Be SuperHero, Volunteer!

There is no secret that today’s super heroes are seen on TV as characters with super strength, laser vision, that can fly and even leap tall buildings with a single bound, but we never see a super hero with the best super power… The power of Volunteering!!!

Yes, volunteering is in fact a super power and here at the Centesr for the Arts we have a league of super heroes using their super powers every day.

They use it to help our staff with daily tasks that have to be done in a flash, they help with stage and lighting production with amazing strength and precision. They help our instructors with super hearing and anticipating all the little summer camper’s wants and needs.

Yes, being a volunteer for the Centers for the Arts is a SUPER and POWerful way to dedicate your time. Volunteering promotes positive leadership skills for our teen volunteers, offering everyone the opportunity to learn amazing new skills, and get the chance to make a difference in our community and in doing so, inspire others to also volunteer.

So, if you want to be seen as a community super hero, consider volunteering at the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs.

For more information on becoming a volunteer and other CFABS community events, please visit www.artcenterbonita.org.

Who: Local Community
What: Volunteering
Where: Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs
Visual Arts Center – 26100 Old 41 Rd.
Performing Arts Center – 10150 Bonita Beach Rd. SE
When: All Year Around

 

NEW EXHIBITION SPACE OPENS AT THE CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS BONITA SPRINGS

Center for Performing Arts Exhibition: The Art of Ballotti, Merchant and Unwin
Opening Reception Thursday, June 30, 2016; 6:00-8:00pm at the CPABS

By Patrice Shields

The Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs (CFABS) invites art lovers to join them at their new Center for Performing Arts Bonita Springs (CPABS) exhibition space for their Center for Performing Arts Exhibition: The Art of Ballotti, Merchant and Unwin Opening Reception On Thursday, June 30, 2016; 6:00-8:00pm. This exhibition includes the varied mediums of artists Jennifer Unwin, James Ballotti and John Merchant. The opening reception offers guests the opportunity to explore the CPABS campus filled with intriguing artwork in this curated exhibition.

The Opening Reception offers the public the opportunity to meet three of the area’s leading artists and to view a wide variety of their original artworks while enjoying light hors d’oeuvres and wine at the Center for Performing Arts Bonita Springs at 10150 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135.

“These three artists possess an astounding complexity and variety in their work,” says Ehren Gerhard, Shows & Exhibitions Director of the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs. “This promises to be a very interesting exhibition.”

Artist, Jennifer Unwin studied commercial art, layout design, and fashion illustration at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She led a successful career as an advertising designer and fashion illustrator in Connecticut before moving to Florida. Her earliest artistic memories are sketching on a plastic covering over a television screen following along with John Gnagy’s television show “You are an Artist” in the 1950’s. This exhibition will display both her realist and abstract work revealing the breadth and range of her vision.

James D Ballotti started photography in 1968 at the age of seventeen. Over the following years his camera went almost everywhere with him. He is self-taught and has studied everything he could find on the subject. On a limited budget, his goal was to make every shot count. The images on display for this exhibition are part of a series of original photographs taken from the back door of his condominium in Bonita Springs. You will be surprised by the intensity and variety provided by his intentionally limited vantage point.

John Merchant has drawn and painted since childhood. He studied art for five years at the College of Art in Sheffield, England. Nothing engages John Merchant as intensively as stone carving. The rock tells him how it wants to be carved. His intuitive process leads to phenomenally emotional and engaging work. Attempting to reveal indescribable thoughts and emotions, his task of shaping the stone to serve his vision is complemented by the cataclysmic forces that shaped the rock’s origin.

The Exhibition is on display from June 30 – August 24, 2016 at The Center for Performing Arts of Bonita Springs, 10150 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Exhibition Opening Reception Admission is free.  Future Center for Performing Arts Exhibition Opening Receptions are scheduled for August 25, and October 27 from 6-8pm, and will showcase three CFABS faculty or member artists and selected through a curation process.

For more information, please call the Centers for the Arts at 239-495-8989 or visit them on-line at www.artcenterbonita.org.

Join the Centers for the Arts for the first time as an individual member receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6- week class, or join for the first time as a family member receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6- week class and two free tickets to a Live! Performance. The Centers for the Arts offers this benefit for first time members and it is for a limited time only. The class and performance must be used before December 31, 2016.

