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Article Last Updated: 01/31/2006 10:45:31 AM Making an impression By Josh Rotter, STAFF WRITER

Robin Denevan Back from his trip to Inle, Burma, Robin Denevan sounds more like an adventurer than an artist. From his spare white studio in Building 116 at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard, an enclave for 250 artists, he describes the scene that inspired his recent installment of work. "We went out in the morning via canoe and there were these man-made floating gardens," he says. "As we passed by these land masses, the movement of the boat caused them to undulate in a serpentine way. I found the repeating patterns extraordinary." The 29-year-old painter recreated the snaking lines of trees and vegetation amid swelling waters in a triptych entitled "Floating Garden," one of several new works on view this month at Ligne Roset, his 15th show since graduating from California College of Arts and Crafts with a B.F.A. in painting in 1997. To reflect the rich, layered and dynamic natural beauty of this region, Denevan paints in encaustic, a mixture of pigments and melted beeswax, to create highly textured, almost glowing landscapes of oranges, yellows and greens. Not mere representations of nature, Denevan's work offers an emotional impression of the pristine and timeless sites he's experienced Advertisement traveling throughout Asia and Latin America over the last five years. "I'm painting the areas I enjoy visiting the most," he says. "It's bliss, getting away from the city, getting that hit off nature. It's exotic, paying someone on the side of the river to take you upstream. I'm trying to express feelings of these places through my work." Once the exhibit closes, Denevan's wanderlust will take him back to Latin America for more inspiration. But world travel also gives the artist a renewed appreciation for his home city, where he makes his living, selling to homeowners, collectors and galleries. "Being in San Francisco has made it possible to do what I love full time for the past four years with a thriving artist community and the sheer magnitude of arts-related events," he says. "25,000 people came out for Open Studios at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard last fall. I don't know if I could do this elsewhere."

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