Wednesday, May 23, 2012


Advice for Buying Artist Reproductions

When a prospective consumer is shopping for new art for their homes or businesses, they need to be very aware of the different variety of art reproductions that are available in the art market. Each method and print is distinctive in the unique process it takes to create the artist reproduction. The main reproductive processes that are commercially available in museums, galleries and boutiques are: Giclee prints, Enhanced Giclee prints, Lithographs, Serigraphs, and Canvas Transfers.  And with each of these specialty print treatments and procedures; quality, value, and investment are key points in helping determine how to make a smart purchase.

What is a Giclee?

A Giclee (zhee-CLAY) is an individually produced, high-resolution, high-fidelity, high tech reproduction done on a special large format printer. Giclees are produced from digital scans of existing artwork. Most commercial and fine art galleries will use archival, professional-grade inks and paper to help prolong the lifespan of the print as well as maximize the longevity of the color content.

What is an Enhanced Giclee?

This is a special category of Giclee prints that have certain areas of the image (such as highlights, sky etc.) enhanced with oil paint colors by the artist- to add a paint brush texture, brush stroke, palette knife mark or other personal touch to the print. The individualized accent gives added investment and uniqueness to the print; often creating an effect of an original oil painting while inevitably increasing its market value.

What is a Lithgraph?

Lithographs are "traditional" prints made by engraving an image or text on metal plates, wooden blocks or other soft materials. These plates are then inked through a variety of printing techniques, laid on a printing bed, and run through the printing presses.  A drum or “windlass” places an even amount of pressure to the print paper that us facedown on an inked plate. After the print is “rolled” through the bed the paper is then removed from the plate and the ink will have been transferred from the plate to the paper.

The Lithograph print must also be approved by the artist before it goes through the numbered run or limited edition printing on the press. A first run of an official image is called an “Artist Proof”, or often seen as an “AP” notation on the print itself. This means that this particular print is the artist’s verification that all the colors are correct, the image is how they want it and all the details are exact.  This initial stage of printmaking reflects the quality and accuracy of the print, approved by the artist.

Once the plate has passed inspection, an oil-based ink is applied to certain areas, while the blank areas are wiped with water.  It is then pressed onto a specialized, cotton-based or hand-made paper; transferring the ink.

In the case of colored lithographs, these multi-hued reproductions will go through several presses; one for black, red, yellow and blue; ultimately building colored layers to reach the desired shade. In fact, lithographs can take as much time to make as an original art work; often making them more valuable and collectable verses the digital prints.

What is a serigraph?

Serigraphy is the name commonly used for fine art prints created using the silk-screen technique, the word coming from the Greek roots of seri (silk) and graph (write or draw).  The word serigraph can be used interchangeably with silkscreen, but is often preferred by fine artists to differentiate their work from mass-produced silkscreen items like t-shirts, posters, and coffee mugs.

Fine artists create limited edition silk-screens by applying layer upon layer of pigment to the print surface by pressing it through a mesh screen containing a stencil.  The process commonly uses inks for pigment and stencils made of a variety of materials.  Paper and plastic cutouts can be used as stencils, but using stencil fluid, which is applied like paint to the screen using a brush, stylus, or palette knife, creates a more "painterly" look.  When the liquid stencil dries, it prevents the transfer of ink through the screen at that location, creating a "negative space" on the print.  The artist has to think backward from the normal process of adding pigment to a surface to remain visible; defined as an additive process.
In Serigraphy, the pigment is added to the print surface to cover much of the previous layers, with the stencil allowing only the desired pigments to remain untouched and visible in the final print.  For this reason, Serigraphy is called a reductive process.

What is a Canvas Transfer?

A Canvas Transfer is a print or poster image that has been transferred and fixed to a canvas surface. A paper poster or print is coated with a special film that lifts the image from the paper. The film, with the embedded image, is heat-sealed to the canvas surface. The image is now part of the canvas, taking on the texture of the canvas surface. The whole piece is given a clear UV protective coating and stretched over a wooden framework.

As technology changes, art can be mass produced like never before; making it more available as well as affordable.  For this reason, it is always recommended one ask for a certificate of authenticity when buying artist reproductions.

