Don Colley, Swallow Tailed Kite in Diorama

We are extremely pleased to announce a return visit by Chicago based artist Don Colley  promoting Faber Castell’s Pitt artist pens.

Don creates much of his work with Pitt artist pens because of their high quality India Ink, unsurpassed lightfastness, and archival characteristics. During this three hour demo Don will share his sketching techniques with these versatile pens, showing you how to achieve some extremely interesting effects. He will be displaying some of his journals at this event as well, all meant to engage and inspire you. Stop by and give Faber Castell Pitt artist pens a try!

Don Colley, Wisconsin Recollection

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity! If you’re not familiar with Pitt pens, or Don, check out his website and the video below. This is Don’s second visit to Flax, he was here previously on 11/18/11.

No need to sign up, just show up.

Bottled Up

Matthew R. Burns is a freelance San Francisco artist and educator, specializing in concept art and intra-curriculum learning.  His work was recently showcased at the de Young museum and he will be contributing to a special exhibit at 111 Minna Gallery on May 25, 2012.

The Artful Matt Burns

Although he enjoys all froms of art, Matthew primarily explores the intricacies of water painting. He was led to this medium because of its fluid and spontaneous reactions. As he describes his art, ”When I observe the world, I am free to speak my mind.  Through line, I aim to deliver a figure of speech, not fact.  When manipulating color, I hope to pose for the viewer an open-ended question.  Art is about having a conversation.”   Some of his specialized conversations involve caricature, graphic and Fiine Art approaches.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Matthew earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts from Jefferson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the State University of New York, College at Oswego. He is completing his Masters of Fine Arts at the Academy of Art University San Francisco.  We are pleased that Matt will be back for a return visit. His previous Live Art was on 5/11/11. He is a workship facilitator and invites you to visit his website: www.theartfulmatt.com

As Fabriano comes upon their 750th anniversary, they are using their tremendous knowledge and experience in paper making to our extreme advantage. Made in Italy with environmentally-friendly, FSC certified paper, chlorine-free and acid-free, these attractive books let you choose exactly what you need: 8 fashionable colors including Raspberry, Navy, Orange, Lemon, Wine, Lime, Black and Stone; 3 binding styles of staplebound, gluebound or spiral bound; 2 paper options of gridded or dotted; 2 sizes of  5.5×8.25 or 8.25×11.7; and…2 price points of $4.99 and $8.99.

EcoQua pads are perfect for writing and drafting with pen and pencil, and even perform beautifully with fountain pens. Each books comes with 38 or 90 sheets of 85gsm high quality, slightly ivory paper. The covers are scratch-resistant, dyed with lightfast pigments, without lamination, and are fully recyclable.

FSC certification is the true standard for measuring “green” paper. The Forest Stewardship Council is an organization that promotes and certifies sustainable forest management systems, and is recognized by the WWF, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. It is a guarantee of sustainable forest management practices and provides that in the long term, the amount of felled trees never exceeds the level of growth.

Let us lure you into the romance of EcoQua with this video:

Mosaic flowerpot made with Lux and Simple tiles, and recycled glass Jelly Beans

Join us for a hands-on workshop using Mosaic Mercantile’s colorful, user-friendly mosaic tiles and materials. Local mosaic artist, Yolanda Gutierrez, will guide us through this two-hour workshop while we design, tile, and grout an easy, enjoyable project to take home afterwards. The workshop will include a discussion and demonstration of Mosaic Mercantile’s wide variety of tile lines, accessory products, and tools, designed for the home crafter and the professional artist alike.

Mosaic Mercantile has been brightening the world with fine mosaic products since 1997. Along with their most popular classic vitreous tile in a wide spectrum of solid and metallic colors, they carry many other ranges including recycled glass tiles and natural river pebbles. Most recently, they’ve introduced Crafter’s Cut, a new line of pre-cut and shaped glass tiles available in rich tonal color families, and bright sparkle and shimmer finishes.

Yolanda has been making mosaics since she was a child, and has studied at Oakland’s Institute of Mosaic Arts for the past six years, developing creatively but also honing a solid technical foundation. Yolanda’s mosaic style is joyous and eclectic, incorporating any number of objects she collects, as well as fused glass pieces she creates herself.

In this workshop you’ll have fun working with tiles and tesserae of all different shapes, sizes and colors, and you’ll gain an understanding of basic mosaic styles and techniques to take you into creating mosaics on your own. Prepare to get a little messy, and to unleash your creative spirit! Protective gloves and safety glasses will be provided, and children under supervision are encouraged to attend.

Sign up at right to ensure your spot.

"Into the Sun" Acrylic on Canvas

Moving to Puerto Rico at 10 years old, he began to paint his surroundings, the lush green forest, sunsets and music. Not needing much sleep, Erik would draw late into the night. When he did slumber, his dreams were an explosion of color. As a way to journal them, his passion for painting grew.  ”My main thing is the progression of my work. My aim is to get better with every painting I make. Practice, practice, practice makes perfect. One day I’ll get there.” Erik moved to the US when he was 19, accepting a position in an art school, but circumstances changed and he didn’t attend. Erik continued to work on his craft and eventually sold a growing collection of work at local events and music venues.

"Elevate" Acrylic on Canvas

Golden Gate Bridge, 20"x28"

Tourists in droves come to San Francisco to experience the magic of the City by the Bay. A combination of natural beauty, incredible architecture, and some say our quirky West Coast culture, it is a delight for the senses.

Join us in celebrating the 75th birthday of our National Landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco based Cavallini & Co. has released a collection of items that pay tribute to our wonderful city. Creating unique and elegant items, from rubber stamps to journals and papers and more, their archive of imagery always inspires. Cavallini’s beautiful papers are so popular that they are frequently purchased simply to frame and hang on the wall as artwork.

