Upcoming Events involving Kanika:
Kanika.us Website
Choice Framing
(July & August):
4720 Elk Grove Blvd.120
Elk Grove, CA, 95758
Open Studio Show (August 16th & 17th):
Many artist studios in
Elk Grove
MLK Champagne & Grits (Aug 21st):
Le Rivage Hotel
4350 Riverside Blvd.
The City Coffee Shop Show
(Sept & Oct):
8235 Laguna Blvd.
Elk Grove, 95758
9AM -7PM
Women Lawyers Art-Fest (Sept 4th):
5:30-8:30 PM
Vizcaya Hotel
21st & O Street, Sac.
Crocker Holiday Art Show (Nov 28-20):
Scottish Rite Center
H Street, Sac, CA
Doiron Gallery:
1819 Del Paso Blvd.,
Sacramento, CA, 95815
Thurs-Sat 12-5 PM
Carol's Books:
1916 Del Paso Blvd.,
Sacramento, CA, 95815
Saturday 12 - 5 PM
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Greetings!
I attended a Summer Solstice festival last weekend. It was a day-long celebration of summer fun: drumming and a didgeridoo player, chocolate and "energy tea" from the Amazon rain forest, people in flowing garb, incense, jewelry, and perfect summer weather. I was a very good consumer, trying to keep local businesses strong!
Guess what? I am in love!!! Feel free to read more about it on my Spirituality and Art Blog.
I hope you enjoy this edition of Kanika's Artscapes. Please let me know if there are specific topics you would like me to cover next month.
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Showing at "Choice Framing" in Elk Grove
 During July and August, Kanika will be showing several wall sculptures at a relatively new framing shop, Choice Framing, at 4720 Elk Grove Blvd., at the corner of Franklin Blvd.
Marsha and Sam Falk do a fantastic job of framing all types of artwork. They truly have a talent for combining interesting mat boards and frames to make a spectacular finished product. So check them out and my work too.
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Kanika at the 2008 California State Fair
 I was so excited to hear that judge, Yoshio Taylor, selected my "Layers of Life" monolith to represent California artists at this year's State Fair. I had studied under Yoshio for several years in the early 1990s so it was indeed an honor to have him feel that my piece was up to his exacting standards!
The
tile structure was complex, interesting, colorful, and even dizzying. But the tile monolith alone was simply not enough. I needed something else to tie it altogether. So I
topped the stella with a simple female sculpture from my breast cancer survivor series.
She is relaxed, cross-legged, comfortable with her naked self, sitting on
top of the world, in control of her life, and loving the color and texture
of her life. She is the epitome of "Layers of Life."
We all have
complexities that put roadblocks in our way. It is our job to figure
out how to deal with the good and the bad and the yin and the yang.
More detailed information on the making of this sculpture is available in my Art of Breast Cancer Blog and the In the Studio page on my website.
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Kanika is on YouTube!!!
 I have been working with computers since I purchased a Commodore 64 with cassette tape drive in 1982 to type my Master's Thesis. I had also been the manager of a statewide database for several years and the webmaster for several art organizations. I am also on the computer for hours every day, preferring e-mail to using the telephone. However, it has only been the last year that I explored sharing videos on www.YouTube.com. Please check out the slideshow that I prepared and showed at my April 2008 featured artist show: "Creative Extensions.' And another video from the actual gallery show itself. I finally figured out how to upload them to YouTube! I AM VERY NEW TO THIS, so I am open to your thoughts on how to make future slideshows and videos better.
What movie making program do you use for a Mac? Are you a whiz with titles and transitions?
What subjects would you like to see me present in future videos?
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The Creative Process: Steps to "Ashanti"
What gives an artist the creative edge? Where do the ideas for art come from? Surely every artist is different, but this particular piece started from a request for me to give a demonstration of how African masks are made, at an "Art Culture Day" celebration at one Elk Grove elementary school. What started as a lesson in African art and clay sculpture techniques turned into a magnificent 5' tall statue that now graces the home of a collector friend in Elk Grove.
The first picture illustrates that art can happen in a small space, such as a 3'-4' foot wide section of table. Books of African
 masks and wooden sculptures showed attendees various mask forms, then they watched me pull and shape and pat the clay into the mask figure shown on the table. As I was making the piece, I gave a verbal mini history lesson to those watching. The kids also had an opportunity to work with clay at another art station.
Later, a rounded occipital lobe was added to the back of the head and neck rings added around a metal pipe understructure. A four-foot tall, African fabric-covered column served as the base for the head. Layers of patina and black feathers added the finishing touches.
So inspiration can start from any source and can morph into something quite unique!
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Stay Informed
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.
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Thank you so much for your continued support.
I enjoy hearing from you so please keep your comments and suggestions for articles coming. And feel free to forward this newsletter to whomever you feel would appreciate the content.
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Sincerely,
Kanika Marshall
Kanika African Sculptures
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