This letter or certificate is an authorized acknowledgment that the artist reproduction was validated, approved, and consented by the artist, their perspective dealers or authorized agents of the artist. It will contain the name of the artist, the dealer, the title of the artwork, year of production, type of print, material, number of editions, and various authorized signatures. The certificate of authenticity will be given to the purchaser upon sale.
(Above information was excerpted from www.jrmooneygalleries.com)


Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214




-pictured 
Title: "At the Balcony", Artist: Pino, Type: Giclee, size: 40 x 32

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Arthur McCall


Game Warden Captures Texan Landscape with Artistic Arrests


Deep in the Southern Hill Country of Texas lays a vast plain of dawdling approach, including a town whose motto is - “The City of Live Oaks and Friendly Folks.”  Arrive at Pleasanton, Texas, the city Texas artist, Arthur McCall calls home.  Retired game warden and full time fine art painter Arthur McCall represents all that is Texas. Spotlighting his love for his state of Texas; the hill country and ranch lands he once supervised as a type of Scenic Supervisor to the Majestic Missions of Central and South Texas- McCall celebrates all things he holds dear.  This incensed invigorate for his surroundings would inevitably be visual cognitive connections seen in his art and landscape paintings.

McCall, third generation San Antonio-an, boosts heritage that places his ancestry in Texas around the 1800’s and somewhere he says is between the “Cowboys and Indians who helped found these lands.” This cowboy hat wearing lawman is as stoic as one could imagine; holding true to an unbending Southern principle, a super hero stature, an uncanny charisma, and Texas nobility like all the old west lawmen were.  McCall is one artist proud to call Texas home.

Early on in his childhood, McCall can remember he always had an affinity for art and remembers drawing all the time. In high school, his mother took interest in his drawing ability and said, “One day I am going to send you to study art."  Even as a child McCall spent a lot of time outdoors, working as a Ranch Hand and in cattle pens tending to the livestock.  This would add to an already growing kinship to the Cowboy Lifestyle. After graduating High School, McCall decided to follow his mother’s advice and spent two years at a Commercial Art School. However, the War in Vietnam would prove to hamper his collegiate experience.  McCall went on to serve in Vietnam as part of the 1st Infantry Division in 1965-66. His tenure in the military would help shape the armed services career path that would put him in the environments he loved so much.

An avid outdoorsman, McCall loves any activity that takes him outside, from skiing to hunting, to fishing-if it had the great Texas sky above him; he did not hesitate. Already finding artistic inspiration from the Texas landscape, McCall only thought of himself as a hobbyist painter, never seeking to make a career out of art, even after the war. In his early career, McCall worked a variety of jobs, including a stint doing telephone line repair work for a regional Telephone Company. In the late 60’s, McCall recalls that a friend of his in Uvalde, Texas said he should check out “that game warden position" since he was already an outdoorsman and had the military training to back it up.  Liking the allure of civil duty, McCall applied.

McCall would graduate from the Texas Game Warden Training Academy in 1969 and would assumed his post in Atascosa County in 1971; staying at this locality until his retirement. Career highlights include being founding member of the Texas Game Warden Honor Guard, receiving a municipal recognition by the Texas House of Representatives for his four decades of painting and celebrating the cultural heritage of Texas, and accepting three commissions from the Annual Texas Livestock Show and Rodeo to design the coveted program covers. McCall boasts that the three paintings are still proudly hanging in the Convention Center’s Board Room.

As game warden, McCall took his love of art to his fellow wardens and would often include his drawings and sketches as posters and illustrations for visual aids in workshops and team building exercises; garnering praise from fellow officers.

Habitually, this artistic minded game warden would make his epic journey into the infinite Texas landscapes; unsure of what he would discover, but knowing for certain he would love every minute of being in the vast openness of Texas. Being game warden for McCall meant doing the one thing he loved most of all, being outdoors.  This unique position provided him an opportunity to study the vibrant colors of the vegetation, the animals and the numinous Texas sky. McCall recalls that the camera was and is his “constant companion”, something that goes with him everywhere he goes.

In the early 80’s McCall would often visit the J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art at North Star Mall, going in to buy frames for his landscapes.  One day, McCall, now 70 years old, remembers he went into the gallery with one of his paintings and asked the counter man how much one of his paintings would be worth.  He said, “…Oh I don’t know, maybe $300.00 to $350.00.”

“So I thought wow! At that time I was astonished my hobby could make me money”. McCall jolted.  “So I said, you mind if I bring some by for you to sell on consignment?” he added; “and they sold.”

