CCA Andratx invite abcClub members to the opening of a new Space dedicated to Artists from Mallorca or the Balearic Islands. On Thursday March 4th at 7 p.m  at the CCA Espai.

Time of Love - Coming soon – on February, 14 – we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Local. jeweller Relojeria Alemana has dressed in red for the occasion. It’s the ideal time to give the loved one a message of love lasting forever.

We are looking forward to welcoming you soon at any of our stores where we’ll be at your disposal to advise you on your choice.

More about Relojeria Alemana:

www.abc-mallorca.com/all-that-glitters-is-gold/

Shops:

Colon, 14 07001 PALMA (MALLORCA) Tel. 971 71 29 17

Jaime III, 26 07012 PALMA ( MALLORCA) Tel. 971 71 67 12

El Corte Inglés Av 07002 PALMA (MALLORCA) Tel. 971 77 12 52

Puerto Portals 07181 PORTALS NOUS (MALLORCA)) Tel. 971 68 40 02

Ses Moreres, 18. 07703 MAÓ (MENORCA) Tel. 971 36 16 42

info@relojeriaalemana.com

Art gallery L’Espai will host from 11 February thru 8 March, the attractive and colourful exhibition “Crocodile Dreams” by Manchester born artist and Mallorcan resident Nikki Jones. The exhibit will be inaugurated with a toast on Thursday 11 February, at 8pm.

Jones will be joined by friends and invited guests for her debut exhibition in Palma. Nikki Jones’ “Crocodile Dreams” is a result of a newly found calling for this former school teacher and mother of a teenage girl, who has found a way to express the deep rooted feelings that were patiently waiting to emerge through her colour-rich paintings, which she regards as “spiritual uplifters”, heighten by her brightened palate, her fresh outlook of life and the strong renaissance influence received during her schooling in Florence.

“I am influenced by colour and textures and the fact that colour is a strong force in the Mediterranean”, explains Jones. “Thus I like to mix all those elements into my paintings to make them dynamic and easy to the eyes, that could easily fit in any type of home”, she adds. “Crocodile Dreams” appears in the midst of a period of change in the artists’ life, as “painting is a therapeutic process for me”, says Nikki Jones. “When I paint it makes me feel very calm and part of me goes in the picture”, she explains.

“I never expected this to happen in my life. It just did. It was there simmering below the surface and it just came out”, she adds. Though the muses recently sparked her dormant talents, Nikki Jones was surrounded by creative souls while growing up in Manchester. Her mother was a fashion designer and her father was an architect and she did have a go at fine arts by studying it in Florence, but she finally decided to pursue a teaching career, which she has done in the UK, Spain and Dubai, exposing her to different realities, breeding ground for artistic expression.

“Painting gives me freedom. I come away feeling lighter”, she says. “What I really like about painting is that you get a finish product, even though it may have not turned out to be as you saw it in your mind, because a painting evolves as it is being done”, she states. Nikki Jones paints on different mediums like canvas and walls. “When I paint on an actual wall, I try to bring what’s missing into a room, to give it a fresh a complete look. Next month, for example, I’m going to paint a children’s room at a nursery, and I am going to create a scene from traditional rhyme”, she adds. “I look forward to a successful exhibit”, says Jennifer Warren-Gash, L’Espai’s event coordinator. “Crocodile Dreams is bound to draw a good crowd while Nikki Jones is busy undertaking commissions and creating a new collection”, she explains.

Address and fixture:

L’ Espai art gallery

Calle San Sebastia 3 – Palma

Monday – Friday, 9.00 to 15.00 hrs.

From Le repas frugal (1904) to the Minotauromachie (1935)

The stunning collection of engravings by Picasso known as the Suite Vollard is one of the most important series of its kind in the history of art, comparable in quality and diversity only to those of Rembrandt and Goya. Between September and June of 1936 Picasso produced all of the one hundred engravings in the series, which is named for the art dealer who commissioned the plates, Ambroise Vollard.

Picasso produced his engravings using innovative techniques and tools such as burins, aquatint (executed in water-soluble ink made with sugar syrup), dry point and etching. For example, he applied the acid with a paintbrush in order to achieve astonishing tonal hues; he also used simple and pure lines, giving the finished image a sensual naturalism. The expressive conquests that he realized with the engraving plate are evidence of Picasso’s virtuosity as a master printmaker.

