"Fresh Works VII" Juried Exhibition in Pleasanton

My oil painting, The March of Time, was accepted to a juried exhibition, titled "Fresh Works VII" in Harrington Gallery at Firehouse Arts Center, Pleasanton.







The opening reception on May 6 attracted many visitors, eager to see many wonderful works, several by local artists.















During the opening reception, my work was awarded an Honorable Mention Award, by the juror Ryan Reynolds, Assistant Professor of Art at Santa Clara University. Reynolds talked about the difficulty of choosing included works and winner from many submissions, and elaborated on the criteria he used for his decisions. He was looking for works demonstrating unique and well thought-out visions or ideas, and artist's ability to execute and present such ideas.


Gallery Director Julie Finegan handed out award certificates


Juror Ryan Reynolds





The gallery sponsor, Nancy & Gary Harrington recognized a work with their special "Nancy & Gary Harrington Award" for a wonderful portrait, "Alice" by Pamela Mooney.


"Alice" and "Kitty G." by Alice Mooney

Some Merit Awards were give to these accomplished works:


"Hushed", Carolyn WarmSun


"Lake Atitlan, Guatemala Thought", Dave Peterson


"In the Garden of Time" by Karen Kramer & "Mr. Chavez" by Dmitry Grudsky


"Robin 2.17" by Thomas Cory & "FO" by David Casterson

Besides my painting, other Honorable Mention Awards winners were these wonderful works:


"Monterey Fog", Lynne Shephard


"Father and Son", Robert Huberman


"Waiting", Grant Clark


"Persephone", Leonardo Cuervo


"Bedlam (San Jose)", Jeff Ishikawa


"Samidare", Jill Stevenson Ritter


I was impressed by many works, award winning or not, such as these interesting works:


"Dr. Seuss: The Dark Side", Kurt Fehlberg (left)


"Morning Contemplation", Lisa Rigge


"One Potato", Sherri Kelcourse


"Barn Owl", Melissa Snider


"Grandmother's Reflection", Alani Susan Taira (left)


"Romeo's Siesta" Christine Bourg




"Alone with a Palette Knife", Julia Watson


Fresh Works VII ran from May 6 to June 3, 2017. In concurrence to this juried exhibition, there was a one-person show “View Beyond the Gate” in the lobby areas of the Firehouse Arts Center, featuring works by Glenn Carter (May 3 to June 10, 2017), whose work was,”rooted in the intuitive response to materials and mark making.”






Quite an inspiring exhibition and I am honored to be part of the show.


Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Changes Exhibition Opened at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley
- Group Exhibitions in Seattle, Berkeley and San Diego & a Publication
- "Scapes: Land, Sea and Urban" Juried Exhibition at Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, California
- Oil Painting "Upstream" Goes to Seattle
- Opening of "Free Art" at Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland
- City Art Gallery Holiday Show Opening Reception
- "Golden Ages" Opening at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley

My Favorite Paintings at Yale University Art Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery's art collection had an amazing depth, whose collections dated back to the antiquities, but the paintings impressed me most were modern works.

My favorite was an Edward Hopper, Rooms by the Sea (1951), which, in contrast to his usual gloomy and enclosed settings, was surprisingly sunny and airy, though not without some uncertainty and vulnerability. The beautiful shaded green and yellow floor contrasted wonderfully with brilliant blue sky and lapping waves see through huge openings of the house, which cast bright geometrical shapes on the walls and floor, and those window sand sunshine created many focal points and they echoed one another through the canvas. A dash of red sofa and brown dresser, seen at the edge of the painting, anchored the sharp angled composition, and balanced the large sun spot and the open sea at the right edge of the canvas.


Rooms by the Sea, 1951, Edward Hopper

My second favorite was Die Ungeborenen (The Unborn) (2001) by Anselm Kiefer, in his usual monochromatic fashion, and the media were again, consisted of paint, plants, and perhaps metal cutout dresses, all his usual media and motifs. Over the dark, though not overwhelmingly gloomy background, a delicate, broken plant floated in the center, with several very small dresses hung on its extended branches at varying heights. The message was not very clear, even aided with the title; perhaps, those dresses symbolized some tragically unborn children, and that made this dark, yet very delicate painting very touching and poignant.


