Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the River Arts District will hold Second Saturday on February 12, with many galleries open additional hours throughout the day. District-wide activities include demonstrations, special sales and entertainment. Many artists also use the occasion to share their latest creations with those strolling through the district.
Grandma’s Hands. Joseph Pearson, artist
New work by goldsmith artist Patricia Phillips, whose studio is located at Pink Dog Creative, reflects a return to her artistic roots. “During COVID, I started doing enamels to add to my jewelry line and realized how much I missed working with color, at which point I started painting again,” she says. “My original degree is in painting and I feel that all of my years working as an artist is coming together in my new paintings.” Influenced by artists such as Hans Hofmann, Joseph Albers and Casper David Friedrich, she is using the “push-pull of color to create a transcendental mood of strength and power.”
The artists of Pink Dog 348 are holding a group exhibition that runs through April 3. An opening reception will be held Thursday, February 10, from 5–7:30 p.m., and the exhibition will be available for viewing on Second Saturday. Artists represented are Lynn Bregman Blass, Karen Keil Brown, Julieta Fumberg, Leene Hermann, Gayle Paul, Joseph Pearson, Sarah St. Laurent, Larry Turner and Cindy Walton.
“The artists will be exhibiting some of our favorite pieces that best describe us as artists,” says Walton. Place figures prominently as a theme in her art. “The paintings that I will exhibit are abstracted landscapes,” she says, “reaching back to my childhood on Tampa Bay in Florida, with the memories of always being able to swim and have respect for the environment. As an artist, I am searching for a deeper level of expression of the natural world through writings and bold marks that travel in and out of the layers of oil paint and cold wax medium. My intent is to capture action, energy, emotion or quiet musings of nature.”
Etro Buck. Larry Turner, artist
Encaustic artist Lynn Bregman Blass explores inner narratives and what people create in their lives as a result of those stories. In 2008, she partnered with photographer Leah Sobsey to create Visual History Collaborative (VHC), which “combines stories, artifacts, memorabilia, photography and encaustic into mixed media installations and smaller visual pieces for individuals, nonprofits, foundations and corporations,” Blass says. “What I will have in the Pink Dog 348 exhibit are photo grids of families from VHC installations and paintings that reflect my interest in visual narratives, mostly paintings of childlike houses. All of my work uses encaustic which turns out to be the perfect medium to explore mystery, memory, stories and history.”
With the group exhibition, “we wanted our art buyers and visitors to know what an outstanding group of nine artists are present in our building,” says Walton. To learn more about the exhibition, visit PinkDog-Creative.com.
For a complete schedule of events and times, a map and a studio guide to the district’s artists, visit RiverArtsDistrict.com. Studios have varying hours. Information may also be found at websites for studios and individual artists.
