Featured Artist Friday: Christina Chen

Christina ChenChristina Chen is a newcomer to oil painting. These two lovely pieces definitely reveal her potential. Christina’s work is fine and delicate--and her paintings embody a calm, soothing spirituality. She has a wonderful sense of color and light--both of which she uses in subtle, yet powerful, ways. Christian’s other passion in art is ceramics. She clearly has many talents! I’m delighted that Christina is participating in my painting workshops!

Christina Chen, After B. Morris's “Enchanting” - 2012, oils on canvas, 11 x 14 in. (click photo for larger image)Christina Chen, “Water Lily 2” - 2012, Oils on canvas, 11 x 14 in. (click photo for larger image)For information on my classes at Pasadena City College Extension, click here....

One Man, 100,000 Toothpicks, and 35 Years: an Incredible Kinetic Sculpture of San Francisco

Click on photo for larger image...This is an amazing, long-term project. The artist, Scott Weaver, had this to say:

“I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding.”

To read more and view some details of this amazing work, click here....

Featured Artist Friday: Miguel Eduardo Medrano

We’ll now be featuring a different artist every Friday. Each week, we’ll introduce you to some wonderful fine artists--working on a range of subjects, in a variety of media. We’ll begin with some artists from our own backyard--here in southern California.

Miguel Eduardo MedranoMiguel Eduardo Medrano is an incredible painter--who works primarily in oils and has a remarkable sense of color and design. Eduardo (as he prefers to be called by his friends) was born in Argentina, in 1944. He’s an architect and primarily self-taught painter--who has now workshopped with me for a couple of years. In his own words:

"I started drawing and painting while still in school, and continued to pursue this passion while studying architecture. Throughout my professional career, I kept up with my love of painting. To supplement my self-taught knowledge and skills, I participated in some workshops, competitions and exhibitions. My goal with my paintings is to transform my subject matter into a plastic language. My landscapes are where life is art, and the landscape is a state of  the soul, which lies in the soft echo of a painting."

Miguel Eduardo Medrano, Taos, oil on canvas, 24" x 18" (click photo for larger image)Miguel Eduardo Medrano, The creek..the road...and the mountains, oil on canvas, 16" x 20" (click photo for larger image)If you’re interested in seeing more of Miguel Eduardo Medrano’s work, you can contact him at medranoeduardo@gmail.com. For information on my classes at Pasadena City College Extension, click here....

Seventeen Works By Banksy to Sell in Urban Art Sale At Bonhams

Bonhams auction house employees pose for photographers with a work by British artist known as Banksy, entitled 'Kate Moss', during a press preview in London, Friday, March, 23, 2012. The Andy Warhol inspired 'Kate Moss' is expected to sell for between GBP 30,000 to 50,000 (US$ 48,000 to 79,000). AP Photo/Alastair Grant.Banksy is a pseudonym used by a British underground street artist, filmmaker and political activist. He uses a stenciling technique to produce works that are satirical and embody a dark humour.

From ArtDaily.org:

LONDON.- Seventeen art works by the celebrated graffiti artist, Banksy, will be available to photograph at Bonhams, New Bond Street, ahead of the Urban Art Sale, which takes place on 29 March 2012. One of the highlights is a screen print of British supermodel Kate Moss, 2005, inspired by Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe series, which has been estimated at £30,000 – 50,000. It will be on display alongside Warhol’s screenprint of a Dollar Sign (estimate £20,000 – 30,000), which is part of the Contemporary Two: Modern Design sale, also on 29 March 2012.

Read more...

For a fascinating look at Banksy and his work, I highly recommend taking a look at his 2010 documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop.

In the Eye of a Needle - Willard Wigan MBE, Micro-Sculptor

Micro view: Willard Wigan carved the St Bartholomew's church into this grain of sand and then put it in the eye of a needle. It's so small that it can't be seen with the naked eyeThe real thing: Mr Wigan's girlfriend lives at the bottom of this hilltop church and challenged her talented boyfriend to carve a replica of it from a single grain of sandWillard Wigan is a sculptor from England who specializes in microscopic art. His sculptures are created in the eye of the needle, or on the head of a pin, and measure as little as 0.005 mm (0.0002 in). Art and science are exquisitely merged in these extraordinary works of art. To learn more about this fascinating artist--and the journey he has taken, click here...