Art in the Atrium
By Suzy Paluzzi, Photos by Chris Kinney
The Biltmore Hotel and Suites in Santa Clara is delighting the locals with a series of quarterly art shows in the lovely atrium there at 2151 Laurelwood Drive. The first show on October 22, "was an intimate and special evening," as guests sampled the generous refreshments and got to meet six area artists and experience their works.
One thing Karen Honaker, Lorraine Lawson, Lucy Liew, Bernard Renot, Chunming Yu, and Floy Zittin have in common as artists is the long time and dedication they have devoted to their art. "I see Art as a continuing adventure," shares Renot in his Artist's Statement. Renot began his career more than fifty years ago and believes twenty years of living in California "have helped to distill the essence of my style." (see www.studiorenot.us) Renot has had one-man shows in Cannes, Lyon, Venice, Paris, and San Francisco.
Chunming Yu's unique subject matter of Chinese folk houses was displayed in the Silicon Valley Asian Art Center in Santa Clara in June 2009. His oil paintings were also in the Chinese National Museum of Fine Art in Beijing. Preston Metcalfe, Curator of the Triton Museum is quoted on Yu's website for having said in 2008, " Chunming Yu is an artist of two worlds. Many of Yu's paintings share with the viewer a bird's eye view of a traditional Chinese village...We understand these are locations familiar to the artist and his own cultural history, but it is the overarching downward view...that removes any particular identity and enables the viewer, regardless of his or her personal cultural identification, to associate and identify with the image." (see www.chunmingarts.org)
Both Lorraine Lawson and Lucy Liew were strongly influenced by family members. Lorraine Lawson's great-grandfather, Gustave Flasschoen, was a painter. "Growing up around the art had a profound effect on me in a technical way. I would lose myself in his paintings, studying his brushstrokes..." writes Lawson. (see www.onefineartist.com) She earned "Honorable Mention" for two consecutive years in the experimental category of Artist's Magazine annual competition.
Lucy Liew's father is Dennis Lau, a respected photographer. He took Liew into the deep jungles of Borneo, which is the focus of his work, and from those excursions she took away subject matter like her painting showcasing the Rhinocerous Hornbill, an endangered bird species. "My paintings draw upon my personal experiences and identity as a woman of Chinese-Melanau descent, influenced by Euro-American contemporary thought," explains Liew. She was awarded a public art project in the city of San Jose at the Joyce Ellington Branch Library. (see www.lucyliewart.com)
Karen Honaker chose her medium in an interesting way. "My art degree was using oil paint (1976), but I discovered that I was physically ill from using the oil. The watercolor paint poses no threat to my health and I find it more challenging than painting in oil," says Honaker. She was accepted into the American Watercolor Society show in New York City. (see www.karenhonaker.com)
Floy Zittin's artwork has been acknowledged by the Triton Museum In Santa Clara in two of their recent exhibitions. She is active in the Santa Clara Water Color Society. She initially studied biology, but began her art career as a scientific illustrator in British Columbia where her illustrations became part of college textbooks and field guides. She returned to California in 1983, and is focusing on using watercolor "to bring attention to local wildlife." (see www.floyzittin.com)
To see other artists of this caliber, look for dates at the Biltmore for the next art event.
