Featured Artist August 2017

Rita Sklar

Rita Sklar was born and raised in New Jersey. She graduated from Rutger's University and later studied watercolors with a master painter in Madrid, Spain. Sklar now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. 
Rita Sklar is an award-winning artist and her works are in public and private collections across the country and in Europe. Her work is frequently featured at the San Francisco Women Artists' gallery and exhibited at Filoli Gardens, Art Works Downtown, the Oakland Zoo, the Oakland Museum of California, and the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. In her recent work, Sklar explores the dimensionality- emotional, perceptive and symbolic- of vanishing species and traditions. The wildlife and people are reverently depicted, using maps in unique ways to convey the importance of place.

Artist Statement

My paintings reflect a balance between the reality of representational shapes and forms juxtaposed with abstract backgrounds. The addition of maps weaves a distinctive tapestry that adds complexity and texture. My affection for wildlife often reveals, at the same time, the violence and the tenderness of our times. I search for new ways to express the singularity and the diversity of our fragile world. 

Like the canary in the coal mine, birds are an indicator species, and their decline is a wake-up call to take better care of our planet.  My interest in wildlife made me aware of the decline in bird populations, and in an effort to express my appreciation for the uniqueness of each species, I have painted a series of birds.  I was encouraged by a grant from the Cultural Arts Department of the City of Oakland.

Click here to visit the artist's website.