Feb. 26, 2003 – The February Dada Wine Down — this Friday — will be at a new venue, JKay's restaurant in Tillett Gardens.
Host Rick Kingsland is taking the monthly art show and wine-tasting event on the road, with a variety of stops to come.
The paintings of John L. Chinnery and "natural art" and leatherwork by Felix will be showcased at Friday's gathering. Bellows International will be conducting the wine tasting and seminar, this one featuring Fetzer wines — Sundial Chardonnay, Knight Valley Cabernet, Echo Ridge Sauvignon Blanc and Eagle Peak Merlot.
The Wine Down, from 5 to 8 p.m., is free and open to the public. There will be complimentary hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. There's a $10 fee for the optional wine tasting and seminar, which will be ongoing throughout the evening.
The Wine Down can serve as a prelude to the 8 p.m. presentation in Tillett Gardens by Pistarckle Theater of a reading of the play "The African Company Presents Richard III." The reading, in celebration of Black History Month, is free and open to the public, with teen-agers especially encouraged to attend. (See "Pistarckle to do reading of black history play".)
Chinnery was born on Tortola and moved to St. Thomas in the late 1960s. A 1972 graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School, he holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration from the Philadelphia College of Art, now known as The University of the Arts, in Philadelphia.
He exhibited his work previously at the April 2002 Dada Wine Down. He also has had showings in Pennsylvania and New York, including at The Philadelphia Sketch Club, The University of the Arts annual staff exhibition, the Art Institute of Philadelphia, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and PNC Bank.
After pursuing a career as a freelance artist and art teacher in southeastern Pennsylvania, Chinnery returned to St. Thomas in December of 2001 "to capture the beauty the islands have to offer." His work is represented on St. Thomas at Blue Turtle Gallery and Pissarro Gallery.
Felix, who uses only his first name as an artist, also is a second-time Wine Down exhibitor having previously shown his "natural art" works at one held last September. This time, he will be showing coconut sculpture, detailed leatherwork and other craft items.
He says his art is an evolution of what he has been doing all his life — "picking things up to see what I could make out of them." Coconuts and the products of the coconut palm are the primary materials he use for his birds, fish, butterflies, dragonflies, jewelry boxes, dolls, masks, wall plaques and jewelry.
Felix has been designing V.I. Carnival costumes on Thomas since 1995 and saw his creations win last year's Junior King and Queen of the Band awards. He is currently in his native Trinidad creating costumes for carnival there. His work can be seen at Camille Pissarro Gallery and Native Crafts on St. Thomas and at Kareso Gallery on St. John.
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