Float Galleries closing art party!

Oakland – April 19th, 2008 Contact: Allison Walton

Phone: 510-535-1702

Beneath The Surface
Visionary Paintings & Works on Paper by Liz Mamorsky

Interactive Assemblage Sculpture by Paul Baker

Closing art party will celebrate the FLOAT Galleries 2^nd year anniversary

DJ BONSCOTT of WaxONWaxOff productions will be spinning funk, hip hop, and jungle during the event on Saturday 5/17, from 6-9pm

The capabilities of the human mind like the creative process, is nothing short of astonishing. Beneath the Surface gives us a taste of that brilliance, telling stories from deep within. During this two month show we challenge the audience to experience their own path through paintings, works on paper and assemblage sculpture that utilizes found objects to stir memories.

Our closing party will mark Float’s 2^nd year anniversary in business and participants will have the ability to win a free floatation session every ½ hour during the event.

Liz Mamorsky

An artist all her life Liz Mamorsky was a child star back in New York and currently does voice work for radio, television and games, including Sims 2, Sam & Max, and AVampyre Story. She is also the narrator for the recent PBS documentary, The Remarkable Red Hat Society. Since graduating from Bennington College, Mamorsky has exhibited her unique recycled-materials sculpture, studio furniture, and visionary paintings and drawings nationally and internationally. Her work resides in numerous public and private collections including: The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco; The Spertus Museum, Chicago; The Oakland Museum of California, Sony Corporation, Nektar Therapeutics, First National Bank of Arizona, Santa Clara Medical Center and Paramount Pictures for the set of Star Trek:Voyager. You can find her hard at work in her amazing LizLand Studio in San Francisco.

Paul Baker

Paul Baker is an assemblage artist who creates interactive sculptures. His ongoing series: Machines for Living are built intentionally to help us examine our lives and evoke memories, though insight and humor.

A native of Boston, Baker moved to San Francisco ten years ago. He has been producing art in different mediums for the past 15 years; in 1991 he settled on assemblage sculpture, perhaps latently influenced by a boyhood passion for collecting shelf after shelf of what his mother called "junk".

His background includes exhibit design at the Cleveland Museum of Art; art instructor; bird house entrepreneur; and a stint as a sales clerk in a large department store. His education includes extensive travel abroad and a Masters degree in Medieval Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, England. Baker works as an advertising copywriter by day. www.Paulbakersculpture.com

About FLOAT:

FLOAT, Floatation Center – Art Gallery is the only floatation center & art gallery in the San Francisco Bay Area, floatation therapy is a unique and powerful tool that allows you to shut out the world, and drift into the deepest possible level of physical and mental relaxation. FLOAT an urban art spa offers new, public exhibits of local artists to stimulate and challenge your senses.

FLOAT, Floatation Center – Art Gallery 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116 (located in a store front loft of the historic cotton mill studios) Oakland, CA 94606

Jingletown Junction featured on KQED Forum Radio

Jingletown Junction will be featured on KQED's live call-in program:

Thu, Apr 10, 2008 -10 AM. Oakland's Jingletown Junction is hosting an exhibit showcasing neighborhood artists. The program will talk about the history behind this colorful name, as well as speak with some of the artists. Host: with Michael Krasny Call In 866-SF-FORUM (866-733-6786)

Ignacio De La Fuente's 2008 Campaign Kick Off!

Dear Friend - I hope you can join me for this important event.

District 5

For De La Fuente

Join Ignacio for the

2008 Campaign Kick Off

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Rally at 10:00 AM

Volunteers Needed from 10 AM to 2 PM

3411 E.12th Street, Suite 90

in the Fruitvale BART Transit Village

Bring your friends and family!

Lunch will be Provided

To RSVP or volunteer call (510) 535-2008

www.delafuente2008.com

OPENING AT THE FLOAT GALLERY

Material Evidence

Mixed media work of Peter Boyer, and Master Plasma sculptor Ed Kirshner

Closing Party March 15th 2008, 6-9pm
with live music by Cornelius Boots

Two architects collide with the 4th state of matter, a not to be missed event!

Enter a world were materials come alive in an inspiring array of elements, both elegant and serene these masters of design transform materials designed for constructing buildings, into creations that seem to take on a life of their own. Set to live improvised ambient music by Cornelius Boots.

