Antrese.net

In Progress

2008-11-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

Day 2...

In Progress...

2008-11-16T00:43:00.001-08:00

Brewery Art Walk this weekend

2008-10-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

The Brewery is the largest Artists colony in Los Angeles (some say the world...). Twice a year, the Brewery opens its doors to the public, and yes, its that time again. I will be showing with Marina Massaro and Daniel Brooks. Please come by and say hello!

I will be there 11AM- 6PM Sunday. Loft E26.

(Directions here)

Painting for Mary Claire

2008-10-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I delivered a commissioned piece to a client (and now friends) in Carmel/Pebble Beach. This was a difficult piece for many reasons. The painting is of three sisters, two of whom died when they were teenagers. It was commissioned as a gift to Mary Claire, the third sister in the painting. Obviously, I wanted to make sure I honored them all, but at the same time I was experimenting a lot with new techniques and being a lot less literal than I usually am with a painting. The photo I had as reference was very small and cropped differently from how I wanted to compose the painting, so I had to make a lot up.

Her husband Michael had asked me to unveil the painting at her birthday party. I was a little nervous about that (terrified, actually). Fortunately, it went well. She loved the painting.

Michael surprised Mary Claire with a painting for her birthday....

MC, Michael,& me...MC is taking another peak at the painting

Talking technique...

Birthday Party day 2... friends and family gathered at Mary Claire & Michael's and we hung the painting.

Pieces of Art

2008-10-10T11:10:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this commissioned piece for quite a while. It will be delivered to my client's wife this weekend as a surprise. So rather than post the whole thing, here are a few sections...

Exciting week in the world of Politics

2008-09-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Bush addressed the nation on the current state of our economy.
John McCain heard the distress call, suspended his campaign and raced back to Washington ("race back" is such a relative term....)
Sarah Palin had a chat with Katie Couric, and explained her views (huh? )
The first presidential debate did in fact take place and John McCain showed up.

Meanwhile, in the Senate.... you'd think the focus would be on the economy, since its on the brink of disaster and all.

Nah, they decided to take time on the last day of their session to pass the Sean Bentley Orphaned Works Act.

So now it goes to Congress.

More info here at the Illustrator's Partnership Blog.

Orphaned Works Act: Not dead yet...

2008-09-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

If you are an artist, writer, photographer, musician, code-wrangler, in short anyone who creates anything subject to copyright protection, you may want to take note. Or, for those of you who just post photos on your facebook, myspace, or flickr accounts, and maybe have never heard of the Orphaned Works Act..... start thinking about whether or not you are OK with corporations mining your photos and using them for their ads. I know, I know, you're asking yourself, "Come on! who would steal photos of me and my friends and use them for commercial gain?! " *cough* Heineken. And yes, I've ranted about this again and again... but this thing wont die.

A few days ago, the Illustrator's Partnership posted their responses to the House Judiciary Committee on their blog (link here). The questions and answers are an interesting read. My favorite part of the post is this:

And on January 29 2007, twenty visual arts groups met in Washington D.C. with attorneys from the Copyright Office. The attorneys stated that the Copyright Office would not create these “indispensable” registries because it would be “too expensive.” So I asked the Associate Register for Policy & International Affairs:

Holland: If a user can’t find a registered work at the Copyright Office, hasn’t the Copyright Office facilitated the creation of an orphaned work?
Carson: Copyright owners will have to register their images with private registries.
Holland: But what if I exercise my exclusive right of copyright and choose not to register?
Carson: If you want to go ahead and create an orphan work, be my guest!
- From my notes of the meeting

Hmmmmm....

The copyright office and the authors of this bill have been walking a fine line. You will notice if you read the bill, that it never mandates that creators register their work. I got a similar stance from Senator Feinstein when I voiced my opposition to the bill. Basically, the tone of the form reponse was: my dear, we aren't MAKING you register your work... & anyway, this is for works whose author cannot be found, and you're right here, so don't worry your pretty little head about this.... but hey--let me know if there's something else I can help you with!

I'm so confused....the Associate Register for Policy & International Affairs says if I don't register, I've just created an orphaned work....

The thing is, if they mandate, force, or impel a creator to register their work, they violate a couple of little international treaties they signed: the Berne Convention, NAFTA, TRIPS, WIPO and WTO treaties.

(Ooops! Maybe Carson should have thought that last comment through....)

The IPA & Capwiz make it so easy for you to voice your opinion on this. Their site will find your representative and send the letter for you. They'll even write it for you if you don't feel like writing your own. There are templates for artists, photographers, illustrators, etc. etc. there are even templates for friends of all the aforementioned creative types as well as a template for those who post photos on social network sites (scroll down to the bottom of the same link for both).

And as an added bonus, if you live in one of those countries whose treaty we will violate by passing this law, you can have your say too ( Link to international template and contacts here).

Feel free to pass the info along...

A ray of light...

2008-08-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

The Association of Research library reported today that the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 (S. 2913) has stalled ( link here).

Carmel

2008-08-12T15:30:00.001-07:00

I did this one a while ago. I think it was April...

Kings Canyon National Park

2008-08-12T15:28:00.001-07:00

Sequoia National Park

2008-07-22T08:36:00.001-07:00

Looking forward to 2018...

2008-07-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Monday at the Mint

2008-07-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

A few sketches:

Argentina Part 2

2008-07-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't take many pictures during the second part of the trip....
and for the first time in a very long time, I didn't paint-- at all (some people call that a vacation....)

You can't see them but there are Condors in those cliffs.... right next to that crack in the rock...near the white spot....

A fearless helicopter bird*

We had him eating out of our hands....
Afterwards there was a beautiful hike down... in the dark... under an incredible star filled sky....past rabid man-eating killer cows and possibly a vampire or two (maybe a few werewolves too). The car mysteriously moved farther and farther away but we made it through. Still it was one of my favorite hikes.

View from Los Gigantes

* don't know the actual name but it sounds like a helicopter when it goes whizzing past your head...

Punta Alta

2008-07-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Yes--- I'm breaking the silence.

I just got back from a few weeks in Argentina ( I lucked out and got to go again!) . I spent the first half with my friend Ken Colorado who invited me down to help him out on a sculpture project. We spent a few days in Buenos Aires where he introduced me to Andrea Juan who shares Ken's goal of bringing attention to climate change through art. Afterwards, Ken and I went to Punta Alta to work on the ice core sculptures with Uretec.

