POP ART PARTY TOWN: THE DAZZLING METRO-WORLD OF SONYA PAZ
By Angie Young
“Let’s party!” shouted Sonya
Paz’s multi-hued painting from the wall. Okay, it didn’t audibly scream
it’s lungs out at me, but visually it did. Her bold strokes of
anomalous-shaped brilliant reds, purples, aqua-blues and vibrant
chartreuse arrayed in zany compositions are anything but boring.
Sonya’s creations will suck you into the playful, vibrant world of
cubism and modern art. Singing buildings, sunny blue skies with
whimsical purple and pink clouds, and kinetic musical instruments on
canvas greet those who need a pick-me-up after a day crunching numbers
at the office or changing smelly diapers at home.
This San Jose resident
understands the need to find joy. In fact, her inspired style was born
out of several difficult trials. Sonya didn’t have an art mentor while
growing up to pave the way for her in the art world. Nor did she
connect with the art teachers from her elementary and high school days
due to their overwhelming restrictions. As an adult, she tried
different mediums such as ceramics, enameling and graphic design. Her
skills landed her a job in graphics with Apple Computer, and her art
training would come through in her use of design, composition and
color. Sonya dabbled again in
pop art in the mid-nineties and in 1996, submitted a series of
wild-colored Lucille Ball portraits, inspired by Andy Warhol, at an art
exhibition at San Jose’s Gordon Biersch Restaurant. However, the daily
demands of family life deterred her to pursue art full-time, and during
most of her adult life she worked in the high-tech sector. When the
death of a family member altered her home life in November of 1999, she
dealt with the unenviable task of dealing with her children’s loss of
their dad and the heart-wrenching ordeal of driving them to grief
counseling sessions. Instead of falling into a deep depression and
inhaling Krispy Kremes, in front of the TV, she took a trip to the art
store. “I felt I needed to
express myself with drawing and painting,” Sonya says, pausing to
reflect on those dark days and her trip to University Art in San Jose.
“I went there and filled up my basket with all brights and acrylics. I
figured the small investment of $300.00 for some paper, canvas, brushes
and paint was a lot cheaper than a counselor for my kids.” She adds
with a chuckle, her Hazel eyes betray no resentment. Nobody can tell by
gazing at her that she endured such an ordeal. The effervescent, petite
artist never allowed the negative circumstance to rob her of
creativity. She’s not a whipped potato. She experimented with
sketching then got inspired by flipping through her Pablo Picasso books
she bought years ago. She studied videos of her favorite visual pop
artists, such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, which she viewed
from A & E. Left-brain thoughts invaded her creative space with
doubts about embarking on an artistic journey in her mid-thirties. She
dismissed those negative notions after viewing documentaries on several
prominent actors, painters and fashion designers who started their
careers in their upper 30’s and early 40’s. So with that in mind, Sonya
ventured further out in Pop art, fully expressing her emotions in
intense acrylic colors. Sonya opened up her
doors to the public at the Silicon Valley Open Studios in 2001. During
that event, she met two artists, Kerri Lawnsby and Jen Norton, who have
become a great support to her as an artist. She often displays her
paintings in the Bay Area at local coffee shops, restaurants and at art
fairs, where she can see first-hand how others view her work. “People
respond to my artwork because it is positive and fun,” says Sonya. What
makes her paintings distinctive from other pop art works is the
marriage of the sophisticated cosmopolitan motif to the happy,
free-spirited vacation-type themes in her designs. “My first big, real
break came—at a 30-piece show at the Willow Glen Roasting Company in
February 2001. That was a great experience. A lot of people showed up.”
