Art Affair Gallery News

2011-10-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

BAT - IN and Blind as a Bat Wine Tasting

A heartfealt thank you to the artists that contributed their time and talent painting bat houses in support of the Central Florida Zoo. Your work was greatly appreciated and admired by all tonight! All five bat houses were sold! A huge Thank You Jim Blake for your generosity! You are truly a supporter of the arts... and the bats.

See Jim Blake with his first purchase. Pictured are Barbara Farrell, Ronda Richley and Jim Blake.

It was a fun evening as we mingled outside watching the city's bats get ready for their Thursday night hunt. Thank you to Joe Montisano, CEO of Central Florida Zoo. Your presentation was entertaining and informative. We especially liked the input from your lovely assistant, Sharon.

Hopefully the event has dispelled some myths about bats and given us a better appreciation for their role in our ecosystem.

2011-09-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

"Art Affair Gallery" will host the Kick Off & After Reception for
the First Annual Walking Ghost Tour in Sanford!

Begin your tour of the paranormal at Art Affair Gallery on Saturday, October 22, 2011. Researchers from RIP Hunters will be your guides as you tour historic Sanford in search of the city's resident ghosts. You will visit multiple places of business, where there has been documented paranormal activity. Don't be afraid! Your guides are experienced in interacting with the other-worldly. This is a one of a kind event in Sanford you won't want to miss!

Kick-Off Event: The tour will begin at Art Affair Gallery. Grab something to eat and drink eat before you set off on your adventure. You won’t want to meet up with a ghost on an empty stomach. Participants will be given historical background on Sanford’s ghost community, and briefed on the tour’s format by RIP Hunters researchers.

After Reception: The tour will end at Art Affair Gallery. There will be a Q & A session with RIP Hunters researchers. You can have a late night snack, have a glass of wine, listen to live music while you reflect and discuss the night’s adventure.

Date: Saturday, October 22, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Art Affair Gallery, 301 E. First Street, Sanford, FL
Contact: Ronda Richley, 407-878-2855
Tour Cost: FREE

For expert information on the paranormal see Riphunters.com

2011-09-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

What Happens When You Mix Chess, Children and Fine Art?

Art Affair Gallery served as the impromptu second home to Alfredo’s Munjico’s young chess players Saturday, September 17th, 2011.. Ronda Richley, curator and owner of the gallery, opened up the new VIP lounge to the youngsters so that they could have their regularly scheduled chess meet-up.

Alfredo Munjico extends his passion for chess to youngsters, why? Because he believes that if you know how to play the game of chess you will be able to solve most problems.

The children played chess surrounded by the artistic works of gallery artist, Ivaldo Robles. One young man exclaimed, “This place is so cool. We should play here all the time!”

The VIP lounge at Art Affair Gallery is a Bohemian inspired space that is a one of Sanford’s newest venues for wine tastings, evening entertainment and special events.

“It was wonderful to host the young chess players. Art is my passion, and I loved being able to share part of that with the children.” Ronda Richley

Hello friends!

2011-09-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends of Art Affair Gallery!

It's been a while since we last blogged, but that is only because we have been very busy transforming our gem of a gallery into Sanford's newest "IT SPOT."

If you haven't been here recently, you should get here now. You will be delighted by the changes.

Art Affair Gallery has built its reputation by exhibiting the fine works of the local and internationally reknowned artist. But what happens when you add more space, more art, a trendy bohemian inspired lounge, live music, fine wine, and delicious French fare?

Did we mention the piano, coffee and beer selections?

Come visit The Palette, Art Affair Gallery's wine and coffee bar. Here you can sip on a glass of wine, have a bite to eat and soak in the relaxed artistic culture of Sanford's new "IT SPOT."

Saturday, March 5, 2011

2011-03-05T07:23:00.000-08:00

A Beautiful Day in the Gallery

Sanford is alive today with people out for the great weather we are having. The gallery is busy with our Art Classes taught by Toelle Hovan. We have three classes today: two children's painting classes and one adult class. It is the beginning of our four week session of classes.

We are in the process of re-hanging art at Two Blondes and a Shrimp and are turning it into a Bohemian Artists' Gallery with small works priced between $35 and $300 that diners can easily take with them after their meal.

We are also getting ready to move Donna Oldham's Exhibition, "Perspectives" to Dick and Jane's in Deland, and B. Farrell Beckner will be setting up his exhibition "Sanctuary of Light" in our Studio Gallery at Art Affair, which opens Thursday, March 10.

More later...

Friday, March 4, 2011

2011-03-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

Claudia Thomas and Robert Ross

Today, Claudia and Robert are here in the gallery re-hanging their artwork. They both brought in several new pieces of art for sale in the gallery.

Both are Plein Air artists by nature and paint out on Saturdays at various locations in and out of Sanford.

