Capitola Wine and Art Festival

A really fun Art and Wine Festival is happening this weekend, Capitola’s 37th annual! I was delighted to take it in Saturday morning, taking the shuttle from the Target mall (because Capitola weekend traffic on steroids- or Chardonnay). Before checking out the chock-a-block booths filled with art: glass, metal, leather, fabric, stone and paint or curated. (the gallery where my work is on exhibit) I made sure to get my toes in the sand and ocean waves!

Blown glass

Art Tents

With Melissa Kreisa and Theresa Nelson, the amazing women who are curated. and my newest little painting.

My little florals hanging with Ursula O’Farrell’s figures.

My Shell Grave and a few Birds and Teacups. (bit backlit)

Gail Ragains and  Lorraine Lawson

Melissa Kreisa  and Jay Ruland

Jay Ruland, Dee Hooker, Jane Ferguson

Jane Ferguson

Russell Powell with Theresa and Melissa.

Russell Powell

Melissa Kreisa (detail)

Gail Ragains (detail)

Noelle Correia

Carrie Clayden (detail)

Dee Hooker

Lorraine Lawson (detail)

Dee Hooker, Jeff Owen?

Good day for a hat!

Can you spot the handstand?

 

Iwasawa Reception

Thank you to everyone who came out to the “Conversations With Culture” reception last Saturday at Iwasawa Oriental Art, your interest, support and company was so very much appreciated! The show, part of Asia Week San Francisco Bay Area, continues on until tomorrow, Saturday, October 13th.

 

Meticulously styled after a traditional Japanese mercantile building, this has been Iwasawa Oriental Art’s 36th year in operation!

 

Love it when my dear friends show up for me at my events, so grateful to have them in my personal and professional life!

 

Artist Theresa Giammattei dropped in!

Evelyn Consorti – mixed media

 

With my oil paintings Mr. Katayama’s Peony and Beijing Grey and Ken Matsumoto’s vase.

Lorraine Lawson and Gallerist Kumiko Iwasas Vadas and her apron which says “Best Merchandise, Best Price”.

Reception repast.

 

Patrali Paul – acrylic

Patrali and Lawson in the garden.

 

Lorraine Lawson mixed media with a stone vase sculpture by Ken Matsumoto.

Ken Matsumoto Vases with a Lorraine Lawson mixed media painting

 

James Ong with When Dreams Wake Up.

 

James Ong describing his process to gallery visitors.

James Ong acrylic print.

So happy to see artist Miguel Machuca drop by!

Gallery vsitors.

Hiroko Ohno – Galaxy – pigment on paper

Brooklyn based Hiroko Ohno with Whitney Modern Gallerist, Suzanne Whitney Smedt.

Hiroko Ohno – reconstructed painting pigment on paper

Ann Waltonsmith, Board Chairperson for Hakone with Hiroko Ohno.

 

Rosalio Vargas and Gallerist Kumiko Iwasawa Vadas.

 

Rosalio Vargas with gallery visitors.

Rosalio Vargas’s splatter cars.

Lorraine Lawson with Jeweler Erin Yoshizumi

Erin Yoshizumi’s work can be found at AtelierThe Hun.etsy.com

Conversations With Culture

I’m very excited to be exhibiting in “Conversations With Culture” at Iwasawa Oriental Art, 75 Universtiy Ave in downtown Los Gatos! It’s an exhibition arranged by Gallerist, Kumiko Iwasawa Vadas in her gorgeous, authentically Japanese Gallery to be part of Asia Week San Francisco Bay Area 2018! Like Asia Week, the show runs October 5-14 and there is a special reception TODAY from 1-5 pm with exhibiting artists, Hiroko Ohno, James Ong, Lorraine Lawson, Patrali Paul, Evelyn Consorti and myself giving artists talks (maybe around 2 pm). The show is free and there will be wonderful refreshments.

Artists are like sponges, soaking up all kinds of influences along their path but what they squeeze out in their work should not be a mere imitation of something they’ve seen before but something new, filtered through their own idiosyncratic prism of experience, perspective and vision. The paintings I create are rooted in my own personal narrative and the manner in which I handle paint, color and line are certainly my own but I feel there is a certain Asian resonance when it comes to composition and depth of field in many of my paintings. There is also a shared reverence for the beauty of nature and sense of season.Having said this, It is quite natural that when I paint a flowering cherry branch or a lily floating on a pond, or a peony in full bloom, I can’t help but think of all the exquisite depictions of these very flowers by Japanese and Chinese artists over the centuries and this rich tradition will inevitably pull me in that direction. But it happens even with less obvious subject matter. My paintings have been made better through my exposure to Japanese prints and Chinese brush paintings as well as their influence on artists I much admire like Whistler, Van Gogh and Monet. Often this cultural conversation is taking place in our heads without us even realizing it! I will be showing the following Asian influenced paintings that I have done over the years and I will talk about how this influence came about and how it has affected my work.

Beijing Grey
Oil on canvas
48″ x 30″

Pond Lily Magenta
Oil on canvas
24″ x 24″

Mr. Katayama’s Peony
Oil on canvas
24″ x 24″

 

 

Anne & Mark’s Art Party Closing Bash

OK – it’s been over a week now and I really should have had this post up long ago but I’ve been suffering from an art hangover like you wouldn’t believe (unless of course, you were at the party)!

