New Artists

SmithKlein Gallery is happy to announce that we are showing the works of a few new artists.

We welcome to the gallery:

Calvin Lai

Artist bio:  Calvin Lai would describe his relationship to art as the “monkey on my back” which climbed on during a self portrait in kindergarten. It was in drawing the shoelaces that day that got the “monkey” to climb on, and he remembered the care and feeling he had while attempting to make the loops of the laces just right. This fascination with representing things accurately drove him towards rendering realistic images, and he began teaching himself the basics of value and perspective at a very young age. Growing up in Los Angeles, his addiction to art progressed, and people became his main and his favorite subject. His passion for art eventually led Calvin to San Francisco in order to pursue his studies at San Francisco State University, in addition to The Academy of Art. But it wasn't until 2008, at the Academy, that Calvin began to really study painting. Now, oils are his main medium. Since taking classes, he has been pursuing a non-stop development of his painting skills, showing in galleries, group shows and juried exhibitions. He also was featured in the January 2013 edition of Southwest Art magazine. Though Calvin mainly focuses on figurative and portrait painting, he is driven to capture all that he finds compelling through his paints, brushes, and determination. 

Oil paintings:

SOLD

Deborah Bays

Artist Statement: I have been blessed with a life in the Arts. I was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1951 and spent my early years in the formal study of music, playing both violin and viola. In college my focus shifted to making visual art. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Costume Design for the Theatre at the University of Texas at Austin then went on to complete a Master of Arts in Scenography at Purdue University. I worked for two and one half decades designing costumes and sets for the theatre and television.

After many years of making art as a member of a team I longed for a more personal expression. This led to studying drawing and painting with many fine artists and teachers at the Art Student's League of Denver. While I still have a passion for both theatre and music, nothing has proved as profound a challenge or as rewarding as painting.

My work has been featured in Southwest Art, The Pastel Journal and The Artist's Magazine. One of my paintings is included in Pure Color: the Best of Pastel published by North Light Books and I have contributed a pastel painting demonstration to Painting with Pastels written by Maggie Price. Most recently my work is featured in Les Maitre du Pastel, le Livre 2011 published by Diverti Editions, the publisher of the French artist's magazine, Pratique de Arts. I am honored to have been given Master Pastelist status by the Pastel Society of America and to have exhibited paintings and won awards at the Pastel Society of America Annual Pastel Exhibitions in New York as well as to have had paintings selected to represent the PSA at The Butler Institute of American Art. I have also exhibited with the International Association of Pastel Societies where in 2010 my painting won the First Place Award at the 17th Juried Exhibition, the Web Show.


Pastel paintings: 

Susan Beaupre

All of Susan Beaupre’s jewelry work is handmade and created from start to finish by the artist. She uses the traditional lost wax process and additional hand-crafted fabrication. In her Colorado studio, she works primarily in silver and embellishes her work with semi-precious stones. She is attracted to the natural world around her, which is clearly displayed in her organic-looking pieces. Susan enjoys the process of creating and the surprises that are at every turn when working with metal.


Jewelry:

Eric Candee

                                                                  

Acrylic Medium

                                             
                                             Eric Candee

Living in the breathtaking mountains of Colorado, Eric Candee gathers inspiration from his surroundings. Eric has been a full-time artist for the last 15 years, concentrating mostly on sculpture. His interest in art started at a much younger age, though, when he experimented with watercolors and other media. His father, who was an environmental artist, had a big influence on the direction Eric took in art, and it prompted the young artist to express his ideas about the macrocosm through his art. Eric's appreciation for the environment continued to grow throughout his early years. When his father introduced Eric to the works of Edward Abbey, noted author and environmental activist, the exposure pushed him to consider more strongly the fate of our planet. It was through reading Desert Solitude that Eric began to better understand where humans are in relation to the Earth and where we are heading. For Eric, it became important to convey the preciousness of the environment and the relationship between industry and nature in his sculptures. Two other noteworthy artists who inspired him were the profound sculptor and environmentalist, Andy Goldworthy and the enigmatic jewelry designer, James Olsen.


Sculpture was what initially caught Eric's attention, and he created large mixed media pieces that could be hung on the wall for display. He used metals, rocks, woods and other natural elements in his thought-provoking pieces that looked simple and elegant but were extremely complex both in technique and meaning. Through his work, he explored nature combined with that which was man made. Over time, Eric began to realize that he wanted to embrace different media. His desire was to present his work in a new context, producing art that kept his message alive but was created in a calmer, more quiet way. The result was something that could be made on canvas, a much lighter and more delicate creation.

For Eric, it was important to show shadows and subtleties by layering and working with an acrylic medium on the canvas. In this new and exciting technique that he created, he develops texture by building and combining the pigmented medium in strata and then abrading areas to reveal specific layers underneath. In a way, he has found a method that allows him to show what would be virtually imperceptible using two-dimensional instruments such as charcoal or pencil.

Eric believes that art can touch and inspire people. He strongly feels that we are emerging into an important time in history, a pivotal point on which a significant event may unfold. How we choose to treat our environment and what we do now will greatly affect the next generation. Eric makes every effort to provide a positive role model and attempts to inspire others to appreciate what we have. His hope is that through his art he can excite and encourage others to explore their own passions and creative juices. He feels we all have the ability to express our inner creativity through different media. For Eric, being in and appreciating the environment is a reminder that we are all connected and should strive to have greater compassion for each other and the planet. 


 From the artist on his new series:

Eric Candee is a mixed media artist living in CO, who creates environmental art and symbolic objects. A life-long passion for the rivers, forests and deserts of the West inspires his artistic focus on natural themes. “Through the Trees” is a new series that reflects the sublime beauty of Colorado’s aspen forests. Earth friendly and sustainable materials are used to create these highly realistic “ aspen trees” in an abstracted format. A combination of many layers, “Through the Trees” embraces the feeling of an aspen grove with a contemporary and architectural presentation that echoes society’s connection to nature. Eric’s individual blend of symbolic media with an emphasis on natural elements is dedicated to the beauty and peace of Colorado’s wild places. Believe in Art! 

More new work: 

Some of Eric's older sculptures: