Collective exhibit at Galería LeNoir, Anado's Assemblages, Grand opening of new Tomlinson Gallery, Fearless in making art, A wealth of art for C.A.S.A, Funk/pop with a Rochelle Wald pulse, Opening Reception for Rochelle Wald, Exhibit of Paintings by Betty White...In Memory of Aileen Harris

Through the paper textures of Nane Wenhammar's work, one is taken into her own spiritual quest for truth. This search is intimately linked to her work, and through a series of lines, shapes, textures and rhythms that move through vast open spaces, she leaves behind her own trail of imprints through the "weaving" of her hands.

As she explores her own inner journey, she shares: "In the most intimate experience of my reality and through my work, I learn to see myself from the outside, recognizing my true essence and realizing that there cannot be a more complete moment than the present in which I am submerged."

The work of Eschwan Winding draws us into her own intimate depths of color and texture, always profound and never flat. We are led to touch and feel her encaustic textures, submerging into her different universes of color. Her work is an exquisite dance of shape, shade and constant movement, through what seems an endless spatial journey of color.

The work of José Corral's hyper-realism is like jumping through a window onto "the other side," his own side of life, a world of sensuality and sensitivity. There is no other way to describe his careful, intimate relationship to the canvas. In his current work, a desert scene, two fragile young aboriginal girls are lost in the vastness of the desert of life.

Adrián Gutiérrez's magic surrealism can be described as a "floating" dream in time, an "ocean" (oil on canvas), a sense of being lost on the edge of the horizon. His work explores the edge between reality and dreams, where one cannot tell where the tangible and the subtle begin or end.

Janet Dowda's playful color palette takes us into her own world of abstract and yet familiar "scenes": visions of what life is made of, the everyday scenes that piece the day and string the minutes. Her paintings "Mountain Pass" and "Blue Agave" give us good examples of her unique vision.

Anado McLauchlin is a mostly self-taught assemblage artist living in La Cieneguita, 6 km north of San Miguel de Allende. His creative endeavors include beaded jewelry, embellished whimsical furniture, celebrative bejeweled mirrors, shamanic assemblages, esoteric wall hangings and revelatory gardens.He has some newly completed necklaces using beads and found objects-these works and his other creations will be on display at the artist's open house/open studio.

Groups and collectors from all over the United States and Europe have journeyed to visit the studio, house and grounds-an artistic compound called Casa de Ranas (House of Frogs)-which is an ongoing collaborative project created by Anado and his neighbor, Carlos Ramírez Galván. On March 9 at Casa de Ranas, there will be refreshments, and visitors can tour the compound and view the art on display. Anado also has an ongoing exhibition at Museo de la Ciudad in Querétaro.

Artist's Open Studio
La Cieneguita
Studio of Anado
Thursday, March 9, 2-5pm
For directions & more information,
call 155-8044 or write to
bearbeing@unisono.net.mx
www.madebyanado.com

Terry Ann Tomlinson proudly announces the grand opening of her gallery/studio, which she designed to showcase her original handmade paper art.

Located on Terraplén, in Centro, the gallery is a sculptural, Zen-like environment with open spaces, high ceilings and expansive glass. It features a soothing water wall and koi pond in the entrance. Respectful and appreciative of the beauty of colonial San Miguel de Allende, the contemporary gallery/studio is completely hidden behind an historic wall and old doors.

In her new work Tomlinson explores paper in exciting new ways. She enjoys the full experience of gathering and processing indigenous materials and then transforming them into art. Influenced by the beauty of nature, her work captures its serenity and calmness with eloquence and simplicity.

Grand Opening and cocktail reception
Saturday, March 4, 6-8pm
Tomlinson Gallery
Terraplén 29

A local artist recently explained that, for her, living in San Miguel is about "filling up" with creative energy and sharing it with the world. Producing the work for my upcoming show, "no solo blanco y negro," confirms for me that this beautiful city certainly leaves its imprint.

In the United States, I work in a private studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During the past two years I have painted several months here in San Miguel in the studio of a fellow painter. The studio is surrounded by lush gardens and flooded with creative energy.

The differences in the surfaces of the work created in my urban studio and those created in this historic setting are often obvious. The change in the energy is just one of the subtle, but significant, differences that I enjoy. Mexico, with its extraordinary light and wonderful culture, is becoming an intimate part of my work.

