Black & White in SF Curbed →
40 Million dollars is a lot of money and that was also the asking price for this San Francisco home located on a street known as Billionaire’s row, read more about it here, https://sf.curbed.com/2017/4/4/15167966/sf-most-expensive-house-billionaires One of the reasons I am in the know on this real estate detail is that one of my paintings was used by the stagers who worked with the developers to get the property ready for the market. Very fun to see my painting “Blue Sky Windy Day” installed in this beautiful home. Blue Sky Windy Day is now available through my east bay gallery Slate Art
More Space
So excited about my new art studio, yay more space! Still at Art Explosion Studios, one of the last few places here in San Francisco that offers affordable studios to artists, thank you Art Explosion.
White Flower
“White Flower” 60” x 72” oil paint graphite on canvas. White Flower is inspired by childhood memories. For more information on “White Flower”, contact Slate Art info@slateart.net
Slate Art Phone 510/652.4085
Decorum at Aerena Galleries & Gardens
Join me at " ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens for a lively panel discussion celebrating the art and business of home design. Hosted by ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens, Bespoke Collection presents Mary Jo Bowling, San Francisco's esteemed LUXE Editor, to moderate our Décorum Panel. This intimate event promises to inspire and connect you with the best and brightest creative professionals in the world of design".
"Enjoy a sampling of Blackbird Vineyards and ÆRENA Wines, paired with hors d'oeuvres as you mix, mingle and gain access to the latest industry news and trends, directly from the experts themselves. It's a unique evening not to be missed".
I am excited to be one of the panelists and to have my art work on view as well!
Where? RiverHouse by Bespoke Collection 604 Main Street Napa, CA 94558
When? Tue, August 28, 2018 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Pop Up Art Exhibition
Please join us for an evening of wine and art on May 24th in the heart of Cole Valley at Gamble + Plus Design Studio from 5:00-8:30 P.M. 84 Carl Street San Francisco. Wine by Aesop
Open Studios
Once a year I open my studio to you. Come by and say hello, see some art and enjoy! My studio is at Art Explosion Studios, a community art studio space in San Francisco. There are over 100 different artists, a lot of art to see. Open Studios opening reception May 11th from 7-10 P.M. Where? 2425 17th Street, easy parking. The studios are open through the week-end as well, Sat. & Sun. from 12-5:00 P.M.
See you there!
New Work
2018 has started off as a busy year, it's wonderful and challenging. As a fine artist I am always looking for the opportunity to be in my art studio. When I am designing a project for a client through my design business finding studio time can be challenging. However once in the studio I am able to relax and let my self get involved in the materials and process of painting, ahhh. As a designer I am currently in the midst of creating a new design for my client's San Francisco Victorian home. I am really excited about this project and for my wonderful client who soon will have brand new interior design spaces that will create relaxed and sophisticated vibes for him and his family.
In the mean time I am happy to share that I do have new work on view at Aerena Galleries & Gardens in Healdsburg. If you are up in wine country stop by and say hello and check out my new paintings! I look forward to making a visit soon. More of my work can also be seen on line on my artist profile page and in the gallery.
"Field of Thoughts in Ochre" graphite, oil paint on canvas, 40" x 60"
"Stream of Consciousness" #9 oil paint graphite on canvas, 36" x 36"
Louise Bourgeois
I recently had the opportunity to see the exhibition Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding Portrait at MOMA NYC. If you happen to be in the area I highly recommend a visit to see this show. Her work as a sculptor, painter, print maker is so eloquent, diverse and beautiful. One of my favorite parts of the exhibition where the colored textile books she created during the later part of her life and career so lovely. I first was introduced to her work at a visit to the Tate Modern where installed in the atrium was one of her very very large spider sculptures, amazing.
