A master printmaker, painter, teacher, and author, Dan Welden is the originator of a safe and green printmaking technique called the Solarplate Method, a simpler and less toxic alternative to traditional printmaking techniques such as etching, which uses strong acids. Welden will be working in the Kwan Fong Gallery from Jan. 30 to Feb. 28. The community is invited to join him and make some amazing art. The exhibition will remain through March 7.

Admission is free.

According to CLU Printmaking instructor, Kristi Colell;

“His Solarplate Etching /Relief printmaking methods are challenging, creative and inspirational. I wanted my students to experience working with the originator and master of this contemporary printmaking process…my goal here at CLU is to develop a strong printmaking program by inviting members of the world printmaking community to work with my students, thus  providing and enriching the creative printmaking environment for artistic expression through dialogue, instruction, and active learning with world renown masters.”

Welden has offered to create a special edition print  to be sold before the print is pulled. (These prints will cost the investor $250.00) This amazing opportunity will allow art collectors in our community to purchase the work of an international master printmaker, teacher, and author. A Welden print sells for $900.00 to $1,200.00. The proceeds  will be donated to  the University Art program.

To learn more about the artist, visit his website:

http://www.danwelden.com/Home2.html

“The greatest misfortune is when theory outstrips performance.”

-Leonardo DaVinci

Last week, Ben Hengst, a graduate of CLU, and more recently the New York Academy of Art, paid a visit to a few classes on campus, encouraging Art Majors to seek further education post graduation. Having just finished the Masters course at one of the only institutions in the country offering classical training in the studio arts, Ben was able to offer fresh advice on the life of an emerging artist.

“At the New York Academy of Art, [they] believe that the world of visual art is built upon the essential cornerstones of figurative drawing, painting, and sculpture. Mastering these disciplines is critical to the development of an artist’s personal vision and, ultimately, to the creation of vital contemporary art.”

To see Ben’s work visit his personal page:

http://www.benhengst.com/

Or, for more information on the New York Academy of Art:

http://nyaa.edu/nyaa/home.html

Artist Mia Tavonatti, formerly shown in the Kwan Fong Gallery, was recently awarded first place by popular choice at this year’s annual ArtPrize contest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tavonatti is a local Santa Ana artist whose work you may recognize from CLU’s recent New Romantic Figure Show. Some pieces on display include work from her previous “Svelata” collection; a collection containing a mosaic that took second place in ArtPrize’s same competition of 2010.

To see “Crucifixion,” pieces displayed in the Kwan Fong Gallery New Romantic Figures Show, or more of her body of work, go to http://www.svelata.org/, or click on this link Svelata

Mia’s “Crucifixion” piece that received first place this year as well as a $250,000 cash prize is a mosaic work of art, proving that she can truly paint with glass. The 13 x 9 ft 2-D mosaic sculpture is made from hand-cut stained glass, taking approximately 2500 hours to complete. In creating an accurate design to work from, Mia first had her model pose on a self-constructed cross, placed in the woods of Santa Cruz, then layered this with two separate sunsets she photographed in both Italy and Hawaii. While the subject matter is quite religiously specific, she is still approached by many people of differing religions who recognize the piece’s undeniable beauty.

For more information on the Kwan Fong Gallery or Mia Tavonatti, please visit:

http://blogs.callutheran.edu/kwanfong/

http://www.artprize.org/artists/public-profile/49426

California Lutheran University is in the perfect location where traveling to a multitude of Museums is quick and easy. Listed below is a vast selection of art experiences to help inspire and stimulate whatever creative tiff you could be feeling. Here are the names of some Museums, the address, and a link to their direct site. So go and enjoy good art. NOW!