Earlier in my career I worked in an art museum, and there I learned the value of art in its scholarly context. As a painter, I have learned that making art is a very personal and intimate experience. For me, it is necessary and often joyous, but sometimes painful. Painting is a form of communication with many things going on at the same time.

My emotions and feelings appear in my paintings. Through my choice of color, brushes, texture or movement, I begin a dialogue that dances between clarity and confusion. For me, painting is about making an initial commitment to the canvas and then embracing where that commitment takes me. Often I end a day of painting with the piece in a very different place than I expected or planned.

I believe that fear has no place in the process of making art. I make a conscious effort to maintain this idea as a foundation for my work. The joy I have in making art is captured within the moments of completion and release: when the canvas becomes a painting and when a person connects with that painting. It is this challenging and satisfying combination that drives me to paint.

Artworks by Jeanie Gooden
Friday, March 3, 5-8pm
Galería Alquimia 4
Fabrica Aurora

C.A.S.A. (Centro para los Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende) provides a variety of health and educational services, including: a hospital; a midwifery school; free and anonymous AIDS tests; peer training for local youths on sex education, health care and family planning; infant/child care for working mothers; a well-equipped library; an internet/cyber center for youths; advice and help to women and young girls who are victims of violence.

We've received wonderful donations for the C.A.S.A. art auction to take place this Saturday. Included are works by the following artists: Jody Allan, Dorothy Bruce, Michele Connor, Roberto Cortazar, Lopes Castro, Paula Cecile, Joanne Charm, Salvador Dalí, Juan Escurdia, Juan Esperanza, Arturo Elizondo, Pedro Friedeberg, Lynne Gleason, Jan Hendricks, Paco Kalmbach, Keith Keller, Jeremy King, Krizia, Constance Lapalombara, Peter Leventhal, John McCulloch, Keith Miller, Siobahn O'Donahue, Samuel Peploe, Bethsebee Romero, Annemarie Slipper, Gary Slipper, Margaret Swartz, Roberto Turnbull, Vasarely, David Wright, John Heritage Wright and Zev.

Decorative pieces from designer boutiques DeWayne Youts, The Four Winds Collection, Mitu and Christopher Fallon have also been donated.

This art auction is the perfect venue to enrich our own lives with beautiful art, as well as to enrich our community by helping C.A.S.A.

Art auction
Benefit for C.A.S.A.
Saturday March 4, 4-7pm
Auction starts 5pm
Galería Jesús 2A
Viewing Friday, March 3, 10-2pm & 4-7pm

Rochelle Wald is one of those artists who has remade her life through her art. She has never studied art formally. She needs to make images, to paint, and the rules of art don't enter into the process. Wald will be the guest artist at Galería Izamal for the month of March.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, she has traveled to Thailand, Bali, Malaysia, Turkey, Guatemala, and, of course, Mexico. She has lived in San Miguel de Allende for almost five years, after living in Key West, Florida, for 20 years.

Her paintings are vibrant, full of energy-an excess of color and movement, to tell the truth-and a declaration of independence. The paintings are full of exuberant faces and figures, reds, blues and oranges-not your average pictures for above the couch. "The colors are warm and friendly … I start painting with a mass of colors and varnishes and work toward organizing it until it's complete," she says. In other words, she begins as do many abstract-expressionist painters but finishes with a dazzling montage of faces and figures.

Anyone with chuztpah can begin this way; the test is the finish. Wald's paintings will be familiar to those who know Chicago Funk and California vernacular/pop painters. Like them, Wald pours everything into her work. "The images pulse energy…I feel alive through my work. I love to paint-I love to listen to my heart tell me what to do next," she says. So, her heart enters into the equation in a way the art of most funk/pop painters doesn't. She is a naïf in the sense that she paints without formal training, and she paints her personal vision directly. She is growing in her art (as all good painters do) by painting her visions of life and of art. An example is her "Homage to Klimt," a free version of the Viennese master's decorative style.

Other new work of Galería Izamal members will be on display, including paintings by Juan Ezcurdia, Mike Kleimo, Matthieu Kuhn, Marion Perlet, Henry Vermillion and Britt Zaist and jewelry by María Bracho.

Opening Reception for Rochelle Wald
Saturday, March 4, 6-8pm
Galería Izamal
Mesones 80

In Memory of Aileen Harris
Saturday, March 4, 7pm
Museo Historico de San Miguel
Cnr Cuna de Allende & Umarán