Included in the display are the compilation plasma jellyfish sculptures by Ed Kirshner and Bernd Weinmayer, a master flame worker from Austria. www.weinmayer.at

Peter Boyer

Boyer's art deals with physical and material elements. He builds paintings by successive applications and deletions of various materials: canvas, muslin, linen, paint, gesso, charcoal and graphite. His is a process of working and reworking the surface by tearing off and reapplying his materials until the work attains what he has described as "presence".

Peter Boyer was born in New York in 1948, moving to the West Coast with his family in 1960. He studied art in California and Oregon, receiving his BA from San Francisco State University in 1977. He also studied architecture at The Southern California Institute of Architecture. Boyer operated a small design/build business in the 1970's, which acquainted him with the materials and techniques of building construction. Much of this knowledge has been applied to the process he follows in creating his mixed media works. www.peterboyer.com

Ed Kirshner

Artist statement:

Like Dr. Frankenstein in his lab, I hover over my glass and gas plasma work, spending many hours mixing, balancing and fine-tuning. Still, the plasma light behaves in a way that I can never completely control. I can change or direct its behavior by varying the pressure and mix of gases, or the frequency and the voltage of the power, but I can never fully predict the detailed effects any of my actions will have. Though frustrating at times, this unpredictability is at the very heart of my work. This is the personality, the mystery, the life that I try to create in my sculpture.

Ed Kirshner of Oakland, California was born in New York City in 1940. He studied architecture and sculpture at Cornell University, the University of California at Berkeley and the Oskar Kokoschka School of Vision in Austria. After thirty years of developing and financing affordable housing, he returned to study art at the California College of the Arts in Oakland as well as at Pilchuck and Corning glass schools and Northlands Creative Glass in Scotland. His glass and gas plasma sculptures have been exhibited throughout the U.S. as well as in Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Austria, France and Turkey. His work, “Cone of Chaos”, was a Corning Glass selection in 2000 and is included in Corning's recent book "25 Years of New Glass Review." His piece, "Java High," was a recent acquisition of the di Rosa Fine Arts Preserve in Napa, California. Ed has taught glass and gas plasma workshops in the U.S. as well as in Asia and Europe and is on the faculty of The Crucible Fire Arts School in Oakland and the Glass Furnace in Turkey. He is also a Trustee and the Treasurer of the Museum of Neon Art (MONA) in Los Angeles. www.aurorasculpture.com

Cornelius Boots

Closing night will showcase a live performance by Oakland reed renegade Cornelius Boots. A progressive rock composer, bass clarinet performance specialist, wu wei woodwind instructor and Zen flutist. Founder of Edmund Welles. Boots is currently undertaking more large-scale, primordial, avant-orchestral compositions. Recent pieces include a commission by Chamber Music America and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

The live performance for Material Evidence will reflect the elements of earthiness, experimentalism, and unpredictability found in the artwork. A primarily improvised ambient set which will combine the usage of the robot bass clarinet—an amplified, effected, mutated bass clarinet—and the sounds of the mendicant bamboo flute-playingcharacter "Shunyata Wu-xi" (wizard of the void), utilizing shakuhachi and staff flutes in addition to tape loops, and voice to create minimalist industrial-new age and existential blues. www.corneliusboots.com, www.edmundwelles.com

FLOAT, Floatation Center – Art Gallery 1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116 (located in a store front loft of the historic cotton mill studios) Oakland, CA 94606

510.535.1702

www.thefloatcenter.com

Jingletown Junction Exhibition

Ten JABC artists' experience of working and living in an artists' neighborhood.

Jingletown Junction

Dates: March 18 - April 25, 2008

Reception: Thursday, March 20, 6-8 pm

Artists' Talk: Saturday, April 5, 1-3pm

PRO ARTS GALLERY - 550 Second Street, Oakland, CA.

ALISON MCLENNAN - Furniture

FERNANDO REYES - Painting

JILL MCLENNAN - Painting, Encaustic, Oil

HEATHER WHITEHEAD - Painting, Printmaking, Mixed Media

RUSS OSTERWEIL - Photography

JAN WATTEN - Photography

JON ZAX - Photography

KATHY CRONIN - Photography

BILL SILVEIRA - Sculpture, Painting

LAUREL TRUE - Mixed Media

Music during reception provided by Cathi Walkup's Double Trio

Jingletown

(Postcard design by Kim Larson)

Moving right along....

