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Art of the Violin |
Inspired by successful projects from forty other orchestras from around the country, the volunteers of the Pacific Symphony League have assembled a collection of violins, transformed into beautiful works of art and donated by talented area artists. We will be offering seventeen of these violin masterpieces for sale, to benefit the Pacific Symphony's music education programs. These violins can adorn your home or office, or be a special gift for a special music or art lover in your life.
Click here to view a schedule of dates and locations where the violins will be on display. (pdf document)
Our Artists
A juried process was conducted in the spring of 2006, with artists invited to submit designs for this project. The jurors, Darlene DeAngelo (Curator and Program Director, Huntington Beach Art Center), Toni McDonald Pang (Director, Irvine Fine Arts Center), and Karin Schnell (arts consultant and former Director of Education for Orange County Museum of Art), reviewed 34 submissions and selected fourteen noted artists to participate. Those artists are Regina Berengolts, Irina Charny, Mary Clark-Carmago, Andrew Hart, Mark Leysen, Diana LoSchiavo, Steven Lustig, Suzanne Mellor, Helen Seigel, Grant Wm Thye, Nancy Torbitt-Stewart, Valaree Wahler, Doreen Wulbrecht, and Wyland. Each was given a student violin as a “canvas” on which to create their work of art, and they chose a variety of creative mediums, including paint, mosaics, decoupage, colored pencil, raku ceramic, wood and more. We are grateful for the artists’ generous donations to support music education. If you would like to know more about the participating artists, their biographies are on the Symphony’s website.
Artists Biographies
As a child growing up in Russia, even before she knew they were called mosaics, Irina created collages from pieces of broken glass found in the street, rocks, paper, seashells, and bits of crockery. Through the years she tried various media for artistic expression but have now returned to her origin — mosaics. This medium gives her a chance to explore color, shape, and texture, to experiment with different materials, and satisfy the passion to integrate unrelated small bits into a single work of art.
She is a self-taught mosaicist. While she is inspired by the rich history of the medium, she strives to build a unique and personal art form on the base of classical mosaic. In addition to traditional mosaic tesserae, she incorporates unusual materials in her work — mirror, pebbles, found objects, beads, buttons, wire, handmade ceramic pieces, and broken plates. She never returns home empty handed from a walk on the beach or a trip. Beach glass, pebbles from a path on Hampstead Heath, broken glass from a studio in Seattle, a bit of bone found on the shore are special little bits that are inserted into each mosaic to give it a special, personal meaning.
She has created mosaic panels, mirrors, decorative objects, and murals. Her work has been exhibited at the City of Brea Gallery, Trios Gallery in Solano Beach, Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, The High Rise Gallery in Chicago, the Ellipse Gallery in Arlington Virginia, Eleven-Eleven Sculpture Space in Washington DC, the Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas, and many other galleries. Irina was one of the artists whose work was selected for the KOCE Butterfly Initiative, a public art project that benefited arts and science education in Orange County.
Steven Lustig was born and raised near the North Shore of Chicago, where he began drawing at a very early age. Steven received an art scholarship to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with an emphasis on Biotechnical Illustration.
After seven years of working in corporate presentation graphics, Steven founded Biodesign Communications in 1989. BioDesign is a highly specialized computer graphics company supplying creative illustrations to the Life Science, Medical Device, and Healthcare industries.
Throughout this time Steven continued to draw and sculpt, dedicating his life to the arts. His fascination with drawing the human form continues to ignite his creative talent and provides him with an endless supply of material. Steven’s art is powerful, passionate, and embraces mainly the abstract in human and natural forms.
Suzanne Mellor has been painting the California landscape in the plein aire style for many years. She has been represented by the Ira Roberts Galleries in Beverly Hills and New York for many years. They published her paintings into custom art prints and high-end greeting cards. Her paintings are in numerous collections world wide, with several celebrity clients. She has had one woman shows in Beverly Hills, Minneapolis, Dallas, Dayton and New York City. She serves on the Advisory Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the Dean’s Council at the Claire Trevor Bren School of Arts at UC Irvine, and the Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art. She currently lives in Laguna Beach. She has titled her work ‘MUSIC SET IN STONE’ which represents recent experiments in trompe l’oeil projects.
