From April 11 through May 3, 2008, Kanika Marshall will be the featured artist at the Doiron Gallery, 1819 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, California.  You are invited to a special Artist Reception on April 11th, from 6 to 10 PM.  Or if you cannot make that date, feel free to come on Second Saturday, April 12th, from 6 to 10 PM.  Normal gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday, 11-5 PM.

Kanika will be showing MANY brand new two and three-dimensional mixed media sculptures.  And we have put together a slideshow containing these works of art, as well as images of those artworks throughout the creative process.

The show is called "Creative Extensions" so there will be some interesting and unusual additions that we cannot explain in words.  You'll just have to come and see for yourself! (smile)

There is a lot to see at the Doiron, so plan to come and visit for a while.  Hope to see you there.

 

Kanika is delighted to be included in the  "Art With the Earth in Mind" art show at CSUS' Witt Gallery, in Kadema Hall, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, from April 14th - 18th. 

Valley Sculpture Artists  (VSA) invited members of the greater Sacramento community to submit art which brings to consciousness Earth issues expressed visually.  Sac State provided the space in Kadema Hall for a one week show.

Included in the exhibit,  ART WITH THE EARTH IN MIND, are 27 works including paintings, sculpture and photographs in a wide range of media.  Artists span young and old alike, seasoned and as well as students artists and one expression from a student from Southside Art Center.  All these artists came together around a common theme that affects all people on the planet.

Gallery Hours:  
                Monday through Friday  12-4:30 pm (park and pay for parking in student or visitor lots)
                Closing reception Friday April 18,   5-8pm  (free parking during reception only)

 

And the Winner Is . . .

Last month, I solicited your input in helping to name a brand new 6-foot monolithic sculpture in time for my April Featured Artist show at the Doiron Gallery.  I sent the newsletter request to about 400 of my friends, artist acquaintances, loyal customers, and interested parties. 

Out of the dozen or so suggestions, the winner of the $$$ prize is Dianne Mattar.  The new name for this piece is "Layers of Life."  I like how the name epitomizes the core essence of the work: complicated, colorful, strange, cohesive, disparate, wonderful, discordant, conservative, wacky, brilliant, glowing, yin, and yang.  Thank you Dianne! 

Diane Mattar is an artist who has a fabulous and intriguing love of color.  More of Dianne's work can be seen at the Sugarmill Winery in Clarksburg, CA, and at: http://www.studio53gallery.com/Mattar.html

FAQs: Where's the Beef?

"Why do you make so few male sculptures?" As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I have always been in awe of the strength and beauty of women. I like curvy things and, in general, women have more curves!  So  my Goddess collection represents that side of me.

HOWEVER, being a Gemini, I also appreciate male energy (the Yang that complements the feminine Yin).  So periodically I do make male and some couples sculptures.  In fact, I have created couples sculptures for wedding gifts and/or wedding cake toppers.

You may be surprised to learn that many of my sculptures are rather androgynous, containing female and male energies.  It is in the eye of the beholder what gender people see in some of these pieces.  I may have had a male form in my mind but some people may see female aspects, and vice versa.  "It's all good!" said Cousin Tiny, a huge and very charming Hawaiian bus driver we met on a recent vacation to O'ahu.  So when people ask me "Is this a man or a woman?" I respond, "What do you think?" and let them make their own interpretation. 

But I do like curves and swirls, and the juxtaposition of hard and soft lines . . . so look closely at the forms in my work and guess what my intent was in their creation.  And remember what Tiny says: "It's all good!"

Work in Progress: Meditations in Mendocino

Last August, I had the pleasure of staying in Mendocino for the first time.  It is a small town located along the northwest coast of California and is known for its magnificent ocean views, quaint shops, quiet hiking trails, moving sunsets, and spectacular river kayaking.

On the road to Mendocino we drove through many vineyards in the foothills along U.S. 101. The shapes of the road, groomed vineyards, and terraced hills generated all sorts of creative ideas! So I took many pictures along the route as well as in Mendocino, then sketched simple line drawings of the basic forms. Never too far away from my clay, I used up 50 pounds of it on the trip, to loosely record my impressions of this magical place.

This is one of the many works in progress that were created on that trip. Imagine yourself lying on a large hammock, underneath a ring of five 100-foot tall redwood trees.  The photograph above shows the view of the canopy of those immense redwood trees, as we looked upward from our hammock that was swinging in the slight breeze. I was struck by the geometric patterns formed by the tree trunks reaching ever upward toward the sky. You can see the original photograph, the carved unpainted sculpture, and the finished result in the Doiron postcard above. An artist certainly may take liberties with the original idea and the finished artistic product!  This postcard cannot communicate the brilliance of the canopy though because it is actually crackled glass that sparkles in the light.  You have to see it first hand at the Doiron Gallery. 

Spirit was certainly working under that divine redwood canopy! 

 

On occasions, Kanika African Sculptures has special website sales or other special offerings via old-fashioned snail-mail.  If you are not on our snail-mail and telephone listing and would like to receive these special offers from time to time, please e-mail your mailing address and/or telephone number to kanika@kanika.us.