We invite you to join us on October 2nd between 5:00pm and 7:00pm for an Artist Reception and Mill Valley’s First Tuesday ArtWalk featuring our October art exhibits: “Telling Stories” by Rodney Ewing in the Theatre Gallery and Kimrea’s “Sweetwater Series – Old Mill Valley” in the Crescendo Gallery.
ABOUT THE ART EXHIBITS
Rodney Ewing, “Telling Stories”
Theatre Gallery
Artist Biography
Rodney Ewing is a San Francisco based Visual Artist. Ewing’s drawings, installations, and mixed media works focus on his need to intersect body and place, memory and fact to re-examine human histories, cultural conditions, and events. With his work he is pursuing a narrative that requires us to be present and intimate. His work has been exhibited at Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, CA; The Drawing Center, New York, NY; and in San Francisco, CA at Root Division, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, Nancy Toomey Fine Art, Alter Space Gallery, and Ictus Projects. He was an Artist-in-Residence at Recology in San Francisco, the De Young Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the Djerassi Artist residency located in Woodside, California. Ewing received his BFA in Printmaking from Louisiana State University and his MFA in Printmaking West Virginia University.
Featured Artwork (right): “Stolen Moments”, 4’x6′ (framed), Collage, Dry pigment, and ink on paper
Kimrea, “Sweetwater Series – Old Mill Valley”
Crescendo Gallery
Artist Statement
All my life, for as long as I can recall, I have drawn, painted, doodled, sculpted, written stories, poetry & songs, exploring, creating art in it’s many various forms whenever there was opportunity and occasion, with whatever materials I had available to me at the time.
When I was a troubled teenager in high school back in the 70’s, in pretty much the first and only real art class I ever took, my teacher, a kindred spirit, gave me straight A’s for the class but no assignments. He told me I was already an Artist and to come to class and use all the tools and supplies as I liked and he let me make my own assignments. He answered my questions when I was stuck and otherwise let me explore and find my own way.
I have been exploring and finding my own way now for over 40 years. Sometimes life gets in the way and I have periods where I have to do all the work in my head until a window of opportunity and energy opens up and I can manifest my idea. I currently have some sculptural pieces in process that have been moving slowly through their evolution for many years. They are near finished. I’m very excited about them.
I’ve had many interesting commissions. I’ve had all kinds of evolutions in style and direction. I am still exploring, still experimenting, still discovering. I have only done a few art shows in my life. Notably in the fall of 1990 I had a booth with my marionette style sculptured dolls at the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival. Since then the 142 Throckmorton Theatre has shown my Sweetwater Series a few times, in honor of Mill Valley’s lost Treasure: the famous & beloved music venue, The Sweetwater Saloon that is now so long gone. I am honored to show them again.
These watercolor café paintings were done at shows at the original Sweetwater Saloon over the years from 1998 till the year it closed in 2007. I started painting at the Sweetwater as a way to pass the time while waiting to play my songs at the Monday Night open-mic. Then, when, in a work-barter with the Sweetwater, I got permanent comp to all the shows in exchange for development and management of their website, it became a serious art project. I had the wonderful opportunity to paint and sketch musicians as they played their music, live, in an intimate setting! I was trying to capture some of the energy of the live shows. It was a challenge, the lighting was bad, sometimes I would be using a color I thought was one hue only to find in the light that it was another, and frequently I was painting in crowds of inebriated enthused music fans who have lost all sense of personal space. Also the Musicians would not sit still. J The painting had to be finished before the show was over. I would then ask the artist to autograph it at the end of the night. It was a very lucky time in my life; I did over 100 paintings and saw 100’s of shows!
Featured artwork (left): “Roy Rogers”
