Last year we introduced the Wee Scapes architectural model trees and landscape elements and they have been a welcome addition.  Designed for the professional, hobbyist or crafter, the variety of options will meet the needs of any project.

Choose from 15 tree types of bendable coated wire or 3D plastic molding, from 2 1/4 ” fruit trees to 5″ tall palms. Flowers and hedges are designed to match nature’s vibrant colors, delicate contours and diverse textures. Bushes, turf, and grass mats complete the landscaping options. Tiny human figures add scale to architectural models, and they are paintable. And for the popular California Mission school project, we have paintable plastic sheets that replicate the look of Mexican tile roofing.

My worlds converging

Born and raised in Germany, Hilla lived in Munich most of her life before moving to San Francisco in 1997. She took up studying drawing and painting to stay grounded, find focus, and an outlet for her creativity. These days most of her free hours are spent painting in the studio at 1890 Bryant Street Studios.

Up in the air

Hilla’s work is inspired by her immediate surroundings, by the beauty she observes in her local environment or the places she visits. She works in a variety of mediums, oil, acrylics, pen and ink; using mainly oil for her abstract landscapes and pen and ink for drawings. Her paintings rarely represent reality;  landscapes and urbanscapes are abstractions, allowing her to enhance what she sees as essential in a certain space or place. Her drawings allow for multiple meanings, as well as for ambiguous emotions. “Accidents”, especially in her pen and ink drawings, are accepted and influence the outcome. Often using geometric elements when developing content and composition, Hilla feels she has succeeded when viewers engage with a specific piece and find a connection to their own experience.

Hilla Hueber

Hilla is one of the local artists participating in the SOMAC art exhibit that runs from February 1st – February 29th, 2012.

Please visit her website paintingcurve.com for more information including future exhibits.

Vanessa Kary, Acrylic/Pouring Medium on Canvas - Serendipity, 20"x30", 2011

Well, it is catching on! With Vanessa’s images as inspiration, here’s what you need to know about this intriguing medium.

Use Liquitex Pouring Medium in combination with acrylic colors to create seamless surfaces and puddles of flowing color. The medium creates a strong body of paint when poured or dripped onto a surface, then retains a high gloss and wet appearance when dry. It won’t crack or hold bubbles in the paint film upon drying, it won’t add transparency when mixed with color, and its flexible, non-yellowing and water resistant when dry.

Paint wet in wet! By preparing multiple colors at one time you can create marbled surfaces by blending them using a palette knife or by dragging a fork or pointed tool through the surface, or compose multi-colored pieces in one sitting – just apply the next color directly after the first pour for spots or crisp concentric circles. For other effects turn the support on its side, this way and that, to allow the paint to run down the support surface at a variety of speeds and create drips and spreads.

For more ideas and inspiration, visit vanessakary.com. Vanessa learned of Pouring Medium last year, and as you’ll see from her gallery and photos, her focus since then has been on Liquid Landscapes.

Vanessa Kary, Acrylic/Pouring Medium on Canvas - Timeless, 48"x24", 2012

The images on this page are from French photographer Stéphane Hette, who states:

“In my work, paper plays a predominant role – I have been drawing since the age of three and it is still part of my work today – a white sheet of paper is for me the basis for any kind of creative thinking.

I have always thought in terms of photos. As paper is the natural media for photography, it seemed obvious to me to put it forward in my work.

This omnipresent whiteness in my work is obtained right from the beginning by simply using a sheet of paper behind or beneath all my subjects. This whiteness needs to have its own life, its own story and an extraodinary quality but also be able to make you doubt about whether you are looking at a painting or reality, fiction or real photography. After many unsuccessful trials, I discovered (Canson Infinity) Arches Aquarelle Rag paper and it is obvious for me that it is the ideal paper to support my process.”

Featuring substantial weight coupled with uncommon elasticity, our papers offer a unique opportunity to embellish your own creations and can be used in an infinite number of ways.

Rolls are 19.65″ x 8′ 3.5″ (50 x 250cm). Choose from 12 rich colors at $6.99, and lustrous metallics at $12.99.

