NEW EXHIBIT AT NOVA
NOVA Bar and Restaurant
555 Second St (x. Brannan) SF, CA
'Purple Poppy With Pods' Acrylic, Watercolor on hand-made Linen Canvas 24" x 60" 2010
PIECES OF NATURE
Roberta Ahrens
Roberta works with the beauty in nature’s structure and balance, the interplay between different shapes and forms, and the power of color - what she calls the ‘architecture’ of the nature. With her camera, she searches for her subjects in nature, later deciding which image to bring to the canvas. All of Roberta’s images are crafted on handmade canvases she creates using her own technique, called Cracked Linen, that embeds thick plaster into the fabric. About her work, Roberta shares, “There is a certain balance in the feeling of the piece that works. It’s a feeling that is immediate. It’s right now, bright, intense and happy.”
Oregon native Roberta Ahrens moved to San Francisco in 1981 to work with her sister, Shelly Masters, a master finisher and instructor at the Day Studio. After working for the distinguished Evans & Brown, internationally renowned for their murals, tromp l'oeil and special effects for residential and commercial projects, Roberta now is the proprietor of the successful Ahrens Studio, specializing in faux finishes and murals. In 2005, Studio Replica of Petaluma, an eight year partnership venture for Roberta, won Best of Show and Gold Medal Awards at the 2005 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.e, so that the painting takes its own natural course to completion.
On exhibit until OCT 27
555 Second St (x. Brannan) SF, CA
hours: M - F 11:30 - 2p; M - Sat 4p - 2p
ARTIST RECEPTION WEDNESDAY AUG 11 5:30 - 7:30P
ART AS CRAFT
Omar Barba
Omar creates images that blend an Arts and Crafts aesthetic with a bold palette influenced by mid 20th century pop culture. He strives to produce images that have impact - even if they are over the top!
ARTIST RECEPTION:
WEDNESDAY, AUG 11 5:30 - 7:30P
venue:
342 Grant Ave (x. Bush St.) SF, CA
top
ENERGY IS NEITHER CREATED NOR DESTROYED, IT JUST CHANGES FORM
FLOWING WORLD - Clay Vajgrt
The 20th century artist Mark Rothko defined art’s purpose to ”distill all experiences down to their essential unity”. I find this experience of “wholeness” in the mostly natural world around me. I don’t see it as a static experience. I find the most joy in being outdoors. I notice the sunlit scenes of the landscape as they cascade down around me and I feel the vibrations of the ever-shifting quality of life. I sense more than meets the eye and so I expand these windows of the visible to include the unseen forces of nature. Exposure to natural phenomenon and the beauty of the landscape provide me with ample inspiration for my paintings. I internalize the world around me as I see it dissolve into light, color, and movement. I try to capture the buzzing vibrational atmospheres of places with my palette knives, brushes, and sometimes fingers. The widescreen fields of the flowing energy of life are what I wander in for the experience of unity." ~ C. Vajgrt
RECEPTION: WED JUL 21 5:30 - 7P
rsvp: info @ mckinleyartsolutions.com
2223 Market Street (x. 16th) SF, CA
hours: 5:30 - 9:30p Su - Th; 11pm F, Sa; 11a - 2p Sun brunch
On exhibit through SEPT 7
SURREAL CITYSCAPES RECALL HERB CAEN'S 'BAGHDAD BY THE BAY'
exhibit on display in XYZ Restaurant, XYZ Cafe, Library Room (2nd Floor), Bliss Spa
TILTING BABYLON
Lynn Rubenzer
With a title evocative of Herb Caen's "Baghdad By The Bay", "Tilting Babylon" features 11 new cityscapes that explore the mystical underpinnings of San Francisco. These are portraits of the city, where familiar landmarks wander into neighborhoods populated by scarlet monkeys and Painted Ladies. Utilizing deep earth tones and alternating between brush and palette knife, Lynn Rubenzer creates vast urban expanses filled with Edwardians and Victorians that toggle up hillsides like a stadium of chattering monkeys, and palm trees that sway and pierce a raw ochre sky. Here, humanity emerges from the landscape in the form of floating eyes, reflecting the resplendent and the surreal.
Awarded “Best of SF” by San Francisco Magazinein 2005 for her portraits of San Francisco, Lynn exhibits regularly around the Bay Area. Her work has been published on book covers and featured in literary magazines. In addition to painting and sculpture, Lynn also creates large scale installations, most notably her annual storefront window at 826 VALENCIA, the renowned writing center founded by author Dave Eggers in the Mission District.
ARTIST'S RECEPTION JUN 17 6 - 8P
convenes on the 2nd Floor balcony, overlooking XYZ Cafe and the main lobby
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
On exhibit through SEPT 13