If You Go:
Who: Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs
What: Center for Performing Arts Exhibition: The Art of Ballotti, Merchant and Unwin
When: Thursday June 30, 2016; 6:00-8:00pm (On display June 30 – August 24, 2016)
Where: Center for Performing Arts Bonita Springs, 10150 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135
Cost: Free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE A STEP OUT OF REALITY – ELEMENTS OF ABSTRACTION EXHIBITION

 

Elements of Abstraction Exhibition Opening Reception
Friday, June 10, 2016; 6:00-8:00pm at the Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs

By Patrice Shields

On Friday, June 10, 2016; 6:00-8:00pm the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs (CFABS) invites everyone to join them at their Elements of Abstraction Exhibition Opening Reception. The first in CFABS’ monthly summer series of juried exhibitions, Elements of Abstraction showcases artwork from artists working in a variety of media with over 100 pieces of abstract representations. CFABS’ exhibition openings are a local favorite, offering residents the opportunity to mix and mingle with fellow art lovers and local artists while enjoying hors d’ oeuvres, wine and music.

“Using of the elements and principles of design, artists were challenged to create a visual language that communicates ideas and emotions,” says Ehren Gerhard, Shows and Exhibitions Director of the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs. “This approach to visual art is always a great exercise for both the artist and viewer.”

The Elements of Abstraction Exhibition, which remains on display through June 23, offers visitors an opportunity to take a step out of reality and jump into a world where line, shape, texture and color influence emotions in unexpected ways. Abstract art can have a transformative effect on the viewer and artist alike. One local artist whose life and art has been transformed by the medium is Bonita Springs resident and emerging artist Betsy D’ Jamoos who has two striking acrylic pieces “Bravely Apart,” and “Making Space,” included in this exhibition.

“My artistic process began as a child when I was told she had no artistic talent by a teacher,” says D’Jamoos. “It took 40 years to conquer the voice in my head that said I cannot paint or draw.”

Following a successful career in consulting and government policy, D’Jamoos’ picked up a paintbrush for the first time in 2014 when attending a workshop by artist Theresa Girard at CFABS. Proving its never too late to follow your creative calling D’Jamoos art was chosen this year as one of only 16 artists from across the State included in the Baker Museum’s Florida Contemporary Exhibition. D’Jamoos’ art was also shown at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs (CFABS) 26th Annual Members Juried Exhibition and CFAB’s 2016 “Surf and Turf” exhibition and hangs in private collections in Southwest Florida.

To meet D’Jamoos and view her artwork, join the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs’ at the Elements of Abstraction Exhibition Opening Reception is 6:00pm-8:00pm, Friday, June 10, 2016 at the Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs. The exhibition is on display June 10-23, 2016. Admission is free.  For more information, please call the Centers for the Arts at 239-495-8989 or visit them on-line at www.artcenterbonita.org.

Join the Centers for the Arts for the first time as an individual member receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6- week class, or join for the first time as a family member receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6- week class and two free tickets to a Live! Performance. The Centers for the Arts offers this benefit for first time members and it is for a limited time only. The class and performance must be used before December 31, 2016.

If You Go:
Who: Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs
What: Elements of Abstraction Exhibition
When: Friday June 10, 2016; 6:00-8:00pm (On display June 10-23, 2016)
Where: Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs, 26100 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135
Cost: Free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“WILDLIFE UNLEASHED” SANDY SCOTT: A RETROSPECTIVE Meet the Artist at the Opening Reception and Campus Open House Friday, October 2, 6-8pm at the Centers for Visual Arts Bonita Springs

Cut line: “Requiem for the Fallen” (2014) Bronze © Sandy Scott a Retrospective Exhibition, October 2 – December 31, 2015 at the Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs

By Patrice Shields

Two mallards untangle from each other and explode into flight. A grizzly bear claims a salmon from a stream and warns with his eyes that this is a meal he is not sharing. Stallions display their superiority to rival onlookers as a four foot tall swine sits appearing to be in “hog heaven.” Those are just four of the 45 sculptures on display at SANDY SCOTT: A RETROSPECTIVE Exhibition on display at the Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs October 2 through December 31, 2015. This national exhibition which also includes 35 of her etchings and drawings, opens in conjunction with a campus wide open house on Friday, October 2, 2015; 6:00-8:00pm. Guests will have an opportunity to meet the artist Sandy Scott at the opening reception.

“SANDY SCOTT: A RETROSPECTIVE is a dynamic collection of work that reaches deep into the expressive and emotional characteristics of sculpture,” says Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs Shows and Exhibitions Director Ehren Gerhard. “Visitors will experience the intensity of a moment and the drama of a gesture through the eyes of Sandy Scott”

Born in Dubuque, Iowa in 1943 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sandy Scott currently works in Lander, Wyoming in a studio near the foundry that casts her bronzes. Scott maintains studios on Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada, and in the mountains of northern Colorado and is an avid outdoorswoman who loves to hunt and fish. Scott has made 16 trips to Alaska and to Europe, Russia, China, South America, and Africa to visit the world’s great museums. She believes wildlife artists should be in the field to accurately present their subject to the viewer.