An ice core sculpture with text from Lynne Cox. Lynne is an amazing woman who among many many incredible feats swam in the waters of Antarctica for 30 minutes without a wetsuit.... normal people die after 10 - 15 minutes in water that cold.
(If you click the photo it gets larger & you might be able to read some of the text).

Ken and Roberto discussing the project. Roberto is the owner of Uretec and a wonderful person.... even if he doesn't like the way I make coffee ;0)

More ice core sculptures, these have writings of Russian & Argentinean scientists.

Orphaned Works: Yep, there's more

2008-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Point:
An audio interview with illustrator Brad Holland.
"If you have never paid attention to copyright law, now is the time"

Counterpoint:
Lawrence Lessig on the U.S. Copyright Office Report on Orphan Works .

"I think this both goes too far, and not far enough."
Note that this refers to the Copyright Office Report; this video predates the 2008 bills. More on his blog here.

(Thanks for the link "Pseudonym")

More on the Orphaned Works Act of 2008

2008-05-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

I devote a certain amount of time each day to “research”. Its’ my attempt to stay informed about what is going on in the artworld. This week its ALL about the Orphaned Works Act. I can’t help it. I’m fascinated.

What is this about, really?

It’s been suggested that this all started in 2003 with a NYT op-ed piece by Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig (link here). Lessing contends that the Supreme Court decision to allow Congress to set the length of copyright protection “stifles freedom of expression by preventing the artistic and educational use even of content that no longer has any commercial value”. Lessing doesn’t seem to like the fact that there is a lot of artwork laying around out there that is not being “commercially exploited”. He also brings up the dilemma faced by museums and educational institutions when they want to produce an exhibit which includes sound or images with unknown copyright status. A possible solution he suggests is a database modeled after the US patent registry: Register each piece of artwork at $50 per entry. Registration must be renewed every 3 years*.

Eventually, Senators Leahy & Hatch requested a report from the Copyright office. The copyright office conducted a study and in 2006 released its 217 page report (get your free pdf here!). I’m only partially through it but so far it is very interesting.

The copyright office wanted to know if Orphaned Works was really a problem and if so, how much of a problem. They were pleased with public response: 850 statements were submitted. 722 of those were individuals; the remaining were aggregated comments from institutions/corporations. Later, a group was invited to a roundtable to discuss the issue. [just an observation:850 responses is all they could get? 850 is enough to alter national copyright laws?]

About the museums and educational institutions: These entities would like to display artwork and sounds of unknown copyright status. They would like to post their collection on the internet so that it is accessible to the public. They are willing to perform due diligence to find the copyright owner. In the event that the owner cannot be located, they would like to display the work anyway to educate the public and preserve our cultural heritage. Should a copyright owner surface and object to the usage of their work , these intuitions are perfectly willing to immediately remove the content. In return, they ask not to be sued. This seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable request, and shows respect for the creator. I have no problem with the request or the solution.

Now, what about commercial interests? Not surprisingly, it’s a little different and nowhere near as respectful:

“the proposal would limit the ability of the copyright owner to obtain full injunctive relief in cases where the user has transformed the orphan work into a derivative work like a motion picture or book, preserving the user’s ability to continue to exploit that derivative work. In all other cases, the court would be instructed to minimize the harm to the user that an injunction might impose, to protect the user’s interests in relying on the orphan works provision in making use of the work.” [U.S. Copyright Office Report on Orphan Works pp 11-12]

Boy, those users (vultures) sure are well protected. I wonder how many of the 850 respondents worked for Time Warner, or any other major studio?

Its the commercial usage that I strongly object to. Its that these bills not only open the doors but invite abuse. I dont have a problem with museums, libraries, researchers, art students (or any students), other artists etc. using the artworks as long as it is not for profit. But if the work is taken and reproduced for anothers profit, its theft. Period.

What about that database? Well, it turns out they looked into that as well and it will cost the Copyright Office upwards of $35 million. That’s kinda pricey for their budget right now so they don’t want to do it. Those 850 respondents were concerned about the search costs in finding copyright owners…. Maybe there is a solution on page 200 that doesn’t involve charging artists $50/image renewable every 3 years. I haven’t gotten to that page yet…

So there is a big push to get these two laws into effect quickly. Why? Well, its an election year. We get a brand new president (Yipeeeeeeee!!!) and with that brand new president comes changes. They don't want to risk possible changes to the Sub-Committee.

______________________________________________
* I came up with what I thought was a very high figure: $10/image in my post yesterday. Lessig has since changed his figure substantially. To be fair, his point is not to establish a price but to make copyright owners more active in maintaining their rights. I see too many holes in this method to agree.

Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008

2008-05-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

There's an old saying-- "You know a politician is lying if his lips are moving." I try to give them a tiny bit more credit. Not much but a little....

But the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my B.S. detectors go on high alert whenever a politician claims to be inspired to action because of a little old lady in [fill in the blank with vague out of the way location that implies humble origins....]

I'm a bit on the dorky side, so when I get emails that say 'this horrible bill is being introduced to Congress, we must stop it now....' I actually go find the bill and read it. If its a particularly amusing piece of legislature, I'll also try to find transcripts. The statements tend to be equal parts hyperbole, melodrama, and pompous posturing (even if they happen to have good intentions, I still find it amusing).

This is a particularly good one from Senator Leahy, in reference to the Shawn Bently Orphan Works act of 2008:

"In practical terms, then, what does this mean? It means that a woman in Vermont can restore a wedding photograph of her grandparents, even if she cannot locate the photographer to get permission to do so. It means that a library can display letters of American soldiers wrote during World War II, even if the library cannot contact the soldiers or their descendents. It means that museums can exhibit Depression-era photographs, even if they cannot determine the name of the photographer. "

Yes, please, lets talk about this in practical terms..... I would love to see the statistics on how many people have been threatened with copyright infringement for restoring personal family photos. While we're at it, how many have actually gone to trial, much less won?

Shouldn't these "concerned" Senators be working on something more important, like I don't know, something that is costing us a lot more money and actual lives... perhaps healthcare, or possibly a war? When a senator moves, its typically in response to money or an election (yes, I am being cynical but this is my soap box....). What lobbyist could possibly be interested in "Orphaned" works of art?