In fact, this is what the inside of my brain looks like now – a cacophony of pattern, lights and color like this giant kaleidoscope by Ned Greene!

Or this detail from Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian’s gouache Die Gesteze der Stukturen!

And here are the synapses of my grey matter firing in pops of dreamy florasl and dandelion puffs of exploding fractals seen here in Carrie Lederer’s Clear Night!

The computer of my mind is overloaded and is threatening to crash (detail from Karen Gutfruend’s CTRT ALT DEL)!

And my dreams are haunted by a blind white rabbit, thank you Tulio Flores and Asiel Design….so here we go – one more trip down the rabbit hole before I move on!

First of all I’d like to thank everyone who made it out to see my Florilegia and shared with me their response to the work – this input is simply invaluable to an artist  and means do much!  Thank you , thank you , thank you!

And then there were the visitors who seemed like they were exertions of my paintings!

So Fabulous!

And then there were my art crushes…..like this discarded cigarette packaging piece by Robert Larson.  He was able to take something dirty and disgusting and transform it into something sublime!  I smelled it too  – not a hint of nicotine or anything else. Pure alcmemy!

I also adored this woman’s torso fashioned from safety pins, Lacey by Bob Marzewski, like little stars or snowflakes tenuously welded together.

Lorraine Lawson’s missed media paintings,  Bob Marzeweski’s torsos and Tessie Barrera-Scharaga’s Matrix of Chaos, an installation piece of multiple images of the Virgin and kneeling benches.

So easy to get lost wandering through the maze of galleries – at least if you’re doing it right.

Kristin Lindseth’s prints.

Gianfranco Paolozzi’s Journal, enamel, robber paint, glue on recycled role of paper.

Will Marino’s Paradigm Shift , wound and folded paper

Patrick Hofmeister’s Aware.

Malia Landis’s IIiima in Kiawe.

Marianne Lettieri’s Memory Bank.

Lynn Dao’s Domestic Apocalypse

Love the simplicity of this delicate bowl  against a simple grey background in this oil painting by Deborah Trilling.

John Hylton’s Moon Watcher, canvas, paint wood.

Monica Van den Dool’s Behold in front of Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian’s gouache  Die Gesteze der Stukturen.

Wesley T. Wright – California Coyote – Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, concrete, steel in front of Nanette Wylde’s monoprints.

It was such a delight to meet Natalia Bertotti and Michael Garlington who collaborate on intensely dark, curious and magical images that somehow tap into some cultural core of ours – Grimm’s American fairytale crossed with something ripped out of the headlines of an old newspaper – or rather the stories that was never fit to print or maybe a precursor to a circus side show. They photographed Susan Sarandon in amazing paper dresses here’s a link to this process.

          

Love the flask action!

I’m not even sure what I’m looking at here, but it feels like a pierced and leaking Padora’s Box emptying out into a sea of melting glaciers – a big old barrel of global warming by Briget Henry with Ann Altstatt. Feel free to go with another interpretation!

Grant Wells’s  Ocean Structure 1, pigment transfer on canvas.

Tim Craighead’s oil and alkyd on linen, Without Constantini.

Adon Vaneziano’s sculptures.

Brian Taylor’s  Changing Nature, photography.

Dotti Cichon with her installation she collaborated on with Jamila Rufaro.

Pantea Karimi and her paper vovelles.

With Lorraine Lawson and her mixed media paintings.

Sara Cole’s Forgotten Women 2 , acrylic, graphite, gesso on paper.

Oleg Lobykin’s bronze Flex Cube.

Ann Sconberg’s  photography,Thirteen One and Two.

Quinn Peck’s archival ink jet print on fabric.

Betsy Braun-Kernaghan and her mixed media work.

Michelle Longosz photographs.

A detail from Jenifer Renzel’s The Contraption.

Vanessa Callanta’s self portrait.

Marc D’Estout’s A Briefcase of Puppetry  (detail)  found objects, fabricated steel, paint, patina.

Joe Uglyeye – Personal Demons – spray paint, screenpaint, acrylic on birch panel.

Denise Harris-Olenak’s Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, photographic plates on copper and wood.

Beyond the visual art, the big draw go the Closing Bash was the fabulous runway put on by Pivot:  The Art of Fashion!  The lights the crowds, the fantastic music and and even more fantastic fashion! Above are Charlotte Kruk’s  Bossa Nova Bombshells made from recycled Ferrara Pan Chewy Lemonhead & Friends, Lemonhead, CherryHead, Grapehead wrappers!

And her Godiva coat!

                         

Tullio Flores

Lace design work.

                          

Tulio Flores

                          

                         

IB Bayo

                          

Rose Sellery (left) Charlotte Kruk’s Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, recycled Tiffany bags and chandelier pieces (middle) Katraa (right)

Rose Sellery

MC Kim Luke thanking Pivot Oraganizers Tina Brown, Rose Sellery and designers, Charlotte Kruk, Tulio Flores, Katraa, Sudnya Shroff, Ruby Roxanne, Ricochet, IB Bayo and Many others…

Food truck fun.

Rose Sellery’s designs and sculpture

D’Arcy Couture models in front of Khaled Akil’s Requiem for Syria.

D’Arcy Couture.

