Lone Glen

Jessica, Bronwen, and Susan treated us all to an uplifting reading on July 6th.  These three women truly have something to say, and I highly recommend all of their books.  I was especially inspired by Jessica’s down to earth demeanor and razor sharp poems (so concrete, so nonetheless metaphorical); Bronwen’s confident voice and image crisp work; and the maze of Susan’s filmic but conceptual poems.  The weather was lovely and the garden, too. Thanks to everyone who came out on such a busy weekend.

Join us at 2:30 pm on Saturday, July 6th at our new venue in the east bay to bask in the poetics of Jessica Baran, Susan Scarlata, and Bronwen Tate.  We anticipate a sunny and warm Oakland afternoon that will make a garden reading a lovely way to embrace our newly relocated Lone Glen home.  We contend that this space is much more palatable than the last because almost everyone can appreciate an 1890s Victorian and hovering redwood trees (growing so far away from Mission hipsterville, no less).  Please consider donating a beverage or snack IF you have the means, and most definitely bring along some art loving companions!  We will have some wine and whatnots for you, too.  Find us at 3132 Harrison Street 94611, near Lake Merritt, about a mile from BART (or enjoy fairly easy parking).  Here are more details about these inspiring poets:

Jessica Baran is the author of the poetry collections “Equivalents” (winner of the Besmilr Brigham Women Writers Award, Lost Roads Press, 2013), “Remains to be Used” (Apostrophe Books, 2010) and as well as the poetry chapbook, “Late and Soon, Getting and Spending,” (All Along Press, 2011). She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she is a teacher, freelance art writer and co-curator of the fort gondo poetry series.

Bronwen Tate is the author of the chapbooks Souvenirs (Dusie 2007), Like the Native Tongue the Vanquished (Cannibal Books 2008), Scaffolding (Dusie 2009),  if a thermometer (dancing girl press 2011), and the loss letters (Dusie 2011). She is completing a dissertation on poetic scale as a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Stanford University. She makes her friends hungry on her blog (http://breadnjamforfrances.blogspot.com) and writes new poems with her one-year-old son and two typewriters.

Susan Scarlata’s book It Might Turn Out We Are Real, is out with Horse Less Press. She has taught writing from Wyoming to Hong Kong and many places in between. Scarlata holds degrees from Brown and the University of Denver, and is the Editor of Lost Roads Press. New work is forthcoming in The Denver Quarterly, 1913 and the Van Gogh Gogh anthology.

Join us on Saturday, January 26^th at 7:30 pm as we celebrate the visual arts!  We are excited to introduce you to three captivating artists: two painters who will discuss their work through slides and one sculptor who will take you on a tour of her diorama worlds.  Lone Glen is a quarterly reading and art series motivated by a love of community, diversity, and all inspiring art forms.  Bring friends, an open mind, and perhaps a beverage.  We will provide light snacks, wine, soda, and adventure.  Find us at 239 Cotter Street (94112) near the Glen Park BART, or better yet, follow the directions on this site (see: Directions)

More about our accomplished artists:

Adrienne Heloise, painter and collage artist

Adrienne Heloise is a native, bay area Californian. Heloise researches historical concepts as the basis for her work and translates classical imagery into contemporary explorations of intimacy, gender and power.  Her current series, “Battle Fashion”, was started in 2010 as a reflection of her fascination with the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, focusing on the various uniforms that were developed to signify rank and responsibilities in the Grande Armee.

Artist’s Statement

Heloise references 19th century uniform sketches and battle paintings to develop cut paper collages that focus on the interpersonal dynamics between her soldiers who are strong, yet vulnerable.
www.adrienneheloise.com

Kristen Kong, painter, sculptor, designer

Originally from Los Angeles, Kristen Kong has exhibited at group shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most of her work responds to a question that is not answered to her satisfaction. Sculpture in particular is the two-way mirror into the little narratives she has with herself.  Her site: http://be.net/kristenisabeliever

Artist’s Statement, Kristen Kong

We, as human beings, are constantly asking, “Why?” and crime is possibly the most reduced extension of that. When a crime is committed, we want to know every detail of the crime and the criminal. It is the ultimate question that we want to answer.

Kara Maria

Born  in 1968 in Binghamton, New York, Kara lives in San Francisco, California.  After beginning college at a music conservatory on the East Coast, transferring through a few different schools, and spending a year studying and traveling in Europe, Kara Maria moved to San Francisco in 1990 to attend the University of California, Berkeley. There she earned a BA in Art Practice in 1993, followed by an MFA in 1998.  Maria’s work can be found in public collections including the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; the di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA; the de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA among others. She has been the recipient of awards such as a Masterminds Grant from the SF Weekly, San Francisco, CA; a grant from Artadia, New York, NY; and an Eisner Prize from the University of California, Berkeley. Her prints have been published by presses including Gallery 16, San Francisco; Shark’s Ink, Lyons, CO; and Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA. She is represented by the Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA.  Her site: http://www.karamaria.com.

Artist’s Statement, Kara Maria

My work includes both abstraction and representation.   A wide variety of subjects – from environmental crisis on Earth to astronomical observations of the universe; the structure of music; the patterns of biology; the quandaries of physics and philosophy; international politics and war; from the macrocosmic to the microcosmic – influence my art making.  I hope the pictures communicate a sense of humor and playfulness as well as an engagement with the world we live in today.  Although many issues are referenced in my art, the work itself remains non-linear, seeking to raise questions rather than to give answers.

Laura Paulini

Laura Paulini grew up in Wisconsin and earned her BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She has lived in the Bay Area since 1997 and received her MFA from Mills College in 2005. She currently works out of her studio in North Oakland. Recent exhibitions include “SHIMMER” (her first solo show with Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco), “Out of Order” at SF State, “Transducere” at Root Division, and “Fractured Planes of Coherence” at the Townsend Center for Humanities, UC Berkeley. She was awarded the Jay DeFeo Prize, has been artist-in-residence at KALA Art Institute in Berkeley, and was thrice nominated for SFMOMA’s SECA award. Her work is included in numerous public and private collections.  Her site: http://www.laurapaulini.com

Artist’s Statement, Laura Paulini

Laura Paulini’s paintings and drawings are created over long stretches of time, each stripe and dot meticulously rendered by hand in multiple layers of paint on panel or ink on paper. Due to the juxtaposition of minute changes in hue and value, the picture planes appear to vibrate. Waverings, absences, and misalignments in the mark-making contribute to an optical effect, while the simple, iconic, and symmetrical compositions retain a sense of stillness. Paulini’s work explores the tension between movement and stillness, harmony and chaos, growth and decay.

Kelsey Street Press Blog covers the Lone Glen extravaganza CHAOS NEVER DIES DAY!

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the readers at the Lone Glen prose night, which I curated at the end of July.  Matt Martin, Paul Ocampo, and Anna Pulley all gave inspiring and diverse readings: Matt gave us hilarious rules on “How to be an Eccentric,” Paul read image and dialogue rich lines from his moving memoir, and the infamously witty Anna  gave us an unexpectedly serious and naked view of unsent love letters she once wrote to a married woman.  And the charismatic Rose Tully, often bent over with laughter at her own story, gave us this: “Earwigs”