Whether or not the intent of the bill is to protect our "cultural heritage", the way it is written opens a massive loophole that I think is extremely harmful to artists.

Just for a moment, I'm going to put myself in the fantasyland of the authors. I'm going to pretend that this really is about that poor scared lady in Vermont who is afraid to fix grandma's torn wedding photo. I'm also going to suspend disbelief and pretend that a database of every piece of artwork by every artist in the United States is not only feasible but is easily searchable with keywords. I have a photo of my grandparents that was taken on their wedding day in 1930. I'm really worried that if I scan it and photoshop the tear out, the photographer will find out, be angry, and sue me. I think Ill use this handy government database to find the photographer and ask if it is ok to fix his damaged work of art. Hmmmmm... what keywords shall I use? "Grandma's wedding photo" oops, I got over 6,000,000,000,000 hits for that, maybe I should narrow it down. How about "White satin dress, black tuxedo, man standing, woman seated, wedding, 1930 " This should be easy, how many photos could possibly fit that description?

The reality: This opens a giant loophole. With this bill, it would now be legal to find a piece of artwork/logo/photo/whatever and use it for a book cover/t-shirt/movie prop/ coffee mug/whatever. All they have to do is "try" to find the artist when they presumably dont know the title of the work or the author. "can, red, white, label" Darn, didn't find it.... let me try this database.... don't see it! Guess that means its mine!! Andy Warhol's soup cans? Never heard of it.

A private enterprise will more than likely be enlisted to create the databases. Obviously they will charge for its use. Do they charge the artist or the user? Nothing personal, but now this is a business. The artist is a built in customer base with no choice in the matter if they want to protect their property. The artist will continue to create and thereby bring in more revenue. Let's say its $10/image. I'm a relatively young artist at the beginning of my career. Even so, I have a couple thousand paintings and drawings. Lets say I have 2,000. Thats about $20k. For a person to prove they have performed due diligence in finding an artist, they need to search two databases. The cost to protect my work just doubled (unless the government approves more than 2 databases....then it goes up). But hey, its worth it right? This will prevent someone from stealing my work (wave the magic wand that makes me forget that my work was already protected by law for free, without registering and with much stronger penalties for infringement).

By the way, who is Shawn Bentley anyway? Shawn Bentley worked with Senators Hatch and Leahy to author this bill. Sadly, Shawn Bentley passed away so they named the bill after him.

Very sad. So is it rude to ask? Seriously... who is this guy? He was a lobbyist for Time Warner.

If the authors were really concerned about protecting family photos and ensuring that museums and non-profits were able to "preserve our cultural heritage", I would think there would be more written in the bill specifically mentioning these issues.

Instead there is a lot written that insures that the onus is shifted from the copyright infringer to the copyright owner. It also takes away an artists right to define how their work is used after the infringer tries to find the artist.

Instead they provide a laughable definition of "Reasonable Compensation"

(4) REASONABLE COMPENSATION- The term `reasonable compensation' means, with respect to a claim for infringement, the amount on which a willing buyer and willing seller in the positions of the infringer and the owner of the infringed copyright would have agreed with respect to the infringing use of the work immediately before the infringement began.

A willing seller? What if I never would have sold my work to be used in that manner? There must be something in there to protect the creators of the original work right? Something to protect the integrity of the art?

Um... no actually:

`(1) MONETARY RELIEF-

`(A) GENERAL RULE- Subject to subparagraph (B), an award for monetary relief (including actual damages, statutory damages, costs, and attorney's fees) may not be made other than an order requiring the infringer to pay reasonable compensation to the legal or beneficial owner of the exclusive right under the infringed copyright for the use of the infringed work.

For added smoke and mirrors, there is a second, nearly identical bill as well. One is going to Congress, the other to the Senate. The devil is in the details, my friends....

The Bills:
Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008
Orphan Works Act of 2008

Want to say something about it?
write your senator and congressman, if you don't know who they are, you can look it up here:
Senators
Congressmen

Or there are some online petitions, here is one:
Illustrators Partnership

More info in case my rant wasn't enough already...
Articles/ Blogs:
Animation World magazine
BOP

[UPDATED:]
David Rhodes commencement speech.
Leahy is "disappointed" :o(

8/22:
Association of Research Libraries reports bill is stalled

Quantae

2008-05-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

6 x 8 oil on canvas board:

CAST!

2008-04-29T21:37:00.001-07:00

Last night I went down to the Mint to check out CAST! .The Mint has a great monday night scene-- with the added bonus of no cover charge. Loved it; CAST were absolutely fantastic. I'm really glad I went (almost didnt). I talked to Nick (bass) & Karma (drums) a little afterwards, both very cool guys.

I did a few little sketches while I was there and then today did quick paintings off the sketches. A nice little challenge... the paintings are mostly from memory so the likeness isn't there but I had fun with them (I wanted to play around with acrylic on paper.). The sketches are about 2" mostly looking to capture the gestures, the paintings are about 20 x 24",

Nick

Karma
(they had a great set up: I could actually see the drummer!)

Julian

When paintings go bad....

2008-04-29T16:36:00.001-07:00

I did these a month or so ago (maybe more). Underneath these paintings of 3 of the guys from Stampead are 3 landscapes that did not turn out as planned (they are euphemistically called "learning experiences" ). I dont like to throw out paintings so they get recycled/reused. Seems much more environmentally conscious than having a bonfire. So to make it fun for myself, I set up some "rules". In this case, 20 minutes each; no drawing on the canvas, no getting caught up in "likeness" and except for one accent color each, its all mud (all the left over paint on my palette from a previous painting mixed together) ... oh yeah, no paintbrushes either, just a palette knife 'cause I have a hard time painting with them. Yep thats what I do for fun..... But I really like the way they turned out. Much better than what's underneath them. Some of the landscapes show through; its probably most obvious in the bottom one.

Plagerism & Copyright Infringement

2008-04-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

The double edged sword of posting your work on the internet and making it accessible to anyone: on the one hand its a method to promote your work and to participate in community dialog; on the other, it leaves you open to theft of your work.