It seems like there was more traffic for the White Elephant sale this year than in years past. This is good news for Jingletown merchants. Both Voila! and Institute of Mosaic Art reported a lot of foot traffic. The neighborhood just keeps getting better and better, but we still have the occasional unfortunate incident. Last night, the sideshow kids were back at the corner of Chapman and Derby.


On the bright side, however, students at IMA were busy this weekend making sculptural garden benches using the sculpturing compound, Darjit! that is made of about 90% recycled materials. I walked over there with my video camera and shot the class in action. It looked like everyone was having a great time.



If any of you would like to have a similar Quicktime video made of your art, your business or of anything in particular, I am trying to devlop a video portfolio and would be happy to spend some time working with you on a volunteer basis. Just let me know when and where you would like to tape.

FLOAT OPENING

Please join the FLOAT gallery for the last art party of the year!

Food - drink - a virtual theater of:

Gesture and Gestalt

Paintings of Albert Hwang and the Glass & Metal Sculpture of Victoria Skirpa

Opening Reception:
Saturday December 16th 06, 6pm-9pm
Show runs 12/15/06 through 01/15/07

What IS Gesture and Gestalt?

A Gesture is a form of non-verbal communication made with a part of the body, used instead of or in combination with verbal communication.

Gestalt: A collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic Forms that create a unified concept, configuration or pattern which is greater than the sum of its parts.

The art exhibit Gesture and Gestalt is a meeting place of opposites, an experience that summons you closer. This provocative show is akin to the surreal and evocative of human drama. Together the never before displayed black & white spiral paintings of Albert Hwang and the bodily, organic sculptures of Victoria Skirpa create a virtual theater of gesture and Form/Gestalt.

Who are the artists?

Albert Hwang began drawing from an early age. Hwang majored in studio art at UC Irvine and studied painting in NY before moving to San Francisco in 2005 in order to pursue his career as a painter. Much of his recent work deals with the duality of nature by rendering the tension between opposing pictorial forces. On display will be both his black & white spirals and color paintings. These works will be on public display for the first time.

�There often comes a moment while working on a painting when it seems that the shapes and forms may actually spring to life. If this moment were realized, I may have found myself painting the perfect picture. This cycle of hope and despair is both stimulating and habit forming, acting as an impetus for each successive picture� � Albert Hwang

Victoria Skirpa is largely self-taught, gaining skills through apprenticeship and trial and error. As a result of her incredible creative and material breadth, her skills include glass casting, large and jewelry-scale metal smithing, and restoration.

Skirpas glass-work confronts and explores the tension in attraction and repulsion; the grotesque is a point of inquiry. Her metalwork tends to evoke futuristic universes. She often seeks a playful relationship with work, evocative of feminine iconography and sexual innuendo. However, a continual thread remains: the relationship of forms to living bodies - animal, human, and insect. On display will be glass, metal and mixed media sculpture.

�A Gesture is a form of movement, is something that glides past its motion, resonating in space, moving beyond its initial expression. Gestalt formation is where a gesture stops gliding and is perceived as form.� � Victoria Skirpa

FLOAT, Floatation Center � Art Gallery
1091 Calcot Place, Unit # 116
(located in the front of the historic cotton mill studios)
Oakland, CA 94606

510-535-1702

Give the gift of floatation

A FLOAT gift certificate is an exceptionally unusual gift that says: �try something truly brilliant and out of this world�. It shows that the buyer has put some thought into the purchase. It's also a wonderful present to give yourself during the stresses of the holiday season.

Hope to see ya soon, Cheers!

Allison & Fil

FLOAT

www.thefloatcenter.com

info@thefloatcenter.com

Update and Announcements

After a long break, the Jingletown Oakland blog has returned! Please email any updates, suggestions and requests to be interviewed to: jingletown.arts@gmail.com or to bayarts4u@gmail.com.

Thanks!
Stacy

___________________________________________________________________

Of interest to Jingletown Oakland artists.....

