artgallery - Art, Jewelry, And Creations By Rafi Perez And Klee Angelie

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Artist Rafi Perez — Leave a comment

Live Art Event You Wont Want To Miss Nov 17, 2017

This next Gallery Night I’m going to be a part of something that is both nerve-racking and exciting. Get ready for:

Art at the Annex: Drawing Rally

On Friday, November 17 from 6 PM – 9 PM, During Gallery Night, at The Cowork Annex (13 Palafox Pl.) is going to be an event that I have rarely experienced here in Pensacola.

Part live art-making performance, part arts community awareness. Watch as local artists create artworks from start-to-finish while under a three hour time limit in front of a live audience – who can silently bid on the works as they are made.

Are you kidding me?? That sounds amazing!!!

Glow In The Dark Live Painting At Vinyl 2016

Join us for this exciting live event – including fire dancing performances, music by AnyDayDJ.Com, an interactive creation station, photo booth, and tours of downtown’s new cowork @nnex facilities! @rt at the @nnex is free and open to the public on 11.17 from 6-9pm – during downtown Pensacola Gallery Night.

Participating artists:
Josh Green, Jarrod Goldman, Famous Gabe, Loren Miller, Kenneth Jordan, Carter J. Gaston, Marina C. Quirk, Brennah St. Ores, Rafi Perez (hey that’s me!), Elizabeth Matthews, Wolfy Howell, Tina Ogden, Nate Lyle, Anne Gray, Angelenia Edwards and Lindsey Gray.

This is such an amazing group of artists, I am truly honored.

WHAT: Art at the Annex: Drawing Rally

WHERE: The Cowork Annex (13 Palafox Pl.)

WHEN: Friday, November 17 from 6 PM – 9 PM, During Gallery Night

WHY: Because it’s awesome!

To all my awesome artists friends, updated artist participation list online. Deadline for artist participation is Nov. 14th. Details and application online at leaderfineart.com/call-for-artists.

Posted on November 1, 2017November 1, 2017 by Artist Rafi Perez — Leave a comment

Becoming A Work Of Art Yourself

I have always been fascinated by portraiture, and what I think of as an artistic snapshot of the personality of a human being in motion through life. Although I admire and have an appreciation for portraits, they’ve never really been my favorite thing to work on.

Until now…

I am currently working on some studies, where I take images of real people and apply them to the life concepts that I put in my collections.

Rafi art portrait — “Creative Blast” By Artist Rafi Perez Original Painting On Paper 11X14

I am always looking for inspiring pictures, and would love an opportunity to paint you or someone you know into a piece of “Rafi Art” and as my friend said, be immortalized.

All you have to do is email me an image and some info to rafi@rafiwashere.com

Please Follow These Rules Of Thumb:

Images must be sharp and not blurry.
Please have good lighting in the photo.
I will accept- close up of the face (preferably no smiling for the camera poses), artistic poses, tasteful nudes, something that tells a story, or just an awesome photo.
It would be helpful if you gave me a little insight on the person in the image.
Things like, favorite color, strengths and what you would like say with the painting are helpful.
Please keep in mind that if you are chosen for one of the works, I will take the image and info and create something inspired by the information, but ultimately I retain full control of the creative process. This is not a commission. If you would like to commission me, contact me with details for consideration.
If your image is chosen and created, you are in no way obligated to buy the original piece, these are studies that will be done on 11X14 paper. I will send you a printable copy via email that you can print out (FREE) as a thank you.
I will contact you if I intend to use your image. This is a side project so please be patient.
By sending me an image you are giving me permission to use it in this project.

Thank you! I love you guys!

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Artist Rafi Perez — Leave a comment

New Art From Rafi And Klee 11

Hola you amazing person you!

As you can see, instead of “Art Creations For Your Inbox” I’ve decided to change it to “New Art From Rafi And Klee” because I think, it’s way more fun… and more accurate.

