Rockport Red Reflection

Rockport Red Reflection

Cover | Toby Tover-Krein

Rockport Red Reflection (acrylic on canvas). Toby Tover-Krein, an award-winning narrative figurative painter from the Bay Area, often paints vintage fishing boats from Rockport, Massachusetts, reminiscent of fishing trips with her father and representing a safe harbor for contemplation. In this piece, the shadow under one of the boats is painted a vivid red to remind us that not everything is predictable. You can see Tover-Krein’s unpredictable artworks at her show “Red Art District,” July 28 to September 26, 2006 at C’era Una Volta, 1332 Park Street, Alameda, and meet the artist on August 4, 6-9 p.m. In 2001 Toby was the Grand Prize Winner “Arts on Fire V” competition at Sanchez Art Center. Tover-Krein is with Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek (www.valleyartgallery.org) and has her studio in Oakland. To contact the artist, call (925) 935-7386, e-mail takmak2000@yahoo.com, or view her art and bio at www.mesart.com/ttover-krein.

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.