GW Indie Garage - groundwork coffee

Local Artist Mandark Featured at Santa Monica Place

by groundwork coffee
on August 18, 2012

Come check out a recent installment of our collaboration with The Nation of Artists...

Groundwork Indie Garage

presents

Mandark

@ Groundwork, Market at Santa Monica Place

Konichiwa!

My name is Mandark the Keki Kid and I'm glad to know you're interested enough in me to read my bio. One thing you may already know about me is that I have an obsession and love for Cupcakes and sweets, or that I am an artist ^_^.

To explain myself the best I would say that I am a child who can't escape my imagination. I've spent my childhood, teen years, and now my adult life, creating and living in my crazy world of sweets, colors, action, adventure and fun. Anything you see me paint is just a quick picture of what I experience in my head. Think of it as you getting to have the photograph of the world I live in.

The world I've created has been inspired by (and molded from) my love of 1990s cartoons and Japanese pop culture, I love Japanese culture!

I paint what I love and thought it would be cool to share my "Imagination Photographs" with people who might love to be “there” also. My main goal is to travel to different states and countries to share and spread my imagination. I'm not looking for fame, I'm just looking to do what I love and support myself and my family in the process.

Thank you for stopping to read my bio, I appreciate it to the fullest. I hope you enjoy every sweet morsel of my art and walk away with some type of memory of what you have seen. – HAVE A SWEET DAY!

*Please see a barista to purchase any unsold work. If you’d like to take the artwork with you today, please just let a barista know.

Chris Fitzgerald's The Mattress Show at Groundwork on Main

by groundwork coffee
on August 09, 2012

Don't miss this!

CHRIS FITZGERALD ARTIST RECEPTION - Facebook Event Link

"The Mattress Show: Portraits Since We Stopped Sleeping Together"

August 9, 5:30-7:30

Stop by for wine/cheese/coffee, and to meet the artist in person (and maybe even buy one of his amazing portraits of West Side mattresses!)

Groundwork Indie Garage

presents

The Mattress Show by Chris Fitzgerald

@ Groundwork, Santa Monica Main Street

July 19 - September 3, 2012

Michelle Robinson at Groundwork on the Boardwalk (corner Westminster)

by groundwork coffee
on August 09, 2012

Groundwork Indie Garage

presents Michelle Robinson

@ Groundwork, Boardwalk Annex on Westminster

Michelle Robinson was born an identical twin in Seoul, Korea in 1982 to a Korean mother and African American father. Shortly after her birth, the army based family moved to the United States where her parents split after a brief marriage.

Michelle lived a somewhat nomadic life growing up, bouncing from one state to another with her two sisters and her single mother. “My soul never really had the chance to settle because as soon as we arrived it was already time to leave,” she explains, “But I thank every passing change, for they have made me who I am today and most importantly, they have made my art what it is today”. Michelle’s tumultuous upbringing has clearly molded her artistic style. “Each new city, new community and new feeling just added to my palette and influenced new ideas”. With only a High School diploma and her unyielding passion for her craft, Michelle continues to strive to leave her mark on the Los Angeles art scene.

Michelle is obsessed with color, patterns and the female form. Natural or unfamiliar, loud or subtle, she creates whimsical interpretations of emotions suppressed and released by using the movement of the female figure as her wholly intriguing and revealing device. The forms carry on the undying notion of fertility, beauty, vulnerability, desire, weakness, seduction and power. Each angle of the body, be it a hand, leg or neck, helps to identify these characteristics. These figures float randomly on a spontaneously complex background of overlaying rhythmic patterns and tantalizing color harmonies. Her almost overwhelming use of repetitious curvilinear lines throughout her artwork helps connect each movement. Michelle describes her pieces as beautifully cluttered and untamed, but there is also a calm and sensual fluidity, that is carried out. Her art leaves the viewer trapped in a light air of mystery and playful enchantment. Her personal philosophy of art is constantly changing and shifting as she is influenced by the world around her. Michelle is an artist because of the endless possibilities of ideas, material and concepts. Her personal goal as an artist stems from everything around us; her interest lies with her senses, what she sees, hears, smells, touches and tastes. Her art is an ongoing conversation with the world around her and she tries to keep it animated. By the end product Michelle hopes to have laid a seed for other ideas to swell and other meanings that are formulated to intrigue her viewers.