I n 1984 Mr. Robert (Bob) Mooney of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art took McCall on as an exclusive artist gallery representation.  Nurturing this special relationship McCall and Mooney cultivated a synergetic rapport that would span decades.  Even the senior Mr. (Joe) Mooney would develop a special relationship with McCall because of his familiarity with the game warden lifestyle. McCall remarks that “I don’t think I could do what I did if it wasn’t the continued support I had from the Mooney Family”…”Mr. Mooney (Joe) had several friends that were game wardens and we connected on that level, he appreciated what I did and knew of the day to day stresses of the job.” 

The stresses of being a game warden would metaphorically form the art antithesis of what Arthur McCall saw as the tremendous weight of the day job- creating paintings that would bring people, a certain “quiet and solitude.”

McCall’s eye glaze over as he talks about the day to day duties of a game warden, “applying laws and confronting people on their law breaking…It is very stressful”, he said. “In officer training you are told to find a hobby or something that can relieve your stresses”… “And I found mine in painting…I am always amazed that art can transform people so quickly.”

“One of the great things about my paintings,” McCall says, “Is that I can take people back to a memory, to a place, to a nostalgic moment in their life.”  I often hear, “Oh that looks like Grandpa’s place, or that looks like where I went hunting with my buddies.”  McCall is able to connect with his audience this way and his paintings instantly create a bond between himself and his viewers.  “I like that kind of feeling….I can bring something special and personal to people through my art,” McCall bellows. 

As J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art branched out into several markets to include multiple locations in San Antonio, a shop in Austin and more recently a location in Boerne, Mr. Mooney was able to expose new audiences and art collectors to McCall’s artwork.

Over the years McCall’s representation at J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art would allow him 2 one man exhibitions, selling out each show.  However humbling these experiences are, McCall adamantly states that, “I am my own worst critic”.  He never took the sales of these works seriously enough to have it wreak havoc on his ego, but would never lose perspective on why he continued to paint and why he was a painter; something he was- always by choice.  McCall said, “That was the reason why I never looked for any other gallery to sell my work, I never felt pressured by the gallery to make work to sell, I was never depending on it (art) to make or break my bank account or put my kids through college”.

McCall talks about how he was lucky enough to be in a position where he was interacting with the “real cowboys” on a day to day encounter, allowing him to not only work with this element of people but also befriend the owners of the ranch lands and estates who would inevitably become his collectors, friends and supporters. He lightheartedly commented, “It’s been a box-load of fun.”

McCall jokes about how art has played a role in his life, entertaining the notion that he is nothing but a retired game warden.  He says, “After all these years I still paint in my laundry room with my washer and dryer, and often go there when I don’t want to watch what my wife is watching on T.V.” “I can tell if the painting is going to be a success in the first 15 to 20 minutes of it..if I don’t like it, it gets put in a corner and I start over.” “I can see myself painting in a rest home”, he says. “I’ll never stop, never quit,” he boosts. 

Known primarily as a Texas landscape painter, McCall will sometimes vary his subject matter in order to fully capture the true essence of the Texas lifestyle with painterly references to the blue collar Ranch-hands, artisan pottery, and an assorted array of native creatures.  When asked about his color palette, he remarks that Mother Nature is so bold and bright, and that in most cases, he has to “tone down the colors”, because the subtleness of hues in his paintings are not always there in the sky, or landscape. He reaffirms this belief with his strict observance of tones in nature saying, “The atmosphere of the October sky is best….it is more soft…because the dust in the air, I guess.”

“The Rough Side”, a painting by McCall spotlights the up-close perspective of a Texas Cowboy’s signature cowboy boot, the bootstraps and scoured saddle belts.  Playing off the various life spans of leather; the crackling of texture from sun weathered exposure to embroidered rawhide-McCall details the breaking, bending and gnarled experiences of this country lifestyle.  His first hand experiences, personal perspective and country “know how” inevitably plays a role in the aesthetic quality of his Texas signatures. “The Rough Side” is a tour de force that somehow functions within an uncanny compositional layout; one that draws your eye down the side of the leather boot, into the stirrup and up and over onto the saddle straps; easily resting on the artistically rendered animal skin. Subtle suggestive antidotes of country nostalgia are highlighted in the artist’s depiction of the essential rustic gear- a metallic glistening of the spur yoke, neck and rowels. Accenting this clanging contraption are the silveresque metal fittings on the bootstrap, the saddle belts and the harness fasteners.

