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Palo Alto Festival of the Arts
10 a.m. - 6 p.m. - August 22 & 23
Downtown Palo Alto
University Avenue between High and Webster Streets
 PALO ALTO - Join more than 300 artisans, many local favorites, as well as creative folks from all over the country for the 28th annual Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, sponsored by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce. Stroll University Avenue between High and Webster Streets in lovely downtown Palo Alto while visiting with the talented artists behind the work. The festival, known for its fine paintings, photography, sculptures, fiber arts and more, is the perfect place to find one-of-a-kind pieces unlike anything you have ever seen. Handmade jewelry, perfect for gift giving and mixed media and ceramics to brighten up your home.
New this year will be a work of art completed on site. Santa Cruz artist Edward Martinez III will transport his unfinished metal sculpture, “Salmon Logic,” to Palo Alto and complete it by weekend’s end. It will be his first kinetic project and will serve not just as a reminder to protect the salmon, but also show us the value, artistic and otherwise, of recycling. Look for his large, wiggling subject in the Sculpture Garden at 525 University Avenue where he will be along with other talented sculptors.
“This year’s Festival of the Arts promises to be the best of the summer art fairs in the Bay Area. We look forward to sharing all that Palo Alto has to offer with everyone who enjoys great art, fabulous music, delicious foods and tasty beers and wine," says Paula Sandas, President and CEO of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce.
Come out and spend some time reconnecting with your friends and neighbors while enjoying the Italian Street Painting Expo, organized by the Palo Alto Partners in Education, where more than 60 painters will transform pavement into works of art.
Be inspired by the plein air painters while they create beautiful paintings right before your eyes. The Pacific Art League will demonstrate their outdoor painting skills by capturing various festival scenes on canvas.
Let the kids tap into their own inner Picassos at the Kids' Art Studio presented by Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The Palo Alto Parents & Professionals for Art are the organizers and beneficiaries for this arts & crafts area and will be offering many free art projects for the young ones throughout the weekend.
Don't miss the sound of music while you are making the most of the weekend. There will be three stages of entertainment with folk, blues and good old rock and roll as well as street corner concerts to enjoy. Then for the lovers of classical music the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra will be featured at the Italian Street Painting area on Tasso.
As always, gourmet food, fine wines and micro brews will be available throughout the event. Come out and celebrate the arts and the beauty of our community.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. The Palo Alto Festival of the Arts takes place Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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From a small screen to a large canvas
PALO ALTO - It seems appropriate that artist Nancy Eckels once was a director on the television show "The Bold and the Beautiful". The title of the daily drama is the perfect description of her style of painting. Eckles, who took up the brush seriously 10 years ago, says she will never stop creating her lively, acrylic abstracts.
"An abstract gives me the ability and freedom to paint from my head, heart and emotions rather than being tied to what is front of my eyes," says Eckels who prefers using large canvases for her uninhibited paintings.
The daughter of parents who met in an art class, Eckels is self taught. But with one look at her ambitious, colorful, energy-filled canvases it is evident that the talent has been passed down. Nancy Eckels will be traveling from her home in Canyon Country, California to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 22 & 23, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. in downtown Palo Alto. Stop by and visit. See what bold ideas she has come up with this year.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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From Florence to the Festival
PALO ALTO - At the age of 14 metal artist Davide Bigazzi began his apprenticeship in Florence, Italy. It was in that beautiful city of art and romance that he learned the old world craft called repoussé and chasing in which a malleable metal is shaped or ornamented by hammering from the reverse side. Chasing, creating a grooved outline along the pattern is then done on the surface of the piece.
"Capturing the intrinsic beauty and sculptural qualities of metal is the most rewarding aspect of my work," says Bigazzi who now resides in Menlo Park. And that is what he does. He sees a design in the silver or gold which no one else does, then captures it, carefully working the metal until the image emerges. His sterling silver and 18k gold jewelry make a statement whenever they are worn. He manages to combine an old world technique to create contemporary jewelry stunning in its simplicity and power. Cuff bracelets, rings which refuse to be ignored. Necklaces which beg to be worn again and again. Come to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 22 & 23, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. in downtown Palo Alto and meet this talented artist who has come so far.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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She sees an abundance of beauty in the natural world
PALO ALTO - Wood artist Holly Tornheim started big. Big as in working on a house building project in 1970. It was her first introduction to the material. It has led to a life long passion for carpentry, door building and furniture making. It was while helping to remodel a 16th century convent in Provence that she hand carved her first piece. Using a small straight edge chisel Tornheim carved the hollyhocks that grew in the garden to add beauty to an old beam. Now this gifted artist spends her days creating much smaller art. Pieces perfect for the table. Letting the color and grain and feel of the wood speak to her she carves trays, bowls and creates small sculptures in her off the grid studio in Nevada City where she and her husband use the power of the sun to shine a light on her creativity.
"My husband and I have lived off the power grid since 1977, so we and our neighbors have always had to provide our own utilities. In the beginning we had kerosene lamps and a generator, batteries and an inverter to power my studio. Then two years ago with our neighbor, we put in a centralized battery and inverters; we have our own mini-grid," explained Tornheim.