Regina Berengolts’ paintings reflect a world filled with vivid, beautiful colors, which beckon the viewer on a powerfully visual and emotional journey. Her unique style is the product of formal training mixed with a designer’s precision and a story teller’s ability to bring dreams to life.
A Russian born artist, Regina received her art degree from the famous Serov Art Academy in St. Petersburg. As a teenager she earned high recognition in numerous exhibitions, including the St. Petersburg National People’s Museum. In 1979 she immigrated to the United States, where she earned a degree in Industrial Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
"I am driven by a quest for artistic expression via an exploration of different media and subjects. Each leads me to the discovery of new emotion, color, technique, and composition." Regina's keen interest in art, combined with her professional background, has profoundly shaped her work. Elegant three-dimensional lines, blocky anatomy and abstract visuals describe some of her work. Vibrant colors and dynamic composition communicate a myriad of feelings. Other paintings in a more whimsical style appear multi layered as she captures the playfulness of her subjects, perhaps struggling to break out of the dream and into reality. Regina was classically trained as a painter and this training is reflected in her landscape painting style. She selects pure colors, and pays particular attention to defining the form even in her imaginary landscapes.
Regina’s paintings are displayed in private collections around the world and art galleries in the United States, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, Israel and Singapore.
She created her piece for “The Art of the Violin” to honor the universal language of music, the harmony of music cultures and celebration of art, music and life. She often uses musical instruments in her paintings along with a human form.
Valaree Wahler became a master porcelain painter using the European Botanicals methods. For 23 years she honed her observational skills unique to that medium and produced stunning pieces that were collected.
Going beyond the perceived limitations of that medium and using fundamental art principles she began working on canvas as she began to release her individuality. Her initial introduction was with acrylics as her medium. Valaree’s aesthetic intelligence moved her into exploring oil painting, where she began her art studies in earnest. Her passion for the medium and the knowledge of fundamentals led her attention to explore the figure and there was no turning back.
The beauty of women of all ethnicities has captured her heart and is an important subject in her work. The violin she submitted is done in acrylics and is further enhanced with Swarovski crystals. Valaree hopes you enjoy "Standing Room Only" as much as she did in creating it.
Helen Seigel was born in Los Angeles, and received her BA, Studio Art from UC Santa Barbara and her MFA in Studio Art/Painting from UC Irvine. Helen has been the head of the Artist-in-the-Schools (Art Demonstration Teacher) in Santa Ana Unified School District since 1979. The Artists-in-the-Schools program began with a California Arts Council grant and is designed to inservice teachers. SPECIAL STUDIO is an intensive pull-out studio program which culminates each year with the MAJOR ART/MINOR ARTISTS exhibition in the community. She has also served since the program's inception on the Arts Faculty (visual art) for arts-X-press, a special, intensive program for select middle school students from all over Orange County, developed and sponsored by Pacific Symphony. She was an Associate Faculty member at Saddleback College from 1980 - 2001. Helen taught Painting (watercolor) and drawing. She has also taught at Santa Ana College, Irvine Fine Arts Center, and has given many varied art workshops for teachers over the years (at Orange County Museum of Art, Laguna Art Museum, Orange County Department of Education/Arts Bring Cultures Together, Santa Ana Unified School District). She was guest speaker at a conference about Creativity sponsored by Orange County Visual Artists.
In addition to her teaching career, Helen has exhibited primarily in Orange County and Santa Barbara. She was included an exhibition with two other artists whose work is affected by children at California State University Fullerton, curated by Mike McGee, and received the "Outstanding Arts Educator of the Year" recognition from Arts Orange County.
Mary Clark Camargo is a mosaic artist who specializes in custom stepping stones, table tops, garden gazing balls, countertops, birdhouses, mail boxes and other articles for home and garden. Prolific and creative, Mary draws from her years as a graphic artist and interior designer, blending free-form, geometric, interpretative and abstract elements with a rainbow of colors to create a unique style which pops in any setting.
