I’m truly excited about this Saturday, May 8th.  We have 2 very fun and engaging activities.  First, at 2pm, we have our dear friend Katherine Hastings heading up a poetry reading, celebrating the Golden Anniversary Edition of Beatitude Magazine.  Katherine will be joined by Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Gwynn O’Gara.  The magazine was founded in 1959 by Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, John Kelley and William Margolis and helped launch the careers of many poets.  It is a loving tribute to over 50 years of North Beach poetry in San Francisco.

Painting Demo by Alfredo Tofanelli

Alfredo Tofanelli’s artwork is flowing and colorful.  Join us for a painting demonstration by Alfredo during the Art Walk  Saturday, May 8th from 4 – 7pm.  Alfredo teaches figure painting on Thursdays from the l’Atelier aux Couleur (the Petaluma Art Academy).

"Being Immortalized" by Alfredo Tofanelli, oil on board

Hope to see you this Saturday!

On Monday, April 5th, I’ll be hanging the next show which will feature Alfredo Tofanelli and Stanley Mouse.

Please join us for the Artist Reception

Saturday, April 10th from 4 – 7pm

Alfredo received his Fine Arts degree from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He served on the faculty of Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles, teaching courses in life drawing, painting and computer graphics. He currently teaches head & figure painting at the Atelier aux Couleurs: the Art Academy in Petaluma. Alfredo’s awards include the 2009Best of Show at the Napa Valley Museum’s Plein AirBiennial Exhibition.

"Ford in Mustard" by Alfredo Tofanelli, oil on canvas

Stanley, best known for his association with his music posters of the 1960s, is a master of portraiture painting. His famous posters have been in shows at The Smithsonian Institute, the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum, the Art Museum of San Francisco, the Oakland Museum , the Tate in London and the Louvre Museum in Paris are a few of the premier museums to have featured Stanley’s artwork.

"Breezy" by Stanley Mouse, oil on canvas

You can see 4 examples at http://www.pelicanart.com/art/pelican-art-gallery-home/2010-youth-art-walk/.  The teachers are to be commended due to their dedication to these students.  Not only did they teach the classes, but they provided the artwork mounted, labeled and ready for hanging.  This is not a simple task and I hope that parents and students thank the art teachers at our high schools for putting in such a tremendous effort!

Please make time to participate in the Linda Gonzalez Memorial Youth Art Walk this Saturday from 4 – 7pm and see the sea of student artists with their families.  It’s really a fun experience to be around new artists who get a chance to participate in an exhibit of this caliber and size.  It will be worth it!

Alfredo Tofanelli will be featured in the Napa Valley Museum’s exhibition, Plein Air & Other Works by Alfredo Tofanelli. The exhibition runs from March 5 – April 18. Winner of the 2009 Juried Plein Air exhibition, Tofanelli won the best of show award for Light Play, which captured the judges’ attention and entitled

him to the current one-person show. Opening is in the evening on Friday March 5th from 5:30  - 7:30 pm at the Napa Valley Museum. Congrats Al!

October marks the end of the “Fruits, Nuts, and Flowers” group show and the hanging of “Erasing Borders”, a solo show by Gerald Huth.