For those of you who came to my show at Tech Liminal and ProArts Open Studio, it was great to see you. Your wonderful support has inspired me to start a variety of new works. What I learned from you is that you particularly like the assemblage and sculpture. Here’s one of the new pieces, which is hanging in our store window.
Category Archives: Art
Showing New Works by Elida
Size Doesn’t Matter
We recently framed a wonderful piece of oversized art by a local artist, John Parente, a professor of art, creativity,philosophy, and religion at Chabot College. His work is filled with symbolism and knowledge reflecting world religion and philosophies.
This piece is a large-scale watercolor done in 3 pieces that are presented together as a triptych. Since it is a waterborne medium on paper, one of the major challenges was to keep the pieces flat and supported inside the framing package. We utilized a large fabric covered liner that is strong and won’t flex like a matboard might, and attached the art to a sturdy backing. The larger center section is nearly 7 feet tall, so plexi is a must. We went with Optium museum plexi which has no reflection and is anti-static as well as scratch resistant.
They are now proudly hanging in the Language & School of Arts building at Chabot College in Hayward, CA. A fitting tribute to a much appreciated artist. As John would wish for us all, “Peace and Fullness of Life!”
PAINTS 2012 – it’s for the birds
If you don’t know what PAINTS is – you are missing out on one of the great art promoting groups in our area. It stands for: Promote Art IN The Schools. All year, a dedicated group of volunteers gather art and all sorts of package trips and services to auction off at a fund-raising gala auction on Memorial Day weekend. Many local artists create birdhouses out of all sorts of materials: guitars, wood, metal – this year there was a 12 foot tall pencil! This year, we of course made one out of frames – it was fun and a great challenge!
Micah & Jennifer built sides and a roof out of frames filled with textured boards and even installed a hinge so it can be used as a storage box. We decided it would be a birdie death trap, and not to be used as a real bird house!
Elida was inspired by an abundance of collected materials to build one also – from a cigar box and a crazy twisted piece of wood – take a look:
Pretty fabulous! And now we can’t stop looking at all kinds of materials and thinking, ‘Hey, we could make that into a bird house!’ We’re busily planning for next year…. join us!
Go Oakland!
Despite recent news coverage, Oakland is a wonderful place to live and work. Even the New York Times says it is one of the top 5 places in the world to visit in 2012. Grand Avenue in particular is home to 2 of their recommended restaurants: Boot & Shoe, and Camino as well as 2 attractions: Grand Lake Theater and Morcom Rose Garden. As those of you who live in our neighborhood can attest, this barely scratches the surface of things to do and places to eat & shop. And as we can attest – the lively atmosphere of our city is a direct result of the vibrant folks who live & work here!
We at Galleria Scola know that all of you who shop in our store and all the other small businesses that thrive along our avenues do so because you want us to be here now and into the future. It is a conscious decision that we appreciate and it inspires us, in turn, to give back to our community. In the last few months, we have supported many great organizations: Mother Mary Ann Wright Foundation, Girl’s Inc., Beth Jacob Congregation, Corpus Christi School, Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay, Clausen House, Children’s Fairyland, and First Place for Youth. Check out these causes and maybe you will feel moved to support them in whatever way you choose.
Another way to show your Oakland Pride is with a giclee print of a charming scene from Oakland’s history. We have reproduced a few images found on vintage pamphlets advertising Oakland as an up-and-coming place to settle. They are printed on thick cotton rag paper using archival, pigmented inks, and so will last far into the future. Show your Oakland Pride – Oakland Rocks!
Distressed Crackle Frame
A great guy stopped in a while back with a special challenge. He wanted something unusual to display a group of posters – “Do you have frames made of old barn wood?” Well, not exactly, but what were you visualizing? As we discussed further I came to find out he is Chris Pastena, owner of Chop Bar in downtown Oakland. He has done great projects with local artisans in many areas of the restaurant – the reclaimed wood on the walls, the bar area itself – all utilizing repurposed materials of all sorts. This is the kind of challenge we love! We brainstormed a bit more and landed on the idea of old windows. He has posters from the monthly pig roasts Chop Bar hosts in the Spring and Summer, so something quite sizable was in order.
Chris went to a reuse center and found a wonderful long glassed door and pretty much said, “Go to town!” Great!
We started with the window – cleaned it up a bit and lightly sanded the painted frame. Then came the base coat for the crackle distressed finish we had decided upon. After the paint was dry, we applied a crackling medium which goes on very thick then settles itself into odd littel circles. When that was set-up and almost completely dry, the top coat went on – then the magic happens! It begins to crackle!