What is remarkable is how little the tools of the trade change over time. Trends come and go, but paint is paint and canvas is canvas. Art materials do evolve, yet you can still find many of the traditional supplies of yesterday on our store shelves today. You are sure to recognize many of the brands and their products below.

1962. Today Bainbridge sells their illustration board under the Letramax name.

1952. C-thru is still our primary brand for triangles and rulers.

1979. Norman Rockwell painted on Frederix canvas and was their spokesman.

1962. Still an astonishingly popular line.

1952

1952

1957. General's is still family run, now by the 5th generation.

1952. Doesn't every kid grow up with Crayola?

1962. The series 7 brush is still the W&N premier brush, but no longer starts at $1.00.

1968

1958

1965. By far, Speedball had the best variety of quality ads back then.

1965. Okay, you've never seen this brand on our shelves. We're guessing Krylon put them out of business. This is a classic 60s ad, but the notion that sex can sell an artist spray, well, that's ridiculous.

Founded in 2008, SOMA Open Studios recently changed its name to South of Market Artists Coalition (SOMAC). A grass roots organization committed to expanding the arts community and consciousness in the South of Market neighborhood, SOMAC hopes to inspire, nurture, educate and empower artists and their audiences, while enhancing the social and cultural diversity of this unique neighborhood. Their mission is to foster community enrichment through the promotion of the arts and to educate the general public in what their artists have to offer. The artists of South of Market seek to create a dialogue between the the past and the present, in an environment that is responsive to the issues of modern, contemporary and experimental art, while being accessible to the public.

Hilla Hueber, Carmel Sunset

Our February Art Exhibit includes work from  some of these talented artists and a few are participating in our Live Art Program. These artists represent some of the 10 different studios that comprise SOMAC.  Our exhibit is a preview to SOMAC artists Spring Open Studios  on March 31 and April 1, 2012, providing the public an opportunity to see a multitude of artists in their work spaces.  Art lovers are invited to meet the artists, see and talk about their work process, experience art at the source, and build their art collections.

Participating artists include; Jack Androvich, Ida Gamban, April Hankins, Hilla Hueber, Dennis Levy, Michel Misho, Tsungwei Moo, Richard L. Perri, Xavier Phelp, Karl Roeseler, Janet Seifert and Aladin Stadlin.

Artist at the San Francisco Women's Art Gallery

Tsungwei, Moo is an artist from Taiwan, where she was an artist in residence at the Da-Dao Art Museum in 2000.

Her range of artworks include printmaking, painting, photography and ceramics. Mostly inspired by the beauty of nature and wildlife, Tsungwei prefers painting and drawing outdoors in beautiful locations paying close attention to how the sun light changes and reflects on the landscape and translates that to her canvas.

Golden Gate Bridge

The subjects of her artwork focus on the natural environments of her current city of San Francisco, along with Taiwan, Yosemite, and other areas in California.

” My art is not just something looks good for decoration function. I want it to show its spirit inside. It can be the history we pass, the memory we lost, or even some experiences we never have chance to make it.”, says Moo.

Tsungwei is one of our featured artists in the SOMAC (South of Market Artists Coalition) February Art Exhibit at Flax.

She is a member of the San Francisco Women Artists. For more information about the artist, please visit her website, moogallery.com

Palace of Fine Arts Etching

Recent Exhibits and Awards Include

2012 Yosemise Renaissance
2012 Yosemite Art and Education Center Instructor
2011 De Young Museum, SF, CA
2011 SOMARTS Gallery, SF, CA
2011 ArtSpan Open Studio, SF, CA
2011 San Francisco Traveler
2011 Fillmore Art Work, SF, CA
2009-2012 San Francisco Women Artists
2009-2012 Studio Gallery, SF, CA
2009-2012 Fort Mason Gallery Show Case, SF, CA

Learn more about Kolo photo albums.

Made in Quebec, Canada, Apollon was founded in Montreal as a picture framing store in 1957 by Dimitri Apokatanidis. Originally pursuing a career as a photographer in Europe, picture framing seemed a natural extension. Since then the company has grown and shifted its efforts towards the manufacturing of fundamental supplies for artists, with a focus on offering a high quality product at a competitive price.