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Assemblage Demonstration by Elida Scola – April 3, 2014

The fascination with found objects is ancient. A piece of wood that looks like a bird, a rusty door latch with filigree edges, these are my favorite things. Come see how I put them together to make a unified whole. Bring something to challenge me and I will try to turn it into art before your very eyes!
Join us for this first in a series of First Thursdays on Grand demonstrations at Galleria Scola.  Have a glass of wine and see art in the making.  6-9pm April 3,2014 at Galleria Scola on Grand Ave.
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Woodson Watercolors – Exhibit Opens March 1, 2014

Oakland artist Kevin Woodson will exhibit a collection of brand new winter and spring 2014 watercolors of spring flowers, painted in the parks and gardens of Oakland and the Bay Area. The exhibit will run March 1 – March 30, 2014 at Galleria Scola with an opening reception Thursday March 6 from 5-9 PM, in conjunction with First Thursday’s on Grand Avenue.

Kevin’s Flowers are special because as an artist, flowers are his exclusive focus. Kevin paints flowers in the gardens where they grow, painting every day, and often returning to the same flower year after year. His dedication to nature, flowers, and culture is clear in every painting. In order to paint the entire magical and botanical experience of the flower, Kevin forgoes photography, pencil, and does not use cut flowers. Spending time with Kevin’s work, you immediately see that his paintings are unique, like doorways into our collective human dream of nature.

Magnolias Painting
Artist Kevin Woodson’s watercolor of magnolias in bloom.
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Showing New Works by Elida

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.photo-2

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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!”

 

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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!