GW Welcomes Local Artists Catherine Kaleel, Heather Boose-Weiss, and Deborah O'Reilly

by groundwork coffee
on May 04, 2012

Groundwork Indie Garage
presents
Catherine Kaleel, Heather Boose-Weiss, & Deborah O'Reilly
@ Groundwork, Market at Santa Monica Place
April 26 June 18

CATHERINE KALEEL
In "HIP-POP," Kaleel engages the viewer with mega monster sized oil
paintings of toys, cassette tapes and games of the 80s and 90s whose
utility has been lost, and whose bright, appealing appearances blend
genuine aesthetic beauty with a nostalgia for the 'golden' age of
Nintendo controllers, joysticks and Speak & Spells (batteries
sometimes included).

A couple Catherine Kaleel originals....

HEATHER BOOSE-WEISS
In stark contrast, Boose-Weiss's high-contrast photographs form a
series labeled "STILL MOVING," in which the flow of nature has has
been captured in an ideal set of moments, often times integrating the
artist's own human form in their time capsule. Shot on a Hasselblad,
then printed "old school" as silver gelatin images, these no-nonsense
quality images from the young Venice artist are reminiscent of the
masters of the form.

DEBORAH REILLY
Titled "MARKED MEANDERINGS/PERMANENT PLACES" Reilly's marker
work is the stuff of wonder. This body of work created by marker pen is a
departure for the artist and as Reilly puts it, is "seen through it’s many
twists and turns to the end. Whether it be pen to paper, ink or paint; my
relationship with Art is one of my most intimate. A very special space of
being able to get lost and experience an adrenaline rush, exhaustion and
joy. Instinct takes over and you let it be light, the thoughts and feelings
are in between the lines." We couldn't have said it better, and her magical
work is sure to surprise and delight.

The exhibition of these artists' work @Groundwork & in The Market runs
through to June 18, 2012.

Scott McDermott's Portraits Grace the Walls of our Main Street Walls

by groundwork coffee
on April 11, 2012

Groundwork welcomes Scott McDermott to our Santa Monica Main Street walls! Come by and support another brilliant local artist!

Groundwork Indie Garage

presents

Scott McDermott

@ Groundwork, Santa Monica Main Street

Until April 24th, 2012

U.S.-born Scott McDermott grew up in Switzerland, backpacked America's wild west and hiked Nepal's Himalayas.

After several years as an assistant to a wide variety of NYC photographers, he struck out on his own, shooting sports figures and
extreme activities. Initially focused on action and event coverage, McDermott's work shifted toward the athletes themselves and their
remarkable abilities, which led to photographing others who'd made their marks on Hollywood and the music industry.

McDermott has captured portraits of hundreds of the worlds best creative minds at the Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes and Toronto film festivals, and his work has appeared in magazines ranging from "Men's Health" to "Time." Along with his key photographic art exhibitions, McDermott recently shot a series on "Mandela Day," capturing the hands and heads of many of those who turned out to support Nelson Mandela's message. These images have been used for a short film called “Raise My Hands,” which has been selected for the Heartland, Byron Bay, Newport Beach, Sonoma International, Tokyo Short Shorts, and other film festivals worldwide.

Scott skips (not literally) between New York City and Marina del Rey. McDermott has received many accolades for his work, including being
named a winner in Communication Arts Photography Annual awarding the best photography of 2009.

GW Indie Garage Welcomes Skee Goedhart to Hollywood Store

by groundwork coffee
on April 11, 2012

Groundwork Indie Garage

Celebrating Coffee. Tea. Community… and Creativity.

Groundwork welcomes Skee Goedhart and his art to our Hollywood Store edition of our Indie Garage art series. Come by and support another brilliant local artist!

