Art Lovers! This is the last week of our BARGAIN SALE...

Art lovers: this is the last week of our Bargain Sale! We have sold many artworks since we launched. We appreciate everyone who has walked in or visited our online store and purchased pieces to take to their homes or businesses. It’s been fun negotiating prices without jeopardizing the artists’ commission. Notifying our artist friends that they have a check in the mail is very rewarding and collectors are what make that happiness happen. 

In an era of instant gratification, collecting artwork and owning something physical is becoming a lost tradition. As curators our mission is to sell, sell, sell, upholding the values and responsibility we’re assigned when given the opportunity to hang and sell someone's work. 

Since 2022, Empire Seven Studios has had the opportunity to assess how the local art market is functioning. We’re honored to be a place where collectors understand our vision and the importance of purchasing someone's dedication to their medium of choice: painting, sculpture, knitting, mixed media, or what have you. While we make these transactions, we’re also connecting and learning from you all and we appreciate the feedback.

Curating artworks that are not available at every other venue is the same as bringing Beyonce, or Taylor Swift to an arena where people pay a generous amount for tickets for a few hours of lifetime memories. No one questions where they come from or what's their area code. You buy that ticket because it’s an artist unlike any other talent sticking out; out of millions of others. Whether mainstream or underground, the interest in their art is solidified because of the product's quality. We are stimulated by art as deep as our wallets allow us to be. 

Empire Seven Studios will not sacrifice quality over quantity or biases knowing there’s an artist struggling to put out the best they can or know how to. We’re here to support the most technical and emerging artists from San Jose or beyond. If we had it our way (and we aim to do so) there would be no borders, and in terms of art, that's what it’s all about for us. The ultimate freedom to be ourselves. Like Stephen Powers (aka Espo) has said: “unapologetic, uncut, giving it to you raw.” 

Over the last year, we have had the pleasure of hearing positive feedback about our gallery and our work;  it is these compliments that inspire us to be ourselves, which is what got us here in the first place. What is working for us is realizing we have you, our visitors, fans, and collectors, that believe in our mission and support an art movement that allows us to be FREE. We will continue to do just that, knowing so many of you miss the authentic vision our Gallery works tirelessly to deliver.

To subscribe to our mailing list, go to this LINK.

"Enjoy Every Moment Together" a journey with Harumo Sato

Harumo Sato’s latest project was commissioned by a government agency executing a series of rebuilds and expansions of elementary schools and community centers in the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington DC. Harumo spent months planning with her operations team trying to decide how to travel and transport a work of art during a pandemic. Weeks before departure, restrictions on air travel to DC reassured the operations team that the master plan—driving a truck and towing an RV trailer across the country—would be the travel method of choice, providing shelter and transportation to get Harumo and team to the job on time.

Practicing social distancing during this trip was a must. Harumo and her husband Ian Farneth are expecting a baby boy this year. Harumo’s and the baby's health were the number one priority for Ian. Avoiding contact with COVID-19, and shipping art initiated a road trip, consciously thinking of the team’s mental and physical health while getting to a job site. Harumo was particularly excited about creating works of art that would live amongst students, and did not want to cancel due to the pandemic.

Submitting to the right proposals has led Harumo to being selected in the final rounds of several promising commissions while allowing her to explore new ideas. Artists who would present multi dimensional artworks and murals were encouraged to apply. An opportunity to work on a new concept that had been on her things to do aligned with the project.

One Harumo’s new works is titled "Cheer up for the Future,” and features a wolf standing on the top of a ridge, surrounded by neighbors living in a magical kingdom of nature. The wolf is accompanied by a relaxed cat on a branch and a grand elk cooling his hooves as he drinks from a teal green body of water. Two otters featured in the mural bathe in sunlight that shines through the windows of the school hallways. This mural directly faces another mosaic "Enjoy Every Moment Together." They are displayed down a long corridor of sunlit classrooms, where the outdoors are visible to the students throughout the day.