She has participated in the Art For Your Garden exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center’s Art and the Vineyard event in Eugene, Oregon, and the Arroyo Arts Collective Discovery Tour in Highland Park, California. She has also been featured on two HGTV shows this year: That’s Clever and Look What I Did. Mary resides in Pasadena, California.
Mary saw her violin piece as a free form kaleidoscope of color and texture, a vibrant symphony of shapes and form. She feels that the flowing patterns of her mosaic work are similar to music and have a lyrical quality to them.
Andrew Hart, a native Californian, received a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and Photography from the Art Center College of Design. In 1996 he moved to New York to do photography. His work has appeared in the books Pixel Surgeons and American Photography and various magazines including SOMA, Interview and i-D. This past year, he has returned to California and is living in Los Angeles to pursue fine art photography. Examples of his work can be seen on his website, www.andrewhartphotographer.com.
Andrew’s piece is a violin layered with dozens of individually cut out pieces of white paper depicting orchestra members and their instruments.
Mark Leysen was born in Antwerp, Belgium and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1952, settling in Southern California. While completing his BA and MA degrees at California State University Fullerton, Mark co-founded Leysen/Johnston Advertising, Inc. in Newport Beach. After 18 years as creative director, Leysen retired from advertising to devote himself full time to making art, and teaching at the college and university level.
His art has been exhibited throughout California and Mexico in various one-person and group shows, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the UCLA Hammer Museum, the San Bernardino County Museum, the Laguna Art Museum, Orange County Museum of Art, Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, the Irvine Fine Arts Center and the Museo de Arte in Queretaro, Mexico. Mark was one of the artists whose work was selected for the KOCE Butterfly Initiative, a public art project that benefited arts and science education in Orange County.
He states "My inspiration for the Pacific Symphony League’s ‘Art of the Violin’ was a photograph taken in Paris by famous photographer Man Ray, where he transformed a female model into a violin. I decided that turn-about is fair play, and turned a violin into a woman."
Diana LoSchiavo was born in Brooklyn, New York. She attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School and then continued studies at New York University and State University of New York at Albany, earning a Bachelor of Science in Art and a Master’s Degree in Fine Art.
While proficient in many media, watercolor presented both freedom and challenge to her. Diana is the author of an art textbook for children, has been exhibited in numerous one woman and group shows, and has won many awards for her paintings in the United States and Europe.
Her piece, “Jammin’ at the Center” depicts the front of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the new home of the Pacific Symphony, and Music Director Carl St.Clair conducting the orchestra.
Grant Wm Thye (pronounced “tea”) has been creating artwork his entire life. Originally from Iowa, he studied art and received a BA from Central College, a private, liberal arts school (Pella, Iowa.) He also studied printmaking in graduate school at Illinois State University. His subject matter ranges from landscape and still life to figurative works. He works in printmaking, drawing and painting and all of his pieces have a heavy organic influence. He has just recently moved his studio from Charlotte, NC to Benicia, CA.
The concept of his woodblock piece was to carve the backside of a violin into a relief woodblock in order to pull a series of colored wood prints from the actual violin itself. This would create two separate pieces of artwork: 1) the carved violin and 2) the colored wood block prints. After pulling a series of the prints, it was decided to display them as one piece, to allow the viewer to better understand the process used to create the final piece.
It is the exploration of media and the process of creation that fascinates me. Over the years, I have worked in ceramics, fiber, leather, oils, watercolors, acrylics and currently mixed media. A series of art education videos I designed and produced in 1990 continue to be used as curriculum.
In addition to my studio work, I have enjoyed teaching workshops with Art and Creativity for Healing Inc. during the past five years. The creation of art is a powerful force for all ages, as I am constantly reminded in my "play" (it is not fair to call it "work") with children at CHOC on the oncology/hemotology floor, where I have had the pleasure of going weekly for the past seven years.
My violin, "MUSE-IC", showcases several quotes from historically significant composers on every side of the instrument. These quotes, taken from personal letters by the composers, reference their muse.