Date: until 20th February Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art (Fundación Juan March) C/Sant Miquel 11, Palma

www.march.es/arte/ingles/palma/index.asp

ORIENTAL PAINTING EXHIBITION IN FONDAMENTA MARIANO SOTO.

FROM 21 JANUARY TO 2 MARCH – Monday – Friday: 11:30 – 13:30 / 17 to 20 Saturday, Sunday: 11′30 – 13′30

FONDAMENTA Area Arts and Culture Ample de la Mercè, No. 1

It is held these days in Palma, at Fondamenta Space Art and Culture (Ample of Mercè No. 1), a show that brings us the beauty of oriental painting. A collection of works in which Mariano Soto, artist and specializes in oriental painting sumi-e, continues to pursue the development of the expressive possibilities of these sophisticated painting techniques, to which he dedicated his recent years to study and research.

Museum of the mud

“Marratxí, terra del fang” (Marratxí, land of clay) provides a space devoted to our culture, identity and tradition. From the Neolithic era, pottery has played a role in the development of civilizations and its appearance meant a revolutionary change in the improvement of the living standards of our ancestors. Ancient civilizations such as the Talaiotic, Roman and Islamic cultures left their mark in the development of pottery in the Balearics by introducing new shapes that have lasted to the present day.

The Museu del Fang (pottery museum) aims to display the rich variety of techniques, shapes and functions that clay pieces have had in different cultures. Pottery has always been present in society, regardless of the period or origin, and it played and still plays a main role in helping to meet the needs of people.

The museum focuses mainly on traditional Mallorcan clay pieces, and more precisely on local pottery. At present, some of the pieces have either fallen into disuse, or could soon disappear, if they have not done so already. This is caused by the substitution of clay by other materials in the industrial society. Therefore, it is important to display and preserve them. Furthermore, one of our top priorities is to build a bibliographic and documentary collection and also to promote activities for Mallorcan schoolchildren. The Museu del Fang should be the starting point of a visit that finishes at the pottery.

The collection is formed by around 900 pieces, 400 of which are traditional pieces. The rest are artistic pieces. It also includes a section of shaping tools and utensils, which have been included in the collection after the unfortunate disappearance of several potteries. The traditional pieces are divided according to the process of manufacturing, such as olleria (pottery), gerreria (white-clay pottery), siurelleria (whistles), teuleria (tiles), plats morenos (clay dishes), ceramica de pinzell (painted ceramics), etc. The pieces have also been classified according to their function and other aspects, such as kitchenware, ornaments, toys, ‘man and water’ and construction materials.

The museum also focuses on acquiring clay pieces shaped by artists who are not working anymore or have passed away. It is essential that the collection is enriched by pieces shaped by old experienced craftsmen, so that history and memory are also present in the museum.

L’Olleria (pottery)

The raw material in the pottery is red clay. It is stored and kept dry until it is time to use it. Next, the clay is ground by means of a crumbling machine, turning it into dust. It is then time to incorporate water which transforms the mixture into a paste. After having purged and carefully sifted the paste, it is left to settle. The paste is drained to achieve the adequate texture. Finally, the paste is mixed until it reaches the required flexibility and plasticity.

It is now time to make way to the creativity of the person who will craft the piece. A pile of clay is placed on the potter’s wheel and the potter starts shaping his work. The potter uses pieces of wood and bamboo in order to obtain the desired height and diameter. The piece is then lifted off the wheel and the remaining clay by cutting it with a fine wire or nylon string. The potter uses a file to remove the remaining clay.

The next step, if required, is to fit the piece with handles. It is then left to dry and after a sensible length of time the potter proceeds to varnish the inside of the piece. The pieces are placed in the kiln, taking care that they are not in contact. In the past, wood was used to feed the kiln, the so-called Arab kiln. Nowadays wood has been substituted by diesel oil, propane or electricity. The pieces should be left to cool in the kiln. The larger pieces are baked in string frames. And so the pieces are finished and ready to be used.