My art reception was last Thursday and it was a huge success! Thank you so much to everyone that came out to the reception and throughout the exhibition so far. It will continue running at Artel Gallery in Pensacola until April 7th.

We have some new creations to share with you this week, both Klee and I are super excited about it!

But before we get into that, here is an amazing quote I would like to share with you:

“The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” Lucian Freud

I love this quote, because I love creating abstract work. It gives me an opportunity to share the way that I think and see the world. Try it sometime, take a look at a familiar object, detach yourself from the label or name of the object, then keep looking. Allow yourself to take it apart in your mind and turn it into blocks of color, textures, and shading. See the unknown in the familiar, and turn the world you think you know upside down.

Ok, as I promised here is the art and jewelry! Enjoy!

14k Gold Filled Quartz Crystal Lantern Necklace By Klee

“This beautiful double terminated clear quartz crystal sits pristine in it’s 14k yellow gold filled woven bezel. The design is reminiscent of cathedral windows and old world lanterns, centering on the beauty of the light that passes through the crystal. A modern interpretation of a beautiful relic from times gone by.“

-Klee Angelie

Window To The City original painting by artist Rafi

“Looking out the window at the world that surrounds me. I have a relationship with the city that looks back at me, the people that I recognize every day, going through the same routines. I know them, even though they will never know me, a silent child who dreams of joining the world outside.”

-Rafi Perez

Gold Filled Quartz Crystal Tassel Earrings By Klee

“These earrings feature gorgeous raw clear quartz crystal points wrapped in 14k yellow gold filled wire, with spiral back detailing and gold filled chain tassels to create movement and light play with the crystals. Fun and funky, elegant and earthy, these are awesome for dress up or casual wear.”

-Klee Angelie

The Recovery Of Bliss By Rafi

“Logic and reason dominates the scene. Everything must make sense, everything must be logical, yet the greatest power we have is to stop thinking and melt away the calculating mind. To sit in silence, soak in our surroundings, or travel in our imagination to a place that is blissful… None of this makes sense in our analytical world and yet, there it is.”

-Rafi Perez

Have an amazing week! You are awesome! Just remember, we may have names for the things we see in the world, but really, they are just blocks of color, texture, and shades. Look at the world differently, who knows, you may see the similar in a vastly different way.

Remember to stay endlessly inspired by the stuff of life!

-Love Rafi and Klee

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Artist Rafi Perez — 8 Comments

The Origin Of Passion

Recently I entered an international art competition. Well, first let me say, I entered an art competition, which was nerve racking for me. Yeah… Nerve racking… Weird, right?

As part of my 2017 growth as a person, and artist goal, I’ve decided to enter as many international art competitions as I can. Some of you that watch my videos, or have read past blogs, know I have an unreasonable fear of art competitions.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my fear was getting in the way of my achievements as an artist. How am I supposed to win an international art competition, if I’m paralyzed by fear of being judged inadequate? Or worse, what if I win?

Yup, the closer I looked, the more I started to realize that I was also afraid of winning.

Now, let’s get something straight, I really don’t care much about winning or losing. I also am not very concerned about opinions or criticisms about my art. I rather enjoy them, I love hearing the unique perspectives that the viewer brings to the work. Even when it’s negative, I learn something about people.

I mean, c’mon, one of my best friends sees something lewd or sexual in just about every piece I create – sometimes he can’t help it. If I got offended or hurt , I wouldn’t be able to enjoy his genuine reaction to the art. Come to think of it, my father is pretty much a perverted twelve year old when it comes to my art too, so maybe that’s why it doesn’t phase me.

I painted a beautiful painting of a bald eagle for a benefit event, for the Northwest Florida Wildlife Sanctuary. My dad showed up and told everyone it reminded him of a retarded parrot. I didn’t care, he’s genuine… and a little like a retarded parrot himself.

I would rather have genuine reactions, no matter how childish, than polite smiles and scripted responses because people are afraid to hurt my feelings.

