Redwood Art Group is returning with the 15th annual Art San Diego at the San Diego Convention Center Nov. 2-5.
Art San Diego is the region’s longest running art and design, providing attendees to view and interact with works by preeminent international, national, and local artists.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating 15 years of Art San Diego, the only marketplace where artists, art publishers, galleries, and dealers all came together,” said Linda Mariano, managing director of Marketing at Redwood Art Group.
“Art San Diego is such a special experience because it brings together the local art community alongside national and international artists, creating a space where art lovers can enjoy the discovery of new work and engaging art events.”
Mariano said Art San Diego is a contemporary art fair and Redwood Art Group is the owner, purchasing it from its founder 11 years ago.
“We believe that the San Diego area is an important area, but also an area not only has great art from the communities in the county, and San Diego is a tourist destination,” she said. “San Diego has rich and cultural organizations throughout the county. We bring in local, national, and international exhibitors. There will be around 90 exhibitors at Art San Diego this year.”
Mariano said Redwood also gives space to established and emerging artists that allows people to come in at an entry level in a higher end gallery environment.
“Local talent is a program that we began several years ago in San Diego for the primary purpose of finding unrepresented artists. The intention of local talent was to amplify and support the local visual arts community and give unrepresented artists an opportunity to be seen,” she said. “Now, we work directly with the Liberty Station Arts District and seek out artists from their studios.”
Chula Vista artist Yahel Yan is a Mexican artist with a home studio selected to exhibit at Art San Diego. Her inclusion in this program continues to put Chula Vista and the South Bay arts scene on the map as the home of San Diego County’s leading artists, said Mariano.
Yan said along with her home studio in Chula Vista, she shares an art studio at Liberty Station with four other artists.
“I am super excited for this opportunity,” she said. “I am also excited about the opportunity to teach a class at Monarch school. That was an amazing experience.”
Yan is showing art from her “My Canvas is My Playground” collection. She said that in this collection she used all mediums of acrylics.
“In this collection I am using brushes, markers, twigs, everything that I can get in my hands,” she said. “This collection, ‘My Canvas is My Playground” because obviously I want to play. I create abstract, whimsical paintings that evoke a sense of joy. It is very intuitive the way I paint because I throw paint on the canvas, go editing, discovering new shapes and forms on the canvas. I do not have a plan, so whatever happens, happens.”
Yan said she lets her imagination control the way she paints, and that creativity is what makes it so much fun. She said being an abstract painter is a way for her to be more creative and use her intuition.
Mariano said artists apply to be considered and part of the application process is their commitment to also be involved in our Access to Art program which supports the art and creative program at Monarch school in San Diego. She said from that pool of artists, they pick three to four artists to join the exhibition.
“This year we selected four,” she said. “Each one of them is talented artists. They are also doing workshops at Monarch with middle and high school art students. The projects that they worked on with the students will also be on display in the Access to Art booth. Art San Diego is extremely dedicated in being involved with the community. One of the things at our core mission is the ability and opportunity to create a platform to connect artists, collectors, and galleries, all together.”
La Mesa/Del Cerro artist Ann Golumbuk has her home studio, her studio at Liberty Station, and another studio on the east coast in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “Wherever I go, I have my art with me,” she said.
Golumbuk said she has been an artist all her life. Her mother was artistic, and she grew up doing arts and crafts, but it took her a long time to identify as an artist as she has worked in the fitness industry for 35 years. In 2009, she had a serious accident, and had to lay on her floor at home for more than a year to help straighten her spine.
“I had no art on my walls,” she said. “I had nothing to look at. I had white walls. I would imagine how I would paint if I painted something for my walls.”
As Golumbuk got better, she bought some canvas, and took an art class with a friend of hers. Her first “show” was when her hair dresser offered to put her work up in her salon.
That was 12 years ago.
Drawn to abstract art, Golumbuk said she moves fast, is on the go all the time, and one of 11 children, her family life was always in order.
“I guess my tomboy wanted to come out,” she said. “I paint large pieces. I use mops, brooms, and rags. Just being able to throw and use my arms, that movement is really exciting for me, using bold, expressive colors and movement.”
Golumbuk said her collection for the show is brand new and is a “love, peace, and rock n’ roll,” street art.
“Everything is based on love and peace,” she said. “Lots of bright colors. More on the street art side. I am inspired by color. I love patterns. Being out in nature I am always taking pictures of the colors of the flowers. They are so unique, and there are interesting patterns in a flower. I love fashion and patterns in clothing.”
Golumbuk said she takes all these colors, shapes, and patterns, and puts them in her artwork.
“I paint from the heart. It is just intuitive,” she said. “When I paint, I talk to them. ‘What do you want to be today? What do you want to do?’ I just start throwing color. I never think of a color palette. As I put something down on canvas, I just react to it. It is very joyous for me to see paint and colors join together,” adding that she adds texture to her paintings with anything she can find.
Golumbuk said she is excited about the exhibit, and that her time with the students at Monarch was more than she expected.
“I went to the Monarch school to help create art for the show,” she said. “We did a collaborative piece with all the kids. It was fun. The kids had fun. We came up with a really big piece that will be hanging in their booth. They (Monarch) are developing these new artists.”
Tickets and more information are available at https://redwoodartgroup.com/art-san-diego/.