Model Izzabelly Santos in IB Bayo.

Pivot MC, Kim Luke in front of

Sunya Shroff’s designs and painting and models in a moment of pre-composure

Pivot models in front of art.

Jessica Hilltout’s phtographs of handmade balls.

Pillar Aguero-Esparza’s multicultural Crayolas on paper.

Pivot model in front of Miguel Machuca’s Orchestrated Religion.

Butterfly model wafting by Teresa Cuniff’s There and Back

Glowing butterfly floating by Alan Silver’s oils on canvas.

Finally alighting on chair sculpture.

The morning after….picking up my work there are still a few remnants from the Art Party – Bill Gould’s sculpture tinkling overhead and the fabulous murals painted with Empire 7 glowing in the early morning sun. Farewell Wonderland, you will haunt my dreams until the next occasional and irrational art fest! Thanks to all involved with Anne and Mark’s Art Party – you’re the best!

Update – I’m delighted to hear that Anne Sconberg and Mark Henderson have just been presented with the Creative Impact Award for their extraordinary vision and hard work with Anne & Mark’s Art Party!  So well deserved!

In case you’re still game for more and missed previous Art Party posts, here are the links:

Tower of Bauble

Angels Among Us

Down the Rabbit Hole

Anne & Mark’s Art Party 2014

Down the Rabbit Hole – Anne & Mark’s Art Party 2016

What a party! The food, the fun, the friends the fashion the frolicking the theme (falling down the rabbit hole into a world of wonder) and yes, booze, but at its core, Anne and Mark’s Art Party is all about the art – visual, musical, spoken and dance, SO many artist and SUCH great work! Artists emerging and established, local and international, street meets museum! As an exhibiting artist this year I am so grateful to Anne Sconberg and Mark Henderson and Georgie Huff and to the vast army of volunteers and contributors who made this all possible…and it’s not over yet!

The gallery is open this week, Friday and Saturday from 11am-5pm ($10 admission) and a Closing Bash ($29 admission) Saturday night, October I, complete with a Pivot to Fashion Show that is not to be missed!  It’s a good thing because you can’t see everything in one visit! Check out  https://artpartysj.com/ for more information! FYI This post is link rich – click on the artist’s names for websites where available!

Bill Gould‘s installation over the gateway to Anne & Mark’s Art Party clattering in the breeze  like a river rucking over stones.

Exhibiting artist Holly Van Hart and company in front of a sculpture installation by Tulio Flores and Linnae Asiel of Asiel Design.

Live painting!

So delighted to have six of my Florilegia – illuminated mixed media assemblage paintings on exhibit in my own little “gallery” in the south-west corner of the Main Gallery. Here I am with Purity and Oblivion.

Pano of my “gallery” Secret Lover, Mature Elegance, Happy Marriage, Purity and Oblivion.

With Bryan Callanta – the man who knows galleries and shirts and also the man I have to thank for my great little gallery!

With artist W.M. Vinci – the Mad Hatter with the sublime taste and the fab footwear!

Goldfish heels! Swoon!

Fabulous Steam Punk art lovers.

Susan Kraft and her encaustic paintings.

NUMU curator, Marianne McGrath. 

Sieglinde Van Damme and her digital prints from scanned Chemograms with gallerist Jack Fisher.

Jay Ruland‘s  gorgeous dying rose scanned prints.

Lovely White Rabbit & Mad Hatter!

Christopher Elliman‘s mixed media Systematic Deconstruction.

Tessie Barerra-Sharaga‘s mixed media installation.

Exhibiting artist Holly Van Hart with her abstract landscape oil paintings on canvas.

Samuel Price‘s mixed media collage.

Will Marino‘s wound and folded paper, Shadow (Fig Tree)

Jody Alexander and her Keep installation of discarded library books, and vintage linen  and book skins, boro technique worked textiles.

Lisa Wangness‘s mixed media collage Sin / Without.

Dotti Cichon‘s digital photography printed on silk.

Exhibting artist Sara Friedlander and her American Women: Birds of Im/Migration
Mixed media digital collage and paint on wooden panel

Sara Friedlander‘s  American Women: Birds of Im/Migration: Ethel on Her Way Home From School – Mixed media digital collage and paint on wooden panel.

George Rivera‘s dramatic oil on canvas figurative work.

Karen Gutfreund‘s bold text pieces.

Exhibiting artist Laura Jacobson with her prints and ceramics.

Rose Sellery – Baby Shoes!

Rose Selery‘s Pins and Needles dress (detail).

Exhibting artist Rose Sellery and her Rags to Riches sculpture with JR

Rose Sellery‘s Rags to Riches

Laura Scandrett‘s Untitled – Photochemicals on Photo Paper.

Cristina Velázquez‘s installation.

Exhibiting artists Kent Manske and Cristina Velázquez.

Marc D’Estout – Pinhead

Tim Craighead – Without Constantini and D. Brent Stephens – El Triunfo

Khaled Akil‘s Requiem for Syria 1- Digital print from painting and photography — with Anne Schonenberg and exhibiting artist Mary Wold Souza.

        

Exhibiitng artist – Guru and Angel – Mark Henderson.

Robert Larson‘s mixed media paintings – I love the one with the cigarette packaging!

