Kalani Engles at Her North Carolina Studio

Kalani Engles at her North Carolina studio with the original and two new Salt Marsh paintings.

Studio Scenes

Artist Bonny Novesky

Artist Jeff Brown

New Show for Kalani Engles at The Studio Shop

Kalani Engles in front of Savage Garden II - Sold!

Kalani Engles currently has a show along with artists Jung Han Kim and Melinda Cootsona at The Studio Shop in Burlingame, California.  The above photos are from the opening reception on May 24th.  The show runs until June 16, 2012.

Kalani's work is from a series called Savage Garden.  Savage Garden represents a fusion of her two predominant painting styles - abstraction and impressionism.  The individual flowers and vines are impressionistic renderings of plants she has seen along the trails near her home.  The abstraction in these paintings results from the arrangement of the figures on the canvas.  Kalani would like the viewer to experience the essence of a wild garden unencumbered by physical context.

Kalani put together a beautiful book of her work from Savage Garden, which you are able to preview and purchase.  Photos by Jay Watson and book editing by Jamie Watson.

Joyce Savre Showing at Caldwell Gallery

Joyce Savre is one of three artists chosen to show their work at the Caldwell Gallery in Redwood City.

"Mixed Media Exhibition" will feature Marianne Lettieri, Joyce Leopardo and Joyce Savre, May 8 - June 30, 2012.  Hours are Monday through Friday, 9am -5pm. 

Joyce has 13 paintings here including San Francisco at Night II which recently received Honorable Mention at the "Female Gaze" art show sponsored by Peninsula Women's Art Council and Thank You For This Day which received First Place in Mixed Media at the 2012 Menlo Art League Exhibit juried by Claire Verbiest.

Caldwell Gallery is located in the Hall of Justice at 300 Bradford Street in Redwood City.

 San Francisco at Night II   30X22"

 Thank You For This Day IV  30X22"

A Norman Rockwell Moment in Portola Valley

Photo © 2011 Jeanette Fowler

Lou Hess, the local UPS man, views Kalani Engles' painting, Salt Marsh 3 at the Kriewall-Haehl Gallery at the Woodside Priory in October.

Kalani Engles One Woman Show

In February 2011 The Studio Shop in Burlingame presented over 30 of Kalani’s works in an ambitious one woman show. Both showrooms of the gallery were dedicated to her work for the month.

The exhibition featured large and small oils on canvas, color and black and white monotypes and a painted steel sculpture, including many pieces never seen before.

The gallery also published a beautiful 40 page exhibition catalog which can be viewed online at Blurb.

War of the Walls

Kalani Engles

Searsville (48" x 60")


A woman who has collected my art for years recently got divorced from her second husband. Among the sources of incompatibility in their marriage was the fact that he didn’t like my art (or any art for that matter). Whenever she hung a piece of mine, he would complain about it for a while and then take it down. His job, however, required him to be out of town for extended periods. Whenever he was gone, she would hang my art again in the same place it was before. When he returned, he would again take it down. This went on for a couple of years until this and other conflicts convinced her to leave him.

It was not an amicable parting, but they were able to agree on a property settlement – with one exception. He insisted on keeping a large oil painting of mine, Searsville, that she had acquired while they were married. He claimed it had been purchased with community funds, and that the room where it (occasionally) hung would not be the same without it. No amount of argument would change his mind, and she eventually relinquished the painting. Did he experience an epiphany and suddenly fall in love with my work, or was this just his final shot in the war of the walls? Take a look at Searsville (48” x 60”) and decide for yourself.

Kalani Engles Sharing New Work and a Story

Lockwood Folly 1

One of the biggest obstacles an artist faces in selling a painting is getting both partners in a marriage to agree to buy it. The husband loves it, but the wife thinks it’s too big, too bright, or too scary. For eight years a man in North Carolina who loves my work could not get his wife to put it in their house. Then one day her best friend from New York is visiting and says she knows about my work and loves it. Suddenly, the wife sees everything differently and now has two of my large paintings hanging in her living room (including Lockwood Folly 1). Did she really not like my work, was she trying to stand up to her husband, or did she just need reassurance that she was doing the right thing. Who knows?