It happens often, to writers & artists whose work is taken to build websites, presumably with a goal of generating cash by using other peoples' work and names to entice traffic that turns a profit (advertising that pays by the number of hits to a site).

Some infringement is by people who don't know any better. Most is by people who convince themselves that there is a grey area* the size of the Sahara when it comes to "referencing", "borrowing from" or "paying homage to" an artist.

If the offender is in the U.S., there is a chance to do something about it. An example is House Industries, a font house whose illustrations were stolen and reproduced (I think it was on t-shirts or glasses). They found out (a lot of the scum bags think no one will notice) and sued. The happy ending is that up until that point, House was a couple of guys working out of an apartment. The settlement provided the cash flow that helped turn them into the successful company they are today.

Unfortunately, not everyone gets the happy ending. This morning I read about a blatant theft that even the most self delusional person could not convince themselves was "OK" or "in the grey area": a publisher took the interviews of Darren Di Lieto, along with the work of dozens of other artists from a website and published a book which is being sold for $100. The book even includes a CD of the artwork. Unfortunately, the publisher is in Hong Kong (presumably-- the contact info on their site is fake).

Scumbags.

More info:
Some artists whose work was stolen by Azurebook's Colorful Illustrations 93°C:
Luc Latulippe
Jeff Miracola

*The "grey area" is actually a three part calculation:

Can I make money off of this?
What are the odds of the artist finding out?
Can the artist afford to hire an attorney to come after me?

What is art?

2008-04-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Some great quotes/references:

"I love it the fact that theres that Elephant at the zoo painting..."
"Now the monkey that throws poo, hes making art...cause he's living in the experience" (gotta admit Im unfamiliar with this one)
"The gorilla* don't know what he's doing. That's a monkey painting, dude."
"Some of that modern art sometimes getting waaaay out of context man, they trying to push the limit, trying to be the next Van Gogh or whatever..."
"I hate how people don't think that Dogs playing poker is high art..."
"It's Pop Art, isn't it?"
"Just because you say its art doesnt mean its art. For instance, in central park? that moron with the flags? That was not art."
"Look at that painting on our wall over there, by Jackson Pollock**" -"It's hideous!"
"My biggest pet peave in the whole world, is dolphin art I reeeeaaaaaly don't like that...."
"Oh!, Who's the guy on TV? Hi, the happy squirrel, lets make some happy clouds, we're gonna get the big fanning brush...."
"I think modern 20th century art, if you don't discuss comic books, you're just a snob or a fool."
"My face looks kinda lika a Picasso ..."
(this clip of Picasso painting is in French but you dont need a translation...deal with it)
"I consider ballet or interpretive dance, ala Matha Graham or something like that, yeah, that's artistic..." (and a cut off video)

*much was made about the subsequent auction....and sale prices)
** a fun site where you can (Make your own art)

More Chantry Flats...

2008-04-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

(along the stream)

Sturtevant Falls

view from the cabin

the cabin (Thanks Greg! ;o)

Chantry Flats

2008-04-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine lent me his cabin up in Chantry Flats; a few sketches:

Brewery Artwalk

2008-04-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

The Brewery Artwalk is this
Saturday and Sunday, April 5 & 6th, 11AM - 6PM.
642 Moulton Ave. # E26, Los Angeles, CA
(directions to the loft are on my website: www.antrese.com)

The Brewery is the largest Artists colony in Los Angeles. Twice a year, the Brewery opens its doors to the public, and yes, its that time again. I will be showing with Chris Tellez and Daniel Brooks. Please come by, and say hello!

More Musicians

2008-03-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I got to hang out with the band Stampead at their studio while they rehearsed for their next album. Very cool guys and it was really nice of them to be so accommodating; especially considering they were only a few days away from going into recording. Thanks to Jill for setting it up.

A few sketches:

Judd

Sean

Ivan

Sean

Eric

And a Good Time was had by all (I Hope!)

2008-02-12T22:03:00.001-08:00

Four Lovely Ladies....

With Rene, Gale's husband:

I'm not sure I ever made it over to the food...

Jim with the "girls"

Whatever I'm saying I'm sure its very enlightening & quite profound...

The artist with mom & two very dear friends...

Opening Night at Gale's

2008-02-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

There was a fantastic turn-out tonight at Gale's. It was a lot of fun & great to meet so many new & interesting people. I even got to catch up a little with some old friends I hadn't seen in a while (wish I had more time to talk).

Thank you all for taking the time to come out to see my work, I know many of you drove far to get there. To those of you who purchased pieces, I am very happy to know that my paintings have a good home. I am humbled by the compliments I received and very grateful for your support. I hope you enjoyed the show!

My friend Brian played the part of the "official" photographer-- I'll post some photos soon.

I could not have pulled this off without the help of others and for that I owe thanks. To Jim and Fernanda for recommending my work & introducing me to Gale; to Gale and Rene for providing a wonderful space and incredible food; to the "girls" for framing, hauling, hanging, etc. lots of pep talks and the occasional (much needed) kick in the butt. To mom for a lifetime of love and support as well as a stunningly beautiful bouquet of flowers.

The show will be up through March 21. I will be by in the next few days to add some more paintings to replace the ones that sold, so if you couldn't make it tonight and want to pop by later, you will still see a full show.

Get out and VOTE!

2008-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love this time in our political process. Even if I'm disappointed by the results, I still get very excited about the prospect of change.

I refrain from using this blog to spout off on politics/current events. Not because I don't have an opinion or don't pay attention (SO not true) but there are enough political blogs out there and I'd much rather debate people in person. Its a lot more fun (I get to watch your face turn red and wonder if the vein on your forehead could, in fact, pop....).

I will say this though: If you are in a state that is holding its primary elections today-- GET OUT AND VOTE! (please).

Think of it this way: By not voting you renounce your right to complain. No complaining for 4 (actually closer to 5) years.

Especially in front of me. If you do, regardless of where we are, I will cover my ears and sing la la la la--very loudly. Trust me, no one wants that. There's a reason I'm a painter and not a singer. Its not pretty.

So please... vote.

Hanging the Show

2008-01-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I hung my show over at Gale's Restaurant in Pasadena. I have to admit it feels really good to have it done and not hanging over my head anymore. Now I can relax and enjoy it. I ended up with 40 pieces in the show. Yeah. 40.