The animal hide plays secondary to the centerpiece while the background is shifted to a grey/green color, minimizing its impact in the viewing approach. McCall is not hesitant to illustrate that the beast is secondary in this arrangement and all eyes are on the relations between the boot, its stirrup and toe pocket.  McCall’s deep shadows within this region echo the tight fit of the rider’s position, steadfast posture and equestrian annunciation.

A more signature piece by Arthur McCall is the painting- “Heritage in the Hills”.  On display at J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art in the San Antonio location, “Heritage in the Hills” exemplifies all that is McCall: the pastoral landscape, the Texas sky, and painstaking detail of vegetation to the sparse details of background elements. Broken up into the traditional foreground, middle and background, “Heritage on the Hills” composition is not unusual, but a distinctive signature of McCall’s is the ambient Texas aesthetic; while all those compositional ground facets settle in, completing a truly Texas panorama. Again scrupulous detail is paid to certain “subjects”, like the rust colored rain lines of the oxygenized metal roof of the manor.  And, painterly techniques help illustrate the rough and smooth surfaces of the rocks and boulders, while depicting the abnormalities of the shrubbery, vegetation, and landscape.

The horizon line is broken by the sweeping hills, roof pitch and jutting tree top. By painting the abode just right of center, the focal point becomes the space between the lazily living quarters and the outdoor open ended shed, with the dip of the skyline meeting in this central locale.

McCall changes his color palette when addressing the vast Texas Sky.   Swatches of pastel pinks, purples, blues and creams collide in an atmospheric epiphany of grandeur. Although the overall painting is more about the landscape qualities that McCall loves most, the skyline commands attention; reveling in the fact that it creates a realm that does indeed leave the picture plane and opens up the visual experience of viewer to a fabulous firmament haze.

Although his work might cover a broad spectrum of the Texas culture, McCall is careful not to be pegged the rabbit guy.  As seen in a good number of his paintings, McCall took to painting a small profile of a rabbit in his landscapes, a small image that people would search for, like an artistic Where’s Waldo? ™ .  “I spend hours and hours on a painting and sometimes people only want to see that damn rabbit that took me less than 2 minutes to paint.” “I don’t put it in every piece, only when I want to and when it makes sense, but this has become a trademark in a way”, he says-careful not let it become a gimmick.

In hindsight, McCall knows his age is catching up to him and remarks with a great philosophic insight, “I am just now learning how to do this, and its time to quit.” Reflecting on his career as a fine art painter, his stoic demeanor is encapsulated in the statement, “You get tired but you don’t get tired of it.” 

-Gabriel Diego Delgado






Thursday, May 17, 2012

S. Sam Park

Images of the New Feature Wall at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art in the Print Room at the Broadway location.

-Pictured are paintings of the featured artist, S. Sam Park.

Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214


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Purchase artworks by M.S. Park

Rain in Red and Black


"Rain in Red and Black"

New Work into the Gallery Titled: "Rain in Red and Black"
by Igor Raikhline

"Igor Raikhline was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1950. He studied at Kiev Fine Art Academy, where he was awarded a Masters Degree in Art and Architecture in 1974.  Raikhline got his first International European Award for Outstanding and Gifted Children when he was 7 years old.  During his 45 years as a professional artist, he has participated in hundreds of solo & group Fine Art Exhibitions worldwide. His art is in private and corporate collections in USA, Canada, Israel, Italy, France, Spain, England, Japan and other countries.

After moving to USA Raikhline participated in several nationwide projects; including a project for the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta." ...- (Artist Provided Bio)


Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214


http://www.jrmooneygalleries.com/Raikhline-X-8971-Original-Oil-Art-Figurative-Impressionist?manufacturer_id=736

                         To Purchase and See Availability at J.R. Mooney Galleries Website

Lavender by the Sea by Adams


Lavender by the Sea

As Impressionism makes a resurgence in the collected corners of the Art Market- every once in a while an unknown artist will shine through the hodge-podge of copy cat artists. Adams is one such artist.