December Holiday Artist Happy Hour

Calling All Contemporary, Cutting-Edge Artists, Writers, Poets,

Gallery Owners, Photographers, Collectors, Actors, Sculptors,

Musicians and those who love the arts!

Thursday December 14, 2006

4:30pm-7:00pm

No Host Bar

Speisekammer Restaurant

****meet inside restaurant ****

2424 Lincoln Ave (at Park St)

Alameda, CA 94501

Parking lot on the right!

Local artists, and those who love the arts, unite. The East Bay art scene is alive and growing; come experience our artist group getting together to talk about art and the local scene at Speisekammer German Restaurant, 2424 Lincoln Avenue, Alameda, CA, on Thursday December 14 from 4:30pm-7pm. Great German Beer, Mixed Drinks, Glogg, Hangar One Vodka and the

best food!!

Bring 15-20 cards or brochures to pass around.

Free to attend.

No-host bar.

Little parking lot on the right of the restaurant.

______________________________________________________

The next J.A.B.A. meeting will be held at Institute of Mosaic Art on

December 14, 2006 at 7:30 pm.

Institute of Mosaic Art

3001 Chapman Street

Oakland, CA. 94601

Art in Jingletown

A diverse culture has long been at the heart of Jinglteown life. It has played an especially significant role in the development of what has become a burgeoning arts district. Our active artist population has helped to revilalize and improve the economy of this area and is gaining more recognition all the time. The roles of the Jingletown artists and other creative characters have given this area a positive sense of identity and cohesion. The work helps instill a real sense of cultural literacy and bridges social barriers that span some of the area's most pervasive systemic problems. It is my pleasure to introduce some members of our community:

California native, Darwin Price, webmaster of the official Jingletown web site. lives and works at the famed Ford Street Studios (#2) here in Jingletown. When he isn't organizing labor unions, Darwin spends his time creating spectacular art. Shown here with one of his works in progress, he is a well-known figure in the Jingletown arts scene.

Saundra Warren makes unique and intriguing garden art in her 2908 Glascock Street studio. She works primarily in clay, specializing in beautiful garden fountains. Saundra makes her own ceramic tiles that she uses to create mosaic work also for outdoor use.

Ted Warren, (Saundra's husband) is a bibilophile who collects rare and out-of-print books. Shown here with his expansive and ecclectic collection that is organized in shelves along one side of their loft. The couple is co-writing a novel based in seventeenth century France.

Jingletown Has Something for Everyone

Nestled close to the estuary between Oakland's Fruitvale and Park Street Bridges, the Jingletown art's district has something for everyone.


New businesses such as Gary Boland's Voila! Juice Bar and Cafe at 510 Derby Avenue, have recently opened offering area residents a great place to hang out, have a bite and enjoy an ever-changing display of local art. Gary has plans to host events such as poetry readings and acoustic music concerts in the near future, and a group of Jingletown artists will be having a group show from Febuary through the end of March. (More details to come.)





It is rumored that Jingletown got its' name in the 1930's when the predominantly poor Portuguese population would walk the streets in their Zoot Suits with hands in pockets jingling the little change that they had after they got paid for picking cotton. The area has changed a lot since those days, making it one of the most exciting arts districts currently in the Bay Area. There has been a tremendous growth as the influx of new residential lofts has appeared. The new construction is matched by the strong community spirit of those residents and businesses who have been living and operating in the area for years. This diverse mix of different interests and people gives the neighborhood something for everyone.

Welcome to the Jingletown Oakland blog!

Welcome to the Jingletown Oakland blog!

This is a community blog and gathering place for anyone who is interested in Oakland, California's Jingletown Arts District. My name is Stacy Alexander and I'll be your host for the time being. I am a mixed media artist who lives here in the rapidly expanding Jingletown Arts District, one of the most exciting art districts in the San Francisco Bay Area. The purpose of this blog is to spread the word about Jingletown-related businesses, events and announcements as well as to inform the world about the thriving arts and diverse residential communities that exist here.

Please feel free to jump right in and discuss any topics that are pertinent to Jingletown.

I will be updating frequently with Jingletown news, photos, announcements and hopefully some pieces about Jingletown History and other subjects of interest. I welcome contributions, so please email me at: jingletown.arts@gmail.com with any suggestions that you might have.