A few lessons learned/ observations about this whole process just in case you ever need to hang a show. Especially if you need to finish in two hours:

If a friend calls to ask if you need help framing before a show... do not say "no". Do not try to talk her out of it.
Its really good to have friends who know you better than you know yourself. That way, if you do say "no, I think it will be fine" they know to say "yeah well, I don't have anything to do on Thursday, how about I just come over and hang out anyway?"*
While I worked at Disney, a colleague or two (O.K. fine, more like 10 or 20) opined that I can be quite...um..."detail oriented" or "thorough", I think is the polite way to say it**. I am much much worse when it comes to my own work. Occasionally this is a good thing.
Be "thorough": swing by the place to photograph the rooms and each wall. Those photos will really come in handy later.
Embrace your "detail oriented" nature: Lay out all of your paintings on the floor-- arrange and rearrange them to your hearts delight.
Laugh at the fact that you've been stressing about not having enough paintings and now have to cut 10 or so out.
Since you've already embraced your "detail oriented-ness", go the extra mile and use your favorite software program to draw a map of each wall, where each painting goes and label it.
Put post- it notes on the outside of each carefully wrapped painting with numbers corresponding to your map (you have SO embraced that detail-oriented nature!).
Box up the paintings according to each wall.
Day before the hanging: Call the place to confirm when you can start hanging and when you need to finish. If the finish time is much less than you expected, call friend #2 and ask for help.
When friend #3 comes by to help the night before the show, do not get cocky and think that you are almost done (after all, you only have to make the labels) so lets sit on the front porch with a bottle of wine and gab for two (maybe three) hours.
Do not leave the naming of the paintings to the night before you have to hang the show. This is a really dumb idea. This makes the whole labeling process take much longer.
Triple check that all your paintings are, in fact, signed and that the signature still shows after you have framed it.
That careful wrapping and boxing of your paintings? Do it after you have named and checked the paintings for signatures.....
Be grateful that friend #3 had such a stressful week at work doing strategic planning and all sorts of left brain activities that staying up until 5:30AM with you getting an art show together is actually fun to her†.
Be grateful that friend #2 is a morning person and is always on time, as she will be the only coherent person at the hanging. ††
When all is said and done, take your friends' advice, step back and be proud of what you've accomplished.

* Thank you Kelly!

**After researching the answer to a technical problem and then calling the developer to report my findings, the developer exclaimed "Jesus, Joseph and Mary!! You are so... thorough!!!" Aside from the incongruity of hearing that from a Buddhist, I had never heard anyone use the term "Jesus Joseph and Mary" in real life; so whatever she was trying to tell me was completely drowned out by my subsequent laughter. Anyway, she was right.

†This is where I would say thank you Natalia, if I hadn't already promised to stop thanking her. So I am NOT using this opportunity to thank Natalia.

†† Thanks Jeannie!!

Road to Nowhere

2008-01-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

More Thick Paint

2008-01-25T00:02:00.000-08:00

Landscapes

2008-01-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

I've been having a lot of fun with my landscape painting lately: using a lot more paint and much bigger brushes. I've been trying to lay a brushstroke down and leave it; to loosen up & resist the temptation to go back in and "fix" stuff.

I really like the way this one turned out:

(click images to enlarge)

Dwight Harmon

2008-01-20T02:28:00.000-08:00

Strange how random things will trigger a memory & make you think about someone.

I just framed the piece below for a show I'm hanging on Saturday. As I was pulling off the plastic that protects the plexiglass, I remembered that Dwight loved that stuff. I couldn't remember exactly why but I remember him being absolutely giddy about it. It was a long time ago.

Dwight was one of my teachers at Art Center. He was one of my favorite instructors and had the best sense of humor by far. In a nutshell, Dwight's thing was getting students to experiment, have fun and hopefully make some really cool art (that's a very simplistic summary). He was killed a few years after I graduated (murdered, actually, but I won't talk about that or the rat bastards who did it). I just haven't thought about him in a while so it was a strange sensation to be ripping plastic off a sheet of plexiglass, thinking about all the things I need to finish when suddenly Dwight pops into my head.

Just about every available surface in my house is covered with paintings in various states of "almost" ready to be framed. While I waited for the varnish to dry on a few of them, I decided to do some surface prep in case I have time to knock out a few more before Saturday. I grabbed the plastic out of the trash to protect my kitchen table, then slathered on a few good coats of acrylic medium onto my painting surface. After it dried, I picked up the piece. Thats when I remembered why Dwight loved that stuff so much. Acrylic wont stick to it. It just slides right off .

Dwight used to pour acrylic over the plastic, swirl it around, draw in it with the back end of a paintbrush, his fingers, or whatever else was lying around. After it was dry, he'd throw another layer on and play around with different pigments adjusting the opacity with gloss medium. When he was finished, and it had dried, he would peel it off and have a painting without a "surface". With a huge smile, he would hold it up for everyone to see. "LOOK AT THIS! This stuff is amazing!"

Just the thought of that cherubic face and his gleeful smile made me laugh.

So Dwight, wherever you are, we still think about you, we still love you, we still miss you...and you still make me laugh.

1/20: a new painting...

2008-01-20T01:10:00.000-08:00

Nude Study

2008-01-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

I've been going through my paintings & found this one. I did it a few months ago (October?) and had forgotten about it. I was working fast that day; I did a few portraits and then decided to do a quick full figure before I had to leave. This was two sittings, so probably about 40 minutes.

A few more paintings:

2008-01-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

2 from Utah and another from Bariloche

Happy New Years!

2007-12-31T19:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New year everyone! I hope this year is filled with love, laughter and many many adventures.

I just want to say thank you to my family and friends (old and new) for your love and support. I could not do what I do, or be who I am without you.

Cheers!
-A

Tongva Peak

2007-12-28T20:22:00.000-08:00

I hiked up to the top of the Verdugo Mountains this afternoon and did a sketch. I learned today that the peak I like to go to has a name: Tongva Peak, after the Native American tribe who lived here before we did. Tongva means "people of the earth".

Its an incredible view of the city from up there. I could see traffic backing up on the 5 freeway. I always wonder where everyone is going and if they had a good day. I could pick out my street but not my house. Its somewhere in the lower right quadrant. To the left of where I was sitting is a radio tower. At night I can see its red light blinking from my front window.