CFABS Shows & Exhibitions Director Erin Gerhardt and Artist Sandy Scott

A lifelong interest in aviation has been invaluable to Scott’s work as an artist. A licensed pilot for 50 years, she says, “I believe my knowledge of aerodynamics has been helpful in achieving the illusion of movement in my bird sculptures,” said Scott. Her knowledge of aerodynamics was particularly evident in Mallard Duet, a sold out sculpture that won the Ellen P. Speyer Award at the National Academy of Design in New York. This sculpture is in the permanent collection of Brookgreen Gardens and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

Sandy Scott is on the teaching staff of the Scottsdale Artists’ School, and the master sculpture workshops at Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. She is a member of The National Arts Club New York, NY, the Society of Animal Artists, a fellow in the American Artists Professional League, and a fellow of the National Sculpture Society.
Meet the artist at the opening reception on Friday, October 2, 2015; 6:00-9:00pm. Engage your family in the arts by attending a Free Family Activity Day offered for children and adults at the Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs. Families will enjoy a quick guided tour of this fun and educational exhibition and complete art projects. Family activity dates are Saturdays from 1:30-3:30 and will be held October 3 &17, November 7 & 21, December 5 & 19, 2015.
SANDY SCOTT: A RETROSPECTIVE is a major traveling museum exhibition produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C. Serving as Curator/Tour Director is David J. Wagner, Ph.D. The exhibition is graciously sponsored by The Sansom Foundation and SWFL Arts & Attractions Grant.

Those who join the Centers for the Arts for the first time as an individual member receive two free tickets to a Live at the Center Performance. The Centers for the Arts offers this benefit for first time members and it is for a limited time only. Some performances are not included in this promotion and promotional seating is limited.

A full listing of classes offered at the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs is available at http://www.artcenterbonita.org or by calling 239-495-8989.

IF YOU GO:
WHO: The Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs
WHAT: SANDY SCOTT: A RETROSPECTIVE Exhibition Opening Reception and Campus Open House
WHEN: Opening Reception: Friday, October 2, 2015, 6pm-8pm (On display through December 31, 2015)
WHERE: The Center for Visual Arts Bonita Springs, 26100 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34135
PRICE: Free and open to the public

FAB Fall Classes at the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs

NEW FALL CLASSES AT THE CENTERS FOR THE ARTS BONITA SPRINGS

New Mosaics, Sculpture and Printmaking Classes with Artist/Instructor Kel Campbell

By Patrice Shields

September is “back to school month,” and the perfect time to try a new class at the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs.  The Center has added several new instructors and with them new classes that include printmaking and mosaics.

“We are very excited by the infusion of fresh energy that our new instructors bring to the center,” says Jake Hand, Education Director at the Center for the Arts Bonita Springs.  Three new instructors, all graduates of FCGU will be teaching classes that include “Introduction to Metal” and “Exploring Mosaics.”  “Kel Campbell will be putting the printing press that was recently donated to the center to good use by offering a number of printmaking classes in the fall.”

Kel Campbell is an award winning, multi-disciplinary artist that considers her style in the multimedia sculptural genre, without a commitment to any particular style.  Campbell recently graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), with a BA in Fine Arts, views the world around her as her toolbox.  “I enjoy collecting and repurposing materials that show their history and then combine them with newly formed pieces to achieve a sense of balance,” says Campbell.

For as long as Campbell can remember, she has loved the arts.  “There were a few times in my life when I tried to break-up with my creative side,” says Campbell “but they were short lived due to my undeniable deep passion to create. For me, one of the hardest parts about being an artist is my interest in so many different materials.”

Campbell’s passion for creating has given her experience with multiple mediums that translate into new classes at the Center for the Arts.  For students interested in mosaics, Campbell will be offering a five-week “Exploring Mosaics” class, Mondays from 1:00-4:00p.m., beginning October 7.  Students can expect a great introduction to the world of mosaic art with a focus on the basic techniques of design, cutting and laying tile and cementing and grouting the final work.  For students interested in mosaics who don’t know where to start, a three-hour “Mosaic Introduction,” mini class will be offered on Friday, November 8.

Students interested in printmaking will enjoy “The Art of Collagraph,” a mini class offered Friday and Saturday, October 4 and 5.  The collagraph is a printmaking technique based in collage.  Students will start with an idea and a blank plate, then collage diverse materials to create a surface with various thicknesses and textures.  During the second class, students will work on basic inking and printing techniques that result in prints that often surprise and delight.    

