Author: Misha Flores

Art Guild of Pacifica Celebrates Local Artists with their “65th Annual Members Show”

Opening Friday, Oct 20, with a reception from 7 to 9 pm, the Art Guild of Pacifica will be celebrating local artists with their 65th Annual Members Show! Nearly 100 artists submitted a work for this year’s exhibition. Beginning in 1958, the Guild originally only exhibited paintings and sculpture; since those early years, the diversity of mediums has expanded and now includes printmaking, jewelry, photography, assemblage, drawing, fiber, ceramics, mixed media and more, in addition to paintings in oil, acrylic, and watercolor and sculpture created from a variety of materials. Live music will be provided at the reception by Tonal Recall (John Hall, Patti Cobb, and Phil McGee) blending their voices and talents to perform classic rock and a wide selection of soulful songs from artists ranging from Indigo Girls to The Temptations. Nancy Mizuno Elliott, City College of San Francisco art professor and curator for the college art gallery, will be selecting this year’s merit and exhibition award winners.

Featured concurrently in the Main Gallery are the 64th Awards Exhibition artists, Francoise Kirkman, Andrew Leone, Beverly Patterson, and Dan Underhill. The Exhibition Award artists, including last year’s judge Paul Bridenbaugh, Skyline College art professor, who visited each artist to select the works for the Awards Exhibition, will take part in an artists’ conversation on Sunday, Oct 29 at 3:30 pm in the Main Gallery.

Both the 65th Annual Members Show and the 64th Annual Awards Exhibition will be on view through Sunday, Nov 19.

Francoise Kirkman née Dudal is a long time Bay Area artist, known for her whimsical creations and artwork. Born in northern France, Francoise studied art in Paris and began her career as an illustrator of children’s books for Larousse publishing company. Though her career evolved into creating three dimensional work, her love of illustration has stayed with her. Moving to the United States, she worked as an art director and creative designer for Sunset Magazine in Menlo Park. Her role at Sunset allowed her the freedom to explore with extensively diverse materials, earning her a reputation for her rich imagination and ability to make ideas come to life. Selected works include Jack Rabbit, a needle felted fleece wool sculpture, and others from Ms. Kirkman’s personal menagerie. The three dimensional pieces are accompanied by charming watercolors that are original artworks included in the children’s cookbook, “You’ve Got Recipes”, copies of which will also be available for purchase.

Andrew Leone is a painter, printmaker, glass artist, and instructor who taught painting and drawing at City College of San Francisco for over 17 years. At age eleven, Leone had private lessons in oil painting that began a life-long creative adventure. As one of the founders of Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, CA, he helped create a place where artists, art, and the community could come together and thrive. For this exhibition, the works collectively titled “Family Ties” are a series of portraits focused solely on family members. Experimenting with different painting approaches and styles, Leone reveals something unique about the character of each family member; the composition, colors and energy of the paintings are guided by this purpose. His method was intuitive and unplanned, likening the journey for each as walking down a path hoping to arrive at an illuminating discovery. Drawing inspiration from several years of caring for his elderly parents and then settling their estate after their passing, Leone spent time reassessing family connections and their influences on him. The artist notes, “When I honor my ancestors, when I paint them, it acknowledges these connections in a way that allows me to look more deeply at who I am. Family is always a part of me, whether they are near or far, alive or deceased.”

Beverly Patterson is a full-time artist and graphic designer based in San Francisco. Informed by her art and architecture-focused education and over two decades as a professional graphic designer, her work reflects her fascination with perception, patterns, geometry, history and culture. Her favored creative zone is exploring where structure and the unanticipated converge and finding delight in the moments when their interaction strengthens the awareness and perception of one another. Presenting a set of 3D artwork, a collaboration between Patterson and her sister, poet Barb Campbell, they delve into the questions of: “What does it mean for our future to have “smart” machines that can imitate, and in some cases, replace us? What is lost or gained in the flat world of digital interactions and artificial intelligence? How can real-life human creativity continue to thrive?” The resulting collection is tied together by the four elements of matter: earth, water, air and fire. They also straddle a tight walk as they traverse the edge where left and right brain meet. The intent is that the interaction with these 3D artworks further enhances the experience of the poetry. Built in are elements of surprise that reveal themselves and reward viewers who take the time to interact with the artwork. It is an important aspect of this work that it can only be truly experienced in person. This artwork engages with what makes us human and separates us from the machines – our emotions, imaginations, self-awareness and physical bodies. Also included in the show is “6 Feet of Separation”, a project celebrating personal interaction.

Dan Underhill notes that he’s done artwork for as long as he can remember. He was frequently praised for it, and was told when quite little that he was an artist – and he bought into that. At 16 years of age, during the summer of his sophomore year in high school, he spent a month studying art with his uncle, artist Robert J. Lee, in Carmel, New York. Introduced to a wide variety of artists and illustrators, he learned many things. In high school, art — both fine and applied — provided a refuge from other courses and behaviors. The summer of his junior year in high school, Underhill received a scholarship to the San Francisco Academy of Art, where he studied industrial product rendering, some photography, and figure drawing. He’s continued his practice in a wide variety of mediums ever since. For this exhibition, Dan’s works are created with overglaze on utilitarian porcelain (aka toilet tank tops). “Patience” the artwork for which he received the Exhibition Award, was created on a tank top of a newer design – with a hole in the center for buttons that operate the flush mechanism – providing an opportunity to incorporate a 3D element to the piece…. the hat of a porcelain gnome found at the dollar store. Themes for the works range from abstractions to nature, portraits to a nod to tattoo art. Many involve the creative process of seeing where a piece takes the artist, such as “Having at the Rolling Doughnuts”, that came from playing with a particular brush technique and viscosity of the overglaze.

Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd, Pacifica, about a mile east of Highway 1. Following opening night, galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, and by appointment, through Nov 19. For more information: www.SanchezArtCenter.org or email info@SanchezArtCenter.org. Visit the Art Guild of Pacifica website (www.ArtGuildofPacifica.org) to learn more about AGP including how to become a member and it’s benefits.