Just because I like it-

2007-12-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

I especially love the little bug that holds up a flame to the guitar playing birds. So very "Free Bird" (no pun intended...)

The song by the way, is "A Chinese Translation" by M.Ward

Vamos a Carlos Paz

2007-12-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

This is Paz. She's 2. Paz has a great sense of humor:

On the way back from La Cumbrecita, a beautiful little German town outside of Carlos Paz (where we stayed for our first week in Argentina), Paz (one of the cutest, sweetest, most adorable, little kids Ive ever had the pleasure of spending hours in the car with) asked someone in the car (I honestly don't remember who, it seemed such an innocent question at the time) A donde vamos? Someone answered: Carlos Paz. I'm guessing Paz liked that answer because for the next 45 minutes, like a broken record in the back of the car we heard....

-Vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, -(Brian, at least, had his headphones and an ipod.)- vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, -(why why why did I leave mine at the house????)- vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz... vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz, vamos a Carlos Paz.

I did what any mature adult would do: I laughed at her and occasionally asked A donde vamos? Which Im positively sure did absolutely nothing to encourage her.

Eventually, she fell asleep, woke up briefly and picked right back up again and then finally passed out completely until we got home.

She did the same thing on the way to Cordoba and again on the way back into Bariloche after our boat trip (she is a very smart girl so clearly, she knows to say Vamos a Cordaba and Vamos a Bariloche) but she fell asleep sooner so it didn't have the same impact.

Natalia swears that she only did this when I was in the car. But as everyone knows-- Natalia is a compulsive liar so its not wise to take her word on that.

All the same, just to be safe, its probably not a good idea to put me in the back seat with your 2 year old.

Bariloche Paintings

2007-12-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays...

Here are a few oils I did while in Bariloche. The first two were at a spot Guille took us to for a picnic. The third one was a day or two later. I took the car and found a great little spot in an area we hadn't been to yet. I hiked up a trail and found a rock overlooking the lake. It was a fabulous spot until the wind picked up. That's when I realized picking a painting spot is a bit like picking a spot to pitch your tent: an exposed rock with no windbreak isn't the brightest idea in the world. The wind did add an extra challenge to the painting process: I had to hold on to my paint box to keep it from blowing away. The good thing was that it kept me from spending too long on the painting. Im still picking out tiny rocks and dirt from the thicker parts of the painting.

From the beach:

Maddie, Kelly, Morgan & Stu:

View from a rock:

Home for Christmas

2007-12-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

I went to the Glendale Galleria this weekend. The weekend before Christmas. If that is not culture shock, Im not sure what is. I think it has been years since Ive gone near a mall between Thanksgiving and... the end of January (just to be safe). That I went at all is a testament to just how much I love my brother.

I'm not a good shopper at least not in the good ol' American support the economy, shop 'til you drop sense. I'm either a marketer's dream come true or their worst nightmare. Typically I know exactly what I want, what size and what color. This is why I love internet shopping. I don't have the patience to wander aimlessly through a mall hoping for inspiration. Seriously-- within 15 minutes Im ready to jump out of a window.

If for whatever reason I can't get what I want on the internet (leaving the country for a few weeks before Christmas and not having enough time left for shipping), I will go in... to an actual store. Its a carefully calculated move: where I park (in this case, -7 blocks away), which door I go in, what side of the aisle I walk down, which escalator I take...its all thought out to get me in and out as quickly as possible without causing any casualties. I make a bullseye for the shelf, find what I want, go straight to the register, pay and get out.

So the Glendale Galleria the weekend before Christmas? An absolute madhouse. Its a big mall. The walkways are plenty wide. The economists should be elated because it was completely packed. I had to squeeze through all the people. I think driving in Argentina left me better equipped to navigate the mall.

Nothing too surprising at the mall: the stores are doing everything they can to get you to spend money. When it comes down to it, the people really are just trying to make someone else happy. That's all fine and dandy. The one thing I did notice that surprised me-- people bringing their dogs to the mall?! When did that start and why why why?? Especially this weekend?! And if you HAVE to do it, why not carry the dog? I almost squashed a little chihuahua because the owner had it on a retractable leash and was letting it wander through the crowd. I don't get it.

Bariloche

2007-12-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

We spent about a week in Bariloche with Guille, Sofi and Paz. Sofi's parents let us stay in their apartment there. Bariloche is a ski/ resort town in southern Argentina. The apartment window looks out over the lake, two of the sketches I did from the kitchen table. Guille took us to the other side of the lake to a gorgeous campsite. Natalia, Sofi and Guille actually met there on a camping trip way back when (high school, I think). I stayed back on the beach to sketch while most everyone else hiked up to see the waterfalls. Later in the week we went on a boat tour of the lake and did some fishing but I didn't paint that day (kinda hard on a boat....).

From the kitchen window:

Down the street:

On the other side of the lake:

Missed a good article in the LA times...

2007-12-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

Christopher Knight wrote an article a few weeks ago in the LA Times about the "death" of painting and the LA art scene:

Link: "Painting gets a broader brush"

Amen, brother!

Sketches...

2007-12-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

Argentina part 1

2007-12-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

OK, so as usual, Argentina is fantastic. The first week we spent in Cordoba, mostly meeting Natys friends and hanging out. Then there was the wedding. Very different from weddings in the US. We left "early" at 5:30AM. We are in Buenos Aires now, until tomorrow, and then on to Bariloche.

So some highlights--

Food! We´ve had many Asados which is basically a lot of meat. Its true that the meat we eat in the u.s. does not compare.

Painting: not much to say there. I didnt want to paint the first few days because we had so many plans. then my back went out. That was pretty bad. good news is i spent several days by the pool, had several massages and even got to experience a chiropractor here (miracle worker). So alls well now but there were a few days that didnt go as planned....

more later ´cause im late but Im having an incredibly good time!

Life is Good...

