ART: The Coronado Art Association celebrates 75th years with Island Art + Storybook Show

See Coronado through an island artist’s eyes. Know what only we islanders know. It’s all about Coronado

Island Artat the

and Storybook Sh w

By Tina Christiansen

The Coronado Art Association is hosting an art exhibition of the collected master works of seven island artists in the Spreckels Reading Room and Gallery at the Library. The show Opens Friday, May 13 and runs through August 13 this year. The artists all have visual tales to tell about Coronado from very different perspectives. The story is about the culture of the Island as told by extraordinary painters. Their artwork ranges in style from abstract expressionism to impressionism, including wild whimsy countered with crisp, clear realism.

Who are these people? The artists in this show are all Coronadans. The show is being curated by the Coronado Art Association to celebrate its 75th anniversary. Attend the artists’ reception from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 13. Meet the artists at the reception, vote for your favorite and you may win a work of art as a prize. Three of the artists are offering free art classes through the library for adults and children, but class size is small and participants are limited; priority goes to those that first sign up at the reception.

This is an art show like no other. Each wall of the Spreckels reading room in the library has been composed as a page in a very large, illustrated art book of original paintings paired with a short storyline about the island, written by myself as the Association’s curator. A walk around the room reveals a very tall tale about Coronado culture that is at times amusing and also somewhat revealing.

The Island Storybook Headlines are listed below and are each paired with a sneak preview of one of the paintings that illustrate each “page” in the island’s story:

Truth & Beauty

Artist Mary Hale, Porcelain Plate

Mary is an extraordinary porcelain painter. You will need to meet her at the reception and ask her who this lady is that she painted on a plate. It looks like the Queen of Coronado if there ever was one! Mary also works in oils on canvas. Her work ranges from realism to impressionism. She teaches art at her studio here on the island and she is the president of the Coronado Art Association.

Artist Adrienne McCullough, Flowers In A White Vase. Watercolor on Paper.

The delicacy of Adrienne’s watercolors trace the lively colors of the flowers she paints. Her works of art are among the favorites of flower show goers every year in Coronado. Adrienne has been a member of the Coronado Art Association for more than 30 years.

Fathom the Sea & What Lies Beneath:

This section of the show features a series of paintings by artists Teresa Espaniola and myself, that reveal not only what “flies above” but also what “lies beneath” the sea. Both artists work in acrylics on canvas or board, in painterly styles that range from realism to impressionism. The artists use bold bravura brush strokes, delicate layers of glazing or heavy impasto palette knife techniques to capture the many moods and movements of the sea.

Artist Tina Christiansen, Abalone. Acrylic on Board.

Island Zen & Whimsey

Artists Jean Pierre Marques and Connie Spitzer occupy the playful side of the island. Jean Pierre combines zen meditation with acrylic ink compositions that range from abstract to fanciful. He offers a class in both.

Artist Jean Pierre Marques, Colorful Wave. Acrylic Ink on Aluminum.

Artist Connie Spitzer’s works depict an artist’s eye of Coronado neighborhoods, public art and events. Her work is being published in a fine art coloring book by the Association titled “Color Me Coronado.” One hundred copies of this coloring book, and a watercolor pencil set are being given away through the Library’s Children’s Art Program this summer thanks to a generous donation by the Jim and Bette T. Sherman Fund and support from the City of Coronado Cultural Arts Commission.

This art show commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Coronado Art Association. The association was founded in 1947 and has been sponsoring Art in the Park events at Spreckels Park since 1959. All of the artists in the Island Storybook Show, along with other members of the

Artist Connie Spitzer, A Glorious View of Glorietta Bay. Watercolor and Ink on Paper.

association, display and sell their works of art at the Art in the Park at Spreckels Park on the first and third Sundays of every month.

The local Mediterranean climate and the golden light of the seasons are what attract plein air artists from around the world to paint here. Jim Nix is a master of this genre. In the Coronado Storybook Show display area he has left behind an easel, an unfinished work of art and his palette, just as if he had set up to paint in the field for you to see. Jim paints both on the island and inland. His work represents the very finest of today’s California plein air artists.

If you don’t know what this wood tiki mask with a ponytail yard sign means, you will find out its origins and many other hidden things about Coronado at this show. It opens Friday, May 13 and runs through the summer until August 13 at the Coronado Library.

Artist Jim Nix, Coronado Sunset. oil on canvas.

• The Coronado Art Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1947 to support the work of the island artists and those who live in the region by offering venues to its member artists to show and sell their work locally. The Association has sponsored Art in the Park since 1959 on the first and third Sundays of each month year round at Spreckels Park and provides scholarships to graduating Coronado High School seniors. CoronadoArtAssn.com

• Tina Christiansen is a retired architect and lifelong painter of watercolors and acrylics. Her subject is most often the sea. She has a master’s degree in Architecture from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Design degree from University of Florida where she studied art and architecture. She is a board member and treasurer for the Coronado Art Association.