“Various Shapes of Relationships," another of Harumo’s murals, has a playful feel to it, and includes a mountain lion splashing in blue water. Bears, antelopes, foxes, owls, turtles, and bison all coexist in Harumo’s abstract landscape. This portrait of coexisting harmony faces the art department.

The twenty foot long mural was installed with seven feet tall paneling, offset, and centered on a brick wall. Harumo's team created a permanent private collection for the school by creating two tangible works of art, showcasing the importance of creating artwork and how it can be presented for preservation and value.

"Enjoy Every Moment Together" is a two dimensional mosaic assembled at her studio in Mountain View, California. This work of art took Harumo two months to create. She conceptualized her work with adaptive technology using CNC operators to fabricate her illustrations and assemble components. Seeing the concept evolve was a fun process for Harumo; it was like playing with a puzzle, except its pieces are adhered permanently.

Harumo’s illustrations become tangible this way as she physically assembles her squirrel illustrations. The reflective and neon colors transform into mushrooms in grass, deer, and a flying squirrel. Once assembled, she layers hand embellishments on top, adding another personal touch to the work. The mosaic was designed to be interactive and durable for children at play, with its highlighting contour lines and imagery shapes. The edge of the material is soft to the human touch and accessible for anyone with a macular or vision disability; this provides the opportunity to feel the artwork to define the contour of the illustrations. Harumo has a friend with a vision disability, and seeing her artwork is a big dream of his. That inspired her to look into what type of artwork she could create to give someone the ability to “read” illustrations.

Professionally packaged in an eight foot tall shipping crate, Harumo’s mosaic needed to arrive safely from California to DC. Carrying it on a flight was not feasible, even if flights were empty at the time. Shipping crates of artwork anywhere is expensive. Instead of paying art handlers, Harumo and her team rented a truck big enough to haul the crate across the country. The truck towed an RV trailer, which gave Harumo a safe, socially distant place to live while on the road. Planning took several months, and the trip lasted a total of sixteen days on the road, with three weeks spent living as temporary residents of DC.

Once at the work site, Harumo and her team worked cohesively with the architects and contractors to install the artwork for the students—kindergarten through fifth grade—to enjoy. The site's settings seemed similar to other projects Harumo has worked on in the Silicon Valley tech sector; the interior and exterior of campus came equipped with some special perks you’d find at a tech office building. Eco-conscious planning of the school grounds included filtered water refill stations to encourage students to reuse water bottles. Rooftop gardens provide lessons in gardening and an organic food source. There is also a fully equipped gym, digital monitors, and computers for every student.

Additionally, artwork depicting the planet's ecosystems, natural assets, and animals, showcase the earth’s habitat. Vibrant colors were requested to be maximized in her latest series of murals: primary color renderings from blues to reds give a glowing contrast that almost seems three dimensional. Viewing the artwork feels like it is jumping out from the walls.

The staff and the contractors, including Harumo’s team, kept saying how they wished this was their school when they were kids. Harumo’s works were very well received, and there could potentially be a second round of her art installation due the clients' satisfaction and admiration for her on time delivery and making the best of current difficult situations due to the pandemic.

There are many other projects in the works that Harumo cannot discuss at this time, but be on the lookout for more of her art in 2021. This fall, she’ll be focused on her new baby boy. Congratulations to Harumo and Ian!

Photos by JT - Web/ IG @freezeframe_43

Live Painting at Eastridge Center grand re-opening

Juan Carlos Araujo, founder of E7S, had the opportunity to do some live painting at Eastridge Center's grand re-opening. At Entrance C (where Barnes and Noble used to be), you will see the indoor mural he created and the canvases he painted inside the window storefronts. 

Eastridge, being the Nation's largest enclosed shopping mall in the West, was first opened on May 17, 1971 with the original Anchors: Macy's, Liberty House, J. C. Penney, Joseph Magnin Co., and Sears. Many of us who grew up in San Jose has some history connected to this place. If you haven't had the chance, visit Eastridge Center. Aside from the stores, food and activation of various events, they also have 4 murals around the exterior buildings by artists Aaron De La Cruz, Brendan The Blob, Cyrcle and Lila Gemelos.