| A tale from the early days.... |
| TWIGS [aka the Hermosa Art Group] is one of the oldest South Bay artists groups right up there with PV Arts and San Pedro Arts Association - trail blazer artists of the last generation.
One member of the group, Frank Matranga is finally coming back - his last show was the first or second Holiday show around 1997 - the early days of Cannery Row Studios. It all started at the beginning of the opening. The food table was in the middle of the art inside. Frank's work was surrounding the table. It was a beautiful sight, a picnic table for a summer gathering. We opened the doors and there was a stampede to that table and soon it was ten foot deep mass of humanity. A mosh pit looked tamer by comparison. A lady comes in with a turkey, makes her way through the crowd and puts it on the table. She says there is no knife or forks and heads for the kitchen to retrieve some.
The turkey lasted only a few minutes when one of the crowd said "I don't need a knife" and tears off one of the leg. The rest of the crowd shredded it to the bones. The lady comes back with the knife and fork and just stares in disbelief, turns around and leaves crying.
The horrofied mass starts to push and shove to get their share when - CRASH - goes Frank's work. Everyone near the site points to someone else as the culprit. After that, we push everything and the food outside, and Frank has finally forgiven us to show here again. I looking forward to having him and the rest of the 'TWIGS' here in June.
~ Richard Stephens |
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Hermosa Art Group (TWIGS) History |
This group of 6 artists (known by many as the TWIGS) came together in 2001 at a Christmas dinner. They discovered a congenial connection in their personalities and most importantly their dedication to producing contemporary art.
With like-minded appreciation for the aesthetics and history of art, each artist challenges the boundaries of contemporary art with his or her own vision. Each artist works in a different medium, without a common theme, following her/his unique emotions and senses to create fine art.
At monthly meetings, they discuss each other's artwork. In addition, they visit galleries and museums together and critique the exhibits. The group has exhibited as a group at Manhattan Beach Creative Center, Hermosa Beach Community Center, West Los Angeles College and now at Cannery Row.
Members of the group have exhibited locally, nationally and internationally. |
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 "I`m naturally drawn to the container in whatever form it may take. I use my strong background in traditional pottery as a springboard to try new and  unusual images in clay. The journey is always interesting and exciting and always a sense of going beyond where I've traveled before." |
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 Mariann Scolinos combines aluminum mesh screen with fabric to create hanging sculptures that immediately inspire a sensation of movement, combining the strength of wire with the color and softness of woven cloth that blurs the two materials into a new, almost delicate hybrid.
She finds in this composite a conflict that is not easily resolved for the viewer. From the artist’s hands the sculptures have the appearance of  living motion, with soft, at times frayed edges interacting with light through transparency and metallic sheen.
She draws inspiration from the color and rhythm of water, and from the lines and subtlety of classic Japanese design. She intentionally offers as a political act work that offers no easy answers, calling on imagination to see beyond the obvious. |
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| My art output over the years has gone in many  contemporary directions as a reflection of my diversified interests. It has ranged from surreal to semi-abstract to abstract in a wide variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, assemblage and collage.
For the past few years, I have shifted my emphasis from abstract hard edge painting to digital art.
 As an artist, my primary objective has been to produce what I call a "balanced composition" in each completed work. This is, admittedly, a quest that is driven and measured by my own internal subjective judgments.
I define a "balanced composition" as a harmony that exists between all of the various elements that are inherent in a finished work of art (e.g., color, shape, relative location of areas, shading, texture, etc.). |
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There was a time when I was called photographer. Now, though, that is not enough. Image-maker rather than image-taker is my bent. I’ve never seen an image that I didn’t want to change. Not just for change’s sake.
My current series of artwork breaks from the flat photograph by creating a 3rd dimension. The medium is ink jet printed transparency film. I call these unique artworks "Dimensional Transparency Collages."
Superimposing 2 or more transparencies transforms them into a collage with the images combining in unexpected ways and thus imparting unique visual experiences. |
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For the past year, I have been exploring what I can achieve using oil paint and paintstick (a kind of large oil paint crayon) on gessoed Lanaquarelle 300 pound French rag. 
A description would be: "Rectangular shapes interacting with lines and curves, dancing across a negative space with the bright pure colors of the paintsticks contrasting with the blended earth tones of the brushwork to create cheerful lean compositions". |
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Where is Cannery Row Studios? |
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