"An artist’s words are always to be taken cautiously. The finished work is often a stranger to, and sometimes very much at odds with what the artist felt, or wished to express when he began. At best the artist does what he can rather than what he wants to do. After the battle is over and the damage faced up to, the result may be surprisingly dull—but sometimes it is surprisingly interesting. The mountain brought forth a mouse, but the bee will create a miracle of beauty and order. Asked to enlighten us on their creative process, both would be embarrassed, and probably uninterested. The artist who discusses the so-called meaning of his work is usually describing a literary side-issue. The core of his original impulse is to be found, if at all, in the work itself." Louise Bourgeois
If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area you can currently see her spider sculptures installed in the sculpture gallery at SFMOMA through Sept. 2018
I love you Louise! Thank you for inspiring me..............
For Roberta
"A couple of years ago I attended Anastasia’s open studio . Her work was very interesting to me. I looked through her catalog and came across a piece that had wonderful qualities - the color composition, design and spatial integrity all had a sense of whimsy yet sophistication - simply, the work was inspiring and spoke to me. I knew that Anastasia was an artist who’s fine art’s history had served her well and her creativity and inventiveness was boundless and very original. I inquired about creating a work using the same qualities but on a smaller palette. She was kind, patient and listened to what I hoped for to fit a particular area. She was able to imagine the work because what she created is exactly what I wanted! Each day I am excited when I look at the work and thrilled to be living with this art piece. Anastasia Faiella is a wonderful artist."
Thank you Roberta, it was a wonderful opportunity to create this painting for you!
Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi
This week I had a message from a dear friend in Zurich Switzerland with a link to an article about a Leonardo da Vinci painting coming to San Francisco. What? Really? The article in SF Lux magazine Mundi comes to San Francisco, reading further I found that yes it's true, the painting Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci was to be previewed by Christie's auction at Minnesota Street Project for just a few days. The painting iit is to be auctioned off on November 15th 2017 at Rockefeller Plaza. It appears that it will be expected to sell for just a cool $100 Million, wow.
In my undergraduate days I did study the Italian Renaissance yet now I could not remember this piece. Thank you Wikipedia, "Salvator Mundi is a painting of Christ as Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World) recently attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, who is known to have painted the subject. It was lost and later rediscovered, and restored and exhibited in 2011. The painting shows Christ, in Renaissance dress, giving a benediction with his raised right hand and crossed fingers while holding a crystal sphere in his left hand."
Long story short Friday afternoon at 3:45 on my way home I realized, The Leonardo, I can't miss this. Found a place to park and at 4:00 found my place at the end of a very long line wrapping around the corner, crossing my fingers I would make it in. Yes i hour later I made it, the 4 minutes I had with Salvator Mundi where the most exquisite 4 minutes i have had in a long while. Standing in front of this masterpiece was a rare and wonderful moment.
Writing
Often times when I start a new painting I will begin the composition with writing. The concept of writing first started when I was in graduate school at University of California at Berkeley. Part of the MFA program included art criticism and critical theory seminars. It was interesting work but also sometimes difficult to get through the reading. I found that allowing myself to write on my studio walls gave me the space to access and process the ideas being presented. Through the process of repetition I would repeat certain phrases or sentences from the articles until the ideas being communicated became more clear.
Now when I begin a new painting by writing on the canvas it's a way to transition from my work as a designer into my practice as an artist. Sometimes I will allow myself to let the writing become the central focus of the piece, sometimes it ends up just being the foundation. Either way I believe it's the process of repetition that allows me to relax into my process of painting on the canvases which become landscapes of words, memories and thoughts.
Blue Sky Windy Day
The group show exhibition Black and White at Slate Art is up for just two more weeks. It's an exhibition that focuses on the theme of repetition. It's been a great experience to exhibit my work in this show along side the two other artists, Barbara Kolo & Patricia Thomas. One of my pieces seen here in the show is "Blue Sky Windy Day", oil paint, graphite on canvas, 60" x 72". For more information on this painting just contact the gallery, info@slateart. net. There is also a wonderful catalogue available about this exhibition, just click here.
