canvas, watercolor paper and illustration board with collaged elements that include metal, glass, plastic, fiber and other natural materials.

She said she begins a piece with tension, “a feeling to create,” then uses intuition and feeling to do each part of the work and gradually relaxes. Heger said it’s energy-draining, but in a good way, and completing a painting leaves her feeling energetic and fulfilled.

She plans to show abstract pieces she calls “calming and peaceful” and some mixed-media artworks that are more free, experimental, exciting and riskier. She usually works outside, she said, where her art dries quickly, intensifying the colors.

Tripaldi also paints in acrylics, uses them in her mixed-media pieces, and works in encaustic, a process employing beeswax and resins to fix colors to a surface.

“I’m excited to be involved in promoting encaustic painting, painting with a molten wax mixture. While it’s an ancient technique, it has only experienced a revival in the last 50 years, beginning with Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg,” she said.

“I choose to work abstractly because, for me, it’s an instinctive, primal, letting-go process based in pure expression rather than illustration,” Tripaldi said. “My eyes and hands become an extension of my subconscious spirit.”

Her show will include some “loud and proud” acrylics and some small encaustic pieces, she said.

Both women will be present to discuss their art and methods at two receptions. One will be 4-7 p.m. Sept. 7, the Saturday after the show opens, and a Sunday afternoon closing reception is planned 3-5 p.m. Sept. 29.

“The theme that generally runs through my work is the spiritual connection we all have to the universe,” Hegel said. “In this particular show, my intention is to challenge the viewer to visually explore nonobjective or abstract work.”

Tripaldi’s aim is similar. “I like to refer to my paintings as my ‘inner landscapes.’ While my paintings are an extension of my own personal journey, I invite the viewers to experience their own personal journeys of discovery through my art.”

Hegel plans to show 10 to 13 pieces that range from 11 by 13 inches to 30 by 24; Tripaldi will have at least 10 works from 12 by 12 inches to 48 by 36. Both have examples of their works on the Web, at www.dorothea-art.com and www.robintripaldi.com.

Harbor Village Gallery, at 1591 Spinnaker Drive in Ventura Harbor Village, is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Tuesdays and stays open until 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. For more information about this exhibit or the nonprofit Buenaventura Art Association, call 648-1235 or visit the website www.buenaventuragallery.org.