Pacific Bay Coffee Co.

Local artist Catherine Fasciato’s paintings are on display through December. Her philosophy is that painting should be like music and affect the emotions. Her work strives to influence the viewer through the use of color, subject, brushwork and composition. We hope you’ll sit down at our bar with a cup of fresh roasted coffee and enjoy her work! Check out her work online at http://fasciato.googlepages.com

Leslie Wilson, watercolor artist and our neighbor here in Walnut Creek, CA, is exhibiting her latest works through the end of October.

The application of color is immediate and emotional, capturing the subject in the light, each time something new, whether a figure, object or landscape.  She receives great joy when she transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, reminding people of the places they’ve been, the people they’ve met and the truly remarkable light and color in our world.

“Marshview Reflections”, above, and currently display, was inspired by a rare morning view of the marshes and Mt. Diablo from Marshview Road, north of Benicia.

Leslie offers original watercolor paintings and commissions, including landscapes, still life and figures in an impressionistic style charged with light and color.  To view a selection of Leslie Wilson’s watercolors, please go to her website or contact her by email: leslie_wilson@pacbell.net.

Local Walnut Creek artist Ruth Kolman Brophy is exhibiting her colorful acrylic on canvas monotype abstracts through out the month of August – come check it out!

“I am a native of Austria and lived there until my early twenties. After high school I attended the College of Art and Design of the City of Linz, after which I studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene for a year. I enrolled in summer school at the Chicago Art Institute. I married and moved to Minneapolis. I attended classes at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design while raising four children.I maintained my own studio and participated in the local art scene. I received awards and
commissions. I leased a press for monotypes and participated in Open Studio and Art Walk events.California and the West Coast beckoned, however, and I moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 2004.”

Ruth Kolman Brophy

Our July featured artists are photographers Michael Robinson and Verna Dow.

“It all started with a simple question, “Would you take a hike with me?” and the adventure began resulting in a memorable photographic collection of the East Bay Regional Trails depicting the beauty and spirit of the outdoors. Images were acquired while hiking the Regional Trails unknown to many residents.

For Michael the challenge is to always have an image in mind before capturing it, to always have an idea of the message that the image should convey. This is particularly difficult with landscape photography, making the hikes all the more enjoyable. Michael has a strong background in photography with degrees from University of the Witwatersrand – Johannesburg South Africa, the University of Colorado – Boulder Colorado, experiencing freelance Wedding & Travel Photography and is currently a resident of Concord, CA.

Verna is self taught with support of local park and recreational programs. Through her photography, she has captured the spirit of the earth using natural light to enhance the image. The excitement for her is the challenge of being in the right place, having the right light, and capturing the image. Verna is a resident of San Ramon, CA.

Michael uses both a Canon 10D & 5D digital SLR camera while Verna captures her images with a Sony Cyber – Shot DSC-F717. Michael and Verna have recently presented at the Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery of San Ramon.”

We are pleased to have a beautiful photography exhibit this month from local artist Amy McRoberts. For the past eight years, Amy has managed her husband‘s music career, (Justin McRoberts) which has enabled her to spend extended stretches of time touring, traveling and developing her photographer’s eye. Inspired by the unique opportunity to see America many times over as well multiple international trips, Amy has found, through her camera‘s lens, a way to celebrate her love of color, form and texture.

What is common in much of Amy‘s work is her aptitude for seeing life in degeneration. Amy observes the depreciation of things as evidence of life having been lived. Her work also challenges viewers to take a second look at the mystery of anonymity, not as absence and darkness, but in light of what might-have-been and what might-still-be. Amy‘s work explores the idea that Life is found in the breakdown and that emptiness is only the promise of something else.

Amy’s photographs will be on display through April 10.

Next up: The Third Annual Artists of Las Lomas High School

Our February artist, Bronwyn Burnam was featured in an article in the Contra Costa Times, Jan. 31, 2008. Bronwyn lived in Kenya on a goodwill mission after high school and befriended some local women and basket makers. The women created an organization, Banana of Hope to help support their families after their husbands and the breadwinners died of AIDS or a fishing accident. bananaofhope@yahoo.com. Catalogs are available in our cafe.

Bronwyn’s photographs and the women’s baskets are on display through the end of February.