MFA offers our artist members the opportunity to exhibit at local restaurants around Annapolis. Currently, we work with Paul’s Homewood Café, a restaurant blending Chesapeake staples with traditional Mediterranean cuisine, and 49 West Coffeehouse, Winebar & Gallery, a place that brings art, music, and community together with great food and drink in an ambiance inspired by the traditional European coffeehouse. Please email info@mdfedart.org if you are interested in purchasing a piece of art.

Robert Bruce Weston and Jim McGillin

Now exhibiting at Paul’s through October 2024

August 15, from 4 – 6 PM at Paul’s Homewood Cafè

Robert Bruce Weston

Artist Bio

New York City metropolitan area. During his 40 year career of designing and building furniture, libraries, and interior detailing, he found time to teach himself veneering, the art which has become his passion in retirement. For several years now, he has been selling and exhibiting his art throughout Delaware, Maryland and a few spots in Pennsylvania. Robert has no specific style in his work and his awards from exhibiting are for everything from abstracts to representational work. He actually eschews the need to have a style in favor of following his heart in his studio each day.

These days Robert’s preferred genre is abstraction. He makes no claim to having a deeper meaning in his abstracts. Rather, Robert believes that every person who views his compositions is being challenged to take what he or she needs from his work. In the same way, the artist is challenged to take what he needs from the discovery experience inherent in the process. The process after all, is why artists do art.

It is Robert’s belief that artists have no inherent or special vision into reality. Rather, they hope to supply vehicles allowing others to discover their own unique realities, and, that the act of creative discovery is the reward that artists most covet. In the book Form, Function & Design, a textbook for architects, the French Architect Paul Grillo postulated that there is no separation between the words create and discover. Creating is discovering, discovering is creating. All artists die a little if they stop creatively discovering what is next.

Artist Statement

My love of wood comes from 40 years as a cabinetmaker.  During this time period, my affection for all wood species and the character of their fascia or grain prompted me to collect a prodigious inventory of exotic and domestic wood veneers.  This collection inspired a new love, my form of art, which I call wood veneer paintings. The patterns I find within the wood veneer grain drive all of my art.

My art falls into two categories:

Works in which the subject is discovered within the grain pattern of a piece of wood veneer, similar to daydreamers discovering an image in cloud formations. Oil pastels, ink, or dye might be used to enhance the focal object or image.

Works inspired by photographic or imaginary images.   Carefully selected pieces (as few as possible) are used to represent the image. When appropriate, oil pastels, ink, dye and pyrography might also be used to enhance the image.

Each piece is either gallery wrapped or, self matted and framed with complimentary woods to complete the final composition, a unique piece of wall hung wood veneer art.

See his work and learn more here.

Jim McGillin

Artist Bio

Artist Statement

See his work and learn more here.

Their work is on display at Paul’s Homewood Café located at 919 West St, Annapolis, MD 21401. Open daily.