She sold six pieces and received three commissions; thus encouraging
her to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time pop artist. The road
ahead offered many challenging situations for her but she stuck it out
and continued to paint a variety of metropolitan scenes in whimsical
styles. Some criticized her strong use of color, but she ignored the
negative comments and kept making her art and marketing it as much as
possible. Her efforts paid off. In
the following months, Sonya’s work got the attention of the City of San
Jose and she was asked to participate in the San Jose Shark Byte Art
project in late 2001, creating two painted fiberglass shark sculptures
for public display. She also met Mark Kovich, her significant-other and
business partner, who supports her art and helps her market it. Sonya’s
two sons are also very proud of their mother’s career.
Over the years, she has
honed her craft and developed an exceptional style in modern art mixed
with cubism. Her titles often are a play on words, and as inspired as
her art. One piece, entitled “Water Flirtation,” came to her when she
wondered what water looks like if it could flirt or fall in love. So,
she painted a blue heart in bold blues and purples with a stylish
flair. Sometimes a mundane trip to the grocery store will inspire Sonya
to begin a series of paintings. On one errand to the market, she saw a
stack of yellow bell peppers arranged artistically in a pyramid in the
produce aisle. The painting of “Sweet Peppers in The Big City” was
born.
As a young girl, not only
being an artist captivated Sonya’s heart, but she desired to run her
own business some day. The dynamic fashion designer Coco Chanel
impressed the diminutive brunette by her energetic personality,
relentless drive and creative zeal. Chanel was a tomboy in nature,
although she designed women’s apparel. Because of Sonya’s
entrepreneurial skills, her paintings have shown up outside the San
Francisco Bay area as far away as New York City. In addition to her
traveling exhibitions, Sonya’s fun, expressive metro-scenes are the
poster art for several art festivals: The Palo Alto Festival of the
Arts that already took place on August 28-29, 2004 and the renown
outdoor festival in Sausalito.
The Palo Alto Festival
was a success for Sonya; I stopped by her booth on Sunday, August 29th
and people were buying her artwork. I purchased a couple of items,
including the festival t-shirt with her signature design. My husband
and I had a great time schmoozing with Sonya and her friendly, sales
team at the crowded show. I just learned from her that she has an art
fair in Mountain View the following weekend. She’s quite a busy girl
selling her stuff everywhere and I can understand why. Sonya’s
impeccable smile and exuberant personality makes people feel welcomed
when they visit her booth. Her playful demeanor reflects the paintings
that are festooned on the walls around her.
She also created the
t-shirt and poster design for the prestigious Sausalito Art Festival.
“Splashing About in Sausalito” is the name of this national event and
it’s scheduled over this Labor Day weekend. This famous outdoor affair
drew roughly 1300 artists’ submissions and only 270 of them qualified
this year. She got selected this year and she’s thrilled about it.
That’s just the beginning for her. Eventually she’d like to see her
fun-loving creations in major cities throughout the nation and, of
course, the rest of the world. Her dream is to own a “Sonya Paz Fine
Art” gallery in the future.
Sonya is not afraid of
hard work, and her success proves it. She’s one bold lady and the
energetic, fun-loving artist says, “I have a paintbrush and I know how
to use it!” So watch out art world, here comes the creator of fine art
with a celebrative twist. To find out more about her artwork and her
upcoming gigs, check her website www.sonyapaz.com.
Insights from Collector J. Michael Bewley
By Kerri Lawnsby, Executive Director
His love of collecting art began with two
paintings: his mother’s high school art pieces. They followed the
family with every move, appearing on the wall as a subtle reminder of
the importance of art. That underlying message stuck with J. Michael
Bewley, and in college at Princeton University the history major took
an art appreciation class. He found himself enjoying the lectures, and
discovered an aptitude for recognizing styles of different artists, and
characteristics of art movements throughout the ages. So much did he
enjoy this experience that he tried his hand at studio art the next
year, learning to paint still life subjects and drawing the figures of
nude models.
You may think this is
the story of an emerging artist, but in fact it’s about a passionate
art collector. “I looked around the room in that art class, and it was
clear that some people were gifted. Truly gifted,” said Michael. “I new
I could train myself to be an adequate painter. But I would never be
able to execute my ideas at the level I would want.”
