NONNAH'S ADDS ARTIST ALICIA LEEKE TO GALLERY

Nonnah's in the Columbia Vista area is pleased to announce the addition of artist Alicia Leeke to the gallery. She joins other artists: Michel McNinch, Bonnie Goldberg, Edie Biddel, Ingrid Carson, Marcia Murry, Betty Mandel, Bob Lancaster and Jan Fleetwood.

Leeke will be showing a varety of works that will rotate including landscapes, the Divas, abstracts and Cityscapes. While she prefers to paint landscapes and quaint street scenes she also strives to capture the essence of every-day events, converting ordinary scenes into lively images. She manipulates acrylics to capture the thick rich texture of oils and mixes a palette full of rich reds, vibrant oranges, shocking blues and sharp white accents.Her gentle distortions of linear perspective are a fundamental element to the overall design of her creations and are a necessary ingredient in the composition of her pieces.

If you’ve already been to Nonnah’s you know what a great addition its been to The Vista. A lite supper menu, full service bar with a wonderful list of wines, big frothy cappuccinos and desserts to die for! We’ve got a little bit of everything plus a relaxed elegant atmosphere that combines warmth and sophistication.

Founded in 1996, and always family owned, Nonnah's was one of the first restaurants to set up shop in the Vista. Nonnah's continues to impress the citizens of Columbia with our spectacular desserts (voted "Best of Columbia" nine years in a row by Free Times, The State Newspaper and The Columbia Metropolitan Magazine), exotic imported coffees and large selection of dinner and lunch items.

Nonnah’s opens at 11:30 AM for lunch Monday thru Friday and is open until 2:00PM. We open again at 5:00 PM and dinner is served from 5PM on. Monday through Thursday we are open until 11:00PM. Friday & Saturday until 12:30AMNonnah's is conveniently located at 930 Gervais Street in Columbia, South Carolina.

CHARLESTON ARTIST GUILD GALLERY FEATURES

The Charleston Artist Guild Gallery in Charleston, SC, will present the exhibit, Coastal Inspirations, featuring works by South Carolina artist, Alicia Leeke. The exhibition will be marked with an opening preview reception from 5-8 p.m. held September 12. The exhibit will continue until September 30.

Using the term she coined for a new era of art, called “Fabaism,” Leeke offers her personal interpretations of Charleston and transforms familiar scenes into modern-day masterpieces. This new body of work focuses on the impact color and abstraction has on landscape painting.

The artists' love of the coast extends back into early childhood where family vacations were spent exploring the woods, dunes and tides of South Carolina’s coast.
Called a Contemporary Master, her creativity is inspired by the French Salon painters and how they captured history, social conscience and architecture by painting the people and environments surrounding them.

Complementing each painting is a robust combination of dry brush painting techniques to create texture. She manipulates acrylics to capture the thick rich texture of oils and mixes a palette full of rich reds, vibrant oranges, shocking blues and sharp white accents.

Her gentle distortions of linear perspective are a fundamental element to the overall design of her creations and are a necessary ingredient in the composition of her pieces. In fact, they create such a positive visual response that many viewers want to step inside each painting.

The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 am to 5 pm and is located at 6 North Atlantic Wharf, off East Bay Street and across from a convenient parking garage.

You may contact Alicia about her paintings by calling (803) 429-5456, 888-429-5456, via email at leekeka@hotmail.com or by visiting her website at http://www.alicialeeke.com/.

Landscapes Move to New Location in the Vista

Landscape Artwork by Alicia Leeke Now Carried at Nonnah's in the Vista

Nonnah's at 930 Gervais Street in the Congaree Vista has juried the artwork of South Carolina artist Alicia Leeke into its Gallery. This marks a move from the former location at Fontenay on Devine Street, notes Leeke who will continue to display a few prints at Fontenay.

Currently on display at Nonnah's are a few original Divas, landscapes and historical sketches of Bishopville, SC.

Nonnah's is located in the historic Congaree Vista of Columbia, South Carolina and has always been a top spot in the Vista for lunch. Nonnah's has been voted BEST DESSERTS by the Columbia Free Times nine years in a row.

Alicia's work can be seen street front in the window at 930 Gervais St, between Park St and Lincoln St., but be sure to go inside for a closer view. All works are available for purchase and Works change frequently. For directions, go to http://maps.google.com/.

Hours are: Mon-Thu 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5 p..m.-11 p.m.; Fri 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5: p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Sat 6 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

Other paintings of Alicia's are available at the House Brand Furniture Store in Columbia, The Charleston Artists Guild Gallery in Charleston, SC and by appointment. For more information visit www.alicialeeke.com.

Lake Murray Magazine Writes Feature Article on Leeke

Leeke Juried into Two Noteworthy Statewide Art Competitions

Alicia was recently juried into two of South Carolina's most prestegious art shows. The first is the Piccolo Spoleto 24th Annual Juried Art Exhibition with the theme of "Vanishing Landscapes,” in Charleston, SC which will be on display May 23 – June 7, 2008. Be sure to look for her piece "Wetlands Landscape" which is also for sale.

Visual Arts: Vanishing Landscapes - Coordinated by the Coastal Conservation League and juried by Dr. Mokhless Al-Hariri, “Vanishing Landscapes,” this year’s theme will showcase works of S.C. artists in two dimensions, three dimensions, and photography related to the state of our planet and its environment. Opening reception May 22, 5-7 p.m. On view through June 7. Through August 8, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (843) 724- 7305, http://www.piccolospoleto.com/. City Gallery at Waterfront Park, 34 Prioleau St., (Downtown), (843) 724-7305.