Painting to the right is "Blue Sky Windy Day", oil paint graphite on canvas, Anastasia Faiella
Root Division 16th Annual Art Auction
Root Divisions 16th Annual Art Auction is taking place this month here in San Francisco. I am so excited to have donated a piece of art work to Root Division for their fundraising event, via Slate Art (thanks for asking!). The piece I have donated is a small stream of consciousness painting, I really love it and hope for it to find a new home. All information about the Art Auction can be found on Root Division site. The opening preview to the exhibition is this Saturday October 14th from 7-10 P.M. Exhibition dates are October 11th -October 26th.
Small Stream of Consciousness Painting, 12" x 12", graphite, oil paint on canvas Anastasia Faiella, 2014
Black & White in a Beautiful Dining Space
"You Are So Beautiful" taking center stage in a beautifully designed dining room by Kimball Starr. I truly believe that all a room needs to succeed is a dynamic piece of art work. The perfect painting can really pull a room together. I love the blue leather dining chairs and organic qualities of the white chandelier. Nice job Kimball Starr!
"You Are So Beautiful" diptych, oil paint on canvas, currently on view, Slate Contemporary, group exhibition Black & White now through October 28th 2017.
Private Commission Painting "Dreaming in Orange"
Right around this time last year I began working on a commission painting for a client of Aerena Gallery in Healdsburg California. This piece was to be for the client's guest cottage at their Sonoma country home. They requested for the painting to have a serene, tranquil quality. The writing across my canvases was a stream of consciousness, indicative of getting away from it all, nature, country air, birds chirping, long walks and sunshine.
The size of the painting is 40" x 140", a triptych. The writing is graphite on canvas & layers of oil paint dripping over, on top of the writing.
In my studio, three canvases in process for private commission piece "Dreaming in Orange"
"Dreaming in Orange" triptych, 40" x 140" graphite oil on canvas, 2016
"Forever" in the WSJ
There is a beautiful new five star restaurant, B & B now open in Healdsburg by the name of Single Thread. (I haven't been yet but it's on the list)! Just a little over a year ago the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about Single Thread, "A First Look at Single Thread, Sonoma County's New Restaurant, Inn and Farm." In the article they showed a photograph from one of their lovely B & B rooms. In the room hanging over the bed just happens to be one of my paintings, "Forever". I actually did not know about the article until a friend messaged me the WSJ article saying that she thought the painting looked familiar and wasn't it mine? So yes, that's my painting!
Painting on loan to Single Threads for their WSJ story on Single Thread, courtesy Aerena Galleries. Aerena Galleries represents my work in Northern California wine country at the Healdsburg Gallery. If your headed that way stop by on your way to the wineries and take in some art!
B & B room at Single Thread Farms Healdsburg California, Painting "Forever" by Anastasia Faiella courtesy Aerena Galleries, Healdsburg
Black & White Exhibition at Slate Art is Up
The exhibition Black & White at Slate Art is up! See more of my work and work by Barbara Kolo & Patricia Thomas. The show is up through October 6th. Gallery address 473 25th Street, Oakland Ca 94612. Gallery hours Thursday - Saturday 12-5 & by appointment 510-652-4085
"The focus of the show is on black and white contrast, and on the power, tension, and drama, that can be created when the two come together. Another theme that runs through this show is repetition and accumulation. In other words, what magic happens when a small manual gesture (looping a string around an object, laying down a dot of paint, or writing a word) is repeated again and again until something much larger begins to exist in the world? How can an accumulation of small gestures create something much more powerful than the sum of its parts? And howdoes a work of art hold a history of the body, of the movements of its maker, and of time?" -Slate Art
New Painting at Kneedler Fauchere
So excited to see one of my new paintings on display at the San Francisco Kneedler Fauchere Showroom. To see more of my paintings click here
"Peach Pie" 40" x 60" oil graphite on canvas 2017
"Memories in White on Black"
Design: Laura Martin Bovard, Image: Slate Contemporary, Photo Eric Roher
So excited to see one of my new paintings, "Memories in White on Black", oil paint on canvas 36" x 36", installed in a residential design space, beautiful master bedroom!