This realization
didn’t depress Michael; it liberated him. “It gave me freedom,” he
said, “Freedom to enjoy a painting for its emotional impact, without
being distracted by thinking about whether or not I could accomplish
the work of the artist.”
After graduating from
Princeton University, Michael decided to pursue a career as a lawyer,
and obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona Law
School. Although he chose the path of law, he never lost his passion
for fine art. Years after graduating from law school, Michael purchased
his first painting. “It was an unusual
confluence of events,” said Michael. An artist his mother suggested
turned out years later to be the very first artist Michael collected.
“I didn’t pay any real attention to my mother’s recommendation,” he
said, “but years later I was walking past a gallery window in Laguna
Beach and saw this painting.” It stopped him in his tracks. But he was
with some legal clients on business, and could not go into the gallery
at that time. Over lunch with his clients, trying to discuss the legal
matters at hand, he could not get the painting out of his mind; he was
captured by it. His clients remarked at how distracted Michael seemed
to be; he admitted he just could not get that painting out of his mind.
He had to see it again. When Michael returned to the gallery after
lunch, he discovered that the artist of the painting was the same one
his mother recommended.
“I bought the
painting. And it was beyond my means at the time,” he said, “but the
money didn’t matter. It felt right.” Energized by this first art
purchase, Michael wanted to find out everything he could about the
artist. He found gallery books published with the artists’ paintings,
researched the artists’ early work, and visited with the artist in his
studio. Later, he identified works he wanted to collect, and found the
current owners through the gallery that represented the artist.
Now J. Michael Bewley
owns 150-200 artworks by many different artists in a variety of media.
“It’s hard to keep track of them,” he said, and yet he still scouts the
world for new artworks for his home and law office. When asked where he
stores his flourishing collection, he said, “I just keep getting rid of
furniture.” Although Michael said
he does not have a set annual budget for art, he does have “an acute
awareness of the level of pain” when making acquisitions. “I hand pick
each piece myself, wrestling with the decision to purchase every time,”
said Michael. “My collection is a labor of love.”
Michael’s Tips for Emerging Collectors
Living in Silicon
Valley, with the nature of the work being done here, Michael said he
often meets people who like to know all the facts before making a
decision. And they apply this precise decision-making strategy to art.
But Michael feels that doing this can “tamper with the pure passion of
collecting art.”
His number one recommendation for emerging collectors is:
Jump in and become a
collector! Don’t over-intellectualize buying the first piece of art.
Heed your passion. It will be empowering for you.
Other tips:
View many works of art
See more art than anyone else, and by looking, become knowledgeable.
Educate yourself about the history of art, the movements that led to
contemporary art. Michael scouts for art in many ways:
Pay attention to your reactions
The first few seconds of seeing an artwork are critical; pay attention to your reactions and emotions.
Be patient
Finding
an artist whose work you like is exciting, but be aware if the work is
not “there” yet. Like fine wine, artists’ skills are honed over time,
producing more eloquent works as they age. “Bide your time,” said
Michael, and track the artist’s work as it evolves. Do not be taken
aback if an artist you like goes through a period where you don’t think
the work is good; wait it out.
Don’t sweat the price
When
you’ve seen a lot of art, you’ll get a sense of pricing. Before you
have this experience, go with your feelings—If you love it, buy it! If
you’re concerned about pricing incongruities, purchase from galleried
artists. Most galleries keep pricing consistent to protect the value of
artists’ work.
Michael’s Tips for Artists
About J. Michael Bewley
J. Michael Bewley is a
passionate collector of cutting edge contemporary art. He travels the
United States and Europe looking for art, and collects work by emerging
artists as well as mid-career and established artists. By profession,
J. Michael Bewley is an employment lawyer with a law firm in downtown
San Jose. He displays many works from his collection in his office,
which has been toured by museum groups from the San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art, The Stanford Art Museum and the San Jose Museum of Art. J. Michael Bewley
received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and his
Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona Law School, where he
received the International Trial Lawyer’s Award for Distinguished
Advocacy. He currently serves on the Collections Committee of the San
Jose Museum of Art.
