My focus this year is Mission Bay and the ships in repair or being stored along this once-busy area for ship building and repair. My interest is in the details and composition of the elements that make this a vibrant and larger-than-life environment on its' last legs by the look of things. Another focus is my drawings inspired by this photography, bringing back a hand/analog element to my artwork.

Kim Smith has shown at George Lawson Gallery and Inclusions Gallery in SF.  She is the recepient of several Jurors Awards for ArtSpan auctions and shows.  She was once first sold at the Visual Aid auction and also sold within the top 10.  She published a book (real printing, not on-line) of her work in 2008.  The book, Where Quirky Meets Menacing: an autobiography in collage, won several nationwide awards.  She sells her work through galleries, open studios and her business, Smith & Co. (www.VintageSmith.com)

My collages are meant to be intimate and should evoke a peaceful, quiet and simultaneously compelling response from viewers. Many of the collages are of a serious nature, specifically my recent series "Series For a Better World."  But, one can often find a humorous or unexpected element within the frame as well. I use art to voice opinions and ideas that I often don't have the courage to say aloud.  It is also a form of relaxation and I often spend days exploring galleries and museums. Artwork can have an overwhelming impact on me and strike me with a breath-stopping raw energy that makes me want to produce my own work. Having the time and space to feed this desire is enriching. I was born in Seattle, Washington in 1961 and spent 10 years of my childhood in Germany. I now call San Francisco home. I have degrees in Design, Economics, and an MBA.

I use vintage and antique materials in my collages, rather than modern copies.  I believe using the vintage materials maintains the integrity of the work.  To the greatest degree possible, I treat them in an archival manner.  My work is professionally framed with acid free matting and ready to hang. I usually use museum glass.

Selections 2013: Home Rustic(most recent)

In this new series I am wanting to capture that nostalgic security felt as a child who knows where home is. Having grown up "Mid-Century" these modern architetural homes and tools are most memorable and still have a current and relevant feel.  So as we struggle with, "where home is?" we can always gleen pleasure from our feelings of our first home, no matter how mobile we've become.  The rusted steel represents the buildings gone by and the bright, thick oils carry the sense of hope and abundance.

Recent Works Circus Freaks and Sideshows Series: As a kid, I remember when the Circus would come to town, setting up in a vacant lot just outside of the city limits.  We could go see the animals being unloaded and feed while the men set up the Big Top. Those were amazing, happy memories. As an adult I realize that inside the Circus, it's a bit darker,  the freaks were painful deformaties and birth defects. The amazing animals weren't always rewarded well for their performances and life traveling the country in a train car wasn't an easy one. This series attempts to explore both the dark and the cheerful illusions of Circus life. 

Water Hi-jack explores endangered water species taking back their water supply in this frolicking, humorous eco-art series. Materials include hand-cut collage, photo transfer, and oil on wood panel.

My recent paintings and photography are an investigation into indeterminate spaces that communicate time and memory. Passing of time, fleeting moments, and altered memories are feelings I attempt to capture in the abstracted images and the subtle yet luminous color field. Although my imagery and subject matter in both media offer a reinterpretation of transient experiences, the approach is opposite of another. The painting begins as an empty space that evolves into a subtle structural beauty; the photography begins as a literal image that transforms into a portrayal of atmospheric mystery.

In my painting, both content and process are derived by the very nature of the way I paint, not unlike the practice of meditation, in which one accepts and receives the present moment. Time is very much engraved in the slow ritual of applying multiple layers of paint. I lay out only one layer per day, as the paint needs time to dry. I regard each layer as a metaphor for my everyday existence, marking a passage of time. Day after day, I build up the surface until it emanates a sense of infinite space, in which time expands in depth. Patterns emerge and depth manifests gradually from an empty space. Planes shifting slightly in position reveal markings and value gradations. Ethereal and delicate, the meticulously laid out layers communicate a sense of time’s passing. 

My photography removes and distorts the concreteness of the existing objects and places, and dissolves them into obscured images. The reality is instantly altered through the lens, which displaces the subjects from their current state of being into unknown yet familiar feelings that are rooted in the viewer’s memories. Only the minimal adjustments such as exposure, contrast and color balance are done in the post-production phase. Each moment is a passage in time with a certain spirit and emotion. These images poetically capture the ephemeral nature of moments and experiences, evoking memories of faded history.

Zannah Noe is a San Francisco based artist since 1991. Originally from Concord, Massachusetts she studied art at The University of Massachusetts at Amherst and photography under Carrie Mae Weems at Hampshire College. She continued her painting studies independently with master painter, Doug Schneider.

Currently she is working on a project called American Bones that will be a three-year endeavor exploring America’s landscape and cultural identity. Funded by the crowd-sourcing site, Kickstarter.com. Noe was able to take a 5-month road trip covering 13,000 miles around the States, photographing and interviewing people and filming events.  American Bones road trip has resulted in a large body of photographs that will be published in a book in 2013. From her photographs, the artist has created the first iteration of the American Bones painting series in 2013. Eventually the work will be show together as a multi media project in 2014.

The first time I traveled to Burma, I knew very little about the country and it’s politics. I remember being struck by the meditative beauty of the landscape, the sensory chaos of the cities, and the quiet elegance of the people. As I read and learned more about the history and political situation, it seemed as though the only news and images coming from the country were exceedingly negative and ugly. Most tourists are kept away from this reality, myself included. I wanted to photograph the people I was spending my time with and soon my days were all about making pictures. What I was drawn to were the areas outside the cities, the villages next to the river, where fishermen and their families lived and worked. In that spare and graphic river setting, I made intimate portraits, mostly of the men I encountered, in isolated and stylized poses.  My impression is that much of the country looks like early 20^th century images and I kept my version of that look in mind as I made my photographs.

I travel with my Bronica medium format camera, one lens, and a few plastic bags filled with Ilford Delta 400 film. My photographs are printed from negatives in my traditional darkroom and selenium toned. I print in editions of 25, on 16″x 20″ paper, and prices increase as the edition sells.

Monica Denevan was born in San Francisco and studied photography at San Francisco State University but it wasn’t until she started traveling extensively that she began to see differently. She has been visiting parts of Burma and China for many years, always with her Bronica, an open mind and a sense of humor. Monica’s photographs have been exhibited internationally. Her work had been published in ZYZZYVA, Black+White Photography (UK), F-Stop Magazine, Communication Arts Photo Annual, SHOTS, Black and White Magazine, The Photo Review, The Sun, and Artvas-The Photo (Korea) among others. Online, her work has been featured on LENSCRATCH, F-Stop magazine, and Le Journal de la Photographie. She is represented by Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco, Capital Culture Gallery in London, and Tao Evolution Gallery in Hong Kong which produced a small catalogue of her work. Monica’s photographs are in the permanent collection of UCSF Medical Center.

I fell in love with Airstream trailers at the ripe old age of seven. It happened on a cross-country trip with my family on our journey from New York to California when I spotted a shiny silver Airstream from the back of our VW bus. I was instantly smitten.

Eventually I bought my own Airstream, and it has been one of my most powerful inspirations in designing my jewelry. I head into my silver nest and it both soothes me and stimulates my creativity.