Meatloaf (oil on panel)

Meatloaf (oil on panel)

Cover | Kanna Aoki

Meatloaf (oil on panel). After several years as an accomplished San Francisco–based surface designer for clients including Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn and Joe Boxer, Kanna Aoki came home to the East Bay to focus on fine art. Inspired by shapes, lines, composition and color, she paints images of freeways, beaches and street scenes, in a manner that celebrates the medium—oil on canvas or panel—as much, if not more than, the subject itself. “Meatloaf” was a childhood pet who presented himself to her family as a holiday gift, only to leave as mysteriously as he arrived one year later. Aoki’s recent paintings are currently on view at the Richmond Art Center’s Members Showcase Exhibit until Nov. 9. For limited edition archival prints of Meatloaf, contact Aoki at info@KannaAoki.com. More of her work can be seen at www.KannaAoki.com.

Meatloaf was brought to The Monthly’s attention by The LightRoom, a company that has served photographers and other artists since 1975. The LightRoom provides scanning and printing for photographers (who shoot film or use digital) as well as artists using watercolor, oil, pastel and most other media. The LightRoom also operates a gallery at 2263 Fifth Street in Berkeley that showcases the work of its clients. For more information, visit www.lightroom.com or call (510) 649-8111

Faces of the East Bay

In the Philanthropic Swim

In the Philanthropic Swim

Rockridge residents John Bliss and Kim Thompson may live far removed the gritty flats of East and West Oakland. But this philanthropic couple see themselves as one with the citizens of Oakland, particularly those who are struggling financially, and they’re leading a campaign to get their “financially blessed” peers to invest in the community like they have by funding city programs to teach kids how to swim.