'Upstage" by Kathleen Youngquist

If you love oil paintings and crave something a bit different, here’s a tip:

The Quicksilver Mine Co. in Forestville will open “Upstage,” a one-woman exhibition of recent work by Kathleen Youngquist, on Friday, March 5.

The gallery will host reception for the artist from 4 to 6 p.m.  Saturday, March 6. The exhibition ends April 11.

Younquist’s figurative oil paintings capture imagined emotions and fantasies, frozen in the moment.

“In my paintings, I question and continue to be fascinated with the tension between beauty, humor and the potential uneasiness inherent in human interaction,” she said in a notice announcing the show. “Dance is also a recurring theme in my work, whether on a stage or a dance floor, in a café, under turquoise water, in an amusement park, or on a high wire in a circus arena.”

Maintaining a studio in Graton, Younquist studied art in California, New York, France and Texas, and holds a bachelor’s degree in ceramic and a master of fine arts degree in in painting. Younquist teaches drawing at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Her recent exhibitions include a show at the Santa Rosa Junior College Art Gallery, and juried shows at the Arts Council of Sonoma County, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Long Beach Arts and Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay, Ore. Her work also is in the SFMOMA Artists’ Gallery in San Francisco.

Visit the Quicksilver Mine Co. at 6671 Front St. (Highway 116) in Forestville.  Gallery hours are 11 am. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday.  Information: (707) 887-0799,  www.quicksilvermineco.com.