Recent acquisitions at the J.R. Mooney Fine Art Galleries include a pictorial hit by this relatively unfamiliar artist-Adams.  Lavender by the Sea is a true masterpiece in all the artistically exemplified connotations; obtuse angles, complementary color juxtapositions and elegantly rendered skylines and traditional landscape elements.

Grounding the painting from the bottom vantage point are heavy weighted lavender fields; deep rows of purple accented by the rising sun’s warming rays make amethyst-esque highlights on the foreground frays. This secondary color scheme guides the viewer’s eye into the middle ground of neatly farmed vegetation. Balanced and bookended by two groups of early autumn tree groupings, the scarlet tones of the leaves act as punches and pops of vivid color in an otherwise tertiary Color scheme.

Although Adams paints in a few cottages within the vertical landscape, these are diminutive in importance, dominated by the metamorphosis of the changing of seasons.

Impeding on the upper left quadrant of Lavender by the Sea is the deep cerulean abyss of a Mediterranean maritime.  Daunting in its own presence, the waterline juts into the dissipating mountain background, adding that touch of allure; a focal point and mid horizon line, the simplistic composition holds together like a well played checkmate.

Adams is one to watch as he perfects his talent, bringing forth a fresh appeal with vibrant colors, quick gestures and traditional compositions.


Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214

http://www.jrmooneygalleries.com/Adams

Go Spurs Go

http://www.jrmooneygalleries.com/Malcolm-Running-the-Floor-025-277?manufacturer_id=469

                          Running the Floor

Once again our city’s own San Antonio Spurs have made it to the 2012 Play-Offs. With Spurs exhilaration reaching every corner of our metropolis, every fan wants in on the action. Everyone knows Spurs fans take their city’s NBA pride very seriously, and their unending dedication and exhilaration will continue to cheer the San Antonio Spurs into the 2012 Championship.

J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art is proud to offer a rare Spurs memorabilia art piece capturing the action of the San Antonio Spurs 2012 Play-Off Season. 


-A large 32” x 40” limited edition, player autographed serigraph of the painting featuring- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker

This extremely limited edition hand-signed and player autographed serigraph has it all!—

The Players! The Action! And The Excitement!

Each individual Running the Floor serigraph print by Malcolm Farley is accented with autographed signatures of our favorite Spurs Superstars.

* Running the Floor has Tony Parker’s Autograph signature!*

* Running the Floor has Manu Ginobli’s Autograph signature!*

*And Running the Floor has the extremely rare Tim Duncan Autograph signature!*

And with a limited print edition of only 75, when they are gone…“They are GONE


J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art believes that with The San Antonio Spurs having a chance to win the NBA Championship again this year, now is the best time to either reward yourself  with such a great sport commemorative and artistic asset.  

Malcolm Farley’s, Running the Floor- a large 32 ” x 40 ” limited edition, player autographed serigraph of the painting featuring- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker would also afford the perfect opportunity for that special gift.  With bold colors, sweeping gestures and energetic San Antonio Spurs Superstars, this limited edition, player autographed serigraph makes a great personal investment.

Reserve your own Spurs player autographed serigraph  now by calling J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art at 210-828-8214.

For pricing information on the limited edition prints go to www.jrmooneygalleries.com

We look forward to hearing from you in owning a piece of Spur’s history.


Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214



Recent Article Published in the San Antonio La Prensa Newspaper on May 7, 2012



Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Thomas Arvid at J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art


Sip and Sign 
with 
Thomas Arvid
J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art and The Boerne Wine Company is proud to announce the Art Exhibition and Event- “Sip and Sign” with Artist Thomas Arvid.
Join J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art and the Boerne Wine Company as they welcome Artist Thomas Arvid to Boerne, Texas for an exhibition opening coupled with an intimate Meet-and- Greet with the Artist.  This celebratory one night affair will include a unique opportunity to purchase limited-edition and hand-signed Glicee prints of the beloved “Cellar Selections” – Wine Bottle and Glasses painting series of Thomas Arvid.

