PLEASE NOTE:  Attached pdf file at bottom, as well as two additional jpg images.  Thank you.




12pm PST, June 15, 2012

ART WORKS DOWNTOWN 1337 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone (415) 451-8119
Fax (415) 451-8237
Web: ArtWorksDowntown.org


Contact: Art Works Downtown
Phone: (415) 451-8119

ART WORKS DOWNTOWN PRESENTS:
“STILL LIFES” JURIED BY JENNIFER FARRIS & RAB TERRY
SAN RAFAEL, CA, JUNE 15, 2012:

Art Works Downtown announces “Still Lifes”, a new exhibit in the
main gallery at 1337 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA, June 29
through August 3, 2012. The Opening Reception on Friday, July 13
• 5-8pm coincides with 2nd Fridays Art Walk. This exhibit has
been curated by Jennifer Farris and Rab Terry of STUDIO Gallery,
San Francisco. Jennifer and Rab’s Nob Hill gallery showcases
the work of Bay Area artists in fine art, crafts and home
furnishings. The exhibit at Art Works Downtown features 42
artists, working in painting, pastel, photography, textile,
ceramics, metals and mixed-media.

Traditionally, still lifes have been used to convey status or
symbolic and allegorical messages, to display curiosities, and
to provide a view of everyday objects. Modern still lifes have
evolved from pure representation to an exploration of
composition, color, line and form. This show explores a variety
of still lifes in both traditional and modern styles.

“Still Lifes” welcomes former Marin gallery owner, Ann Switzer,
also an Art Works Downtown studio artist. Switzer maintained
“The Switzer Gallery” in Tiburon, CA from 1996 to 2003, where
she represented the work of many local artists. Switzer has a
passion for still lifes and contemporary American realism. Her
current body of work focuses on antique toys and objects,
colorful fruits and vegetables in heirloom bowls and glass.
Selected for this exhibit, Ann’s piece, “Whoa!”, is a playful
still life oil painting, featuring an antique tin toy -- a
cowboy on a rocking horse -- and an antique wooden train.

Melissa Woodburn, sculptor and ceramics artist from San Rafael,
has created a series of small wall plaques done with hand-rolled
slabs of porcelain. Her “Still Life with Artichoke” is
inscribed with original sgrafitto drawings in the leather hard
clay. After bisque firing, she underglazed, glazed and fired
the piece. She then applied gold leaf to the inline and sealed
this, resulting in a rich, renaissance feel to this small work.

Vicky Divine and her son, Dusty Divine,
will each exhibit traditional still life painting. Vicky and
Fred Divine own Aurora Art Studios and Gallery in San Rafael,
and are regular participants in 2nd Fridays Art Walk each month.

Certainly the greenest piece in the show, is a unique
combination of borage plants, fruits, vegetables and a Cala lily
arranged and rendered in watercolor and ink by San Francisco
artist, Cary Bailey. Bailey’s works appear to have a Mexican
connection, with Cala Lilly, masks and baskets suggesting his
inspiration.

Patricia Ancona’s piece, “Locked”, illustrates a sweet wooden
china doll in a beautiful tapestry-like background, locked up
with a chain and heavy metal lock. Ancona’s still lifes appear
surreal and with intended messages beyond the implied painting
of the objects themselves. In her artist statement, she says:
“I use everyday objects and the image of the doll symbolically
and surrealistically to explore psychological concepts in my
paintings.” Ancona is also a San Rafael-based artist, and an
Associate Artist of Art Works Downtown.

Judith William’s “Subordinate” is an encaustic, mixed-media
piece constructed with text from newsprint and pages from Asian
books. The writing becomes the surface of a table, and she has
painted still life bowls and objects on top of these unique
elements. The texture throughout the piece is highly defined
and varied, highlighting the beauty of unique surface design in
a modern still life. Williams is from Mill Valley, where she
writes of her work, “I paint over maps, architectural
blueprints, old dictionary pages and textbooks, incorporating
them into the compositions and context. It’s the hidden levels
of these layers, the unconscious and psychological undertones
that intrigue me.” Recently, a trip to Japan inspired Williams
to create a series of tea bowls with collage and calligraphy.

San Francisco Photographer, Jeanne Hauser, has also drawn
inspiration from travel to Japan and China. Her photograph of
Chinese porcelain figurines, “Woman Revolutionary”, is a
fantastic look at the detail and color of these hand-painted
characters. A macroscopic view of another place and time that
adds another dimension to this still life show.

Other artists exhibiting include:

>From San Francisco:
Sonia Melnikova-Raich, San Francisco

>From the EAST BAY:
Beverly Brown, Walnut Creek
Gary Comoglio, Alameda
Donna Duguay, Berkeley
Elizabeth Saucier, Berkeley
Derek Farrocco, Kensington
Mary Martin DeShaw, El Cerrito

>From the NORTH BAY:
Joan Ambrosini, Guerneville
Beth Changstrom, Penngrove
Tom Swearingen, Santa Rosa

>From South Marin:
Carol Allen, Mill Valley
Ilene Avery, Mill Valley
Courtney Michalik, Mill Valley
Kate Barrengos, Mill Valley
Raquel Baldocchi, Sausalito
Judy Calder, Sausalito
Angela Gonzalez, Tiburon
Judith Klausenstock, Tiburon

>From Central Marin:
Pat Doherty, Corte Madera
Sherrill Miller, San Anselmo
Jack Androvich, San Rafael
Georgia Annwell, San Rafael
Patricia Blau, San Rafael
Victoria Fernandez, San Rafael
Sherreme Gurtler, San Rafael
Megan Kenyon, San Rafael
Julie Nunes, San Rafael
Mary Valente, San Rafael
Stefanie Jules Zimmerman, San Rafael

>From West Marin:
Patricia Oji, Fairfax
Rose Steiner, Fairfax
Barbara McLain, Nicasio
Griffe R. Griffiths, Woodacre

Beyond the Bay Area:
Mark David Manning, Sacramento

Also featured at Art Works Downtown on July 13 are two events on
our lower level, including “Tropical Punch” colorful paintings
by Deanna Pedroli in the Underground Gallery, and in the AWD
Founders Lounge “The Sounds of Summer”, curated by Milla Ruane
and Joanne Harwood. “Still Lifes”, as well as 35 artist
studios, will be open and on display at Art Works Downtown
during 2nd Fridays Art Walk, 5-8pm, July 13. Art Works Downtown
is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
For more information, please contact:
Art Works Downtown, 1337 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA
Phone: 415-451-8119 Website: ArtWorksDowntown.org


ATTACHMENTS:

1.  (ABOVE)  Event POSTCARD (M&Mmmmms, by Tom Swearingen of Santa Rosa)

2.  PDF FILE WITH FORMATTED TEXT:



3.  IMAGE:  Ann Switzer's "Whoa", oil on canvas of toy cowboy and trains.


4.  IMAGE:  Jeanne Hauser's, "Revolutionary Woman", photograph.


_____________

Colleen Proppé
Communications Coordinator
colleen@artworksdowntown.org

art works downtown | 1337 fourth street | san rafael  94901 | 415.451.8119