Groundwork Indie Garage
presents
Skee Goedhart – On the Brink and Off the Wall

@ Groundwork, Hollywood on Cahuenga Store
March 31 – May 7, 2012

ABOUT SKEE:

Skee Goedhart was born in Paris and raised in London. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a B.A. in Studio Art and Sculpture. While he presently uses acrylic on raw plywood, his earlier work incorporated a variety of materials including Paper Mache, dental alginate, fiberglass and silicone. Skee currently lives and finds inspiration in the jungle of Tarzana, Los Angeles.

"I started this series for two reasons. The first was to paint animals that I've always loved and found especially interesting. Second, I wanted to shed a little limelight upon those unfortunate creatures who have been generally snubbed by the public eye due to their less than perfect appearances, unsavory temperaments and, dare I put it in human terms, bad behavior."

ARTIST RECEPTION

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Gary Palmer Still Featured at Santa Monica Place Store

by groundwork coffee
on March 18, 2012

Check out some of these stills from Groundwork's first edition of our Indie Garage Art Series. Come down and support some of L.A.'s most talented artists!

Groundwork Indie Garage
presents
Gary Palmer – Coffee Series

@ Groundwork, Santa Monica Place
February 23 – April 23, 2012

Randall Yarbrough at Main Street Store

by groundwork coffee
on March 13, 2012

Groundwork welcomes Randall Yarbrough and his art at our inaugural Santa Monica Main Street edition of the Indie Garage art series. Come by and support another brilliant local artist!

Groundwork Indie Garage
presents
Randall Yarbrough – Coffee Series

@ Groundwork, Santa Monica Main Street
February 29 – March 27, 2012

ABOUT RANDALL:

As a child young Randy was drawing on everything. Someone told him he was good at it so he continued.

Randall was a Golden Gloves boxer, walk-on football player at Texas Tech, bull rider in high school, but after all that nonsense he got back into art.

Randall started showing seriously in 2007 and has shown internationally while being based in the Los Angeles area. Randall just moved to Venice a few months ago and loves it. He likes french fries, champagne, and espresso but not altogether.

Many of the figures in his artworks up at our Sonata Monica Main Street store are borrowed from journals and storyboards.

Russell Palmer Launch of Indie Garage Series - Santa Monica Place

by groundwork coffee
on March 13, 2012

Groundwork's mission is to serve the best coffee and tea and well, to serve our community. Our stores and staff have been quietly supporting local causes since 1991. Groundwork Indie Garage (GIG) is an ongoing series of art exhibitions on our cafe walls and is just another step in fostering the talent of those who live in our midst. GIG will represent the unrepresented, present the usually un-presented and give our patrons a sense of organically discovering the serious talent hiding in the (sometimes literal) garages of artistic creativity around the areas that Groundwork serves. Read Miranda McGregor's article about GIG.

If you’re an artist located in Los Angeles, you can submit your work for consideration to GIG Curator Elliot Kotek at Elliot@TheNationOfArtists.com

Groundwork Indie Garage
presents
Gary Palmer – Coffee Series

@ Groundwork, Santa Monica Place
February 23 – April 23, 2012

Being born in Northern Ireland, and graduating from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland with a Masters in Architecture, seems, in hindsight, to have been the perfectly unique stepping-off point for Gary Palmer’s artistic career.

Palmer first traveled the world as a street painter and, drawing inspiration from East African sojourns, transitioned from his horizontal cement pavement to more traditional, vertical canvases upon which he has been able to experiment with (and expose) nature’s fundamental elements.

Now living and working locally, in a studio near Gold’s Gym in Venice, The Groundwork Indie Garage is proud to present this series of works that was curated from our community, and originated with our favorite grind.

An extension of his earlier “Coffee Series” of narrative works, Palmer’s latest pieces were painted specifically for this exhibition, measure approximately 16” x 20” each, and are available for purchase by lovers of art… and coffee.

Groundwork Indie Garage – Celebrating Coffee. Tea. Community… and Creativity.