Lorraine Lawson – mixed media on canvas (left)
Mary Wold Souza – oil on canvas (far wall)
Kim Pourciau – wedding china sculpture (center)
Patrick Wädl Hofmeister – mixed media on canvas (right)

Margaret Niven‘s mixed media trees flanking Stan Welsh and Margitta Dietrick Welsh’s mixed media, sculpture, photograph with drawing on far wall

Della Calfee‘s photograph On the Inside.

Robert Ortbal‘s A to Z sculpture.

Robin Lasser‘s photograph & fabulous party goers

Awesome aqua!

Brian Coleman‘s Neon lovliness!

Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian‘s gouache on paper.

         

Green fairy lights – Joe Miller – mixed media install, Exhibiting Artist Jane Peterman Trace and her acrylic Trace Memory

Wild orange!

Exhibiting artist Mandy Spritzer and her metal pieces

Exhibiting artist Danielle Dufayet and daughter.

Danielle Dufayet‘s acrylic paintings.

    

David Middlebrook with his missed media sculpture and the lovely April Gee.

David Middlebrook‘s sculpture and Gail Ragains abstact figurative paintings in oil.

Cool vibe – bass and piano.

Indian classical dance with Abhinaya Dance Co.

 

Best of friends!

Great sax with a jazz-funk-rap group.

Shovelman! I bought his Dirty West CD SOOOO good!

Late night in the VIP lounge.

One final blast of fire before I called it a night.

Lorraine Lawson – A Sense of Place

A Sense of Place is a beautiful exhibition of Lorraine Lawson’s mixed media paintings showing at the Triton Museum of Art until August 21. I was delighted to attend the opening reception last Friday and take in these sophisticated, zen-like pieces that are so richly layered and textured. Gorgeous work!

Lorraine Lawson with Gallerist Kumiko Iwasawa Vadas, of Iwasawa Oriental Art.

 

Silver Lining – Mixed Media

 

Lorraine Lawson – Studio Visit

Lorraine Lawson’s paintings have a spare, zen-like quality about them, which comes through in her fine and carefully balanced compositions, her restrained, often metallic palettes and suggested in her use of calligraphic references. Her work is textured and layered, but so refined, which is quite amazing considering the intensive process involved in creating these pieces!  Inspired by the time worn, weathered surfaces that bear the cultural fingerprint of places she’s encountered in her travels, Lawson recreates this effect using scraps of papers, scores and photos applied to canvases that are worked with mediums, compounds and drippy paint, then stenciled, squeegeed, and scratched, pealed back and rebuilt until all elements have coalesced. The resulting work is imbued with a subtle intensity and deep richness with a cadence, a rythym, a non-objective language of it’s own.

Tanren

Out of Context

Cannery Row

Recently, I was treated to a rare, behind the scenes look into the  Lorraine Lawson’s Campbell studio and all the wonderful chaos that makes the magic of her work possible.

Bright and big and drippy.

Printed rag paper.

Worktable camouflage – can you find the spray bottle?

Calligraphy on rag paper.

Number stencil.

Sheet music.

Calligraphic flourishes on a work in progress.

Scraping back layers – part of the table.

Painting detail.

Craqueleur.

Paintings everywhere, Lorraine Lawson is extremely prolific and works on a number of pieces at any given time.

Work in Progress.

Under layer.

Diptych.

I love following the artist’s process in the studio, how she takes the spark of an idea from some physical material and manipulate and transform them until they take on another life entirely – it really is magic!

You can see Lorraine Lawson’s her work on her website, LorraineLawsonFineArt.com or see it in person at the following locations:

Los Gatos Museum Gallery, Los Gatos, California

Iwasawa Oriental Art Gallery  Los Gatos, California

Stockwell Cellars Santa Cruz, California

O’Hanlon Center for the Arts  Mill Valley, California

Manna Gallery  Oakland, California

Studio Seven  Pleasanton, California

Studio E in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

 

Stop Over

Stop Over, Kate Nartker‘s solo exhibition is on at the Jack Fischer Gallery. Running until December 5, the show is made up of dreamy digitally printed voile, woven imagery of home movies stills and video. For me it all seems to speak of the fragility of memory – loved it!

No Magenta Hydrangeas
Digitally printed voile

Almost There
Digitally printed voile

Wrinkles and puckers were part of the presentation in certain pieces, creating a moire effect with the layers of printed voile.

Woven panels.

Gallerist Jack Fischer gave artist Lorraine Lawson and I had a great personal tour of the Stop Over exhibit.

Weaving video.

In Kate Nartker’s hand woven textile the cross threads mimic the movement of the waves.

This woven textile panel takes you back into a past that feels nostalgic, vaguely familiar and hard to capture.

(detail)

In front of Kate Nartker’s woven textile panel.

White Album

Last night artist Lorraine Lawson and I were lucky to have an early peak at White Album up at George Lawson Gallery which officially opens today and will run until December 19, with an opening reception this Saturday from 5-7pm – it’s simply elegant!

Gallerist George Lawson gave us a personal tour of the work. While challenging to photograph, this was an amazing shot to see in person, with such variety in this subtle white on white approach.

Stephen Beal
Alan Ebnother
Edith Baumann
Pegan Brooke
Zhiyuan Wang

I love these paintings by Edith Baumann and Pegan Brooke, one plays with incremental hue and value shits, the other with variations in tone and sheen.