In January, students interested in delving deeper into printmaking can take “The Monotype- A Printmaking Intensive.”  Often referred to as the painterly print, monotype combines the immediacy, spontaneity and expressive mark made possible in painting with the luminosity of printmaking inks. Each student will explore their own images with an emphasis on experimentation and creativity; bring your ideas and create beautiful one of a kind prints.

In January Campbell will be teaching sculpture at the Center with classes that include “Expressions in Stone,” and “Independent Study in Stone.”  Students will learn the “how-to” of stone sculpting from choosing the perfect stone to getting a feel for and working with its texture to make their very own masterpiece in stone.  Advanced stone sculptors can take “Expressions in Stone (Pneumatics)” and be guided through the intricacies of sculpting with power tools.

“From welding to pastels and everything in between I wish I didn’t have to sleep so I can just keep exploring ideas,” says Campbell.  “The positive side of it is, the words ‘I’m bored’, have never left my lips because there is always something to do or visualize.”

With the assortment of new classes offed this fall at the Centers for the Arts the words bored will not be part of your vocabulary either.  Taking that printmaking, sculpting or mosaic class is even more affordable now.  Those who join the Centers for the Arts for the first time before September 30, 2013 will receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6-week class to be used by December 31, 2013.  The Centers for the Arts offers this promotion for first time members.  Call the Centers for the Arts at 239-495-8989 for more information or visit www.artcenterbonita.org.

Campbell’s work can be seen in the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs’ September exhibition, “Recording the Landscape.”  This exhibition explores art that documents changing landscapes and art that actually changes topography to draw our attention back to the planet on which we live.  The exhibition is on display through September 20, 2013.

Who: Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs
What: Recording the Landscape Exhibition
When: On display September 6 – 20, 2013
Where: Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs, 26100 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, FL
Cost: Free

There are Two Sides to Everything The Art of Joan Brechin Sonnenberg

By Patrice Shields

“There are two sides to everything,” says artist Joan Brechin Sonnenberg.  The theology behind her statement describes both her personal and artistic philosophy. As an artist Sonnenberg combines abstraction and realism to create oversized artworks that layer concepts and ideas into works that stop observers in their tracks.

“I came from a family that combined religion and politics.  In doing this we always found there was a middle of the road,” says Sonnenberg.  Now a resident of Naples, Sonnenberg began her art training 70 years ago at the age of six as a child prodigy attending pre-college art scholar classes at the Carnegie Institute.  Sonnenberg continued her education attending Chatham College and graduating with a BA College of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University where she was the staff cartoonist to the editor of the campus newspaper.  Sonnenberg continued on to study Multi-colored Intaglio Printmaking with George Nama at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Non-Toxic Printmaking with Keith Howard at Peace River College.

“Joan is this walking dichotomy,” says Susan Bridges President of the Center for the Arts Bonita Springs.  “A petite, soft spoken person with huge artworks that are totally in your face.  Knowing Joan for over 15 years has been a joy—her continued evolution as an artist—always stretching ideas out farther and farther.  She has this exquisite ability to take an image, move it back and forth between abstraction and realism and arrive at her very own dialog.  It’s truly wonderful to experience her art.”

The depth of Sonnenberg’s talent and mastery appears subtly but unmistakably in her work.  Sonnenberg’s enormous portraits offer insight into the soul of each subject without judgment or commentary.   Sonnenberg will often stop subjects and ask if she can take their picture to paint.  Bonita Springs resident Richard Theurer saw an article about the Center for the Arts Bonita Springs’ Portrait and Figure Exhibition in a local magazine that include a picture of her work “Art Aficianado.”  Theurer immediately recognized his image in the larger than life artwork and remembered yeas back that a woman had stopped him at Costco and asked if she could take his picture to paint.  Joan Brechin Sonnenberg was that woman and “Art Aficianado,” was the painting.

For more than 70 years Sonnenberg still find time to paint every day.  “It’s a passion.  It’s something I want to do more than anything else,” says Sonnenberg.  “I think being an artist and painting is the most fun you can have in this world.  If there’s something you want to do in life, you’ll find the time.  It’s out there for you.  Go for it.”

Joan Brechin Sonnenberg’s work can be seen at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs 24th Annual Members Exhibition, January 25 through February 21, 2013.  Open only to current members of the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs, this exhibition is the ‘crème de la crème’ competition for our member artists. A very tightly pre-juried and judged collection of artworks from our members showcasing the best artists and a wide variety of media and styles.