To place your instrument in the hands of the muse is an act of faith and a journey of wonder. My piece invites the viewer to explore not only the instrument, but one's own muse.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University, Doreen Wulbrecht has been interested in art her whole life. From her studio in Irvine, she has been able to focus on sculptural Raku ceramics for the past six years.
In Japanese, the word “Raku” refers to happiness, comfort and pleasure. Mesmerized by the immediacy and passion of the Raku method, Doreen has created sculptures that push the clay beyond its normal abilities. The risk for breakage in the fiery process is higher but the successful pieces are her own little miracles. "Raku is about letting go for me. To create pottery in the Raku method I have learned to surrender my expectations and welcome chance and surprise."
Wyland, the world’s premier ocean artist, has been a pioneer in the marine art movement since 1971. This painter, sculptor and muralist is one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of our time. To date, in addition to his spectacular paintings of a wide variety of marine life, Wyland ahs completed more than 84 of his landmark murals—the renowned Whaling Walls—throughout the United States as well as Canada, Japan, Australia, Mexico, France and New Zealand. It is estimated that more than one billion people are exposed to Wyland’s art each year. He has approximately 25,000 collectors of his work in over thirty countries, and perhaps more than any other artist, he has raised the planet’s environmental consciousness with regard to oceans and their inhabitants.
Live Auction Item I(at December 1, 2006 luncheon) | |
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Violin #1aBy Irina Charny |
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Violin #1bBy Irina Charny |
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Violin #1cBy Irina Charny |
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Violin #1dBy Irina Charny |
Live Auction Item II(at December 1, 2006 luncheon) | |
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Violin #2By Steven Lustig |
Online Auction Items(July 15-November 30, 2006) | |
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Violin #3By Suzanne Mellor |
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Violin #4By Regina Berengolts |
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Violin #5By Valaree Wahler |
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Violin #6By Helen Seigel |
Opportunity Drawing Violins(July 4-November 30, 2006) | |
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Violin #7By Mary Clark-Camargo |
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Violin #8By Andrew Hart |
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Violin #9By Mark Leysen |
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Violin #10By Diana LoSchiavo |
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Violin #11By Grant Wm Thye |
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Violin #12By Nancy Torbitt-Stewart |
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Violin #13By Doreen Wulbrecht |
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Violin #14By Wyland |
Our Violins on Display
The best way to see all of the violins is to visit the Pacific Symphony website at www.pacificsymphony.org. You can view the front and back of each violin on your computer screen and even print out copies. To see the violins in person, examples will be displayed at each Pacific Symphony concert during the Summer Festival at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, and during the Fall concerts at the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. You can also look for the violins at other Symphony meetings and events, galleries and museums, South Coast Plaza and other retail venues, in newspapers and magazines and the Symphony newsletter. A display schedule will be available on the website.
Click here to view a schedule of dates and locations where the violins will be on display. (pdf document)
Owning a Masterpiece
You can help ensure the future of music education in Orange County. There are three ways to participate in the “Art of the Violin.”
- Some of the works will be sold at live auction on December 1, 2006 at a gala luncheon honoring virtuoso violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.
- Some of the works will be sold during an online auction being conducted until November 30, 2006 (downloadable bid forms are available on the Symphony’s website www.pacificsymphony.org.) There is a minimum opening bid of $500 per instrument and bids can be raised in $100 increments.
- Other works will be sold by high end opportunity drawing—ticket forms can be downloaded from our website or taken from the color brochures and mailed with payment to the Symphony. You can specify on the order form which violin(s) you would like. These opportunity tickets (1 for $25, 5 for $100 or 12 for $200) can also be purchased directly from Symphony League members at our Summer and Fall concerts as well as selected events. For more information, please call 714/755-5788.
Print this form and mail or fax it to make a online bid.
Print this form and mail or fax it to purchase a opportunity ticket for the violin drawing.
Special Thanks To
Anaheim Band Instruments
Margaret Gates
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Our Violin Artists
Darlene DeAngelo
Toni McDonald Pang
Karin Schnell
“Art of the Violin” Committee
Chair
Claire Burt
Members
Sandra Brown
Phyllis Berenbeim
Margaret Gates
Diana LoSchiavo
Cathy Michaels
Linda Owen
