Café Cioccolato tm "a chocolate, wine & art event" sm
816 Olive Street Saint Louis, MO 63101 USA 314.345.1200
Mon - Fri Noon to 5:00p;
Week nights, Saturday & Sunday reserved for private events.
We specialize in private events, parties and groups. Call for details.
Timothy UfuomaEfe Orikri is a freelance artist whose style varies from semi-realism to abstract paintings, hand-painted ceramics and music. Although currently residing in Michigan, he was born the son of a Baptist minister in the Delta State, southern Nigeria. It’s not surprising that this early upbringing has been influential on his perception of the world. His artistic desires – much like the messages given by his father from the pulpit – come in themes of hope, harmony, and the gift of nature. His sincere lifelong desire is to use a wide spectrum of vibrant colors and mixed mediums to create a secure world in which humanity is restored to God’s intended pure state for man at the dawn of creation.
I
have rediscovered my passion for art through a unique method. My
medium is acrylic paint on canvas. Using various palette knives, my
abstract pieces introduce layers of applied paint, revealing one of a
kind delicate, and not so delicate textures and colors. Cracks,
splits and breaks in the paint are a special effect to draw the
viewer into the deeper layers. My pieces are large scale statements
and I have commissioned works for private collections. I often draw
inspiration from past and present experiences, as well as varied
musical influences. Each piece is truly an original, bold expression.
Born Scunthorpe in the North of England, July 17 1955
My style is realistic, it came about because of the influence of the
Surrealists. If you can paint the real world, then you have a chance to
illustrate another one. I liked to paint things which only existed in my
mind. I was an only child with a lot of imagination and was always
building things, some just to look at. I made some really fun,
elaborately structured, Italian styled aeroplanes, but never flew them
because of the time I had invested in them they were more sculpture than
practical. I also built other elaborate toys including the ultimate
toy, a type of carousel. The stand was a one thousand piece three
dimensional puzzle. The theme was land, sea and air. The air was a
flying whale, I loved the idea of a leviathan that could float like a
balloon, the land was a train with legs like a millipede and the sea was
a Viking boat, sculpture if there ever was. All powered by one of those
steam engines that ran on methelayted spirits. I also was amazed at
Celtic and Viking Art and I did a lot of work based on the Book of
Kells. I drew my ideas and then began to paint in a realistic way to
make real things that I couldn't build. With this in mind I applied to
and got into Saint Martins School of Art in London with the idea of
being a fantasy illustrator, designing for books and films.
Dana Diaz de Leon creates works of art that exhibit her love of bold colors, nature, movement, music, imagination and life. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in advertising and graphic design at the University of Texas at Arlington, she worked on ads, logos, billboards and invitations at Eisenberg Inc., an advertising and design agency in Dallas, Texas. She put her career on pause to raise her five children; Adam, April, Aaron, Amy and Andrew. Dana lives in St. Louis, Missouri where she has continued her career as an artist. Her murals and paintings can be found in businesses, churches, schools, libraries, private homes and galleries. She has donated her talents to Habitat for Humanity, CASA (helps abused, neglected and abandoned children), The Chesterfield Arts District, the Joplin Relief efforts (donated artwork “A Beautiful Future”) and the Rockwood School District. Her work has been featured in the St. Louis At Home Magazine, local newspapers and the St. Louis FOX affiliate. Her house was featured in the St. Alban Home Tour for her murals and paintings throughout the home. She recently did the 100 year anniversary Girl Scouts Poster. Her art has been displayed in many galleries around the St. Louis area. She is also a featured artist at the Shangri La Botanical Gardens gift shop (Texas). Dana is an ongoing artist at Fusion, Art Trends, I Am What I Am and E.L. Riley.
Click here to learn more about her paintings below.Born in Bethesda, Maryland.
The undeniable existence of the self resonates in every aspect of life. My deviation from societal expectations has ultimately brought me closer to that realization. Process and experimentation have proved to be valuable factors in the development of my current body of work. The past provided a sculptural, technical and historical knowledge that set the foundation for my creative process. I have a fascination with the manipulation of material and found forms. Painting, printmaking, digital imagery, and drawing have only recently become evident within my technical vocabulary. As a result I have found that diversity and integration of multiple mediums causes complex problems. Understanding these problems and balance within compositions, engages my divergent digital thought process resulting in a calculated development of coherence.Recently, I have been working with wood panels that project from the wall. The wood offers a structural base that allows for a variety of creative approaches. Marine-grade plywood has a beautiful flowing grain, an ability to be cut, sanded, and even burned with metal objects. Found forms organized or loosely placed on the surface become inherit stencils for spray paint and airbrush. Digital photographs are manipulated to remove identifiable characteristics. These images find their place transferred in layers upon the surface of a gelatinous medium. Paint in all manners, define forms, create dimensionality, and formalizes space. Multiples and/or individual found objects accentuate and protrude from the composition. Activating the space with this type of layering of information creates degrees of dimensionality that mask what came first and what preceded. I don’t want my process to be completely identified, broken down or deconstructed.