Robert has discovered the barns and fields along Celery Avenue, and has brought in four new paintings from that locale. If you are fascinated with the nostalgia of old barns and country scenes, you must see his new works. One in particular has caught my interest. It is a faded barn that looks nearly silver, and is set off perfectly by its silver frame.

Claudia is well-known for her renditions of palm fronds with a Florida style and, in fact, has been selected as one of the Top Hundred Artists of the Southeast United States. She will be featured in a book coming out in 2012. We congratulate her as well as are equally impressed by her work.

If you would like more information about their work see their pages at www.artaffairgallery.com/ross.html and www.artaffairgallery.com/thomas.html

Stay tuned for more from Art Affair

February 23, 2011

2011-02-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Art Walk is this Friday evening from 6:00 pm till 8:30 pm.
Come out and join us at the Art Affair Gallery in Sanford. We have new art and a couple of new artists as well....and have rehung the entire gallery. New work by Ivaldo, one of the Amway Center artists in their permanent collection, Peter Cerreta who has immortalized our town rooster "Hancock" in one of his paintings, Kathryn Bowden who has added some lesser priced small works into her studio/gallery, Svoboda Holt with more of her florals, and New Artist Bianca Roman-Stumpff with her abstracts. More is new as well but you will have to see for yourself.

January 27, 2011

2011-01-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

Art Walk is Tomorrow Night!

We are expecting a crowd as usual in our gallery and many of our artists will be here for you to meet and greet. We are going to present our winners of the 12x12 exhibition with their awards at 7:00 PM.

New Venues have been set up this week

We have just hung ReNew Salon and Day Spa in Uptown Altamonte with a solo show of works by Beau Wild. The art will be available to view and purchase through the end of February. ReNew is located at 175 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs, just at the entrance to Uptown Altamonte.

Essence Salon and Day Spa in Winter Park is now showing "Toelle It Up" a solo show of works by Toelle Hovan. The art is available there for viewing and purchase through Mid February. Essence is located in the Brandywine Center at 515 N. Park Avenue, Winter Park. They have a large off-street parking lot behind their store.

Also see our art at the following locations:

Dick and Jane's Coffee Shop, 146 North Woodland Blvd, Deland: "Departures" solo show by Trish Vevera on until Mid February. Meet the artist night is Thursday, February 3 from 6 to 8 pm.

Tim's Wine Market, 5040 West SR46, Lake Forest/Sanford: "a loss for words" show of Tracy Burke and Ralph Verano's works. Meet Tracy Burke during their wine tasting on Saturday, February 5, 3 till 5 pm.

January 16, 2011

2011-01-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Thursday evening , January 13, was the opening reception for our first of 2011 group juried shows: "The 12x12 Exhibition". The general public was invited to vote for the Best of the Show. The voting was close and the results are in. Barbie Nowick won Best of Show for her assemblages. Second0place was the digital photography by Victoria DeMore with Toelle Hovan and her acrylic paintings taking third. Honorable Mentions went to Bonnie sprung, Kathryn Bowden and Mindy Colton.

The exhibition will be open until February 6, 2011. It has 64 small sized works of art, all reasonably priced and looking for new homes.

December 10, 2010

2010-12-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a while since I posted, but, alas, so much is happening this holiday season. We have expanded and have some absolutely fantastic new artists in our group now, and our opening went well and smoothly last evening, even in the bitter cold.
Shown here is work by Kathryn Bowden who has the window space in our expansed area. She does commissioned pet and family portraits and is absolutely amazing, as you can see by what we have here.

Here is work by Antoinette Slick, who I fondly have nicknamed "Grace"...long story here but ask me and I shall tell. Her acrylic paintings are textured, abstractions, many from the human form. A must-see for all.
Scott Kuszik works in copper which he applies texture and patina to the surface. His belief is that art should be affordable and people should have original art in their homes instead of prints. When you see his bas-relief art, you will see what he means.

Ann Holstein and Gary Sisco add photo realism and Old Master's style to their phenomenal works of art.
Robert Ross and Claudia Thomas create beautiful landscapes, vibrant foliage, and scenery.

I will write more on these artists as I return to my blog next time.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

2010-11-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

And the work on the new space continues today. Tom Abbott came in and greatly assisted with his carpentry skills. Michael White and my friend Jerry Jones from the Netherlands were also there, working diligently on the carpentry. We fixed the opening from both sides and it is ready to paint tomorrow.....photos posted are the in progress photos as of today. More tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

2010-11-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Sanford Art Walk is this Friday from 6PM till 9PM. Come into the Art Affair Gallery to meet some of our artists and browse our art. We have over thirty Central Florida artists in our gallery currently, with more on the way next month.

Today is a beautiful sunny day in Sanford....perfect weather to get out and tour the downtown area. The gallery is getting ready for Christmas with stained glass items made by Nancy Moore, including a beautiful array of snowflakes, candle holders and more. Check out our window display and see for yourself.

