Solo show at Kaleid Gallery in October

I'm super excited about my upcoming solo show at Kaleid Gallery in San Jose, CA. “Intelligent Life Forms” will feature 15 new paintings and drawings all created this year. The opening reception will be on Friday night, October 6 from 7 - 11pm and the show runs through October 27. The postcard below features my painting, “Trees are the Lungs of the Earth”.

“It has always seemed strange to me that we talk about finding intelligent life on other planets, when we have plenty of intelligent life forms right here on Earth that we should be focusing on saving. Nature and animals have been healing for me in this life, and the natural world is now under attack like never before. In response, I'm drawn to making art about all that is still beautiful in this world, and all that needs protection.” 

Holiday shows!

Hi, friends and art lovers and anyone who may be reading this:

It's hard to believe the holidays are already here again. In response to the election results, I am doubling up on my efforts to raise funds for environmental and animal organizations through my art. To this end, I have paintings in several group shows of small art, perfect for gifting, for the holidays.

The above creatures are two from my new "genius animals" series, and they're showing in "Tiny Treasures XI" at Cactus Gallery in L.A. These gifted rodents have discovered Maxwell's equations and are showing the world that animals are indeed smart! I will be donating proceeds from the sale of these paintings to the Center for Biological Diversity. Please contact Sandra Mastroianni at Cactus Gallery for purchase info, or go to my page on Cactus Gallery's website to purchase.

Three paintings from my "Cats on Catnip" series are showing in "Tiny" at Studio Gallery in San Francisco, with proceeds to benefit the Dancing Cat, a cat adoption lounge in San Jose. The paintings have titles like "The Electric Catnip Kool-Aid Test" and "Magic Catnip Ride" and I've been having a lot of fun creating them over the past few months.

Finally, I'll have some new small paintings in "HARK!", the annual holiday group show at Kaleid Gallery in downtown San Jose where I am a resident artist. The new pieces are of foxes and were painted in the last couple of weeks. Proceeds from the sale of these pieces will go to the Center for Biological Diversity and their work to defend endangered species. There will be an opening reception on Friday night, December 2nd, as part of South First Fridays, and I will be there.

Thanks for following my work. May we all use our talents to light a path in these dark times, for all of life on Earth.

Art Against Oil

It's happened again, this time at Refugio Beach in Santa Barbara. As long as we are held hostage to earth-raping oil companies, we'll keep having tragedies and animals and people will continue to suffer. A few weeks ago, on the 5th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, I decided to photograph an art piece I did to commemorate the lives lost as a result of that catastrophe. The result is below.

New art at Sanctuary Bistro

Happy 2015. Let's make this a more peaceful world for animals, humans and the Earth. In that spirit, I have a small show of mostly new paintings up at Sanctuary Bistro, a wonderful new vegan restaurant in Berkeley, CA. There will be a "meet and greet" event this coming Monday, January 19th from 6 - 8pm. Below are three new pieces I painted for this show.

"Don't Fear Me" - 12 x 16 acrylic on wood - (c) 2014 Michelle Waters

"I am the Spirit of the Land" - 12 x 16 acrylic on wood - (c) 2014 Michelle Waters

"Let Me Be My Wild Self" - 12 x 16 acrylic on wood (c) 2014 Michelle Waters

painting at MACLA

I've got a painting in a group show at MACLA in downtown San Jose starting today (june 27) through july 14. The show is a community participation exhibit about neighborhoods, and I've contributed my piece "the Undevelopment Agency". I'm very happy that this particular painting is being included now because the whole Coyote Valley development issue is heating up again. MACLA is at 510 south 1st street in the SOFA district of downtown San Jose.

group show in Sacramento and other stuff

I have a couple of pieces in a group show of bird-themed art at Exploding Head Gallery in Sac this month - www.explodingheadgallery.com. The show is called "On the Wing". Gallery address is 924 12th St. in downtown Sacramento. The reception is on Saturday May 12 from 6 - 9pm and I will be there.

I'm also showing work in downtown San Jose at Kaleid Gallery. Kaleid is at the corner of 88 South Fourth at San Fernando. It's a big cooperative gallery that is the brainchild of Cherri Lakey and Brian Eider of Anno Domini and Phantom Galleries. Kaleid shows paintings, prints and other fine art alongside a lot of very fun jewelry and other gift type items. Lot of great stuff - check it out!

And, the group show "California Centered: the Environment" is still on view at the Merced Art Center www.artsmerced.org until June 1st.