The pots and the oval casseroles (greixoneres) are named sometimes according to their function. Thus the saïmera is used to keep lard, the colera to keep curd, etc. They are also named according to their shape. Thus a bomber (convex pot), a calderó (cauldron-shaped pot), a fonda (deep pot) and de coll alçat (long-neck pot). Nevertheless, the most common classification criteria among potters is according to size or volume. Thus the smallest piece is the cassolí or biel (0.25 l), followed by the treset (0.5 l), the malagenya (1 l), the borda (1-2 l), the mitja mà (3 l), the perol (5 l), catorze or quilo (6-7 l) and the largest setze (8-10 l).

There are other pottery pieces which are related to their function in the kitchen, such as clay crockery, pots, coffee sets, casseroles, ashtrays, lids, funnels, platters, trays, vinegar bottles, fruit bowls, cruets, mortars, jugs, containers, glasses, saltcellars, sauceboats, cups, bowls, teapots, etc.

La Gerreria (white-clay pottery)
The raw material used in the Gerreria is white clay. This material will grant the piece a unique texture and porosity. The clay is extracted from the quarry and ground into dust. Water is incorporated to form a light-coloured paste. After having purged and carefully sifted the paste, it is left to settle. The paste is then drained to achieve the adequate texture. Next, the paste is mixed so that it is ready to shape. Nearly all the pieces in the Gerreria are to do with water. Some examples are the gerra (jug), the caduf (a container used to power watermills), the botilles (drinking jugs with spout), the càntir and the caduta. Other pieces are more related to the countryside, e.g. Pottery such as flowerpots and water and feeding troughs for livestock. A variety of pieces related to home and kitchenware also stand out: washboards, buckets, whitewashing pots, alfàbies (large jars), moneyboxes, hobs and slaughter sinks. Nowadays they are all part of the regional ethnography and, even though they have fallen into disuse, they are mostly used as ornaments.

Venue: Marratxi, Museum del Fang

Exposition which combines two enteries,one part  art(Paintings by young Mallorquin painter Carlos Prieto) and another part of fine jewelery. Carlos Prieto is a very talented young painter of 22 years old, his style is a mix of Van Gogh and Toulouse Lautrec, here in Mallorca he is allready well known, Carlos will be present at the exposition.

The other part of the exposition is of fine jewelery, of more than 200 pieces of white, black and brown diamants and gold, where the public can buy at manufacture price, an ideal chrismas gift .

The exposition will take place at the Santa Ponsa Country Club on Saturday 19th of December from 12am till 8pm

Annual Charity Christmas Auction

Art for Children on Friday 11th of December at 7 pm.

Annual Charity Christmas Auction at the CCA

CCA & Aldeas Infantiles presents works from local and international artists at the CCA Charity Auction.

Live performance of the international pianist Winnie Wen.

Works exposed at the CCA as from 1st December 2009.

For more information about the event or donations please contact:

suzana@ccandratx.com

Tel: + 34 619 028 386 / + 34 971 137 770

www.ccandratx.com

About the Artist

Since his childhood he stood out for his ability in drawing and mixing colours. But it was in the 80s, after the completion of his studies in interior design and decoration, as well as different work projects in the city of London, when he began his general art related career focused on painting, which led to the development of his own style and technique.

During his stay in Denmark in the 90s, the Majorcan painter carries out several exhibitions where one can already appreciate the intensity of the colours that predominate on his work.

Currently he combines his work with his greatest passion: painting.

About his work

The author feels certain predilection for the acrylic on canvas, which characterised his personal technique by providing an excellent harmony between the intensity of colours and shapes, giving free rein to the creativity of the artist.

The works of the Exhibition “Fusión” reflect the balance between dynamism and freshness with a special light management, as well as interest in the divine and spiritual. The mystery in each of the artist’s strokes leads us to the secret represented in each of his works.

Date: December 13th until 20st

Venue: Hotel Castillo Son Vida

Inauguration

Thursday 3th of December at 20.30hrs

Son Quint King Kamehameha

ROX

Have a look at this beautiful exhibition while at the same time enjoying a delicious menu incl wine, water and coffee for 30Euros.