Art

Caffe Driade offers our walls to local & regional artists to share their work with our customers.  Whether artist are interested in selling their work or not; our monthly installments are a way for artists to increase their exposure to a very large population, all the while helping us decorate our  Caffe with their evocative work!

You will see a wide variety of styles and media from month to month.

We are part of the monthly 2nd Friday Artwalk, where you can often meet the artist and talk about their work.

e-mail us in the contact section to be considered for a monthly show.

  • February

      • Lynne Clarke – “Painting Lessons”, paintings in acrylics exploring different styles and techniques.

      “People interested in my art often ask what inspires me.

          Extensive studies into styles of painting, particular pieces and artists and their backgrounds in social and historical context influence how my work takes shape.  I immerse myself in this subject matter, invest my life and energy and affect a Newtonian result when the same energy I’ve ingested then recycles and pours forom me onto canvas.
           The typical characteristics of my work – - heavy texture, inclusion of divergent, interesting found materials, strong color, and the shape of mass and volume – - all converge and flow through a channel in my mind, subconsciously.
           Often, visual cues provide the departure point; a picture, a painting, or some combination of pictures of paintings that offer perspective I haven’t seen before.  Then things take shape and form in my mind.  I look at a canvas and consider its shape and size and reckon how best to represent my ideas in this white space.
           The textural background is a major consideration because it’s the framework from which my images grow.  Embedded textiles and strong, gestural paint strokes form a robust subtext that shapes and affects the development of the portrait.  It’s not exactly magic or science, but something mysterious and wonderful slowly forms and builds in front of my eyes, under my brush strokes.”

      http://swedishnannies.blogspot.com/


              • March

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                                                                          • April

                                                                              •    Nature has always been a passion for me so I started drawing as a way to keep some small part of it with me. As a child,I used to catch (and release) birds and small animals for the same reason. I had this little boy’s need to literally hold on to nature anyway that I could. Now that I am a little older,experience has taught me that possessing it is less important than letting nature possess you. My art is still away for me to hold on to nature, but instead of giving me something to literally embrace,my paintings instead provide me with all of the feelings and memories elicited by them.My goal as an artist is to liberate similar,serene recollections of the natural world in those who view my work and ultimately inspire more respect for our environment.

                                                                              Because of this intense connection to the natural environment, I strive to represent it as I experience it. I often paint in a style that has been described as Fine Art Illustration and sometimes spend hours on fine details in feathers, branches, eyes, or leaves. Working in oil is very forgiving and allows me the flexibility to change details until I’m satisfied with the feeling they create. I often start with an under-painting to work out composition and values before applying the appropriate tints and strokes to create details. I blend or glaze colors that are often seen only in the extreme light of morning or evening because those times of day evoke a special feeling for me. My goal as an artist is primarily to convey those feelings by connecting with that part of the viewer that feels they have been somewhere or seen something similar, can smell and feel the air and hear the sounds, and is excited about feeling that way again. By providing the viewer with fine details, I seek to give them more than an overview if they desire it. I strive to provide them with a pleasing composition when seen from a distance, but then a visual indulgence when they come closer to see more. A sparkle in a bird’s eye, a shadow through a leaf, or petite feathers around a beak are available for those who want to see things up close while the color, mood, and light of a special place and time are available to all.

                                                                              MattTomkoArt.com

                                                                              5505 Ventura Drive Durham, NC 27712

                                                                              (919) 599-9491

                                                                               Matt@MattTomko.com