After about 24 hours, the cracks get even more pronounced. We used two related shades of paint and applied them oppositely on opposing legs of the frame – dark over light in one direction and light over dark in the other direction. We think it came out pretty darn great.
To finish it off, we painted the outside and inside edges black to give the whole piece a little more depth, then mounted the posters onto an oversized matboard backing with thumbtacks. The piece hangs horizontally from the hardware that was formerly it’s door hinges.
Chris was so delighted with the way it turned out, we had to take a photo of him with his new masterpiece!
You can now see it proudly displayed at Chop Bar, and you will not regret stopping in for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or happy hour! And know that you are supporting a local dining treasure that is hosted by people who support local artists, food producers,and the local economy! Thank you Chris!
Wonderful design from years gone by
Vintage ephemera are always appealing. Elida has acquired a collection of antique labels that were intended for many products from lima beans to hair oil. The lithography has a different look and feel than today’s offset and inkjet printing. The graphics, fonts, and crazy products are all wonderful links to the past. Oh how products have changed for addressing the same issues we have all faced since the beginning of time: skincare, hair care, dandruff, tooth polishing, - vanishing cream!
The labels have never been applied to bottles or jars and so the colors have great subtlety and clarity. Many are luxuriously gold foil stamped. Perfect for your powder room, dressing room, or any small nook that invites a lingering look.
Show off your collections!
collection of oil paintings
We have a client who has a beloved collection of French landscape paintings by Georges Tiret-Bognet. Unfortunately they had languished in a dark dusty corner of the attic for many years. Fortunately, he knew just where to come to have them spiffed up! We made sure the frames were joined securely, buffed the finish with wax, and reassembled the art into the frames using acid-free backings to ensure their longevity. Now they are proudly hung in an attractive grouping on a small wall finished in Venitian plaster. Very Charming!
Creativity Contest
We need a t-shirt. Can you help us design it? Here are a couple of ideas: 
With such creative clients, we’re sure you can come up with a good design. So we decided to offer a reward for this challenge. Send us your ideas and we will post our favorites to our website and have everyone vote on it. The grand prize for this assignment is $300.00 worth of custom framing or merchandise and one bottle of Domaine Carneros by Tattinger. Please email your ideas to: galleriascola@yahoo.com with the subject line ‘t-shirt contest’, then we will post them on our website for all to vote! Deadline for submissions is Sept. 31, 2011. Get creative!
We love textiles!
And we know you do too. However, it’s impossible to enjoy them stashed away in a trunk or drawer. When was the last time you looked through your souvenir trove? If you have an empty nook in your home that you’d like to furnish with something eye-catching, fill it with memories from your adventures! Think of that Indian scarf, Chinese brocade, African raffia cloth, Indonesian batik, Croatian crewelwork, Navajo rug, or blocks from the quilt that Grandma never had time to complete. We can create presentations for (almost) anything – in a deep frame or just securely attached to a presentation mount.
Textiles, fabrics, and most items made from woven materials show very well against a fabric background. We take a solid substrate supported from the back with sturdy wooden slats, hand wrap this base with colorful silk, textural linen, or smooth satin and then attach your object so it is securely supported. It is ready to hang in this state and gives your textile a context and structure that makes it a striking work of art.
Our environments have a lot of dust & contaminants floating around and textiles are particularly vulnerable to attracting and absorbing these. In order to protect pieces of more importance a covering must be used. This can be inside a frame with glass or acrylic that is raised off the piece with varied spacing devices to create room for the object. Another option is to fabricate a plexibox that encloses the entire assembly. Each has it’s own advantages – a plexibox can look very modern and disappear completely, and of course a frame can be as simple or elaborate as you want, adding drama and impact to your pieces.
Use what you already have! You bought it – you already love it – and it will remind you of that beach, mountain or lake where you had the time of your life.
Frame Love
More often than you might imagine, someone tells me they love their framed artwork. But this image captures a rare moment of framing rapture between Reesa Tansey & her antique Chinese infant wrap. Reesa is a commercial real estate maven with Collier’s International. She brings in treasures from her world travels, then kvells over the results.
She really loves her frame!
Three-dimensional objects lend themselves ideally to shadowbox frames. The antique infant wrap from China was a delicate batiked and pieced fabric. The simple presentation includes a silk covered backing board to which the batik was hand tacked with small stitches, surrounded by a liner covered in the same color silk. The frame is a solid maple in a strong beveled profile, finished in a tone that echoes the creamy white in the artwork. Museum glass is the best glazing option for shadowboxes, as it affords an unobstructed view of the details in the objects. You can still appreciate the drape of the fabric and the holes in the corners where the bundle was secured.
unwrapping her finished piece"It's so great!"