In Edith Baumann‘s Jazz Notes 58 (acrylic on canvas), the subtle pink rectangles seem to emerge from a fog at different frequencies. Can you hear the music?

Fellow gallery hopper, Lorraine Lawson with Justine Frischmann’s Lambent #38, Indira Morre’s Networks (Expansion), Alma Chaney’s Untitled #4, Kimetha Vanderveen’s Untitled White and Erin Lawlor’s Ghost Dog.

In a closer view you can see texture’s start to appear. A musician friend of mine just let me know that Justine Frischmann, (her work, Lambent #38 on the left) was from the band Elastica!

With these works,  it isn’t until you are up close that you can really appreciate what’s going on. Indira Morre‘s graphite on gesso piece, for instance has a whole universe of organic grid like structures and dotted constellations.

Stephen Beal at NUMU

The New Museums of Los Gatos presented a talk Thursday evening with artist Stephen Beal in conjunction Warp and Weft, an exhibition of Beal’s grid paintings that was guest curated by gallerist George Lawson. It runs until January 3, 2016.

This show spans a decade of work, and consists primarily of acrylic gouache applied to board, muslin and linen. These pieces have been inspired by textiles, music, the work of artists such as Piet Mondrian and Agnes Martin but primarily by the materiality of the work, the way the paint reacts to its substrate, the way colors butt up against each other and by the transformative process itself.

Hard to capture with photography, these panels of dots pulsate with the juxtaposition of color as seen in the detail below.

The complimentary combination of red and green really vibrates!

This series of tape pieces, Untitled #1 – #16, from 2005 is made up contact tape on fluted acrylic panels.

In this detail, you can see how the layering of these transparent tapes creates a fascinating pattern and absolutely feels like a woven textile.

I love this lacy pattern that is created by overlays of tape shown in this detail!

In this “argyle” series on muslin, the color of paint is influenced by the unprimed muslin itself which is left to show through in areas.

Stephen Beal answering questions about his work.

NUMU’s director, Lisa Cosino, and curator, Marianne McGrath introducing  guest curator, gallerist George Lawson and artist Stephen Beal.

George Lawson and Stephen Beal in a fascinating conversation about the work, the process, the craft and the creative impulse. One of Beal’s acrylic gouache on linen can be seen overhead.

Artist Lynn Letterman, gallerist Kumiko Iwasawa Vadas, and artist Lorriane Lawson attended the talk. These two artists are currently exhibiting work along with Stephen Beal at Iwasawa Oriental Art in Los Gatos. That show, Image and Transmission runs through November 30, 2015.

Stephen Beal and and his wife, Dee Hoover met working at the Art Institute of Chicago where Beal did his MFA and Hoover worked as an administrator. Coming west, Beal was provost at the California College of the Arts for over a decade when he was appointed president. He maintains his studio practice, his role as president and positions on many art’s boards and sees all this work as being part of a transformative process!

Los Gatos Plein Air 2015

I love plein air!  It’s magical how artists go out and brave the elements and a cacophony of input and paint up a little gem in a matter of minutes – so fresh, so immediate!  Los Gatos Town Plaza was filled with such gorgeous wet paintings by artists from all over the West Coast that had been juried into Los Gatos Plein Air 2015. Artists had begun painting on location last Tuesday with canvases stamped at NUMU and had wrapped up their work by Friday night with a VIP Auction.

Plein Air 2015 - viewing- photo Marie Cameron 2015

Organized by the by the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club, proceeds from the event are going to support Montalvo Arts Center, the Museums of Los Gatos, Lighting for Literacy, Los Gatos Music and Arts and Art Docents of Los Gatos (which was represented by this great group of women – Hey Louise and Elizabeth!).

Plein Air 2015 - Art Docents - photo Marie Cameron 2015

The Los Gatos Museums Gallery was well represented with five member artists participating, Ellen Howard, Ed Lucey, Will Maller, Carole Rafferty and David Stonesifer. In fact, Carole Rafferty was awarded best in show!

Plein Air 2015 - Carole Rafferty - photo Marie Cameron

Congratulations to Carole Rafferty who was awarded Best in Show!

Plein Air 2015 - Caole Rafferty, BEST IN SHOW - photo Marie Cameron 2015.

Plein Air 2015 - Carole Rafferty, Golden State - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Plein Air 2015 - David Stonesifer - photo Marie Cameron 2015

David Stonesifer.

Plein Air 2015 - David Stonesifer, View of LG from Olive Grove - photo Marie Cameron 2015

David Stonesifer‘s oil, View of Los Gatos from Olive Grove.

Plein Air 2015 - David Stonesifer, the piece I shot him working on- photo Marie Cameron 2015

I shot David working on this piece last week on Overlook Road.

Plein Air 2015 - Will Maller - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Will Maller.

Plein Air 2015 - Will Maller, Morning Walk Vasona - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Will Maller‘s oil, Morning Walk Vasona.

Plein Air 2015 - Ed Lucey - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Ed Lucey.

Plein Air 2015 - Ellen Howard - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Ellen Howard.

Ellen Howard  - oil painting -  LG Plein Air 2015

Ellen Howard‘s oil painting.