The Center for the Arts Bonita Springs’ Members Exhibition Opening Reception is 6:00pm, Friday, January 25, 2013. The Members Exhibition’s opening reception also features a campus-wide Open House, featuring faculty and visiting artists’ demonstrations and displays, and live music on their outdoor stage and light refreshments.  The Members Exhibition is sponsored by Collins & DuPont Interior Design.  Admission is free.  For more information, please call the Center for the Arts at 239-495-8989 or visit them on-line at www.artcenterbonita.org.

 

 

 Those who join the Center for the Arts for the first time receive two tickets to one of this season’s Live at the Promenade events. The Center for the Arts offers this benefit for first time members only.

Andy Warhol’s 15 Minutes of Fame Continues for 25 years

Pop Art with Andy Warhol Exhibition at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs
Opening Reception and Open House October 5, 2012 

Patrice Shields

Andy Warhol’s infamous statement, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” becomes ironic when applied the artist himself.  This pop artist’s fame and impact on the world of contemporary art has far surpassed the quarter hour mark to span a quarter of a century.  In the 1960’s, Warhol turned the art world inside out by elevating common objects into iconic works of art, giving birth to what is known today as the “Pop Art Movement.”

The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs celebrates the artists eternal 15 minutes of fame with their fun and interactive “Pop Art with Andy Warhol” exhibition which opens on October 5, 2012 and runs through January 5, 2013. 

The opening reception takes place from 6:00-8:00p.m. on Friday, October 5, 2012. The evening is free and open to the public and will feature live abstract artworks in music and dance and opportunities for visitors to create their own abstract imagery at unique ‘Creation Stations.’

This unique and interactive exhibition featuring the whimsical spirit of the art of Andy Warhol and the Pop Art movement is composed of three parts:

• The Silkscreen Studio. Here visitors can try a variety of art-making techniques used by pop artists, including silkscreen printing, stamping to make repeat patterns, and making objects using die-cutters like Warhol’s famous Brillo Boxes.
• The Factory.  Visitors can dress up like the characters they see in some of the Warhol artworks, play with toys like those collected by Warhol, and learn more about art and Andy Warhol through books and video installations.
• The Gallery.  Here visitors can view examples of Warhol’s iconic prints like “Marilyn Monroe,” and learn about the life of this unusual artist.

Throughout the exhibition the Center for the Arts offers Free Saturday Family Activity Days from 1:00- 3:00p.m.  Activities feature a mini-lecture of the exhibition, and a variety of artistic ‘Pop Art’ projects for children of all ages and families to create and take home.

“So, as the question goes, why Andy Warhol and Pop Art?” asks Susan Bridges president of the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs.  “Well, Andy Warhol was an accomplished advertising illustrator and graphic artist before he became well known as a Pop artist and celebrity.   The focus of our exhibition, two years in planning, is to feature the whimsical side of his artworks and his ideas.  His work is fun, entertaining and speaks to a number of ideas that at the time were even controversial.  For example, take any one of his pop art, mainstream, commercial-like images of products, people or places.  Questions asked are as often about the objects themselves as the fact he made art about them.  For example, a product so simple as a bottle of Coca-Cola.  Andy made suggestions like ‘the President drinks a bottle of Coca-Cola, Elizabeth Taylor drinks a bottle of Coca-Cola, I’m drinking one, and the panhandler you just gave a dollar to went into a store, bought one, got his change and he’s drinking one.  Regardless of who it is, it’s the same, we’re all equal.  Or, why should it be that in museums, the artwork that’s in them is just for those special, enlightened people.  Art is everywhere, everything and for everyone.   Fun things to think about while looking at Andy’s bright colors, entertaining imagery.”

The appeal of Pop Art and Warhol’s work is universal and continues to command attention with both popular culture and discerning collectors.  The Warhol foundation is selling several of his pieces through Christie’s Auction House, includes “Three Targets,” a large horizontal black-and-white canvas of paint and silkscreen depicting three targets with gunshots; which is expected to sell for $1-$1.5 million.  Campbell’s has turned the tables on Warhol’s packaging genius by introducing a special-edition can of its condensed tomato soup bearing labels reminiscent of the pop artist’s paintings.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has forty-five of Warhol’s works on display for their “Regarding Warhol,” exhibition which runs through December 31, 2012.

The “Pop Art with Andy Warhol,” exhibition is generously sponsored by the Sansom foundation and runs from October 5, 2012 through January 5, 2013.  The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs is open Monday through Friday from 9:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. and on  Saturday from 1:00-4:00p.m.  For more information contact the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs at 239-495-8989, or visit them on line at www.artcenterbonita.org.  “Pop Art! The Andy Warhol Studio” is circulated under the auspices of the children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

Those who join the Center for the Arts for the first time receive two tickets to one of this season’s Live at the Promenade events. The Center for the Arts offers this benefit for first time members and it is for a limited time only.

