Sunday, December 23, 2007

Coming Up at Kefa Cafe's Space 7:10

***Note: Get the book now for open book discussion mid-January.***

EXHIBIT. Jan 8 through Feb 1
Outsider Art by the Clients of Community Vision, featuring sculptures by Alvin Lewis Thomas. Art for the People

DISCUSSION. Friday, Jan. 11, 7:10pm to 8:30pm
Dr. Kaung’s Salon: Burma: After the Saffron Revolution

***BOOK CLUB. Friday, Jan. 18, 7:10pm to 8:30pm*** Bijan Bayne’s Book Shelf. Shooting Water, A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking by Devyani Saltzman

DISCUSSION. Friday, Jan. 25, 7:10pm to 8:30pm
Dr. Kaung’s Salon: Pakistan -- Military Rule and Democracy

ART RECEPTION. Friday, Feb. 1, 7:10pm to 8:30pm
Meet the artists, teachers, and students of Art for the People.

EXHIBIT. February 5 through March 8
Paintings and mixed media artwork by Bobbi Kittner

ART RECEPTION. Friday, February 8, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Opening Reception for Bobbi Kittner

Cafe Closed for Holiday Week

Monday, December 17, 2007

Winter Solstice Performance Mix

Space 7:10 at Kefa Cafe invites you to attend its first annual winter mix to be held on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 between 7:10 and 8:30 pm at Kefa Cafe, 963 Bonifant Street in downtown Silver Spring. The evening will include music, dance, drama, and poetry. The winter solstice will be celebrated by a visit by the Solstice Elf who will explain what the solstice is and describe his role in its annual occurrence. Come and enjoy a happy evening. Roberta Hoffman, Caroline Levenson, Anna Piper, Amy Kincaid, Griffin Semple and Adam Littman, Roselie Vasquez-Yetter, and Dick Piper.

Stare Mesto, collage on paper, Amy Kincaid (c) 2006

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Exhibit: Two Silver Spring Artists



November 14, 2007 – January 4, 2008

Close to Home: Recent Paintings by Kanchan Balse and Laurie Breen

Meet the Artists Reception: December 7, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Free and open to the public.


Images: Sense of Direction, Kanchan Balse and City Block, Laurie Breen

Kanchan Balse is a painter living and working in Silver Spring, MD. She exhibits her work frequently in the D.C. area. Kanchan made lots of art as a child, took a few art classes in college, but didn't start painting seriously until the birth of her daughter four years ago. This event brought about a surge of creative energy and inspired the birth of her art career. Kanchan is also a teacher of young children and is continually motivated by the unrestricted and innovative art of young people.

artist’s statement.
It is human nature to constantly create, re-define, and abandon boundaries and plans on the personal level and in the world around us. These paintings are emotional landscapes as well as physical lanscapes and cityscapes. They are a meditation on the similarities I see between our attempts to shape our individual destinies and our collective effort to develop the world around us. The plans we create for ourselves as we navigate life are ever-evolving as we try to have some control amidst so much that is uncontrollable. Life presents us with situations we could never have imagined, and most of us try to reconcile what we want with what is happening in reality. On a larger scale, as we develop our neighborhoods and communities, the plans, maps and boundaries we start out with are continually challenged by many forces. The paintings in this series play with the idea of balancing the impulse to control with surrender to nature.


Laurie Breen is an emerging artist. She has studied at the Art League School and other local schools as well as in New York and Japan. She has exhibited in solo, group and juried shows in galleries in the Washington, DC area. She also creates bright, colorful, sophisticated artwork for children's spaces. Laurie Breen lives in East Silver Spring where she is busy raising two young children and painting whenever she can. She has exhibited in solo, group and juried shows in galleries in the Washington, DC area.

artist's statement
I work in multiple media (acrylics, charcoal and mixed media) in an expressive, abstract manner. Sometimes my pieces are purely abstract. Sometimes they represent real objects, landscapes or figures. Yet I believe all of my pieces have an identifiable style—lots of layering, bright colors, and appealing forms. The first layer I put down is never intended to be the last. I enjoy the process of drawing and painting, making marks, putting down new layers over old, but leaving pieces of the original layers showing through. These "ghosts" create depth and richness. They draw the viewer in for a closer examination. I continue this process of adding and subtracting, creating greater chaos and simplifying until I finally find what I am looking for.