Doggedly different

Jennifer K Mahal

Their styles could not be more different. Ellen Rose paints exuberant

portraits of dogs. Dobromir Manev has created a series of serious

abstracts. But the artists find themselves showing together at the

Bayside Gallery Restaurant in Newport Beach through September.

The show, “How Artists Work,” will hold an opening reception at the

restaurant from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Irvine’s Studio Gallery curates it.

“We usually just do a solo show at the Bayside, but there were not

enough paintings,” said Cornelia Betschart de Fuertes, spokeswoman for

the gallery. “The artists match, color-wise.”

Vibrant is a word that could be used to describe the palette of Rose,

a Laguna Woods artist. Painting dogs is a fairly new subject for her --

one she’s been doing for about a year and a half.

“I just saw a loopy dog one day,” Rose said of the image that became

“Poochy,” her first pup painting. “There was great positive and negative

space in the pose.”

She took a picture and started painting. Then she started taking more

photos of dogs.

“It’s a good vehicle to do what I like to do best -- take a 2-inch

brush and a lot of color, and put it on canvas,” Rose said. “I like the

sensual feeling of spreading paint around.”

In contrast, Bulgarian artist Manev -- whose broken English was

translated by wife Luba -- said his favorite moment in painting comes

when he is finished.

“When I work, I am very nervous, excited,” the Costa Mesa resident

said. “When I finish, I say, ‘Ah, is done.”’

Some paintings are finished right away, he explained. But others take

more seasoning. It took Manev 18 days to complete his abstract series,

many of which deal with spiritual issues -- eternity, the search for

perfection, liberty.

“I think abstract is an artist’s liberation from forms,” Manev said.

“When I first look at the canvas, it is just white. I don’t know what I’m

going to do. I start with one gesture and then something happens with my

hand.”

Along with seven Manev abstracts, the show will include a tapestry

titled “Ikar,” which shows the story of Icarus, and a few of his more

figurative works.

An actor as well as an artist, Manev said he enjoys it when people

find their own meaning in his works.

“I like for everyone to read something into it for themselves,” he

said.

In their own way, Rose’s dogs are also a little abstract -- even

though they are solidly canines.

“I think of myself as the John Singer Sargent of dogs,” Rose said,

referencing the famous American portrait artist.

When she’s asked to paint a pooch on commission, Rose makes it clear

to the owner that the picture will not be a literal representation of his

or her beloved Rover. It is the “inner dog,” the personality and

spirituality of a pup that Rose strives to capture.

“Once I was painting a commission and a friend saw the reference photo

-- a white standard poodle -- and said, ‘Why are you painting a yellow

dog? The dog is white,”’ Rose said, “I said, ‘If someone wanted it

painted white, they would have gotten another artist.”’

Some of her paintings incorporate the artistic sensibilities of the

dog’s owners. In “Le Dog,” a manicured St. Bernard lies in front of a

Matisse-like scene. “Sluggo” has a Francis Bacon-esque painting in the

background.

“When I do that, I feel like I’m working with another artist,” Rose

said.

Objects also find their way onto Rose’s canvases. A kitchen glove

painted and covered with lace in “Poochy.” Pieces of what looks like

netting in “Jake.” Cut up newspaper in various other pieces.

Rose said she likes to collect stuff and then find ways to collage it

into her work.

“Sometimes I ask to get stuff from the owner or pet that I can

incorporate into the image, like a toy or a number or name,” she said.

Her latest acquisition is a few boxes of framing remnants. She is not

quite sure how she’s going to use them yet.

“I’ve always said it’s the image that counts, not the subject matter,”

Rose said. “But there’s been such a visceral reaction to the dogs. . . .

It inspires me to keep on.”

FYI

WHAT: Opening for “How Artists Work”

WHERE: Bayside Gallery Restaurant, 900 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach

WHEN: 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit will remain up through September

COST: Free

CALL: (949) 721-1222 or (949) 851-9181