If You Go

Who:    Center for the Arts of BonitaSprings
What:   “Pop Art with Andy Warhol,” Opening Reception & Campus Open House
When:  Friday, October 5, 2012; 6:00 – 8:00p.m.
Where: The Center for the Arts of BonitaSprings, 26100 Old 41 Road, Bonita Springs, Florida
Cost:    Free

 

 

Moving Beyond Boundaries…The Art of Alan Pimentel

“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.”

― Salvador Dalí

If you ask a successful artist, actor or musician what the key to success is, they will likely give you the same advice, “be yourself.”  The advice is sound, but difficult to follow unless you know who “you” are.  Artist Alan Pimentel has bravely externalized his journey of self-awareness in oil on canvas for over twenty years and through that journey he has met with success.

Pimentel’s most recent encounter with success was taking “Best in Show” at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs “Portrait and Figure” exhibition.  Pimentel’s oil on shaped canvas piece “Wrestling with Myself Again,” impressed Jack Thompson, author and artist who judged the show.  “I have always been drawn to artists whose artworks take a bit of a chance,” offered Thompson about Pimentel’s piece and the Portrait and Figure Exhibition.  “Certainly I’m schooled in the traditional sense of art and techniques, but there’s something about a person who, once really perfecting his or her craft, decides to step outside the box.”

The first of Alan Pimentel’s shaped canvases emerged over twenty years ago, as his journey into the observations of his emotional nature became the subject matter of his art. For Pimentel, the geometric boundaries of the traditional canvas became limiting as his personal awareness expanded. Moving beyond the constraints normally prescribed to painters, Alan’s work took a giant step towards altering the personal boundaries he felt were imposed upon him by the demands of modern culture.  Pimentel describes his style as “my own,” explains Alan.  “I think of it as a psychological, metaphysical, spiritual portrayal of growth.  My painting style is deeply rooted in realism, with the addition of variations in textural quality through intended or casual application.”

Pimentel’s unconstrained perspective is evident in his current works where the canvases continually get shapelier and the surfaces range from utter smoothness to rich dimensional application of paint and wax medium.  The luminous lighting and savory blends of color allow us to safely venture into a realm beyond the reach of the ordinary to observe emotions that reside in the shadows. 

Alan credits his creative gifts to his father’s drawing skills and musical talents, his grandmother’s aptness with a needle, and his maternal aunts’ dressmaking and culinary skills.  At the age of ten, Alan lost his father to a tragic car accident.  A neighbor who was aware of Alan’s interest in art suggested a class in oil painting offered by a renowned portrait artist and illustrator, Carroll Jones.  At the age of fourteen Pimentel began his formal training in oil painting.

Salvador Dali was the first artist to inspire Pimentel.  “I was eleven or twelve years old when I first visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” offers Alan.  “There I viewed the ‘Persistence of Memory.’  This painting reached me on so many levels that it affected my thought process in general, and I think that is the genius of Dali.”

When asked what advice he would give to aspiring artists, Alan responded, “Peruse, persist and listen to your own inner voice.”  Be yourself.

Pimentel’s work can be seen at his studio # 166 at the promenade inBonitaSprings.  The artist studios are currently open Thursday through Saturday from 10am – 3pm.  You can view Alan’s work and the work of over 30 artists at their studios at the Promenade during Art Walk on Thursday, September 29, 2011 from 4:00pm – 7:00pm.

Join the Center for the Arts for the first time and receive 2 tickets to one of this season’s Live at the Promenade performances.  The Center for the Arts offers this promotion for first time members.  Call the Center for the Arts at 239-495-8989 for more information.

“Paint What You Are and What You Love”

“You have to paint who you are,” offers Eileen Walden Johnson as she adds just the right amount of Cerulean blue to a painting she is working on at her bright and open studio gallery at the Promenade at Bonita Bay.  Eileen Walden Johnson is her art. Joyful, sophisticated, intelligent, vibrant, unique and warm, describe both the art and the artist. 

“My style would probably be nonobjective abstract,” explains Johnson.  But the abstract style that wins her awards in almost every juried show she enters, evolved from criticism filtered through Eileen’s positive outlook.  The daughter of an accomplished regional landscape artist Roy Walden, Eileen began her artistic career painting landscapes as her father had.  “My father taught me to take notice of the world around me, always drawing attention to unusual shapes of rocks and trees and the vibrant colors of sunsets and flowers.  He passed away when I was young, but instilled in me and my siblings his love of nature, music and art,” says Johnson.  It was during a workshop at Notre Dame, that her landscape painting met with unexpected criticism.  “My professor told me, ‘this is great, now throw it away and do something completely different’.  I was shocked, but thought why not try something new,” explains Eileen.  Eileen tried abstract painting and found the perfect medium for expression. 