Movements in Art: Cubism to Pop Art
By Therese May
“Avant Garde” in art means some
artists go before, explore new ideas and open pathways for others to
follow. There have been many movements in the history of art, where
certain artists ignited controversial ideas; others were influenced by
their innovations in painting or sculpture and began to explore their
own versions of new ideas. The art movement before Cubism was Impressionism. Impressionism was concerned with natural light and the movement of time. French painter Paul Cezanne,
who in 1904 began constructing his paintings using the basic shapes of
cone, cylinder and sphere was the bridge between Impressionism and
Cubism. He was called the Founder of Modern Painting. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque
had a tremendous influence on 20th Century art by painting in a way
that departed from traditional picture making. They stopped using
perspective, foreshortening and modeling. They painted objects and
figures from all angles simultaneously; in a fractured way. Some of
their paintings were non-objective and abstract. Picasso and Braque
were friends living in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, France in 1907.
They were inspired by Paul Cezanne, who’s approach to painting was
constructivist. Cezanne taught that one should look for the cylinder,
cone, sphere and cube in nature. So Picasso and Braque began to make
very analytical surfaces –analyzing the figure and still life while
restricting their use of color to grays and earth tones. They both
loved and collected African tribal art, especially masks. In Picasso’s
1907 painting, “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” he employed intersecting
planes and lines along with the African mask for the faces of the women
in the picture. This impacted many artists of the time who considered
it a new style. Painter Henri Matisse
and art critic Louis Vauxcelles remarked about Braque’s paintings,
saying they were made up of cubes. Picasso and Braque did not like this
at first, but the term Cubism caught on and they accepted it. The first
phase (1910-1912) of Cubism was Analytical Cubism.
The two artists worked closely together and analyzed the separate,
overlapping, and intersecting views of the figure and still life, using
monochromatic colors and fractured forms for their technique. Musical
instruments, bottles, pitchers, glasses, and newspapers were their
subject matter. Between 1912 and 1914, they launched another phase, Synthetic Cubism,
which they began to use more familiar forms, returning to the use of
color, and introduced the use of collage. Gluing an actual object, such
as a piece of newspaper onto the canvas was revolutionary and
influential. The Cubist Movement in art lasted into the 1920’s. Around 1910, art dealer Henry Kahnweiler
promoted the Cubist School of artists influenced by Picasso and Braque.
Among them were Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Francis Picabia and Jean Marcoussis.
In 1914, during World War I, Kahnweiler escaped to Switzerland and lost
many of their paintings. Picasso was angry, but the two reconciled
after the end of both World Wars.
Marcel Duchamp
did the famous cubist painting “Nude Decending The Staircase.” Around
1917, he made the decision to no longer paint. He did a piece of
sculpture called “Fountain” which was really a urinal that he declared
as an art object. He called this kind of art “ready made.” He altered
our way of thinking about art by putting everyday objects into a
different context. This was the beginning of the Dada Movement and a suggestion of what was to come in the 1950’s in the Pop Art Movement.
After the World Wars, an American art form emerged from New York; Abstract Expressionism,
which departed from the use of traditional images, and by nature was
rebellious and anarchic. It included action, color-field and hard edge
painting. Artists were more concerned with color and quality of paint
rather than representational imagery. This movement put New York City
as the center of the art world on the map, dethroning Paris.
