Arts & Entertainment
Art in Yamagami's Gardens
Yamagami's Nursery is holding a silent art auction on Aug. 11 to support Triton Museum.
Nurtured by nature in Yamagami's Nursery the artwork of a handful of local artists in residence at the garden center will be auctioned off Thursday during Art in the Garden, a benefit for Triton Museum of Santa Clara.
The artists have been working at Yamagami’s Nursery to create art which will be sold at a silent auction at the store located at 1361 S. De Anza Blvd., Thursday, Aug. 11, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
During the event, artists Jeff Bramscheiber, Jane Kwant, May Shei, Sandra Smith-Dugan and photographer Yao-Pi Hsu will be working, as well as showing their creations beginning Monday, Aug 8. Several pieces will be selected for auction on Thursday evening.
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Coordinating the event for the museum is Triton board member and landscape designer Joyce Okumura, who has 28 years experience in the nursery business, having owned and operated El Real Nursery in Santa Clara.
"Tickets are $25, and we will be serving light hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Special nursery discounts and come-back-to-shop coupons will be available to guests, as well," Okumura says.
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About The Artists
Painting for nearly 30 years, Jeff Bramschreiber says he made the decision to focus on art his last two years of high school. "After an Honorable Mention in the nationwide 'Draw Me' contest sponsored by Art Instruction Schools, I went on to get both fine art and commercial art degrees and to study at the Massachusetts College of Art," he says.
Bramschreiber is currently a Board Trustee and Pastel Instructor at the Triton Museum of Art, Community Arts Liaison and Assistant Manager for University Art Center of San Jose, Treasurer and Board Trustee for Silicon Valley Open Studios, and Lecturer/Workshop Artist in Egyptian Art for the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.
Jane Kwant says her floral and landscape watercolors are "inspired by the interplay of colorful light and shadow and the translucency of flowers." Kwant is an active member of the Santa Clara Artist Association, Fine Arts League of Cupertino and Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. Her paintings have won awards in these organizations and are displayed periodically with them.
Kwant's art career has developed over the years through self study, workshops and classes with noted artists. She has studied with several professional artists in the Bay Area, as well as many who are nationally recognized.
May Shei was born in Taiwan to an artistic family who encouraged her to begin painting from an early age. As a university student, she worked as an illustrator for an advertising agency, magazine and newspaper publisher.
Her works incorporate Chinese brush painting and calligraphy in the media of oil and watercolor. Some of her works are inlaid with gold or splotch ink. "These are typical characteristics of Oriental art," she says. Shei has received numerous awards from Palo Alto Art League, Los Gatos Art Association, Fine Art League of Cupertino and AVArt Fest.
Photographer Yao-Pi Hsu says, "Flowers are one of the best gifts from mother nature. The different colors, shapes, forms and textures from flowers never cease to amaze me. Back lit flowers are my favorite photo subject. I remind myself to stop and smell flowers along the sidewalk."
A researcher in the biosciences field at Stanford University for three decades, Hsu returned to her family home in China in 1996, photographing the landscapes around the Yellow Mountains. Two of these pictures won awards when she returned and a new career began.
Her new-found passion has taken her around the world. She finds joy and reward in freezing the moment in a photograph from the glaciers of Alaska to the serene fiords of Norway. "Through the camera lens with watchful eyes, I see great beauty," she says.
Sandra Smith-Dugan was born, raised and educated in the Bay Area. Her earliest exposure to art came from her mother, a University of California-Berkeley, fine arts graduate and accomplished painter. Smith-Dugan earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from San Jose State University, and then continued her studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, the University of California at Santa Cruz and at various professional workshops.
Smith-Dugan paints in oil on canvas and board with an emphasis on landscape, urbanscape and figurative work. "The central elements of my artistic approach have much to do with the characteristic feeling of a chosen subject, be it a scene in nature, an architectural edifice or a depiction of the human figure," Smith-Dugan says.
Triton Museum of Art
The Triton Museum of Art collects and exhibits contemporary and historical works with an emphasis on artists of the Greater Bay Area. The permanent collection includes 19th and 20th century American art of the Pacific Rim, Europe and beyond.
The Museum's goal is to use an open-minded approach to create thought-provoking exhibitions that reach beyond traditional presentations of art.
The Museum is open six days a week with free admission and parking to exhibitions and most events. Classes, on site and off, are provided for children and adults of all abilities.
For more information about Art in the Garden, call 408-247-3754.