“Eileen is bright and energetic and so is her work,” explains Susan Bridges, President of the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs.   “Her paintings are joyous and lyrical.  People who tell me they don’t like or understand abstract paintings like Eileen’s work, they have an immediate connection when they see her art.”  It is almost impossible not to love Eileen’s work.

Although her work has universal appeal, Eileen does not paint with that intent; she paints who she is and what she loves.  Eileen credits her father and the artists Kandinsky, Jonas Gerard and Bob Burridge as her inspiration.  “I took Bob Burridge’s class at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs and it taught me so much about opening up and relaxing which improved my work immensely,” explains Eileen.

Robert Burridge is offering the workshop, “Larger and Looser; The New Master’s Program for the Post Modern Painter,” again this year at CFABS from February 13-17, 2011. The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs suggests that anyone interested sign up early as Bob’s classes sell out very quickly.

Eileen’s involvement with the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs has included volunteering and taking classes which is where she met the two artists, Ursula Cappelletti and Barbara Brenton who share studio #156 with her at the Promenade.   Eileen lights up when she talks about her connection with the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs and the Artists Studios at the Promenade.

 

“I love the Art Walks, it is like a big party,” says Johnson of the event held at the Promenade on the last Thursday of each month.  “Barbara loves to cook so she makes lots of fancy hors d’oeuvres and we have a great space to watch people dance to the live entertainment that the promenade offers during the Art Walks.”  The next Art Walk at the artist studios at the promenade is on Thursday, August 25, 2011 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Art Walks are free, open to the public and include wine, light-hors d’oeuvres and live music.  The Artist Studio’s are open Thursday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the summer.

Who:    The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs

What:   The Artist Studios at the Promenade

When:   Thursday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Art Walk- Thursday August25, 2011, 4:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m.)

Where:  Promenade at Bonita Bay, 26811 S Bay Dr, Bonita Springs, Florida

Cost:    Free

 Join the Center for the Arts for the first time between May 1 and September 30, 2011 and receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6-week class to be used by December 31, 2011.  The Center for the Arts offers this promotion for first time members.  Call the Center for the Arts at 239-495-8989 for more information.

A full list of Center for the Arts classes is available online at www.artcenterbonita.org or by calling 495-8989.

The kids may be back in school, but the summer fun continues at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs.

The kids may be back in school, but the summer fun continues at the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs. 

 Now through August 25, 2011 the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs’ August exhibition, “Mix It Up”, is open to the public during regular business hours at CFABS. The transition from summer to fall offers the perfect opportunity to “Mix it Up.”.  “Mix it Up” is an exhibition of mixed media and multimedia artworks created by regional artists.  The exhibition is open to all artists and all media, this exhibition features artworks that combine more than one medium.  This can be a combination of pencil and paint, or possibly clay, wire, wood, metal, etc.  It can be 2D or 3D.  This exhibition offered area artists the opportunity use collage materials that have been tucked away, dried tea bags, old love letters kept in a beautiful box in the garage, natural found objects or reuse items that have been discarded.  Come see what the artists have created!

 Now that the kids are back in school, it is time to treat yourself to the creative outlet you deserve.  On August 22, adult art classes begin.  So don’t forget to pick up a full list of workshops and classes.  Classes include Oil and Acrylic Painting as well as Mastering the Potter’s Wheel.  If your children need an after school activity, then look no further than the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs for fun things to do.  After School and Saturday classes for children ages 4 and up begin on September 6, 2011 and include fun activities like, Print Making & Silk-Screening, Cookonomics, Acting for TV & Film, Wheel Throwing Pottery, Movie Makers, Cartooning and every type of Dance you can imagine.  There is even a class called “Mommy & Me” for children ages 18 months through 3 years.  So don’t allow the words “I’m bored,” in your house this fall, send them to CFABS for afternoons filled with the word “fun.”