San Francisco notebook, 4"x6"

And when you come in for your San Francisco memorabilia, don’t miss our current exhibit, International Orange.

Cavallini Papers, $4.50
4″x6″ Journal, $10.25
Postcard Set, $12.25
Giant Eraser, $3.95
Rubber Stamp Set, $13.00
Magnet Set, $20.00

Oval Eraser

San Francisco, 20"x28"

Rubber Stamp Set

Magnets, set of 24

High School and First Grade collaboration; acrylic on canvas

San Francisco Arts Education Project (SFArtsEd) provides participatory experiences in the arts to the children of San Francisco so they are better equipped to make use of their creative abilities in all aspects of their lives. Career artists are brought directly to the children in every corner of our city; helping them ignite personal confidence and growth.

Seventh and Eighth Grade; rope sculpture

An official ‘tribute’ of the Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary celebration, International Orange is presented by the San Francisco Arts Education Project in cooperation with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, featuring a curated visual arts exhibition by students from the San Francisco Public Schools.  “A bridge is a physical structure,” says Richard Olsen, curator of INTERNATIONAL ORANGE: The Bridge Re-imagined. “But even more it’s a conceptual and creative one. The bridge is there, but there is no end to what can cross it.”

High School Pen on Arm

The historic Mills Building at 220 Montgomery Street will serve as headquarters for the INTERNATIONAL ORANGE exhibit May 14th-August 4th, 2012,  and there will be related pop-up “Bridge Galleries” in every neighborhood in San Francisco; the public schools where students are creating the artwork, a wide selection of San Francisco’s art galleries, store display windows, museums, cafés, lobbies and some surprising additional locations. Flax art & design is proud to host as one of the Bridge Galleries. The displays include paintings, drawings, photographs, collages, multimedia creations and more honoring the bridge as architecture, as art, as icon, as history, as metaphor, as gateway to imagination.

Guest vendors include:

L’Acqua di Bologna, OMAS fountain pen

Handcrafted in Italy since 1925, OMAS pens are designed with an ethos that a pen is a creative tool, a means of expression. The design and creation of these tools requires a deep understanding of emotion and a passion for beautiful objects. OMAS pens are renowned for their extraordinary balance, refined elegance and surprising tactility. These features are possible thanks to the vision of founder Armando Simoni, the use of natural materials such as cotton resin, celluloid, wood, titanium, gold and silver, and the belief that writing is the key to a man’s soul.

Sailor Pen of Japan, dedicated to producing the most elegant and desirable writing instruments obtainable. Made exclusively in their Hiroshima factory using the best quality materials available our products, Sailor is proud their heritage and reputation for the best quality nibs and hopes to satisfy your requirements and enhance your writing experience.

Taccia, whose founder believes that pens should be affordable, stylish, and well-built. We’ve found that they’ve met all those criteria and more.

They have exciting pens for young and old, formal or casual, and that are attractive for both men or women. And when they say “well built”, well all Taccia pens come with a lifetime warranty.

In the world of pens, Online is just a baby, having started in 1991 in Germany. Their styles are cool, modern, and priced for accessibility – most are under $50.  Made with uncompromising German quality, Online produces design-oriented writing instruments for the “young at heart”, and has evolved into a trend-setter in the marketplace.

Fisher Chrome Bullet Space Pen

The Fisher Space Pen Company made it big in 1968, when the Apollo 7 mission launched into space with a Fisher pen, utilizing the unique pressurized refill that writes anywhere – upside down or underwater.

The original Bullet Space Pen was conceived in July of 1948 and became the first Fisher ballpoint pen, cast from solid aluminum. Cited as an outstanding example of industrial art, the classic design of the Fisher Bullet Pen has been exhibited for years in the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Many other fine pen makers will be featured too, including Aurora, Yasutomo, Visconti, Sheaffer, Tombow, and Montegrappa!

"Grateful Dead" on repurposed plywood

Paint, Plywood and Rock and Roll.

Music is his muse and you will most likely find Jesse live painting on stage while a band is jamming. Jesse has painted on stage or adjacent to it over 600 times. The artist considers his style a blend of folk and modern art, preferring to paint with and on found objects, such as re-purposed plywood, salvaged doors, found paint and older brushes. When asked about his work environment, Jesse believes his best inspiration comes from the loud music he plays while painting and describes a chaotic scene with the absence of smooth surfaces that have been gesso’d to perfection. Jesse tends to work quickly, usually finishing more than one painting a day.

The Artist at Work

Originally from Greenfield, MA , Jesse began painting 12 years ago after a serious wrestling injury. His early art background and first Indie art business was creating comic books as a child, moving into portraiture as an adult. He has been in San Francisco for the last 6 years.

Jesse will be creating his work while jamming to his music for the first 40 minutes and then be available for any questions or comments for 20 minutes of each hour. Jessie is a member of Mission Artists United (MAU), and his work may be viewed on Etsy.

Linda Sheets, Owl - 5"x7" on Scratchbord

Come join artist Linda Sheets for a fun-filled, hands-on workshop and demo. Learn how to render incredible detail and exquisite line drawings using Scratchbord. You’ll learn how to add brilliant color to your drawings and experience how easy it is to create with this wonderful medium. Sponsored by Ampersand Art Supply, all materials will be provided including their awesome Scratchbord surface, the professional choice for scratchboard art.

Linda Sheets

Linda Sheets is well known not only for her scratchboard drawings but students nationwide flock to her workshops because of her wonderful ability to inspire and teach. Linda has been creating art in one form or another for most of her life. Her innovative approach to scratchboard has set Linda in a class all her own. Her work is shown in several galleries and in private collections. She is also the creator of several scratchboard kits marketed by Ampersand.