--“Arvid is passionate about art and wine: a collector of both, he strives to capture the pleasure of a life well-lived on each canvas. The self-taught artist insists that wine should be approachable; his paintings are an embodiment of the casual way that we enjoy wine today.”                                    
                                                                                                                                    - (Artist Website: www.thomasarvid.com)

Artistic Sommelier Conveys Intimate Winery Aesthetic

--Gabriel Diego Delgado, San Antonio

J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art hosts “Sip and Sign” event with International Artist Thomas Arvid

Walking into the Fine Art Gallery of J. R. Mooney on Boerne’s quaint but tantalizing S. Main Street; one can see the small town charm displaced by the international splendor of a time honed art aesthetic.  Exquisitely capturing the gallery’s own artistic nomenclature is the selected works of Thomas Arvid.  Giclée prints on display for the “Sip and Sign” event that took place on Saturday, April 28, 2012 served up whimsical notions of southern hospitality and charm. Upon entering the space and greeting the viewer, was a large Thomas Arvid giclée print positioned on an easel acting as an almost ostentatious concierge, but inviting you into an environment of intimate sentimentality.

When viewing the gallery’s presentation – wine, wine glasses, wine corks, bottle labels, and cork screws seem to haphazardly litter the two dimensional composition of the prints and originals of artist Thomas Arvid.   Known as a self proclaimed Wine Aficionado and often mislabeled Photo-Realist, Arvid’s humble charm alludes to an artist comfortable in his own prestige and high profile career.

Curated solely for the “Sip and Sign” event, Mr. Mooney and the staff at J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art have mindfully appropriated an area within the Boerne gallery for the 14 giclée prints and two original artworks; sequestering them for maximum visual impact and viewer immersion.  

Spotlighting the Thomas Arvid exhibition at J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art is an original, but untitled mixed-media piece. This artwork is a contemporary throwback and “tip of the hat” to what Arvid passionately explains as an artistic gesture-inspired by the heyday of color highlights experimentations of Black and White photography.

Deliberate in his composition, gestural mark-making and subtle but striking color highlights, Arvid knows how to allow the viewer to enter into his lyrically liquor-esque world of art. The multi-media aspects of the newly acquired untitled original can be seen in Arvid’s calculated assertion to show the pencil and charcoal layers that would ordinarily be covered in the “Photo-Realist” venture of the painting process. Arvid comments on this decision as a way to express and illustrate a “sure-handedness” of technique and confidence of artistic quality.  Reminiscent of Arvid’s signature compositional themes, this exhibition highlight stays true to form with no one element- the wine bottle, the glass or the corkscrew (perfumed with its newly corked wooden asset) acting as the main focal point within the work. 

With the polished baby blue corkscrew diagonal in the lower left corner, the picture plane is bunged by the metallic hue only to draw the viewer to the impenetrable and buoyant subset bark of the cork itself.  Continuing on the viewing journey, the wooden element is matched by its own reflection in the tonal and highlighted Faust label on the bottle; the only hard edged fully linear constituent in the work.  Unfinished in its own striking glory and appeal the wine glass ripples with subtle vibrations as the conversations of those in the room seem to have an effect on the viscosity of the wine poured.

Like a Spartan Warrior, Arvid is in proper form with the untitled work- being sure to formulate interrupted lines, skewed angles, and layered perspectives to harmonize the overall gestalt of the work.

Overall and obsessively obvious in his artistic grandeur, Arvid carefully crafts paintings with intervallic lines and non-conforming compositional esplanades; avenues and visual clues that present the viewer with an ability to feel as though they are joining the artist in his own studio, house or dinner table.  He wants the audience to have a sense they can metaphysically reach into his painting and pick up the glass and drink the wine or rotate the bottle of wine to read the label; all without feeling self-conscious about an underlying “do not touch” taboo in this often misconstrued and misconceived elitist realm of art and wine.

However, one does need to take the time to see the 5 other giclée prints on display across the street at the appropriately suitable chateau-ish venue- The Boerne Wine Company. A Co-Sponsor of this event, The Boerne Wine Company adds additional artistic partnership power and a sense of S. Main St. family commerce unity; a genuinely symbiotic joint venture a chic new trend being seen in mainstream gallery affairs.

The “Sip and Sign” event at J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art proves to be a fashionably appropriate exhibition highlighting the romanticism of the Arvid Winery magnetism.

Thomas Arvid’s giclée prints will stay on display at both J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art; including the San Antonio location at 8302 Broadway San Antonio, Texas 78209 and 305 S. Main St. Boerne, Texas 78006. For more information call 210-828-8214 or 830-816-5106.



Contact:
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Art Consultant
J. R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art / 8302 Broadway / San Antonio, TX. 78209 / 210.828.8214
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