May 23, 2005 -- Make it a memorable weekend this Memorial Day holiday as the Evergreen Fine Arts Festival kicks off at the charming Evergreen Village Square May 28 and 29, located on Ruby Avenue, off Aborn Road East near Capitol Expressway and Highway 101 in San Jose. Festivities begin Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can expect to enjoy a full plate of fine arts from more than 65 new and veteran professional artists. For music lovers, Celtic/Folk harpist, Aryeh Frankfurter will be making a special appearance at the festival.
“ The Evergreen Village Square is the perfect setting for this event ”
The premier outdoor gala is presented by the Evergreen Business and Professional Association (EBPA) and Pacific Fine Arts. “We’ve always said Evergreen should host a fine arts festival and after careful consideration we are excited to have Pacific Fine Arts managing this event,” said Maria Sinatra president of EBPA and president of Evergreen Publishing Company. “They have a great reputation for selecting California’s finest professional artists and producing some of the area’s finest events.”
The Evergreen Fine Arts Festival has demonstrated a strong support from local businesses as well. San Jose City Council Member Dave Cortese is one of the festival’s Diamond Sponsors. “The Evergreen Village Square is the perfect setting for this event,” he said. “The goal of the festival is to make a significant positive contribution to the community-based economic development and to attract visitors who want to experience the arts and culture.”
Featured artists at the event include San Jose resident Geri Comstock. The award winning artist truly understands women who enjoy being creative with their jewelry. Several of her pieces are made so customers can dress it up, dress it down, add or remove jewelry parts. Her new line, “The Divine Feminine Series,” is composed of large fabricated neckpieces that incorporate two or more stylized V's. “The V is the ancient symbol for the sacred feminine,” says Geri. “I believe there's a bit of the sacred feminine in every woman. These pieces are designed to allow women to express this connection between themselves and the sacred feminine.”
Gordon Lund of San Jose is a nature photographer as well as a biologist. He began taking nature pictures at an early age as simply a hobby. It wasn’t until ten years after receiving his doctorate in the areas of ecology, physiology and animal behavior that he returned to his passion of photography. With his 35mm camera, this self-taught artist captures some of the most beautiful images in forest and desert settings. Gordon donates 10 percent of his proceeds to the California State Parks Foundation where most of his images were captured. “It’s my personal belief in the importance of contributing to society,” said Gordon. “I thought it would encourage people to think about being involved with supporting nature when buying my work.”
San Jose artist Jason Sinatra is a young, vivacious artist. Unlike most people who write their thoughts in a journal, Jason expresses his inner thoughts and emotions on canvas. Each of his abstract collages tells a story. He begins a piece with a blank canvas with layer upon layer of paper foundations that give it a three-dimensional effect. The paint and other details are done with mixed media, acrylic, oils and sprays. “My paintings are definitely going to bring you in with their varieties of color, shine, glister, abstract forms and design,” said Jason. He will be featuring “Wicked Flowers” on 11x14-inch small canvases that connect to each other and can be arranged in any order creating a truly abstract and unique presence.
Other featured artists include Karen Honaker of San Jose, who offers a delightful selection of vibrant watercolor paintings; Diana Leanza of San Jose displaying her unique oil paintings; Kenneth Crocheron of Draper, Utah showing his diverse product line of exotic wood sculptures and stone collectibles including his world-class peppermills and salt mills, vessels, and jumbo wine stoppers; and Bonnie Belt of Willits, California who creates dramatic tree sculptures from white stoneware. For more information about Evergreen Fine Arts Festival contact Pacific Fine Arts at (209) 296-1195 or www.pacificfinearts.com.
The following companies are proud sponsors of the Evergreen Fine Arts Festival: Diamond Sponsors- Evergreen Times, San Jose City Council Member- Dave Cortese; Gold Sponsors- Evergreen Business and Professional Association (EBPA), Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, EvergreenPages.com, Lunardi’s, Evergreen Village; Silver Sponsors- AdPlus, Andiamo’s Pizzaria, C&C Valley Construction Company Inc., Curves, Quiznos Evergreen Village, Silver Creek Fitness and Physical Therapy; Bronze Sponsors- Jayendra Kalakendra School of Dance, Dance Theatre International / San Jose Youth Ballet, Beshoff MotorCars, Jaskiran Professional Skincare.
