EXHIBITION    “San Francisco”

                        by Katherine McGuire

DATES            April 1 – 30, 2008

RECEPTION   Saturday, April 5^th, 1:00 - 4:00 pm

Special Reception Performance

by Cecilia’s Flamenco Dancers at 3:00      

CONTACT      Katherine McGuire, 650.854.4656, [email protected]

                        http://www.katherinemcguire.com

Portola Art Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibition of new contemporary watercolor paintings titled “San Francisco” by artist Katherine McGuire. In her first solo exhibit at the Portola Art Gallery, McGuire has captured scenes ranging from familiar landmarks in San Francisco, to ordinary streetscapes along the Peninsula’s end.  Among these vistas are rows of colorful houses along the Great Highway, ocean glimpses between homes along El Camino Del Mar, the Cliff House and the Palace of Fine Arts.  The images are quintessential San Francisco with a strong sense of place.  Katherine brings a contemporary, colorful palette to her paintings. The artwork includes traditional watercolor on paper as well as her unique watercolor on canvas technique.

Katherine McGuire has established herself as a highly respected watercolorist with a sensitive eye for the local landscape.  Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in Southern California since 1992.  Katherine relocated to the Bay Area in November of 2005.  Her explorations of the Bay Area have resulted in paintings of San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Stanford and many places in-between.  Her artwork can be found in many private collections in the United States as well as Europe.

In a special reception performance at 3:00, Cecilia’s Flamenco Dancers will perform the Sevillanas and the Fan dance accompanied by a flamenco guitarist.  Sevillanas are a colorful, social, partner dance, one of Spain's oldest and most traditional dances - the Flamenco of the people.  The second dance choreography incorporates the fan to enhance the visual effect of the Flamenco.  Katherine has been taking Flamenco lessons from Cecilia Glower of Los Altos - Cecilia and her students will perform the dances.  The Flamenco dances were chosen to highlight the 1920s Spanish architecture of the Allied Arts Guild.