Please join us from 5-7pm for an Artist Reception and Mill Valley’s First Tuesday Art Walk featuring our June artists Jane Reed Veen in the Theatre Gallery and Mark Aubert in the Crescendo Gallery.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jane Reed Veen, Mostly Figures
Artist Statement: Figurative painting for me is an attempt to capture the emotion of the moment. We express ourselves thru gesture in the landscape of life.
*Featured photo (left): Untitled Figure, 48″ x 36″, Acrylic
Mark Aubert, The Sleeping Lady
“The Sleeping Lady” features a collection of Mark Aubert’s work from its onset and includes his most recent paintings. With the arrival of Spring , Mark now revisits favorite locations, finding comfort in the familiarity while challenging himself to better understand the lessons of light interaction and movement, an experience that evolves with continued observation.
Born in 1987, Mark Aubert grew up in Mill Valley at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais. He took an interest in drawing at a young age with after school art classes at Old Mill School and weekends with his mother in downtown Mill Valley to draw from life, depict the coffee shop on the corner, the depot, and the elements of the surrounding community. As he progressed through the local school system, Mark continued to explore his creativity, spending most his time in the art building at Tamalpais High School as well as playing in a rock band with his close friends. Aubert went on to study music & art at the College of Marin in 2006. The drawing and painting classes with professor Chester Arnold at COM were pivotal and Mark was inspired to commit to developing his visual inclinations and achieved an undergraduate BFA degree in Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2007. At SFAI, Aubert focused on painting both diverse subjects and styles but it was not until 2009 that Mark tried his first plein air painting high atop Mt. Tamalpais. What began as a curiosity for direct life painting, and a rooted appreciation for his home landscape, a love for landscape painting unfolded and has become the artist’s primary painting practice and passion.
Although the majority of Aubert’s paintings are completed in one session, at times returning to a location for multiple sessions is required. Mark visits the mountain throughout the year, experiencing its seasons and exploring new locations. Aubert’s landscapes embody a sense of distance, they are a vignette of the space beyond – often depicting the immediate foreground just below the artist’s easel and expanding as far as the eye sees.
Although the origins surrounding the name “the sleeping maiden” or “the sleeping princess” vary from legend to legend, locals who look up at the mountain see their own version of the sleeping lady. For Mark, the curves, valleys and peaks are the most important lessons. Taking in the majesty of light and beauty, internalizing observations to process and return a personal expression of the landscape. During these moments an inward conversation takes place, guiding the artist along each application of paint. The opportunity to share these wonderful moments through creative practice has nurtured the growth of Mark’s painting, as well as cementing a passion for his home and the history of this land.
*Featured photo (right): The Sleeping Lady, 4.5″ x 8″, Oil on Panel