In the 1950’s and 60’s in England, Pop Art
thrived and in the United States Pop Art was a reaction against
Abstract Expressionism, which blurred the edges between high art and
low art. In England, artists picked up the optimism of consumerism of
the post war society by using everyday objects as well as images of
mass media for their subject matter. Pop Art and Pop Music arrived at
the same time. The Beatles used Brigitte Bardot in one of their movies
and in the U.S. artist Andy Warhol
used the image of Marilyn Monroe for his silk-screened canvases. Mass
media and popular culture were the focus for art. Warhol was considered
the “Prince of Pop.” He used Campbell soup cans as imagery and
eliminated the distinctions between good and bad taste. He learned the
techniques of commercial art (he worked as an illustrator in New York
for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.) He was the one who said, “In the
future, everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes.”
Pop Art challenged our concept of art with new
meaning and humor given to the every day object, which was raised to
the status of art. Abstract Expressionism had been serious and
introspective while Pop art lightened up the message. Roy Lichtenstein
did this with his comic strip paintings, which were a subtle criticism
of American mass culture. He was featured in a group exhibition at the
Sidney Janis Gallery in New York in 1962 along with artists Claes Oldenberg, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake. This show was greatly recognized by the critics and established Pop Art as a serious movement in art.
By painting abstract forms and introducing real
objects in collages (Cubism) and utilizing any and all aspects of mass
culture for subject matter plus the use of commercial techniques (Pop
Art), these two art movements opened the door for artists to break the
rules, freely expressing individual and diverse ideas and styles.
Framing for Show
By Susan Kraft, Art21 Gallery & Framing
In a room full of artists, there
will be as many opinions as there are questions regarding framing
artwork for show. Even the position of hardware and the hanging wire
will be up for debate in this group. Reasons stem from the
varieties of methods and materials we employ to create art, coupled
with different venues and storage styles. I’ve seen group shows present
as a patchwork quilt and even solo shows that don’t hold together well,
mainly because of different framing methods employed.
In truth, most of our
artists have a favorite technique and generally stick to it. A style
can be based on cost and perhaps by what is seen in local galleries.
I will show you basic
rules that work for framing a single piece or an entire show. These
rules solve the artist-framing dilemma and keep your bank account from
taking a dive.
Rule one: Use a standard final size for all your work
Plan ahead to use
standard sizes. If all of your artwork is sized to three or four
standard sizes, you can swap frames within your own collection. You can
also buy ready-made frame at a fraction of the cost a custom-made frame
costs. Rule two: Think about the finished product before beginning
This is a good idea for
either canvas or paper. You can plan to not frame at all by using a
thick gallery wrapped canvas. This is a canvas stapled on the back of a
one-inch or thicker stretcher bar. Either keep the edges clean (either
white or black) or extend the painting around the edge. An extended
painting can be very interesting, especially if there is a lot of
variation down the edge of the painting. If your canvases are
side stapled, you really do have to frame them. The viewer expects you
to show them the completed look during a viewing experience. In the
best case, they want an emotional experience, but if they can see the
underpinning of what this work is, it distracts. Imagine having a deep
discussion on the meaning of life in a public forum, with someone who
is in his underwear and has bed hair. I think you get the picture. It’s
the same thing for your artwork. You wouldn’t go to a nice dinner in
your robe and slippers because you didn’t feel like getting dressed, do
you? Paper art has to be
protected and sometimes the protection starts with a fixative to keep
pastel marks in place. Never release a pastel for sale with the media
loose. Keep in mind when you are working on it, you, or someone else,
is eventually going to spray it before it comes to rest on someone’s
wall. After the media is fixed, you can choose mats or spacers to keep
the glazing off the paper. I suggest using a pale mat – white or off
white, to give the art some space. The wider the mat, the more
important your artwork will appear.
Rule three: Choose the frame to reflect the look of your work
You can choose the
minimalist look of thin wood or metal or juice it up with thick and
perhaps gilded frames. Either way, don’t plan on spending hundreds of
dollars on a frame to present your art. Let the buyer do that.