2007-11-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

I can't understand where November went. A friend mentioned that my blog hasn't been updated lately. I just now realized the last entry was 3 weeks ago. How does that happen? I tend to blog more when Im on the road which makes no sense on one level (much easier at home where a computer is readily available) but all the sense in the world from another: my daily life isnt that exciting. Wake up, drink coffee, sit on couch and look at painting, think think think, realize painting wont paint itself- get off butt, paint paint paint... wonder what that grumbling noise is... realize coffee isnt really breakfast (yes, Its a daily epiphany) eat lunch 'cause its already past 2 (what?!?).... sit on couch, stare at painting.... glare at painting if I dont like it.....think think think.....paint paint paint..... sleep. You can copy/paste that in for the first half of the month. The second half of the month there was more thinking than painting (and many other finely honed procrastination techniques). My attention span evaporated. I blame it on the holidays and the fact that I'm leaving tomorrow for Argentina. Something Ive been very very excited about.

Oh wait--- I did take a mini road trip to Utah. I passed through Nevada and came to the firm conclusion that I really don't like it. I admit I don't know the state well. The little time I've spent in Nevada has been in Las Vegas. I can handle Vegas in small doses (maybe once a year... maybe.. but not for more than 24 hours and I have to be in exactly the right mood). I had always assumed that outside of Vegas, Nevada must be very nice so I was looking forward to finding a more interesting part of the state. It actually got worse. It made Vegas looks like Disneyland. Something about that place makes my skin crawl. I got really creeped out (this from the girl who has no problem sleeping in her car on a deserted road) and decided to keep driving rather than get a hotel room (yeah... wouldn't even sleep in a hotel there). It possibly had something to do with the really creepy couple who pulled their car next to mine in a parking lot a few hours outside of Vegas. They started yelling for my attention-- both my windows and their windows were closed...(which makes me wonder... why didn't they at least open theirs?). So I pretended not to notice and left.

Anyway, I was very excited to see the Arizona state line. I ended up in Zion NP in Utah and painted there. Zion is gorgeous. As an added bonus, you don't have that creepy feeling that you are being watched by everyone and that one of them is going to chop you up into little pieces and feed you to their genetically enhanced goldfish. Maybe I'm just more comfortable around slightly buzzed rock climbers who haven't showered in a day or two because they're camping, as opposed to really drunk bulgy eyed gamblers who haven't showered in weeks because...uh... they couldn't leave the table? Sorry if you're from NV--- no offense intended.... maybe the northern part of the state is nicer? Maybe I passed through on an off day? I'm sure the rest of the state is beautiful.

So.... Argentina. Tomorrow. I'll be traveling which means I will blog more than once a month. Stay tuned. Be good while Im away.

Claremont Museum of Art: Velocity 2007

2007-11-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

The Claremont Museum of Art is hosting Velocity 2007 this coming weekend. I was honored to be invited to contribute a piece to the museum's fundraising event. This event is dedicated to the work and vision of Milford Zornes who will be celebrating his 100th birthday on January 25th.

Velocity 2007 is a contemporary art auction to benefit the new museum in Claremont:

Auction Preview:
Friday, November 16, 2007
6:00 PM-8:00 PM

Art Auction and Reception:
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Silent auction and reception: 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Live auction 8:30 to 10 p.m.
Guests will enjoy hors d’ oeuvres by Three Forks Restaurant and a hosted bar throughout the evening. Music will feature the sounds of Refugio Latin Jazz Trio.

Attendees will also be engaged with Fotoaktion, an interactive photography project by San Diego-based artist Perry Vasquez. With Fotoaktion, Vasquez bring the props, costumes, lights, and camera, and event attendees dress up and trip their own photo.

Auction Tickets:
$100 per person
Special High Speed package: $1,000 (includes six tickets, free membership, and other benefits)

Tickets and Contact:
Evonne Gallardo, Director of Development, Telephone: (909) 621-3200 ext. 103
Email: info@claremontmuseum.org

PANEL DISCUSSION ON COLLECTING ART
Join William Moreno, Executive Director, Pilar Tompkins, Curator and Mike Verbal of Claremont Fine Art
for a discussion on approaches to collecting art
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
6:00 PM-8 PM
General Admission: $5.00
Members: Free

ALL EVENTS TAKE PLACE AT
The Claremont Museum of Art
536 West First Street (at Indian Hill)
Claremont, CA 91711

downtown sketches

2007-10-27T23:16:00.001-07:00

Ive been working on a new project which has kept me "in the cave" as my neighbors call it when they don't see me for days on end. The cave is bad for my sanity so Im making a point to get out at least a little bit everyday. Sketchbooks are good for that...

Violin Player

2007-10-03T10:41:00.001-07:00

More Bar Scenes...

2007-10-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

No Entry

2007-09-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

Bar Scenes

2007-09-30T20:59:00.001-07:00

A few small paintings I did for this weekend:

6 X 8 oil on canvas board

J.C. Leyendecker at the Fullerton Museum Center

2007-09-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

Drop what you are doing and go see this!!

Fullerton Museum Center
301 N. Pomona Ave.
Fullerton CA

Exhibition runs until Nov. 18th.

A traveling exhibition of 50 J.C. Leyendecker pieces is on display at the Fullerton Museum Center! The exhibition originated at Stockton's Haggin Museum last year. I was in the Bay Area for a friend's wedding and was fortunately able to convince my friend Dan to drive me all the way out to Stockton to see it. It may have been out of curiosity after hearing me rant and rave over the years about Leyendecker or it may have been self preservation (knowing that I would have begged, pleaded, poked and prodded or otherwise made myself enough of a nuisance so that it was just easier just to go to Stockton) but he drove me out there on New Years Eve day to see the work of one of my heroes on the very last day of the show (for which I will be forever grateful!). It was the first time Id seen his work in person and it is, of course, 1,000 times better than print.

One of my most cherished possessions is an out of print book of his work (J.C. Leyendecker by Michael Schau). I first saw Leyendecker's work in college. An instructor brought in a black and white xeroxed copy of the book. He offered to divvy up the xerox to any students who wanted it. No one came forward so I asked, and he gave me the whole notebook. It took me 10 years to find a copy of the real thing--in COLOR (thank god for Al Gore and his invention of the internet...).

Leyendecker preceded Norman Rockwell as illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post. He was an intensely private person so records of his personal life are virtually non-existent. Best known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, Leyendecker also created the "Arrow Collar Man" for Cluett, Peabody advertising. To give you an idea of how incredibly popular he and his illustrations were, in a single month during the early 1920's the firm received 17,000 fan letters that included marriage proposals for the "Arrow Collar Man". Think about it: a fictitious character received more fan mail than Rudolph Valentino
(this is according to Schau).

