Beginning July 9, Bird Rock Arts Gallery will host an art workshop every other week from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. for ages 21 and up.
The workshop is $30 to participate and is B.Y.O.W. (or beer) friendly. Guests will be provided all the tools needed to create their weekly community project.
The projects featured are jewelry making, carving, paper maché, drawing, painting or mixed media. Guest artists like Kazuaki Uehara from Okinawa and local artist John Reece will be featured. “The event will be a great way to bring the community together,” said Bird Rock Arts founder Maria Parenteau. “I believe art is for everyone and this is one more option for people who are looking for art as an outlet.”
Bird Rock Arts Gallery is located at 5785 La Jolla Blvd. For more information, visit www.birdrock-arts.com or email [email protected]. Contemporary Fine Arts Gallery will host an artist opening reception for its newest exhibit, “Not Your Mama’s Teapot” on June 22 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Artists Jane Burton and Marcela Panasiti will be featured in the show, which centers on large-scale unique ceramic sculpture. Burton’s work involves the coil-building method of ceramics to create her 4-by-20-foot pit-fired figures. “My work incorporates techniques such as pit-firing, oxides, stains and slips that create a timeless and ancient look,” Burton said. “I’m fully immersed in the process from the first time I dig my fingers into the clay until I pull the vessel from the ashes. In my large-scale pieces I work in stages. The initial stages are like the beginning of a relationship, dealing with surface issues and structural problems, technical and conceptual issues. As the sculpture grows and becomes closer to my height, my relationship with it changes, becoming highly personal and more intimate.”
Panasiti creates organic murals using hand-crafted tiles she shapes from the adobe red clay of Sedona, Ariz. “The shapes and the colors in the unique Sedona landscape, formed by the sun, the wind, the water and the rain inspire me to experiment with this art form using simple materials like adobe clay,” said Panasiti. “In working with the earth in Sedona I have learned to respect the natural materials and to realize that I can’t control exactly how the work comes out. My work reflects my love of architecture and construction. The reason I first came to Arizona was to work for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Phoenix and the geometric elements in my work are inspired by his buildings.”
Contemporary Fine Arts is located at 7946 Ivanhoe Ave. For more information, visit www.cont-emporaryfineartsgallery.com, email [email protected] or call (858) 551-2010.