Getty
1200 Getty Center Drive,
Los Angeles, California 90049
(310) 440-7330

The Getty

Getty Villa
17985 Pacific Coast Hwy,
Malibu, CA
(310) 440-7300

The Getty Villa

LACMA
Wilshire Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 857-6000

LACMA

MOCA
250 South Grand Avenue,
Los Angeles, CA 90012-3007
(213) 621-1710

MOCA

Hammer
10899 Wilshire Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA
(310) 443-7000

Hammer

Santa Barbara Museum of Art
1130 State Street,
Santa Barbara, CA
(805) 963-4364

Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
4804 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 662-8139

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

MAK Center for Art and Architecture
835 North Kings Road,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 651-1510

MAK Center of Art and Architecture

Museum of Neon Art
136 W 4th St,
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 489-9918

Museum of Neon Art

USC Fisher Museum of Art
823 Exposition Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90089
(213) 740-4561

USC Fisher Museum of Art

Vincent Price Art Museum
1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez,
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(323) 265-8841

Vincent Price Art Museum

Watts Tower
1765 East 107th Street
Los Angeles, California 90002
(213) 847-4646

Watts Tower

Norton Simon Museum
411 West Colorado Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 449-6840

Norton Simon Museum

Santa Monica Museum of Art
2525 Michigan Avenue
Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 586-6488

Santa Monicas Museum of Art

Cal State Northridge Art Galleries
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA, 91330-8299.
(818) 677- 2226

Cal State Northridge Art Galleries

Pasadena Museum of California Art
490 East Union Street,
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 568-3665

Pasadena Museum of California Art

amit_sood_building_a_museum_of_museums_on_the_web.html

Amit Sood, a Group Marketing Manager for Google, has created and complete to museum of the century. A site where one can virtually walk through a museum in Paris, while sitting in bed in Thousand Oaks California. The most a exciting aspect of GoogleArtProject is its high resolution viewing of any desired piece; said best by  Julian Raby, director, the Freer Gallery, Washington, DC:

“The giga-pixel experience brings us very close to the essence of the artist through detail that simply can’t be seen in the gallery itself. Far from eliminating the necessity of seeing artworks in person, Art Project deepens our desire to go in search of the real thing.”

The Directions to use the site are EASY, simply select a museum from the homepage and then either choose ‘Explore the museum’ or ‘View Artwork’. Once you are in the main site use the drop-down menus or the side info bar to navigate between artworks and museums.

Cited From:

• http://www.ted.com/speakers/amit_sood.html

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669

“Rembrandt was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age. Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, his later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships. Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high, and for twenty years he taught many important Dutch painters. Rembrandt’s greatest creative triumphs are exemplified especially in his portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits and illustrations of scenes from the Bible. His self-portraits form a unique and intimate biography, in which the artist surveyed himself without vanity and with the utmost sincerity. Rembrandt’s greatest creative triumphs are exemplified especially in his portraits of his contemporaries, In his paintings and prints he exhibited knowledge of classical iconography, which he molded to fit the requirements of his own experience; thus, the depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt’s knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam’s Jewish population. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called one of the great prophets of civilization.”

Biography Cited from:

• http://hoocher.com/Rembrandt/rembrandt_harmensz_van_rign.htm
• http://rusart.ca/history/rembrandt.html

Explaining the appeal of Rembrandt paintings

A researcher at the University of British Columbia claims he has figured out why Rembrandt paintings are so appealing to viewers.

“Renaissance artists used various techniques to engage viewers, many incorporating new scientific knowledge on lighting, spatial layout and perspectives. To isolate and pinpoint factors that contribute to the “magic” of Rembrandt’s portraits, DiPaola used computer-rendering programs to recreate four of the artist’s most famous portraits from photographs of himself and other models. Replicating Rembrandt’s techniques, he placed a sharper focus on specific areas of the model’s face, such as the eyes.

Working with a team from the Vision Lab in UBC’s Dept. of Psychology, DiPaola then tracked the viewers’ eye movements while they examined the original photographs and the Rembrandt-like portraits.

“When viewing the Rembrandt-like portraits, viewers fixated on the detailed eye faster and stayed there for longer periods of time, resulting in calmer eye movements,” says DiPaola, who is also an associate professor at Simon Fraser University and adjunct faculty at UBC’s Media and Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre. “The transition from sharp to blurry edges, known as ‘lost and found edges,’ also directed the viewers eyes around the portrait in a sort of narrative.”

