Locals and Artists Get Together for Second Del Rey Art Walk

Artists opened their homes and studios Saturday for the second Del Rey Art Walk, and the only thing in common among the wildly varying types of artwork was the Del Rey neighborhood used as the backdrop for the event.

Artists from amateur to professional showed their artwork that  varied in style from religious-themed oil paintings to psychedelic abstract photography and fantastical sculpture to tribal-looking objects.  There was a style for every type of art lover. 

After the relative success of the first art walk, organizer and artist Charlotte DeMeo said the response was amazing, I was looking forward to visiting this art walk to discover the artists I didn’t get to meet last time and to revisit the artists I had met to see what they added to their portfolios in the last six months.

First stop was at The Teale Street Sculpture Studio, a newcomer to the roster for this art walk.

The warehouse space is impressive.  It’s a giant warehouse made over like a white-washed studio of the gods with dozens of models of human body parts lining one wall.

Students were just wrapping their clay pieces in wet towels and plastic to preserve them for the next session, and art-student-turned part-owner of the studio, Robin Thayer, offered to show me around the space. 

Thayer introduced me to photographer Dennis Sylvester who rents a studio on the periphery of the main studio space.

Sylvester was showing his collection of photography, mostly of nature, mostly abstract, which often times he enhances on a computer to bring colors to their most psychedelic, acid-trippy state.

A must-see is “Frida’s Vision,” an extreme close up of an abalone shell he photographed while touring Frida Kahlo’s estate.  Neon pinks and blues melt together in a composition that looks like something you would see under the lens of a microscope.

Sylvester has traveled all over the world to photograph his subjects.  Two photos from his water collection include abstract images of boats’ reflections on the Nile in Cairo, Egypt, called “Africa Ablaze,” and the reflections of floating island gardens in Xochimilco, Mexico, called “Painted Water.”

“I try and catch things in transformation, going from one state to another,” Sylvester said. “From either physically into a spiritual realm or physically into an abstraction.”

His interpretation of Big Ben in London, which won first place in a California State University, Dominguez Hills art contest, is ominous with heavy shadows and also light with vibrant colors fighting for space against the dark.

I then stepped outside into the rock garden where students Sarah Danays and Dan Sakoda were carving their stone pieces.

Danays, a professional artist, also takes classes and uses the studio to execute her goth-fantasy sculptures that involve sculpted seashells, human anatomy and sometimes blood.

She was working on carving the lower body of a woman out of white alabaster for her next creation.

Sakoda creates animals out of various types of stone.  He had a penguin, fish and bear on display, and he was working on a frog.  Sakoda reduces the forms to smooth, minimal lines.

Next, I traveled a few blocks over to see art walk organizer Charlotte DeMeo at her house on Juniette Street.  She was showing her artwork–floral watercolor paintings and must-see sculptures she carves out of gourds and weaves from pine needles.  The creations are adorned with beads and feathers and found objects like branches, all leading to a tribal-esque creation that is unique and eye-catching.  

Since the last art walk in December, DeMeo also began experimenting with burning and drawing on leather, which lends itself to a Native-American feel.

DeMeo talked about the outpouring of positive feedback from the first art walk. 

“The reaction that I was really pleased about was that the artists wanted to do it again,” DeMeo said.  “It was the feeling that they got with people coming in and praising their work.  Even if they didn’t buy anything, hearing that positive response encourages you enough to want to do it.”

The second Del Rey Art Walk was sponsored by the Del Rey Neighborhood Council and the Del Rey Homeowner and Neighbors Association.

DeMeo’s home also showcased her long-time friend, Kirk Robinson, a former resident of Juniette Street, who has since relocated to Nevada.

Robinson was displaying his photos of wildlife from his adventures in Africa, as well as animals on his ranch in Nevada.

My favorite was a stirring close-up of the profile of a horse.  Robinson is so close to his subject, you can see his reflection in the horse’s eye.