That being said, I feel like competitions can be a bit cold. The human interaction between the work can easily be mechanical, because you are comparing pieces to one another and not allowing your relationship with the art to fully form.

But, either way, what was I talking about? Art competitions, I’m doing them this year… Why not?

So my first piece that I’ve created is based on a competition with a tag line of “Passion To Perform.”

I struggled a little with this because the word perform has such a corporate connotation to me. Your performance is evaluated at the end of the year, and the over all performance of the company, and blah blah blah.

You can imagine how the word passion just didn’t seem to fit in my mind.

Luckily, I’m married to an extremely brilliant woman, who also happened to be a vocalist for over a decade, and has a different spin on the word perform.

“It’s like, when you get up on stage and sing, or you dance at the ballet, or act on Broadway… If you are passionate, it shines through.”

Oh… Duh…

So I created this piece called the Origin Of Passion. It is the representation of how I believe the seed of passion can bloom. That contemplative moment, where you are thinking about giving up, and realize that you must move forward. Despite the roadblocks, naysayers, and dark days, you are determined.

The golden words in her hair are the reminder of the power that this passion brings you. Courage, strength, growth, determination, perseverance, inspiration, boldness, vision, and creativity.

I remember back when I quit my corporate job and was reevaluating my life, and wanting to be more creative, a lot of my friends and family were not supportive. In fact, not supportive is an understatement, I’m sure there were a lot of concerned conversations, judgement, and name calling.

But I didn’t care, because I was, and am passionate about my life, creativity, and spreading a positive message into the world. I think if you are passionate about something and you practice courage, strength, growth, determination, perseverance, inspiration, boldness, vision, and creativity… You become unstoppable… Even when your aunt thinks you’re crazy.

Posted on October 13, 2016October 13, 2016 by Artist Rafi Perez — 2 Comments

It’s a zoo in here – Artel Gallery

Opening reception for “It’s a zoo in here” at Artel Gallery was last night. In preparation for the show, I changed my clothes about a hundred times. I finally settled for the first thing I had picked out, and headed out to mingle with the art crowd of Pensacola. Last night I had the opportunity to face another fear. Fear of recognition for winning best of show.

Artel It's a Zoo In Here Show. Photo by James Gaskins — Artel It’s a Zoo In Here Show. Photo by James Gaskins

I know what you’re thinking, “Really dude, fear of being recognized for winning best of show?”

Yup… It seems pretty interesting to me that I have these hidden fears, that really don’t make much sense, but I can feel them just the same.

I walked in with Klee, and my good friends, Monica and James, they were all my backup in case I started hyperventilating or something.

When we arrived we were given raffle tickets and welcomed to the show.

Immediately, I was pulled into a conversation with someone who had seen my videos about facing my fear of entering the competition. It was an intriguing conversation about facing fears, and about the caveman instincts that bring those fears up to the surface.

Then, I was asked if I wanted to take a picture with my piece, and I did. Then, I was surrounded by a mob of people, asking about the piece, asking about my history, or simply catching up. People that I adore, that I haven’t seen in a while, and new people that I was meeting for the first time. It pretty much went like that for most of the evening… It was awesome.

Artel It's a Zoo In Here Show. Photo by Margret Hildreth — Artel It’s a Zoo In Here Show. Photo by Margret Hildreth

At least, until they announced the winners. I had won best of show, so I was announced last. There was a thunderous applause, and I wanted to hide, which I successfully did… until Susanne, who was making the announcements said “Where is he, is he here?”

All eyes landed on me, I half waved and probably turned beet red.

Then, it was over. On to the next thing.

They called out the numbers to the raffle, and my friend Monica won chocolate… to which I exclaimed “I never win anything.”

Fellow artist, Marty Campbell replied “Sure you don’t, just best of show.”

All in all, it was an awesome experience, and one that I hope to have again and again.

If you are in Pensacola, and you want to check out the show, it will be running at The Artel Gallery October 4 – October 28, 2016.