…”Through these techniques, Rembrandt is essentially playing tour guide to his viewers hundreds of years after his death, creating a unique narrative by guiding the viewers’ eye,” says DiPaola. “This may explain why people appreciate portraiture as an art form.

Explaining Appeal Cited From:

• http://boingboing.net/2010/05/28/researcher-explains.html

KWAN FONG GALLERY OPENING RECEPTION

7:00 PM OCTOBER 6, 2011

Deeply concerned with our natural environment, Gong Yuebin’s extraordinary installations provoke strong feelings of loss or power. Using the blackened trunks of large trees that were burned in forest fires, the artist creates monumental arrangements that are evocative of stone circles or watching figures. CLU is fortunate to have Yuebin’s work on display at the flagpoles beside Soiland Humanities Center and inside the Kwan Fong Gallery through Nov. 15.

See the beauty of Mother Earth disappearing.
Hear the voice of freedom fading.
Witness the spirit of mind suffering.
How much more Natural resource has to be exhausted?
How many more people have to be sacrificed?
How many more souls have to be destroyed?
We are one with all on this planet.

—-Gong Yue Bin

A big congratulations to CLU art major Ashley Bowman for being selected as one of the finalists of the American Batik Design Competition.

The American Batik Design Competition is an open competition intended to draw from among American citizens diverse talents in fabric, graphic art and fashion design, to put on display new and original designs that allow the American spirit and values to shine through, while still recognizing uniqueness in the Batik motif. The phrase “American Batik” is a term attempting to illustrate and describe such creative designs and fashion ideas that remain influenced by typical Indonesian Batik motifs, and are bound to incorporate two criteria:

1. they have to be designed by American designers; and
2. they exhibit the American spirit and values, drawing from its history and folklore.

The theme of the competition is “The Spirit of America in the Heritage of Batik”. This theme is hoped to reflect the articulation of cultural fusion between United States and Indonesia through batik; to bring American values in the tradition of Indonesian Batik. This competition is aimed at strengthening people to people contacts between the United States and Indonesia, to bring closer the two countries’ cultural cooperation. It is also one of the Indonesian government’s efforts to internationalize batik to the world.

Judges will consist of Batik and textile experts as well as fashion designers and representatives of fashion industries from Indonesia and the U.S. Participants of this competition will be asked to create an ‘American batik’ digital design only. The transformation from digital designs into Batik Tulis (hand-made batik) will be later done by Indonesian batik artists in Indonesia.

You have made your family, friends, and colleagues very proud. You represent one of the many success stories an education in art at California Lutheran University will bring. All of us at CLU wish you the best of luck for the final.

Congratulations!

On campus this past weekend, Mitch Lyons offered a 4-day workshop to demonstrate his very own printmaking process, which he has been developing since 1968. His innovative approach…

”does not require a printing press. [Instead], a clay slab is used as the matrix and rich monotypes and collage pieces can be created with non-toxic Akua waterbased inks and modifiers. 
The approach is energetic and open to each individuals style.”-Kristi Colell

Having taught at West Chester University, Moore College of Art, Rowan University, Alfred University, and the University of Delaware, and led over 150 workshops, Lyons is an experienced instructor. He holds a BFA in Graphics from the University of the Arts, and an MFA in Ceramics from the Tyler School of Art. His work is in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Noyes Museum of Art.

Yet another way California Lutheran is imPRESSING its students.

Any students interested in printmaking are encouraged to check out Kristi Colell’s on-campus printshop classes. Ranging from beginner to advanced, they offering a wide array of printing processes.

The Kwan Fong Gallery had an exceptional opening/ student reception this past Saturday Evening, September 10th. With tasty treats and a wonderful meet-and-greet of a hand full of the displayed artists, the event brought a humbling balance of professional execution and student aimed insight into all of the appearing works. Special guest Alexey Steele was able to make personal connections with many of the art students at California Lutheran University, bringing words of inspiration and a great philosophy on how to be successful in any act of passionate work.

This romantic show was a powerful way to kick off the year!