A simple canvas solution
is using plain slats or half-round doorframe. Sand and stain the raw
wood and nail it with finishing nails right onto the canvas. A simple
paper art solution is to use metal frames, but here you really need to
use Plexiglas. Metal frames break the glass. A step-up in
presentation is to buy readymade frames. A readymade frame can be a
wider, more impressive style, but will be a fraction of the price a
custom cut frame costs. There are dozens of choices. Look in the back
of art magazines, or even ask a friendly framing shop if they know of a
read-made supplier.
Rule four: Place your
flat hardware 25% down from the top of your piece. Your hardware
placement should be designed hanging and stacking against other pieces.
Visualize your framed
piece stacked against other framed pieces. Prevent the screw-eyes
scratching the Plexi of the piece it is laying against, or poking dents
into another canvas behind it. Either use D-rings or place the
screw-eyes into the inner edge of the stretcher bar. The wire should be made
taunt. It will stretch over time. Wrap the loose end through the D-ring
or eye into a pretzel knot. Then wrap the leftover remaining four
inches tightly around the taunt piece, like a hangman’s noose. Snip the
frayed ends clean.
These four rules can
help you set a professional looking show and allow you to talk about
something more meaningful in the room full of artists. You have the
answer to frame and hang your art. You are now free to discuss the
meaning of life, or just enjoy the company.
Susan Kraft is co-owner of ART21
Gallery & Framing located at 539 Alma Street in downtown Palo Alto.
ART21 Gallery has 21 artists which they showcase every Friday night.
They also have an artistic, professional framing staff. ART21 works
with you to create awesome framing whether it is something fit for
royalty or your child's very first doodle. And they know you don't want
the same formula applied to all projects: they fit to your needs.
Underpainting with Acrylics
By Jeff Bramschreiber, University Art
Acrylics are a tremendously
versatile medium. They can be used on different surfaces and with a
wide variety of techniques. They dry quickly, have little to no smell,
and clean up with soap and water. Having said all that though, the fact
acrylics dry so fast can make them tricky to work with. This is where
under-painting becomes an important technique in the success of your
acrylic artwork. What do I mean by
under-painting? Simply put, a thin layer of wet acrylic is applied to
the canvas, the subsequent layers are then blended into it, working
thin to thick, just like you would with oils. Once you decide on your
subject matter, finish your value sketches, and select your palette,
you begin laying in your first color ground. If for instance, you are
doing an autumn landscape, you may want to choose thin glazes of
yellows, oranges, reds and violets. Don’t worry about the final result
yet, you want to establish mood and have a nice layer of wet paint to
blend into what will enhance the subsequent layers of paint. Pick your
first color and mix it with a small amount of Glazing Liquid (from
Golden Acrylics) or Glazing Medium (from Liquitex) and a small amount
of water. The glazing liquids improve the flow of the paint, and also slow down
the drying time leaving the paint wet longer. Blend one color into the
next, trying for smooth transitions as you paint and continue until the
canvas is covered. You should now have a colorful “under-painting” on
which to base your final work.
You will find that
subsequent layers of color blend easily into your under-painting and
help to develop a believable atmosphere. Then as the thicker color is
applied, an interesting thing begins to happen. As the thinner glazes
begin to be covered they continue to be felt, fighting through the
thicker layers providing both dynamic tension and unity to your
painting. Give it a try, experiment, and I think you will agree that
under-painting provides you with a wonderful tool for your acrylic
painting adventures.
To purchase acrylic paint and
related products, or if you simply wish to speak with Jeff, please
visit him at University Art Center at 456 Meridian Avenue in San Jose.
This is the art store where Artist Sonya Paz bought her paints, brushes
and canvases (see feature article). Jeff can also be reached by phone
(408)297-4707, (408)629-7883 or via e-mail at snjbram@aol.com.
Jeff is also Director of Community Involvement
and Board Trustee for the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, Co-
Chair of the Alliance of Visual Artists AVARTFEST and an award winning
local artist and instructor.
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Pop Art Party Town: The Dazzling Metro-World of Artist Sonya Paz