Plein Air 2015 - 2nd place Greg LaRock - photo Marie Cameron 2015

2nd Place was awarded to Greg LaRock for his oil painting of a creek in Saratoga.

Plein Air 2015 - Honorable Mention- Erich Neubert, A Walik in the Park - photo Marie Cameron 2015

I missed 3rd place, but an Honorable Mention went to Erich Neubert for A Walk in the Park.

Plein Air 2015 - Kim VanDerHoek - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Another Honorable Mention went to Kim VanDerHoek for this lake scene below.

Plein Air 2015 -Honorable Mention  - Kim VanDerHoek- photo Marie Cameron 2015

 

Plein Air 2015 - Lorraine Lawson - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Lorraine Lawson.

Plein Air 2015 - Susan Elwart Hall - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Susan Elwart Hall.

Plein Air 2015 - Susan Elwart Hall , Pentouse View- photo Marie Cameron 2015

Susan Elwart Hall‘s Penthouse View.

Plein Air 2015 - Susan Elwart Hall, the piece I shot her working on - photo Marie Cameron 2015

I shot Susan painting this piece on Overlook Road.

Plein Air 2015 - Sylvia Dahlgren - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Sylvia Dahlgren painting away.

Plein Air 2015 - Sylvia Dalhgren, Point Lobos - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Sylvia Dahlgren‘s oil, Point Lobos.

Plein Air 2015 - Yong Hong Zhong- photo Marie Cameron 2015

Yong Hong Zhong.

Plein Air 2015 - Yong Hong Zhong, Hiding From the Sun - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Yong Hong Zhong‘s oil, Hiding from the Sun.

Plein Air 2015 - Anton Pavelnko - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Anton Pavlenko  was awarded an honorable mention, for a beautiful little painting, I was going to take a photo of it but then I got distracted by this one:

Anton Pavlenko‘s oil, Morning Meditation.

Plein Air 2015 - meeting with an artist- photo Marie Cameron 2015

Plein Air 2015 - Elvis and gentleman companion - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Elvis and his gentleman companion taking in the art.

Plein Air 2015 - Mira and Me - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Mira Petkova, a fabulous new volunteer at the gallery who is helping with promotion material, and myself shooting the event (Thanks Thuy Le).

Plein Air 2015 - Nancy MacDonald, title unavailable - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Nancy MacDonald‘s oil, Joined at the Hip – love those stabs of red!

 

The Salon

I’m always impressed by the great quality and diversity of work that goes into this annual statewide competition and exhibition at the Triton Museum of Art, work that is made even stronger by the context of how it is paired with other pieces which reinforces aesthetics or meanings by drawing on similarities or emphasizing contrasts.

Salon - Triton - 2014

Amazing color and movement on this wall, topped off by a mixed media piece, Having Fun, by Jeanette Turkus.

Salon - Triton - 2014

Incredibly strong portrait it an interesting color to grey-tone ombre effect.

Salon - Triton - 2014

I think these red shoes (apart from Shards) might have been my personal favorite in the exhibit!

Salon - Triton - 2014

I love the way these prints were hung next to Shards, both works were ocean themed made up of swirling strokes.

Salon -  Triton - Marie Cameron - Shards - Point Alones -  2014

Sequins, shells and Shards-Point Alones at the Salon!

Salon - Triton - 2014

Of course the big news of the night is who won the coveted solo shows that the Triton was offering …. this time the honor went to a painter and a photographer.

Salon - Stephanie Lam  2014

Stephanie Lam not only won Best in Show for her oil, African Child 3, but also an Honorable Mention for her oil, African Child 1!

Triton Salon Yao-pi Hsu - Flow and Splash

Similarly, Yao-pi Hsu (who I know from the Los Gatos Museums Gallery) also won Best in Show for her photograph, Splash and Flow and took a third in photography for a second of three pieces she had juried into the show, Beyond the Surface!

Salon -  Triton - Her Muses - Mei-Ying Dell'Aquila -2014

Mei-Ying Dell’Aquila was awarded Third Place for her oil Her Muses.

Salon - Triton- Ron Dell'Aquila  - Toy Maker -2014

Ron Dell’Aquila took First Place in photography with Toy Maker, one of two photographs he had int he show.

Salon - Triton - After the Storm -  Kim Newell 2014

Kim Newell was awarded an Honorable Mention for her oil, After the Storm.

Salon -  Triton - Cherryl Pape - James - Charcoal -  2014

Cherryl Pape was awarded an Honorable Mention for her charcoal drawing, James.

Salon - Triton - Squeezer -  Jeff Owen - 2014

Jeff Owen was awarded an Honorable Mention for his digital photo, Squeezer.

Salon - 5 2014

I see a David Lippenberger painting in the corner.

Salon - Triton - 2014

Great glasses combo on the right!

Salon - Belinda Lima 2014

Belinda Lima with her mixed media piece, Perceived Realites.

Salon - Julia Watson 2014

Julia Watson with her oil, Nocturne 2.

Salon - Lynette R. Cook 2014

Lynette R. Cook with her acrylic, All Lined Up  (up top).

Salon - Vanessa Callanta 2014

Vanessa Callanta with her acrylic, Bryan’s Hands.

Salon -  Triton -  2014

In the end, there are just so many people to talk with – it was hard to catch everyone I wanted to! There were plenty of artist shots that I missed, and I definitely need to go back for a closer look at all the great work!