Posted on October 3, 2016October 4, 2016 by Artist Rafi Perez — Leave a comment

I Won Best Of Show?

So, yesterday I submitted some pieces that I created for a juried art show that takes place at Artel Gallery, in downtown Pensacola.

I’m sure most of you will find it hard to believe, that it was a terrifying act for me. Yeah, only my closest friends (and now you) know that I have an childlike fear of having my art judged by art competition judges.

Let’s make something clear, I don’t mind having my art judged. People judge my art all the time, some love it, some hate it, either way, it doesn’t bother me. Put the art in a competitive setting and I become a nervous third grader.

Artel Gellery Submissions By Rafi Perez — Artel Gallery Submissions By Rafi Perez

Now, I’m fully aware this is ridiculous. I’m an established artist, I have collectors of my work, and I am well known… yet, just because it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t mean I didn’t almost piss myself yesterday.

This video will let you live my experience yesterday:

The theme of the show is about animal life. The show is called “It’s A Zoo In Here” and runs for the month of October.

I decided to enter the show, face my fears, and submit my art… For the past few years, I’ve been working on getting rid of silly fears that stand in the way. Sometimes, I have to push outside of my comfort zones, which seems to be an ongoing thing, so I better get used to it.

I created two pieces for the show called “Rags to Fishes” and “Rehabilitation Of Beauty.” My friend and art collector, Monica Gaskins owns a Zebra sculpture I created recently, and she allowed me to submit it as my third piece.

“Rags to Fishes” is a sculpture I created using old pieces of canvas that I collected from the stretching process. They typically get thrown away, but it seemed like such a waste to throw perfectly good canvas away… that stuff is expensive, and I couldn’t bring myself to just throw it away.

Watch the video above to hear which piece won best of show… That’s right! I won best of show… How awesome is that!

The show reception is Wednesday, October 12, 6pm-8pm. Klee and I will be there, which is also outside of my comfort zone because I got best of show, and there is a part of me that doesn’t know how to handle that… Like I said ridiculous, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. 🙂

The show runs October 4th – Oct 28th, 2016.

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Artist Rafi Perez — Leave a comment

A Beautiful Painting Of A Beautiful Girl

Every once in a while I create a piece that causes me to step back and say “Holy crap… I did that?”

This is one of those pieces.

It is a depiction of the most beautiful woman I know, surrounded by white doves. The painting symbolizes silent power, peace, and love.

Usually, when I model, or ask Klee to model, I just use the image as a reference for shadows and perspective. This time, I was so taken by the photograph, and the beautiful expression on her face, that I did not deviate much.

Of course, no doves were harmed in the making of this painting. There were no doves in the actual photograph because… well, I didn’t have any, and that would have been messy.

White doves, are used in a variety of settings as symbols of love, peace or as messengers. Doves have appear in symbolism for hundreds of years, and by just about all religions. I wanted them to seem as though they were coming from within her, as if she was sending out, pure positive energy to the world.

Her eyes hold a silent confidence, and emit love… A very powerful look.

So there you have it, a beautiful painting of a beautiful girl.

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Artist Rafi Perez — 39 Comments

With A Little Help From My Friends Like You. Please help.

Hello you awesome person you! As you know I’ve been working on a mural in beautiful downtown Pensacola, and I need your help.

mural 1 I’ll be finishing the mural in the next few days, which is super exciting for me. I am aiming to get it done before Gallery Night on Friday, September 16th, and there is something special I would like to ask you.

The very last finishing touch of this mural is going to be small, positive quotes, throughout the design. Originally, I was thinking of using famous quotes, but I think there is something much more special that can be done with this piece.

mural

Please send me your special quote… please?

I would like you to send me short, special, positive quotes that either you say, heard, or read. It could be something that someone you know said, and it inspired you, or a mantra that you say to yourself that gets yourself going. It could be a famous quote as well, as long as it means something to you.