Holly Tornheim will be headed to Palo Alto for the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 22 & 23, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. in downtown Palo Alto. Stop by and meet this woodworker who has carved out such a rewarding life for herself.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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Zen and the art of flower arranging
PALO ALTO - To gaze upon one of Lynn and Lee Davis' stunning vases is to take a brief journey to a place of peace and beauty. At first, what seems to be a simple design, soon shows itself to be much more complicated.
"I love creating art that stops people in their tracks; that makes them ask “however did you come up with this idea?”, Lee says when talking about the glass and bronze vessels.
Lee, who has had a life long passion for Oriental style has spent his career as an artist exploring a number of different media. But for the last 20 years he has been practicing what he calls metal batik using bronze which is silkscreened and sandblasted. Then acids and salts are used to create a patina. Once the resist is removed the Japanese inspired design emerges. His wife, Lynn who moved to the U.S from England in 1986 had studied Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement and she and Lee began to work together creating the perfect artistic team.
Lee and Lynn Davis will be leaving their Mendocino studio and coming to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., August 22 & 23 in downtown Palo Alto. It has been a while since they have visited. Come and see what they've been up to. Stop by and welcome them back.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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Step back to see the real picture
PALO ALTO - San Francisco artist Samuel Price has really let his life go to the dogs and cats and once in a while birds. Actually, there are no animals off limits when it comes to Price and his creations. But most of his work involves man's best friend. For almost a decade this animal lover has been working in the medium of collage, or more specifically, photomontage.
“I began using this method as a way of simulating the affect that other famous artists were creating on canvas through oil paint to do portraiture," explained Price.
But while others use paint, Price uses tiny pieces of paper clipped from magazines or other materials found around the house. Turning recycled bits into portraits of beloved pets. Viewed up close the final product simply looks like a complicated collage. Step back and the likeness reveals itself. Price works on all sizes of canvases, from 8 x 12 to 30 x 30, to capture the likeness and personality of the furry or feathered family member.
Samuel Price will be bringing his work to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts in downtown Palo Alto, August 22 & 23, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Stop by and visit. Examine his work closely. But don't worry, none of his subjects will bite.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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Creating high art from low places
PALO ALTO - Santa Cruz artist Edward Martinez III keeps secrets. He won't tell you his favorite spots for finding treasures to be used in his ultimate recycling projects. Oh, he'll share some tips, searching through dumpsters, grazing at the local flea markets, but other sources remain top secret.
"The scavenging began in earnest when I was 21," says the creative scavenger who has been showing his work since the age of eight. This talented artist has explored just about every medium from water colors to oils, set design and dance. These days he focuses on sculpture. Creating art out of cast-offs.
"The piece I am modeling now will be called Salmon Logic and will be my first kinetic sculpture ever," explained Martinez who feels this noble fish should be protected, saved. He will be bringing his newest piece, unfinished, to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 22 & 23 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. in downtown Palo Alto where he will complete it by weekend's end, a first for this highly regarded event. Stop by the Sculpture Garden at 525 University Avenue and watch him work. Stick around and see how it turns out. At 3’ wide and 8' long it should be easy to spot. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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Taking it to the streets
PALO ALTO - Artist Cuong Nguyen is ready to face the challenge of creating a masterpiece while racing the clock. Nguyen will return once again to the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts to take up chalk rather than brushes to wow the crowds with his talent for Italian Street Painting. This native of Vietnam is passionate about portraiture. In his San Jose studio he uses pastels and oils to create images on canvas with depth and emotion. But he also travels the country creating temporary art which lives on forever in the imagination. He, along with more than 60 other artists from all over California will turn the street into a temporary gallery with works ranging in size from 4' x 6' to 12' x 12'.
"For this year’s festival in Palo Alto, I will be recreating “The Prayer,” a masterpiece painted by the famous French realist painter William Bouguereau in 1865," says Nguyen whose finished painting will be one of the largest on display.
"I love this painting so much that I’ve chosen this year to recreate it on the street in Palo Alto, to remind viewers of the debt all artists owe to the traditional masters," he adds.
Stop by the Italian Street Painting Expo on University and Tasso at the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 22 & 23, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. in downtown Palo Alto. Watch this master at work.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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The streets are alive with the sounds of music
PALO ALTO - To compliment the abundance of art at the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, August 22 & 23, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., there will also be a feast of music to enjoy all weekend. With two venues devoted to acoustical music, the Spirit of Palo Alto and the Webster Stages, plus the Main Stage at Waverley, where lovers of rock and roll will be treated to the sounds of some of the best bands around, to the Classical Corner presented by the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra along with the popular street performers, there isn't a savage beast whose soul won't be soothed.
Public transit and free and secure bicycle parking make visiting the free-admission festival easy and convenient; free parking is also available within a block or two. For more information, please call 650.324.3121 or visit www.mlaproductions.com.
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