CONCORD — While some make the distinction between fine art and crafts, for Anamilena Ayala, crafts in all forms, she said, are the real thing — it is all art.
To understand the making of an artist, Ayala said, one needs to know where she came from. Ayala is one of the artists to feature work at the Concord Art Association’s (CAA) upcoming show, “Passion.” The artist credits her upbringing in her native Columbia for her passion in art.
“As I kid, I grew up among women who were highly-skilled in crafts,” said Ayala. “Where I come from, there are a lot of carnivals.”
Not only did her aunt and two cousins make dresses for the carnivals, they also made a living making wedding dresses.
“My mother was also crafty,” Ayala said. “Always working on something — pants, dyeing fabric. Every year, she works on a project — she makes clothes for kids for charity and she gives away a couple of boxes of clothes she makes every December.”
Naturally, Ayala said, she inherited a passion for crafts from her family, learning how to knit and crochet from an early age. When she was offered a job opportunity in the United States in 2001, Ayala made a leap of faith — embracing a new life and a new passion.
When she took a painting class for the first time through the former Civic Arts Education in Walnut Creek in 2005, she said, the canvas literally held unlimited possibilities. Since then, her passion, which has been painting in acrylic, has expanded to include collage work and still life oil painting.
“I fell in love with acrylic and learned to be very comfortable with it,” said the Concord artist who usually paints still life in an impressionistic style, adding her own personal accents to the painting such as a ceramic figurine.
One day, she took a long look at a bare wall space in her living room then zeroed in on some pears she bought. Her creative instincts immediately kicked in, she said.
“I just decided to paint those pears because I wanted something to hang above my sofa,” said Ayala, whose books on Impressionistic painters Paul Cezanne, Monet and Matisse also adorn her living room.
And instead of painting the still life subjects in the typical horizontal fashion, Ayala created a long vertical piece that occupied the right amount of space. The artist also participated in a painting-a-day for 30 days challenge, in which her art showcased local homes.
“Forest,” one of the paintings in the February exhibit, shows the artist’s skill in using a palette knife in place of a brush to depict birch trees in acrylic. Years spent under the tutelage of her relatives who mastered the art of creative improvisation still influence her to this day, she said.
“That’s what’s so magical about art — you have license to interpret the objects you’re appreciating,” Ayala said. “It’s opposite to what we are in real life — stressful, always fulfilling deadlines. When I do art, it’s very therapeutic.”
“Two Peppers” and “Forest,” her works in the upcoming CAA show that touches on theme of “Passion,” represent more than just subjects on a surface, she said.
“It’s not about what’s reflected on canvas but the act of painting,” Ayala said. “That’s where the passion is.”
“The ‘Passion’ to create is a part of all artists; we are passionate about what we create,” said Sandi Sherwood, CAA president. “Anamilena, along with 19 other artists, have a group showing with the Main Street Arts Gallery members to display their passion for their work. The ‘Passion’ theme showcases and captures each artist’s unique and creative emotions for the medium they use.”
Sherwood said she’s grateful to Lafayette artist Pam McCauley and the whole team at Main Street Arts for welcoming CAA into their gallery.
Laurie Mansur, whose work will also be shown, has known Ayala for about seven years after meeting at a painting class. They have studied together for several years.
“I remember admiring her bold interpretation of still life,” Mansur said. “She approaches her subject matter with so much energy and I think this shows in her rich use of color and brushwork.”
In addition to expanding her collage work, Ayala’s work has just been accepted into a global, collaborative art exhibit called The Sketchbook Project, a crowd-sourced library that features 36,242 artists’ books contributed by creative people from hundreds of countries all over the world.
Nearly two decades after leaving her home in Columbia where she makes a point to visit each year, Ayala is happy to be living out her passion in her adopted homeland.
“I am extremely happy to have found this art community in Concord,” she said. “It helps get me motivated to produce art and have an audience to share it with, which is very important.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Concord Art Association presents “Passion”
WHERE: Main Street Arts, 613 Main St., Martinez
WHEN: Feb. 1-March 3
INFORMATION: Artists’ reception, 2-5 p.m. Feb. 3; Visit concordartassociation.blogspot.com or ayalaart.blogspot.com