This mural will capture your quote for the world to see, for as long as it stands in downtown Pensacola.

I would love for as many Pensacolians as possible to submit their quote, but I hope to get responses from other cities, and all around the world.

Just send me your quote, the person that says it (leave it blank if you want it to be anonymous) and your city.

You can leave it in the comments, respond to this email if you are subscribed to me, or send me an email. You can also leave your quotes on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any of my other social accounts.

Also, please share this with anyone that you think would be interested.

Please respond by September 15th, 2016 7:00pm.

Thank you! You are awesome! I’ll be posting pictures and stuff when it is done… or you can visit downtown Pensacola and see your quote. 🙂

Posted on September 11, 2016September 11, 2016 by Artist Rafi Perez — Leave a comment

Art Creations In Your Inbox – No. 1

Happy Sunday! This week has been an interesting one for us, full of website crashes, eye injuries, and a near-wet experience at the market. All that being said, the results are awesome. Our website is now a bazillion times better than it was, I took time to relax and gather my thoughts on what to create next, and we had more time to work on things in the studio. Plus, I decided that every Sunday I would post “Art Creations In Your Inbox” and show you what we’ve been working on.

The Patronus Charm By Rafi Perez

“Needless to say, I am a nerd. I love all things fantasy and sci-fi, so after Klee and I had a Harry Potter marathon, this piece is what came of it. It is called “The Patronus Charm” and is based on the concept that J.K Rowling had for the dementors and getting rid of them. Dementors are metaphors for depression, and the Patronus charm is what repells them by focusing on happy powerful thoughts. Yep, told you… nerd. Oh, and yeah… It glows in the dark. My plan is to create different patronus animals in the future, or by request.” -Rafi

Vertical Bar Pendants By Klee Angelie

605ce56e-d951-4fd6-abc2-d76ee880484d-1 “These are my new favorite thing to make and wear, featuring rustic hammered texture on one side and stamping on the other. They are reversible and personal.” -Klee

My Guardian Power By Rafi Perez

“The beautiful Klee Angelie modeled for this piece. It represents my belief in guardian angels. Yep, when I was a kid, I felt like there was something that protected me, but instead of fluffy, fat little angels, I felt it was a bad ass.” -Rafi

Swan Lake By Klee Angelie

“This moonstone was especially cool to work with, because it has a black tourmaline inclusion on the backside that looks just like a swan.” -Klee

Autumn Sky By Rafi Perez

“There is something magical about Autumn. The changing colors of leaves, The brisk cool air, and the feeling that anything is possible, is why I love the Fall so much. This piece captures that for me.” -Rafi

Pyrite Ring By Klee Angelie

“I’ve been experimenting with a style of raw and elegant looking ‘Claw Prong’ settings and I absolutely love how this Pyrite and Sterling ring turned out.” -Klee

Have an awesome week! You guys are great!

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Artist Rafi Perez — 2 Comments

The Pendulum By Rafi Perez

Recently, I sold a piece I created called “The Pendulum” to an amazing woman that I consider a dear friend. She told me, that the moment she laid eyes on it, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

the-pendulum-by-rafi-perez-1

This piece seemed to speak to her, the way it spoke to me when I created it.

It’s a portrait of Mother Earth and Father Time, in their relationship with the world and each other. His imagery is cloaked in the vastness of the universe, representing time and space. She is wrapped in the growth and beauty of the earth. She also dominates the scene, relaxed and supported by time as she basks in her sunshine.

the-pendulum-by-rafi-perez-2

This scene symbolizes our perception. That moment when time stands still, and nature surrounds us. We become part of that nature, and time lowers his head and relinquishes the illusion of control over our lives.

the-pendulum-by-rafi-perez-3

The piece is meant to introduce you to the decision we make every moment, of every day. You have a choice, to focus on time, or focus on the beauty that surrounds you. Focusing on the moment, is focusing on nature, causing time to slow down and fully experiencing the moment of right now.