Dec. 26, 2002 Friday's final Da Da Wine Down event of 2002 will feature the paintings of James Martin, the photography of BJ Arnold and the drawings, paintings and prints of Madeleine I.M. Meehan.
The evening's wine tasting and seminar, to be presented by Bellows International, will showcase vintages of Veuve du Vernay, Freixenet Cordon Negro and Penfold's Rawsons Retreat Chardonnay and Merlot.
Da Da Wine Down is a social event held the last Friday of each month, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Cafe Amici in A.H. Riise's Alley. It's open to the public, with free admission, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, door prizes, a cash bar and the optional wine tasting and seminar, which costs $10.
For more information, call Cafe Amici at 776-5670.
Martin, an architect, says he took up painting to escape the rigid drawing codes of his profession and to occupy his creative talents between design projects. He will be displaying oil paintings of the Gypsi boats of Indonesia, reef fishing Boats and scenes from his European travels.
While teaching art in graduate school, he developed unusual watercolor techniques that he says "can save any painting." Having displayed and sold or given friends more than 500 watercolors, he started teaching free classes in the medium after an absence of 15 years. His artistic muse also has led him to create more than 20 bronze sculptures and works in faux finishes, marbleization finishes and Scagliola (faux marble artwork).
Arnold, a photographer since childhood gifted with a natural "eye," says she collects camera equipment like other women collect shoes or jewelry. She has found the Virgin Islands a natural haven, since she specializes in sunsets and landscape photography with occasional outdoor wedding shoots. Otter Been There is the name of her company, and it's translation, "you oughter been there," reflects her outlook on life.
She has participated in numerous shows nationwide, including the C.H.U.N. Peoples Fair, the largest outdoor arts and crafts festival west of the Mississippi River, with an estimated two-day attendance of 250,000, and the Denver Pride Fest, a one-day event attracting more than 125,000 people. One of her goals is to take part in a photo safari to Kenya sponsored by the National Geographic Society.
Meehan, a longtime St. Thomas resident, will be showing her "Mostly Music Art" pen-and-ink drawings, oils, aquarelles and enhanced prints of musicians, dancers, moko jumbies and carnival revelers. The works, reflecting the spontaneity of performance art, have been inspired by performances at the Reichhold Center for the Arts, Arts Alive concerts, Pistarckle Theater productions and, most recently, last week's Christmas concert presented by the students of the Hintz Academy of Music.
Meehan attended New York's High School of Music & Art; earned a B.F.A. from Cornell University, studied at L' Ecole des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France; did graduate study at Columbia University and New York University; and is a Life Member of the Art Students League of New York. She is represented by galleries in the Virgin Islands; Easthampton, New York; and Charleston, South Carolina, where she attends the Spoleto USA festival each year, drawing the performance artists in rehearsal.
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