You've probably seen the commercial for Canon Project Imagin8ion. It's the one where a walking skyscraper, an airborne firetruck, a bejeweled dog, an astronaut, a snake, a billboard mermaid and other mysteriously animated beings or objects float like enormous Macy's parade balloons past expansive windows of an office. Inside, producer Ron Howard examines photographs submitted for a film project. If you look closely at the scene, at about the moment when the dog floats by the window, you'll see a painting on the office wall between the two sets of windows.

      If you've seen the numerous alerts on Facebook this past week, you know the painting is a work by Augusta artist Edward Rice. Here's a link to the video.  Freeze it at about 38 seconds to see the painting on the wall. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hj85mQQqhs&feature=relmfu

      But, like the mysterious floating images, the painting isn't really there. Howard is indeed the owner of an Ed Rice painting, but not this one. And that isn't really his office, either. It's all Hollywood.  Howard's staff chose the painting from Rice's website to use in the commercial, which promotes a Canon project in which Howard's next production will be inspired by photographs submitted by ... perhaps you.

      While the image on that wall exists only on film, we will be able to see the real thing when the Morris Museum of Art opens a long-anticipated retrospective of Rice's work on August 26.  The painting, titled Meadow Garden, 2008-10 is oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches in size.

      Rice says the painting, like the Project Imagin8ion clip, has something of a mysterious aspect. Meadow Garden, the historic home of George Walton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, is painted to present the side of the building in sharply angled light, which casts a wavy reflection in the waters of the Augusta Canal. At first glance, it appears to be done in black and white, but then subtle coloration emerges to warm and soften the image. You can see it now on the artist's website, www.edwardriceart.com, Click on the "work" tab at the top, and scroll down a bit.

 Portrait art to touch the heart:

      The Aiken Center for the Arts is hosting the South Carolina Heart Gallery, a project that uses fine portrait photography to help find homes for children lingering in foster care.Formed in 2005, the South Carolina Heart Gallery is a collaborative program administered by the Children's Foster Care Review Board - Office of the Governor; and South Carolina Department of Social Services. Local photographers donate their services to provide portraits of the children, in an effort to enhance adoption opportunities for them.  Among the local photographers who have donated their services are Hansje Gold-Krueck, Amy Hardee, Amy Gibson and Jason Tench. For more information, see www.scheartgallery.org. Also on exhibit at the Aiken Center for the Arts is the Aiken Artist Guild's annual juried exhibition, on display through June 25.

      Over in Thomson, Ga., there will be a Sip & See from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the MAC on Main Art Gallery. The gallery, home to the McDuffie Arts Council, showcases a variety of works by Thomson-area artists, ranging from paintings to sculpture to photography.

 What goes around:

      Jim Gensheer will open an exhibit titled "Full Circle" at Crum's on Central, with a party planned June 27 from 6 to 8 p.m.  After many years in Augusta as artist and instructor, he and Mo, his wife, are planning to move to Santa Fe, where they will be near their children and grandchildren.

      This will be his last show in Augusta, and it will be staged at the site of his first show in Augusta, at the time called Café DuTeau, hence the Full Circle title. Gensheer began painting in 1976, and left a career in banking to paint full time in 1990. After moving to Augusta from Colorado, he taught art at Aquinas High School, Westminster Schools, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, and privately. He later opened a studio on McCartan Street with physician-turned-artist Tom Swift.

      Gensheer describes his artistic technique as abstract realism evoking a vision of simple tranquility. He favors harvest landscapes, pastoral countrysides, lighthouses, and snowy rural scenes, reflecting a fondness for traditional Americana and home life.

 Around town:

      At the Morris Museum of Art, Philip Juras's landscapes of the Southeast - scenes both current and historical - form the special exhibit this summer.  At the opening reception June 2, more than 125 people gathered to hear the artist, who grew up in Augusta, give an eloquent talk on his paintings and the lands that he studies and depicts. The show will be up through August 14. 

      There are a couple of new, smaller shows worth seeing at the Morris. In the Education Gallery on the first floor, a variety of works chronicle the experiences of Augusta State University students on their "study away" tour of New York City during winter break 2010.  And in the Stairwell Gallery, there is a gem of a show - 14 works on paper by well-known American artist Will Barnet, who reached 100 years of age in May.  Barnet's works can be found in most major museum collections in the United States.

      At the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Jeffrey Callaham's colorful narrative paintings fill the main galleries, bringing to life images from his childhood in the rural South.  In the third floor community gallery, Rosanne Stutts is showing photographs made with a pinhole camera.

      Karen Lind Banker is the featured artist this month at Knick Knack Paddy Whack emporium on Monte Sano Avenue, while Christina Rice is artist of the month at Goodbooks Café on Fury's Ferry Road.  The Outer Edge show featuring works by more than a dozen artists, continues at the Bee's Knees restaurant on 10th Street. Also, check out the new work at Tire City Pottery across the street.

      Artist Laura Connely has opened the Connely Gallery on the square in downtown Washington, Ga., showing her own work and that of other artists. See her website at www.lauraconnely.com.

      Congratulations to artist/poet Malaika Favorite, winner of the Greater Augusta Arts Council's individual artist of the year award, and to the other honorees: Maestro Shizuo Kuwahara, arts professional, Levi Hill, arts volunteer; Brad Means, media; the Watson Brown Foundation Junior Board, sponsor; and Saundra Plunkett, president's award.