Another painting "The Holy City" (featured under the painting section of this website) was juried into the Florence Museum's 30th Annual State Art Competition. The Holy City, which is available for purchase, will be on display through June 15, 2008.She has also been recognized as an Emerging Artist finalist in Charlotte by Red Sky Gallery, was the Summerville, SC Flowertown Festival Run Art Contest Winner in April 2005 and received Purchase Patron Awards from the South Carolina State Fair in 2007 and 2004 and Second Place in the 2007 SC State Fair for one of her Birds from Bangladesh.

Open Studios in Columbia South Carolina May 3-4 2008

Visit Artists in their Studios During Open Studios 2008

Columbia Open Studios 2008 will take place the first Saturday and Sunday May 3 and 4. For the event, 75 artists from the city of Columbia and Lexington and Richland counties, South Carolina, will open their studio to the public from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Like last year, the event's first year, the Open Studios organization has produced a special tabloid publication listing participating artists and their contact information, images of their work, maps of the area and directions to the artists' studios.

The Open Studios tabloid will be distributed with Columbia's The State newspaper and through art institutions across the state as well as a bookstores, frame shops, etc., throughout the South Carolina Midlands. Copies of the tabloid can be ordered by calling (803) 238-2351 or emailing wroefs(a)sc.rr.com. During the Open Studios weekend, road signs will further direct the public to artists' studios.

Last year, 66 Columbia area artists participated in the first Columbia Open Studios, and thousands of visitors came to see their art. The event was then part of the first Columbia Festival of the Arts.

On this site you'll find a list of artists participating in Columbia Open Studios 2008, their contact information, directions to their studios, information about them and their art and images of their work.

Connect with the Artists

Columbia Open Studios 2008 wants to give artists an opportunity to engage the public directly and show their art as well as their creative processes. The organization hopes this will create new marketing opportunities for artists.

The event also aims to provide easy access for the community to the visual arts and expose the public to the wealth of fine artists in Columbia and Richland and Lexington counties. This, the organizers hope, will educate people about the process of making art and create a dialogue between artists and the public.

By giving people a chance to peek into artists' studios, get a sense of how they work and interact directly with artists, Open Studios hopes to generate excitement about area artists among seasoned collectors and first-time buyers alike.

Be sure to Stop by my studio when planning your weekend!

I'll be showcasing several new pieces never seen by the public plus many more which are in the works. All of my art is not on the website, but check out a few items that are available at http://www.alicialeeke.com/.

#25 on the Map...Alicia Leeke Paintings
Address: 3821 Edinburgh Road, Columbia, SC 29204

Directions to My Studio

From the State Capitol in downtown Columbia, take U.S. 1/Gervais Street East and cross Harden Street. Where Trenholm Road splits off Gervais, stay on Gervais. Turn left onto Glenwood Road, then right onto Forest Drive. Cross Beltline Boulevard and turn left onto Dalloz. Go through two stop signs and down the hill to the left, then take the next right onto Edinburgh. The studio is at the third house on the left.

View the Clickable Map

http://www.columbiaopenstudios.org/tourmap.asp?map=4

Artfocus: Tuscan Villa

THE STORY BEHIND THE TUSCAN VILLA PAINTING

My work is tremendously inspired by the French. If reincarnation exists, I was certainly French in a former life for my love of the countryside, buildings and food.

This painting, entitled Tuscan Villa, was created in April 2005 and is in my personal art collection; however, prints are available on my website at (www.alicialeeke.com). It was inspired by the Senanqu Abbey in Provence, France, but with my own personal twist.

Creative license played a major role in the creation of this painting. Up until 2008, I painted very little with grey as a major component in my compositions (I think to date only three so far and mostly as color field studies for landscapes). As a matter of fact, I find grey to be the drabbest color in the color spectrum and try to eliminate it from all paintings where possible (Until the painting of Stockholm and Five O’clock Shadows in 2009). In real life, this Abbey is very brown / grey with beautiful contrasting fields of lavender.

But due to my dislike of grey at that time, and my love of harvest gold, I turned this painting into a tropical paradise making the building a creamy gold with a red Spanish-style shingle roof and lush tropical lime-green trees and blue sky. While beautiful, the lavender fields were replaced with lush crops in varying shades of green dotted with hints of red, gold and a tinge of lavender.

This is truly a painting I painted for myself! I love the distorted lines and lack of perfection in perspective. In fact, I believe freedom to create without worry of judgment is what sets my Cityscape paintings apart from other artists.

The two abstract shapes in the foreground are actually people harvesting lavender. I liked the figures so much as they were unfinished; I decided not to clothe them.

In May 2008, I went on a Spiritual retreat in Star, North Carolina with Gary Spivey and met some incredibly interesting people. Later, I was commissioned by a fellow guest to paint a similar version of this piece. This commission is much larger than my 16 x 20 original at 30 x 40 in size, and after a few conversations, the painting is taking an additional direction and turning into a Montresorri School. The requestor asked for stained glass windows to be added signifying her love of children. Ironically, I don’t believe she knew the original piece was of an Abbey.

This is one of the few pieces in my body of work that I created about three open-edition, gallery-wrapped giclees. At this printing, I am not sure if I will do any additional open editions of any of my paintings because I personally prefer signed and numbered limited-editions.

Signed and numbered giclee prints of Tuscan Villa are available for $250 framed and matted, or $80 unframed. The current edition has 250 prints total with some still available as of this posting. The two open edition prints are available at investor prices and will be customized for the purchaser for provenance. For more information or to order your copy, email me at info@alicialeeke.com.

Image copyrighted by the artist. All rights reserved.