We're Moving!

(no name yet - suggestions??) Acrylic - 18 x 24

Just a quick update on all that will be happening in my little art community this Fall......

The Lafayette Gallery will be moving on Oct. 1st to a larger space at The Forge in Lafayette!  Our new address will be -

Lafayette Art Gallery
3420 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite A
Lafayette, CA 94549


Check out this short video to see our new location -  The Forge

The upcoming show in Lafayette will be "Art of the Heart" and opens on Oct. 8th through Dec. 28th.

Also, The Bay Area Studio Artists (BASA), a group of LAA members who paint together at Marcy Wheeler’s studio, have two shows in November and December:

·         Barn Dance, Celebrating Our Agrarian Heritage at Village Theater Art Gallery, 233 Front St., Danville, Nov. 13 to Dec. 22.
Reception Sat., Nov. 16, 5 – 7 p.m.

·         California Shades at the Marilyn Citron O’Rourke Art Gallery at the Benicia Public Library, 150 East L St, Benicia, Nov. 18, 2013, to Jan. 2, 2014.
Reception and Art Sale, Sunday, Dec. 8, 3 to 5 p.m.

Barn Dance

Old Guard - Acrylic 30 x 40

Barn Dance commemorates the 100^th anniversary of the Grange being established at the gallery’s location.

“The idea of our agrarian heritage is iconic to most Americans, even the city dwellers among us,” said Marcy Wheeler. “Our group includes some painters who grew up as farm girls and some who only imagine the rustic life. But each artist reaches for images that reflect our shared history on the land.”

California Shades

Tranquil Truckee - Acrylic 18 x 24

The California Shades exhibit features artworks that explore the play of sun and shade on California’s dramatic color palette. The show captures the sun on a brilliant Big Sur ocean, the shaded trunks of a twisted California Oak, the San Francisco Bay cloaked in coastal fog and many more visions of our state.

The artists extend the exhibit off the walls and into the airy gallery, creating a multi-media ambiance that sets the scene for visitors to enjoy and think about California’s character and characters.

BASA is a group of local artists who have painted together for more than five years.  They paint in acrylics and oils and represent a wide range of aesthetic choices and viewpoints on California. Their painting styles range from nuanced realism to gooey expressionism. The shows are curated with an eye to illuminating this diversity of point of view.

Artists represented in this shows are Jeanette Baird, Susan Bonebakker, Pat Dallacroce, Ellen Reintjes, Joanne Taeuffer, Sharon Tama, Marcy Wheeler and Barn Dance includes guest artists Suzun Almquist and Joe Bologna. For more information on the Bay Area Studio Artists, see the website: bayareastudioartists.com or contact Joanne Taeuffer at jaytee@aol.com.

Show Hours

The Benicia Library is open M-Th 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., F-Sun noon – 6 p.m. (Holiday hours apply Dec. 23 – Jan. 1.)

Danville’s Village Theater Art Gallery is open M - T by appt, W - Friday noon to 5 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Making Waves

Tuesday, August 13 the Lafayette Gallery will open with a new show "Making Waves".  The above painting is "Beach Dance" and was from a photo I took at Stinson Beach in June of a couple frolicking in the waves with their multicolored umbrellas.  It felt young and carefree.

My other entry is "Gone Surfin' "  and was a composite of several different photos.  This young man was in a parking lot near Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz but I really wanted him on the beach.  I found one taken several days earlier where the lighting was from the same direction and combined the two.

Hope you can come by and see the new show!

Mini Solo Show

Yesterday I helped to hang my first solo show!  It consists of seven paintings and is at Chow Restaurant in Danville.  I was so excited that I forgot to take photo's of the paintings!  Next time I dine there, I promise to take a few photo's to share.  The photo below is of the interior when I was there several weeks ago to check out the interior space.

They have great food in a casual atmosphere and a friendly wait staff.  My husband and I go there frequently for their Sunday Brunch (mmmm...) and love to dine on their patio!

Chow Food Bar is located at:

445 Railroad Ave  Danville, CA 94526

(925) 838-4510

La Vela d'oro

la vela d'oro

Just finished up my Venice painting that I began several weeks ago in Lake Tahoe. I love the reflection of the sail on the water and the warm afternoon colors on the domes as well as the three men expertly handling the boat.

Celebrate Summer

 

I have just finished two new paintings for the Lafayette Gallery's new show "Celebrate Summer".  The painting above was from Peggi Kroll-Roberts workshop that I took several years ago and was done from both a study and a photo.  The model had an iPod in her hand while she posed which made her had posed funny.  I decided to place a love letter in her hand instead - hence the title "The Love Letter".  She has a look on her face that doesn't really give away what her letter is saying to her heart.

The second painting I submitted for hanging is of two women taking their little terriers for a walk on the beach down in Aptos, California.  I just loved how the lead Westie was cruzing and the little brown Carin was working so hard to keep up with his buddy.  The folds in the womens jeans and the colorful leashes work as a ribbon moving your eye through the painting all added to the fun of this one! The title of this is "Toes and Tails".

Hope you can come by the Gallery to see the new show.  It will be on display until August 10th.

Upcoming Gallery Summer Shows

Over the weekend we were in Lake Tahoe celebrating my birthday and I was able to start a painting for the galleries summer show - America's Cup.

It was my birthday so I was enjoying a little wine too!

The painting is based on a photo I had taken in 2005 while in Venice.  I loved the late afternoon sunlight on the old buildings behind a wonderful little sail boat that had a breathtaking golden sail.

Also, if you are around this upcoming weekend, please stop by The Lafayette Gallery on Saturday, June 15th.  I will have a booth at the Artist Market from 11 - 5.  Stop by and say "hello"! Click HERE for the address.

Birds and Pearls

Last Wednesday, my husband and I drove to the de Young Museum in San Francisco to see "The Girl With a Pearl Earring" by Jan Vermeer.  This was an exhibit of Dutch paintings from the Mauritshuis, which is being remodeled.

The exhibit first took you through several rooms full of 200 or more small, sometimes tiny etchings & drawings from "Rembrandt's Century".  I needed to get up close to admire the amazing talent in these pieces but after 50 they all began to look alike.

Self-Portrait Drawing at a Window by Rembrandt van Rijn (1648)

Suddenly we were in a room full of color and there she was - The Girl With a Pearl Earring" (c1665).

I fell in love.  The pose is just so intriguing with her looking over her shoulder with those big eyes looking straight into the viewer with a slightly open mouth and just a hint of glistening on her lips.  The blues, the golds, the pearl and the head wrap all added to my fascination.  

I had to go back three times to look at her - "just once more"!


The only other piece that captured my heart was by an artist named Carel Fabritius and it was titled "The Goldfinch" (1654).

Yesterday a new exhibit opened that at the Legion of Honor - "Impressionists on the Water"
 June 1 - October 13, 2013.  I can't wait!

Claude Monet