acrylic

June First Friday - Maddie Amelia Lewis: Dreamscaping

Skulls and Bottles

Artist Reception: Friday, June 5 - 6-8 p.m.

Bio: Maddie Amelia Lewis is a 2D artist with a fondness for acrylic paint and ink. She is a recent graduate from UC Santa Cruz. She is fascinated by fantasy, the arts, and textures.

Paintings will be on sale from $20-$85, and lithographic prints will be selling from $5-$15. See artist website for preliminary prices: www.noxkitarts.com

Artist Statement:

I like making huge gestural brush strokes, circular voids reminiscent of black holes, drips, and fine lines. I paint abstracted landscapes and attempt to embody concepts like death, anxiety, love, daydreams, and imaginary places. I will go through great lengths to actualize an idea. I try to draw from the beauty and emotion in my life for my art so I can’t forget it. Each of my pieces is a space I create to reflect, and after I take my time with each one, I let it go.As an acrylic painter, I am a texture junkie. I love acrylic mediums—glass beads, resin sand, modeling paste, black lava—I’ve tried them all and I make full use of them. My paintings ensure dynamic and varied surfaces. I tend to work very quickly and use a lot of aggressive mark-making techniques. The larger the canvas, the more energetic I become while I paint it. For small works, I can be more delicate, but the restlessness remains.  They say that drawing from live models gives the drawing itself more life, so I try to instill the energy, emotion, and intensity into my paintings by embodying those feelings as I paint.In the end, it all comes down to an obsession. I paint because I can never get paintings out of my head. A painting will tell me what it needs to be real, and I oblige it the best I can. It’s a piece of the world inside of me—it has always been, and will never cease to be.

First Friday - February 4 - "In Love With the Natural World” - Paintings by Mari Stauffer

We are really looking forward to this amazing show!

First Friday, February 4 “In Love With the Natural  World” – Paintings by Mari Stauffer Artist Reception 6-9 pm Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios 118 Coral Street

Artist Bio: Plants and animals are the subject matter for artist Mari Stauffer. A UCSC alumni with a BA in Painting & Drawing (emphasis in watercolor), her watercolor and acrylic paintings will be on display. From more representational depictions of flora and fauna, to her whimsical "Endangered Spacies" series, Mari Stauffer invites you to join her in celebrating the natural world around us.

The exhibit will be up for the entire month of February during  normal business hours (daily 10 am - midnight).

Check out all the First Friday events - http://www.firstfridaysantacruz.com