Nancy Moore hails to us from Canada where she lived most of her life. Now she is a Central Forida resident and brings beautiful stained glass works to Art Affair Gallery. Her window, "First Snow" is my favorite of her pieces. The photo does not do it justice. She found old window frames from up north and replaces the glass with her works of art, making each and every piece a warm, lovely, creation.

She also does Tiffany lamps, using the Tiffany method and real Tiffany glass. We have three of these wonderful lamps for sale at Art Affair.

Stop by and visit and see what we have in store for you for the holidays.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

2010-11-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

At the gallery today, we are getting ready to paint another coat on the new space and order the rest of our building supplies. Hopefully, we will have it done by the end of the weekend to allow our new artists to come in and hang their art pre-opening.

This Friday is the Art Walk. We will be here until 8:00 pm. For that evening, we have the "at a loss for words" exhibition featuring Tracy Burke and Ralph Verano plus our main gallery featuring works by Nationally and Internationally collected artists including Peter Cerreta, Marie DeCosta, Toelle Hovan, Tom Abbott...just to name a few, as to list them all would be lengthy. During the Art Walk we are offering to all who bring a copy of this post (and you MUST bring it in!) 10% off your purchase for the night of November 26, 2010, 6 to 8 pm, except gift certificates! Don't forget our gift certificates, Gift Registry,and Lay-way plans.

Tomorrow, I will feature another artist.....and who should you like to hear more about? Just post your suggestion and I will try to comply.

The photograph above of Art Affair Gallery is used with permission of John Pierce Jr, photographer.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

2010-11-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

Today, I covered for Artist Toelle Hovan and taught her two classes in the gallery. I hope I did her justice. Toelle Hovan teaches in our Student Gallery on Saturdays, where she instructs adults and children in her technique of acrylic painting. And, you would be amazed at the quality of work her students are doing! She has their work posted on her Artist Toelle Hovan Facebook page (if I am not mistaken).

Toelle can make everyday objects subject matter for wonderful, brightly colored and articulated works. She paints fruits, vegetables, chairs, shoes, and still lifes mostly. Her favorite color is red. And she has a "thing" with checkerboards as well. She had her solo show in the Studio Gallery here at Art Affair last month, and now it is at Dick and Jane's Coffee and Wine Bar in Deland, at the corner of Rich and Woodland Blvd, and that is where she is now....outside Dick and Jane's painting her next masterpiece. She will be there today and tomorrow during the Deland Art Festival.

Friday, November 19, 2010

2010-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today at the gallery, I am busy meeting with artists on our new expansion, and finalizing my shopping list for building supplies. Painting starts Monday.... anyone care to volunteer to help??? LOL

Today's artist to get to know a bit better is Tom Abbott. Tom has been with Art Affair Gallery since it was an unrealized dream. We planned it together, did the original buildout of the first space and much more. He is a great friend, wonderful, good natured person and his art speaks for itself.

His images are design pieces which he does in his own unique color palette of bright rainbow-colored tones. The work literally jumps, drips, and hangs off the canvas. He makes his own paints from latex paint with his own unique (and trade secret) additives to give it the ability to stand alone. Featured here is one of my favorites, "Rainforest". Although not one of his newest pieces, which are all even more wonderful, but it is one that I have handy on my computer (Tom---get me those jpgs please!)You can see the dripping paint, bright colors and frayed canvas strips he is known for.

And we must give him kudos, too, as he was just at the Lake Mary Art Festival, for his first festival in many years, and sold an outstanding number of sixteen paintings to very lucky buyers who will treasure their works forever.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

2010-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

Greetings all.

So I have decided to blog about the best gallery imaginable...mine....it is Art Affair Gallery in Sanford, Florida. And, I am Ronda Richley, the proprietor and curator of the establishment

A bit about Art Affair....
We have been around now for one year, and during that time, have expanded into double our original space and now, once again, we are adding another 50% more to it.
During the year we have been open, we have acquired the best of the best of Florida artists to be in our gallery. We have 30 exceptionally talented and collected artists represented in our gallery.

Each time I blog, I will focus on one of them (let's hope I remember that!).

Today, a tidbit about Tracy Burke. Tracy is a remarkable young woman who is dramatically seizing the art world by storm. Just recently, and currently, she was selected as one of the artists for the Amway Center, Orlando FL, where they purchased twenty-eight of her abstract oil paintings. Her story of the arrival of the canvases and the rolls stacking up at her doors from UPS are entertaining. Currently, in Art Affair Gallery, we have twelve of her "Magic Series" abstracts. Friday we are hanging them at Two Blondes and a Shrimp, 112 East First Street, Sanford, where they will be on exhibit through the holidays.

Tracy Burke also is featured on the Golf Channel with eighteen spots showing her portraits of golfers in dramatic moments. They are still running and a must see as both styles are different yet have that unique "Burke" look. The portrait to the side obviously isn't one of the golfers, but, you can see her style here. Tracy is extremely talented, prolific as an artist, and is a genuinely nice person, who deserves the fame she is receiving.