Die Ungeborenen (The Unborn), 2001, Anselm Kiefer


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 152: My Favorite Paintings at J. Paul Getty Museum - Getty Center, Los Angeles
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 150: My Favorite Paintings at Oakland Museum of California

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York City 
- "The Steins Collect" Exhibit in San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
- Art in Subway Station, New York City
- Neue Galerie New York - Austrian and German Art Gallery
- Barry McGee Mural, Soho, New York 2010
- Arslan: In the Midst of a Single Breath - Dillon Gallery, New York

My Favorite Paintings at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara, Italy

Pinacoteca Nazionale (National Gallery) di Ferrara, also known as Palazzo dei Diamanti, named for its rusticated façade of diamond spikes, impressed with effortless elegance of the building and its collections.



The first striking piece greeted visitors was an "Assunzione di Santa Maria Maddalena" by Maestro della Maddalena Assunta.



The highly stylized landscape was an idealized world, where animals, plants, and humans mingled together in harmony. The low vantage point and the receding flat landscape helped to generate a visceral sense of witnessing Saint Mary flying up. Hovering just above the ground, the pious and still youthful Mary, borne by several cherubim and greeted by a pair of angels with enormous wings, though delicate and even fragile, commended attention through her centered position, contorted pose, and brilliant bloody red drapery. The small V-shaped hills framing the base of the painting, also added the sense of uplifting.  


Assunzione di Santa Maria Maddalena, Maestro della Maddalena Assunta


I was also very moved by another Mary painting - Madonna col Bambino, which featured the tender Mary and a very trusting and adorable baby Jesus, engaging in silent and intimate communion, demonstrating the palpable love and trust between the mother and the baby. A touching sweetness permeated the painting, yet the painting never fell to the level of saccharine; the sweetness was manifested in the simplicity of these figures, their most natural exhibition of pure emotions, and the delicate and harmonious hues of pink, rose, and blue, all artfully woven together.


Madonna col Bambino,  Sebastiano Filippi  detto Bastianino


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 126: My Favorite Paintings at Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang, China

<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 124: My Favorite Sculptures at Palazzo Municipale in Ferrara, Italy

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara and the Rest of Ferrara
- Castello Estense, Palazzo Municipale and Duomo in Ferrara
- My Favorite Paintings at Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy
- Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna
- Impressionism from National Gallery of Art (DC) in San Francisco
- My Favorite Paintings at National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
- Art Gallery of Luxun Art Academy in Shenyang, China

My Favorite Paintings at Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Bologna

The Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale) in Bologna hosted a large museum with amazing art collections.  Among numerous interesting works, I found two portraits most engaging.

One was "Ritratto di vecchino (Portrait of an Old Man)" by Jacopo Robusti, known as Tintoretto.  This portrait presented a robust old man with a striking set of abundant white beard, contrasting and echoing the black cap atop his broad forehead.  The unwavering, penetrating, yet not-unkind gaze of this old man told all we needed to know about this steadfast character - a general? a statesman? or a successful seafaring merchant?  Whoever he might have been, he commanded our respect. A sliver of outside world at the edge of the painting indicated his adventures beyond the serenity of old age.


Ritratto di vecchino, Jacopo Robusti, detto il Tintoretto (1518-1594)

My second favorite was "Suntto per la testa di Gian Galeazzo (Sketch of the Head of Gian Galeazzo)" by Bologna's native son, Pelagio Palagi, whose fluid rendition of the melancholic young man captured his intelligence and sensitivity tenderly and economically. Even in this perhaps unfinished state, this portrait was just as full-bodies as any extra layers of paints and varnish could provide.


Suntto per la testa di Gian Galeazzo, Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860)


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 122: My Favorite Artworks at Duomo in Ferrara, Italy
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 120: My Favorite Artworks at Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano, Bologna


List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Palazzo D'Accursio (Palazzo Comunale), Bologna
- My Favorite Artworks in Palazzo Ducale, Venezia (Doge Palace, Venice)
- My Favorite Artworks at Palazzo della Ragione, Padova (Padua), Italy
- Il palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna
- My Favorite Works at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Firenze, Italia
- My Favorite Paintings at Battistero, Padova (Padua), Italy