 “Cinemaistas” can find a haven with like minded movie buffs by attending the Center for the Arts Film Society’s “Films for Film Lovers” at the Promenade atBonitaBaybeginning on Monday August 15 at 7:00pm.  The series offers 22 films and runs through June of 2012.  Don’t sit at home alone waiting for your next Netflix movie to arrive, enjoy great films at CFABS cozy space at the Promenade to watch films on their giant 9’ by 12’ screen.  This year’s series brings you the best in films from around the world.  August 15, kicks off the series with “Black Book” a film from theNetherlandsabout a young Jewish woman who becomes a spy for the resistance during WWII.  “Ginger and Fred,” a film fromItalyfollows on August 22, 2011. CFABS Promenade Theater is furnished with comfortable chairs and tables.  Wine, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks are available to enhance your movie viewing experience.  Bring a group of friends or come alone and make some new friends.  You can join in the lively, fun and entertaining discussion after each film, led by a Film Society Chairman and a Film Society Member.  General admission is $8 per person.  You can become a member of the Center for the Art’s Film Society and chose from any of the following packages that offer great savings and VIP seating as well as advance notice of film events, screenings and schedule:  22 Films (the full series) for $126.50, 11 Films (half-series) for $66 or 5 Films (starter-pack) for $35.

 Learn an ancient art while having fun on August 16, 2011 from 5:30-8:30pm at “Raku and You.”  Raku is a centuries old pottery glazing and firing process. The technique produces a lustrous, often metallic, finish. Raku & You is an evening devoted to this ancient process.Attendees choose from a number of bisque fired pots and are introduced to the history of Raku while glazing their pot in a simple or extravagant manner.

While the outdoor kiln heats up to the correct temperature; attendees enjoy a picnic-style meal. Then the fun begins as red hot pottery is plunged into metal containers filled with combustible material. The containers are lidded and the pots rest for a few moments before being quickly cooled with water. The results are spectacular and everyone is invited back into the studio to view each piece. Everyone goes home with their very own raku masterpiece.  The cost is $40 per person.

 Budding actors and actresses are in for a treat this fall with the Youth Theater Department of the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs.  If a Mime gets murdered at a fancy bed and breakfast, does he make a sound?  What if there is no murder at all, just a lot of laughter. Auditions for this “Who didn’t do it” comedy will be held September 7 & 8 by appointment. Auditions are open to ages 12+. The Youth Theater Department is free. Those who are selected to be in the performance will rehearse throughout the fall and will perform on November 4 & 5. Join director Craig Price for this fun musical theater production where students learn not only how to act and sing but also the basics of set and costume design and show promotion.

 Thursday, August 25, 2011 from 4:00p.m.-7:00 p.m., catch an evening summer breeze as you stroll through the Center for the Arts Studios at the Promenade viewing Center for the Arts Member artists at work in their studios.  Painters, sculptors, photographers and glass artists, display their work in various storefront locations at the Promenade atBonitaBay. Artists Studios are open Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. New exhibitions, and artists, occupy the studios every 30 to 60 days. The last Thursday of each month kicks off a new group of artists and exhibitions in an evening Studio Walk, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., accompanied by musical entertainment, light hors d’ oeuvres and wine.  This event is free and open to the public.

 Friday, September 2, 2011; join fellow art lovers from 6 to 8 p.m. for The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs’ “Portrait and Figure Exhibition,” opening reception.  Come see what area artists have been creating as they seek to capture the complex and amazing human form.  Peruse works in abstract and realism; enjoy paintings, photography, sculpture and more. Join the artists for hors d’oeuvres, wine and conversation at the opening reception as we learn what inspires them. The exhibition is open to the public during regular business hours at CFABS from September 2 – 29, 2011.  Admission is free.

 Thursday, September 15, 2011; 5:30-8:30 p.m., grab a group of friends and join artist Patty Kane at “Alla Prima, Alla Fun.”   Learn to paint in one sitting and have fun with friends at the same time. At Alla Prima, Alla Fun, painter Patty Kane will walk guests step by step through the painting process. Join friends for pizza, wine and painting. Since Alla Prima is a style of completing a painting in one session, guests will have a masterpiece to take home with them at the end of the evening. The cost for the evening is $42 per person and includes paint, brushes, canvas, aprons, wine, pizza and guidance. This month the painting selection is Flip Flops.

 AsSouthwest Floridaheads into fall, find a date and head to Live! at the Promenade.  The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs is proud to present internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Kelvin Fischer of Love Hunter for an evening of acoustic music from his new CD “Drawn to The Light”, as well as other favorites from the band Love Hunter.  The show takes place Thursday, September15 at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15 for members of the Center for the Arts and $20 for non-members.

 For those who join the Center for the Arts for the first time between May 1 and September 30, 2011 will receive a free 4-, 5-, or 6-week class to be used by December 31, 2011.  The Center for the Arts offers this promotion for first time members.  Call the Center for the Arts at 239-495-8989 for more information.

 For more information on any of these events call us at 239-495-8989 or visit us www.artcenterbonita.org or join us on Facebook at Center for theArtsBonitaSprings.  The Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs is located at 26100 Old 41 Road,BonitaSprings.