Fall Open Studios 2009 Weekend

Fall Open Studios came and went this past weekend. We had a reception party Friday night and then Open Studios ran Saturday and Sunday. We enjoyed everyone stopping by to see the current exhibit called, "Spirit Boats". We sold some work and made some great contacts. Our warm spiced mulled wine was a hit!

Here are just a couple of photos from the weekend:

One of Jennifer Ewing's Spirit Boats painting. She also had Spirit Boat sculptures hanging from the ceiling which everyone enjoyed.


Here is a shot of Elizabeth Stahl's work which had a San Francisco waterscape theme. Most comments were of her Sutro Baths #2 painting which had a great complementary tone for the exhibit.


Margo Mullen standing by her Monterey Bay encaustics which have gold paint of spirit boats and other marine figures (including one titled, "Wasted Seamonster"). Her wedges were very popular.

Some of the work is available via the website or stop in the gallery or email us if you see something you might be interested in!

"Spirit Boats" Exhibit October-December, 2009

"Spirit Boats"

Kathleen McMahon Fine Art Gallery is hosting an exhibit featuring the new works of three local artists.

Jennifer Ewing is displaying some of her large collection of sculptural Spirit Boats, made from various mixed media materials. Margo Mullen will be showing encaustic beeswax paintings inspired by the Monterey Bay area. Elizabeth Stahl paints in oil and acrylic and will be showing work from her San Francisco seascapes and water series.

There are many affordable pieces in this exhibit and a perfect opportunity for new collectors to have a stunning piece of original artwork in their home or work environment. The exhibit runs from October 9th through the end of December.

There will be an artist reception October 9th, 5-9 pm. This is also the preview night for Fall Open Studios, where 8 artist building collectives in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco will open their doors to the public. Most are within walking distance from each other. Fall Open Studios in the Mission continues Saturday and Sunday (Oct 10-11) 11-5 pm. It's a great time to come see what artists are working on! A map is available on our website under Current Events.

Kathleen McMahon Fine Art is located at 3150 18th Street in the Mission, but the actual gallery is on Treat Avenue, Suite 105 (street level), between 17th and 18th and between Folsom and Harrison.







For more information, see kathleenmcmahonfineart.com

RockMake Street Festival August 23, 2009

Last Sunday there was a great street festival on Treat Avenue, between 17th and 18th. It was the second annual RockMake festival. There are two stages, one at each end of the street and all kinds of local bands play all afternoon, rotating from one stage to another. In between are the arts and crafts booths.

The weather was great and everyone had a fun time. The Gallery was open and we got lots of foot traffic. Zabrina Tipton's San Francisco night photography was very popular, as were our featured artist made handbags and glassware.

It was a perfect August Sunday!

Here is a shot down the street:
Here is a shot across the street towards the Gallery. Someone was doing acrobatics in the street:


And here is a guy standing in the Gallery doorway listening to the music who had very "interesting" hair:

New Encaustics By Margo Mullen

Margo Mullen has brought in 11 new encaustic paintings to show at the KMFA Gallery during the month of May. These both are very popular series and well priced for the new collector. There are also a variety of sizes to fit small and medium spaces. Several are diptychs but can also be purchased separately.

Come in to the gallery and see more!

And we will have them on the gallery website as soon as we photograph and document all the new work. Work can be purchased directly from the website.



From Margo Mullen's Growing Almond series.


From Margo Mullen's Asilomar series.

Spring Open Studios 2009 in the Mission

We had a successful Artist Reception this past Friday night, April 24th and then great Spring Open Studios weekend in the Mission. With over 8 artist collective buildings all pretty much within walking distance, the Mission is really emerging as a great arts district. One blogger online said the Mission is still the place to see unexpected quality contemporary (and edgier) art work.

I have to say the edgiest thing I saw this weekend in the Mission was one artist who had a large dark foreboding industrial landscape painting that had what looked like a river of blood - only to find out the artist HAD mixed real menstrual blood with her paint. Get the HAZMAT team! But it sure stuck with me! And that is one of the great roles of fine art.

Both the featured artists in our gallery, Margo Mullen and Elizabeth Stahl, sold at the reception and it looked like everyone had a good time. They brought in new work to replace what was sold so be sure and stop by the gallery to see the latest!

April 2009 "New Works" Exhibit

The April exhibit at the Gallery features the new works of two artists - oil and acrylic paintings of Elizabeth Stahl and encaustic beeswax paintings of Margo Mullen.

The artists reception is April 24th, Friday 5-9 pm, which is also the same night as many preview receptions in the Mission district neighborhood for Spring Open Studios (which also is Saturday and Sunday 11-5 pm). There are over 7 artist collective buildings participating in Spring Open Studios, all pretty much within walking distance. We'll post a map that will be available in a separate blog post.

Stop by Friday night at our Gallery, for our April exhibit reception!

Here is a link that previews some samples of the work on display:

Exhibit Preview

San Francisco Maker's Market 03/28/09

We had some art from the gallery (from the current Octopi Collective exhibit) at the new burgeoning Maker's Market up on the second floor open courtyard this past Saturday. It is an event that has just begun and trying to get its feet off the ground. It will be held every Saturday 1-4 pm, at 3150 18th Street @ Treat Avenue.

The weather was gorgeous - almost too gorgeous. It's still small but I expect will improve as the weather continues to get nicer and more people come to know about it.

Octopi Collective Artists Reception Photos

We had a lovely reception for the Octopi Collective exhibit on display through the end of March.

While the rain threatened all day, we had just periodic episodes of sprinkling, enough for us to pull the food table under the awning, but otherwise not too bad.

It was great to have the group of artist from Monterey come up, we sold some things, and everyone ate (particularly Margo's homemade cookies!) and drank.

You can still come see the show for a little bit longer, so stop in!

Here are some photos of some of the exhibit and from the reception.

Octopi Collective Artists Reception

The Octopi Collective, an artist organization from the Monterey Bay area is having a 'hang out with the artists' reception for their art exhibit Saturday, March 21st 1-4 pm, at the Kathleen McMahon Fine Art Gallery, located at 3150 18th Street, San Francisco (actually on Treat Avenue between 17th & 18th and between Folsom and Harrison streets). Easy parking on the weekend!

Artists exhibiting in the gallery are: Nic Coury (photography), J.R. Uretsky (mixed media sculpture), Kelly Watson (fabric and gel medium paintings), Margo Mullen (beeswax encaustic paintings and watercolors), and Paul Van de Carr (graphite and ink on paper).

Come visit!

Here is an example of a piece that has already sold from the show. It is an encaustic beeswax painting by Margo Mullen titled, "Asilomar I".

Live Worms Gallery Show February 2009

I just completed participation in a group show at the Live Worms Gallery in North Beach, in San Francisco, CA.

It was interesting to show in North Beach. Many of the locals know each other - it almost had a small town within a city feel to it. And I really liked that so many people really seem to appreciate art and took lots of time looking at each and every piece in the show, and didn't just breeze through.

The reception was Friday night and it was jammed all night. All kinds of interesting and colorful people. The most common comment heard all night was that many locals thought it was the best show there yet. It was a real great reception.

Saturday also was the Chinese New Years parade day (and the gallery was just a block from where streets of booths were and where the parade route was on Grant Street). It stopped raining so we got a lot of foot traffic throughout the day on Saturday.

I showed 10 encaustic pieces. People are still quite unfamiliar with the media so I was doing a lot of educating, which was great. The more people learn about encaustic painting, the more people will become comfortable collecting it.

The photo below is my section of the show and the other photos are some of the other work included in the exhibit.