Thanks to all my friends who dropped by to say hello-  It always means so much to me!

Salon - Girlfriends! 2014

Anne and Mark’s Art Party 2014

Let me just start by saying wow!  WOW!

I hear that Anne and Mark have been hosting their Art Party for a number of years now but this is the first time they’ve held it at the Santa Clara Fair Grounds – because they’re just that big and fabulous!

Artist Holly Van Hart and I got dolled up for the Opening Gala to check it all out and we were so impressed with the quality and variety of the work which was not limited to just visual art but there was spoken word, poetry, music and dancing! Just when you began to think you saw everything there was another maze to follow and more talent to be amazed by! I hope we can wrangle an invite to participate next year!

Where possible I have linked the artist’s names to their websites so you can find out more about them and their work, just click on them!

Oh – and the party is still going on until September 25th artpartysj.com. Go!Art Party 2014 - Holly Van Hart and art car-photo by Marie Cameron

Art Party 2014 - fish lips -photo by Marie Cameron

Art Party 2014 - fish car -photo by Marie Cameron

Art Party  SJ 2014 - Me with Li Ma's 633 Hours to Intergalactica! -photo by Holly Van Hart

Me with Li Ma‘s 633 Hours to Intergalactica! installation.

Joe Miller exhibited a great street inspired installation.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Seven - c photographic digital print by Michelle Longosz - photo by Marie Cameron

Turns out photographer Michelle Longosz and I have a lot of friends in common – which is always really fun to find out! I was blown away by her serene yet emotionally charged photographs, Seven (above) and White ( below). They are very still and full of movement at the same time ?! To me, they are like photographs of the human spirit!

Art Party SJ 2014 - White - c photographic digital print by Michelle Longosz - photo by Marie Cameron

Art Party SJ 2014 Dotti Cichon explaing her process for photographic process for printing her silk scarves - photo Marie Cameron

Dotti Cichon explaining her photographic process for printing silk scarves. They make a great backdrop for the the couple on their date below. (Can you guess which one is based on graffiti from Florence that I picked out for myself?)

Art Party SJ 2014 - art date - photo Marie Cameron

Art Party SJ 2014 - Art Gaze - photo Marie Cameron

Art gaze  – Thorn of Plenty by David Middlebrook of Los Gatos.

Art Party SJ -Kebe Konte's rings of Fire- photo Marie Cameron

Kebe Konte‘s Rings of Fire – nails on wood.

Art Party 2014 - Marie Cameron in front of Kebe Konte's rings of Fire -photo by Holly Van Hart

Art Party SJ 2014 - impromptu dance - Cie -photo by Marie Cameron

Cie doing an impromptu dance for me in front of Jen Jenning‘s untitled work made from wood, nails and human hair (they reminded me of wool carders).

Art Party  SJ 2014 - CT-86 Big Iron - RIchard Starks -photo by Marie Cameron

CT-86 Big Iron by Richard Starks was a showstopper!

Art Party SJ 2014 - Roberta Aherns and her acrlic and watercolor florals on cracked linen - photo by Marie Cameron

Roberta Aherns paints her florals on cracked linen which gives them a soft textured age look like a fresco.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Holly Van Hart's back, shapie tattoo compliments of yours truly - photo by Marie Cameron

Did I forget to mention that I did have some artwork on exhibit after all? It was on Holly’s back, a shapie tattoo compliments of yours truly! A little something I dashed off (to match the one she’d done on her leg) before we dashed off in her car.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Rose - digital photographs by Jay Ruland- photo by Marie Cameron

And while my little feather was lovely and all that, what was really breathtaking was this Rose series by photographer Jay Ruland! Thump – thump…Thump – thump…Thump – thump!

Art Party SJ 2014- Stan Welsh Ceramic, epoxy resin - photo Marie Cameron Art Party SJ 2014- Stan Welsh - Pilgrim, - photo Marie Cameron Art Party SJ 2014- Stan Welsh ceramic Figure, epoxy resin - photo Marie Cameron

A quiet moment of reflection with Stan Welsh‘s Void and Pilgrim –  ceramic figure and  epoxy resin.

Art Party SJ 2014 - White Queen by Michael Garlington - silver gelatin photographyy, mixed media frame - photo Marie Cameron

White Queen by Michael Garlington – silver gelatin photography, mixed media frame was full of fabulous, dark details as was his other shrine like piece.

Art Party SJ 2014 - White Queen by Michael Garlington - frame details antler - photo Marie Cameron             Art Party SJ 2014 - White Queen by Michael Garlington - frame detail frog - photo Marie Cameron            Art Party SJ 2014 - shrine by Michael Garlington bird detail - photo Marie Cameron

Art Party SJ 2014 - Michael Garlington's shrine - photo Marie Cameron

Party goers discussing the ecstasy of the nun in Michael Garlington’s shrine like sculpture.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Foot and Ass by Tracey Snelling - photo Marie Cameron

And while on naughty and nice – this mixed media piece, Foot & Ass by Tracey Snelling also took a look at secret pleasures.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Fields of Gold by Yvonne Escalante - photo by Marie Cameron

Fields of Gold by Yvonne Escalante, speaks to the aggressive nature of modern agriculture, with these bullet or even missile like forms. They are striking as handsome, sleekly crafted objects, loaded with symbolism and complex implications!

Art Party SJ 2014 - Part of the Whole, encaustic, by Linda Steenkamp - photo Marie Cameron

Another favorite piece was this encaustic work, Part of the Whole, by Linda Steenkamp. These cell-like shapes could be read in a lot of ways but they reminded me of little boats made up of maps and bits of writing on a crowded sea where everyone had a journey but no one was getting anywhere. Perhaps I’m too imaginative with my interpretations. Viewer’s prerogative!

Art Party SJ 2014 - mixed media paintings by D. Hooker - photo Marie Cameron

Mixed media paintings by D. Hooker, whimsical and perhaps a little menacing.

Art Party SJ 2014- Monika Vanderdool Blue Rabbit's Foot, Canary- mixed media ceramic - photo Marie Cameron

Monica Van den Dool‘s Blue Rabbit’s Foot and Canary mixed media ceramic pieces  combined pop (over-scaled, familiar objects in bright colors) with something tender and dark (the real rabbit’s foot and wishbone) leaving me with a feeling of soft melancholy.

Art Party 2014 - photographic portraits  David Pace - photography -photo by Marie Cameron

David Pace exhibited riveting portraits, that pin you with their stare piercing through the kaleidoscope of pattern.

Art Party SJ 2014 - mixed media painting by George Rivera (center) - photo Marie Cameron

A George Rivera mixed media painting looms central in the photo above.

Art Party SJ 2014 - detail of Hope, mixed media painting by George Rivera - photo Marie Cameron

A dramatic detail from George Rivera’s mixed media piece, Hope, with its deeply wrought darks and its burnished highlights.

Art Party SJ 2014 - with exhibing artist Lorraine Lawson and Holly Van Hart - photo Marie Cameron

Artist Phyllis Jenkins, Lorraine Lawson (yet another Los Gatos Museums Gallery artist – along with me and Holly), Gallery 85’s Sandy Burkhart and Holly Van Hart!

Art Party SJ 2014 -Melissa Kreisa and her metallic abstract paintings - photo Marie Cameron

Melissa Kreisa and her rich metallic Abstract paintings.

Art Party 2014 - Susan Kraft and her acrylics-photo by Marie Cameron

Susan Kraft and her textured abstract acrylics.

Art Party 2014 - pair o' Aussies- Burning Man regulars -photo by Marie Cameron             Art Party SJ 2014 - all dressed up - red and black -photo by Marie Cameron            Art Party SJ 2014 - all dressed up -photo by Marie Cameron

Great people watching!

Art Party SJ 2014 - Art Goers - photo Marie Cameron

Art Partty SJ 2014 - Gail Ragains acrylic Swimmers - photo Marie Cameron

I’ve been a fan of Gail Ragains bold and bright abstracted figures for some time now and it was great to see an entire alcove full of these swimmers in acrylic!

Art Party 2014 - Dissent anf Off with Their Heads mixed media by Christopher Elliman -photo by Marie CameronArt Party 2014 - Voices of Dissent and Off with Their Heads mixed media by Christopher Elliman -photo by Marie Cameron

I would have liked to walk home with these!  Voices of Dissent and Off with Their Heads, mixed media paintings by Christopher Elliman. He uses elements of stencil and poster bombing, street art and fairytale. I find them both whimsical and politically charged! LOVE!

Art Party SJ 2014 - lines of art and art appreciators blurring - photo Marie Cameron             Art Party SJ 2014 - Music!- photo Marie Cameron             Art Party SJ 2014 - photographer Stephanie Guerrero- photo by Marie Cameron

Art Party SJ 2014 - a rose by any other name...- photo Marie Cameron

A rose by any other name…

Art Party SJ 2014- VHS tape knitting by  Cristina Velazquez - photo Marie Cameron

VHS tape knitting by Cristina Velazquez – I’ll take a sweater dress please!

Art Party SJ 2014 - Patrick Hofmeister installation - photo Marie Cameron

Patrick Hofmeister‘s installation above and below (I hear he’s on his honeymoon – congratulations!)

Art Party SJ 2014 - Patrick Hofmeister installation - photo Holly Van Hart

Art Party 2014 - guys playing with fire -photo by Marie Cameron

Dancing dudes with stilts and blow torches.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Fire Dance r- photo Marie Cameron

Fire Dancer performed to one of my all time favorite musicians, Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn  and his qawwali piece, Dum Must Qalandar.  I believe this was the remixed version with Massive Attack.

Art Party SJ 2014 - Anne and Mark sighting? - photo Marie Cameron

A possible Anne and Mark sighting – Thanks for the party!

Art Party SJ 2014 - deep sea fish car - photo Marie Cameron

Deep sea fish car.

Art Party 2014 - CD installation -photo by Marie Cameron

I watched early on as artists were stringing up the CDs among the lights, and by the end of the evening they looked like twinkling stars!

Art Party 2014 - wrapping up the gala -photo by Marie Cameron

When your photos start getting blurry like this you know it’s time to go home – too dark for my hand held camera or too many Art Dog martinis?

Art Party 2014 - Snail Car -photo by Marie Cameron

But not before one last blast from Jon Sarriugarte‘s snail car, The Golden Mean!