Legend has it that a young Rockwell would wait outside the station just to see Leyendecker get off the train. As an homage to Leyendecker (again, according to "legend"-- Rockwell fans dispute this), Rockwell stopped one short of Leyendecker's 322 covers.

For each cover, Leyendecker was paid somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000. I'm not sure what that translates to in today’s dollars but for the early 1900's he was extremely well paid. According to my history of Illustration instructor (I only remember this because I thought it was so funny), Leyendecker believed he should spend more than he made: being hungry is good-- it keeps you from being lazy. By the time he died in the 50s, he was broke and all his fans had forgotten him (ouch!). His work was auctioned off, given away or otherwise disbursed to the winds.

Which is why, I think, he is so criminally unrecognized as one of the most phenomenal draughtsman/illustrator/ artists of the 20th century. And why its so incredible to see a collection of his work. So incredible that you should drop what you are doing and go see this show.

Busker

2007-09-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

still have bits and pieces to clean up

Huell Howser at Art Loft 205

2007-09-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

Huell Howser filmed a show highlighting the Claremont Packing House and spoke with the folks at Art Loft 205. The show aired on Friday and will be re-broadcast tonight (Sunday). I missed the Friday airing but rumor has it my work can be seen behind curator Michael Knott during the interview (I got a message from the gallery today with the news). I think the show airs at 6 on PBS.... let me know if you see it!

OK, I'll out myself: I don't have a TV so I'll just have to rely on someone else to watch it and/or tape it for me.

An L.A. Day

2007-09-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

I met Jose Luis this morning at Self Help Graphics. From the get go I was struck by how far away from the corporate world I am. After staying up most of the night painting, I was typically slow this morning and didn’t leave my house until 10:20. I was supposed to meet him at 10:30. Even on a good traffic day it takes more than 10 minutes to get from my house to East L.A. I called him to apologize and tell him I was late, forgetting that I was meeting another artist. He was in Elysian Park picking up some equipment and not ready to leave yet. Phew!

Turns out they were filming a documentary on Self Help Graphics. Not only did I get to meet some of the artists there, I got a crash course on linoleum prints, monoprints, and got to see some of the collaborative pieces they were putting together for an up coming show. All very cool.

In hindsight, it seems inevitable that I would jump in and help on the shooting. And I really did try very hard to keep my mouth shut and just plug in cables, make sure nobody tripped over anything... fill in whatever holes were left open but you know... its me so.... I gave some tiny little suggestions on camera angles and then um.. maybe one or two art direction type suggestions. Shocking you say?! Well it gets worse...

Alex (with a Russian sounding last name that admittedly I cant remember and wouldn’t be able to spell even if I did...) was being interviewed for the current show he had curated: a commemoration of the founder, Sister Karen and a remembrance on the 10-year anniversary of her death. He didn’t feel too comfortable talking to the camera so I sat down in front of the camera (out of view) so he could have a human face to talk to. Well... I kind of got very engrossed in what he was talking about and sort of kind of forgot where I was and to my horror ... asked a question (ever open your mouth and realize as the words are coming out that maybe just maybe you shouldn’t be asking questions when someone you really don’t know all that well is FILMING?! but the microphone had already picked up my voice and there was nothing left to do but make an "oh crap I’m SO sorry" face and finish the question and then quickly look up at Jose Luis who was standing above me with the camera and hope that he wasn’t about to knock me senseless). I admit that I was out of line and it definitely was not my place but it did spark an interesting conversation that Ophelia (another artist) joined in on so hopefully I didn’t ruin anything. I don’t think I did because they invited me back. Besides, no one suggested duct tape to keep my mouth shut (I take that as a good sign) and when Ophelia was interviewed Jose Luis encouraged me to participate.

In both interviews, Ophelia and Alex were brought to tears talking about Sister Karen. If I had to boil it down to the essence I think the thing this woman gave them that still touches them so deeply today is hope. A simple thing that is so easy to underestimate yet powerful enough to elicit that response ten years after her death. She believed in them as human beings and as artists and devoted her life to encouraging their work and ensuring they had a safe place to express themselves.

Afterwards, Jose Luis took me to his favorite street vendor for freshly made blue corn quesadillas filled with a mushroom that grows on corn (again-- I don’t remember the name...) with a side of cactus and Mexican soft drinks. Another very L.A. experience sharing a meal with random people on the street. I loved it!

Finally, I got shanghaied into going to an L.A. city commissioners meeting on Olvera St. This is where I had major flashbacks of the worst Disney production meetings. The point of this part of the agenda was to approve the project to save a Siqueiros mural. They did that within the first 3 minutes (it should be noted that this project has been on the table for 6-7 years). Then they debated whether or not to add a paragraph thanking the people who volunteered their expertise in crafting the proposal. At issue was the wording: should we call them "volunteers" (some felt that word minimized their contribution) or "contractors" (but they weren’t paid and "Contractor" implies pay and is this ethical?....) or maybe "volunteer contractors". As they spent an excruciatingly long time discussing the thank you paragraph, I checked my voice mail and email, surfed the web a bit on my phone, googled the commissioners, day-dreamed, possibly took a nap, and came up with a pretty good plan for world peace. Wish I could remember what that was....

Street Musician

2007-09-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is a 30 X 40" rough lay in of my next piece. I do plan on giving him feet--never fear...

My Neighbor just dropped by with a friend of his who is extrordinarily dialed into the Latino art scene here in LA. He rattled off about 15 - 20 artists of which I knew of exactly one. In my defense-- while it is very possible I flat out dont know of these artists, it is also quite possible that I do in fact know their work and yet my brain cells simply refuse to cooperate by putting 2 and 2 together. I blame it on the paint fumes if that is the case... that and Ive never been good at recalling names.

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting him to see a show at the Self Help Graphics Gallery before it gets taken down. Im going to get edjumacated on the history of Latino Art in LA. I am very very excited about this! I love it when random people drop by my house!!

Almost done with this one!

2007-09-11T12:54:00.001-07:00

Soooo Close. Its that last 10% that takes up so much time....

Currently working on...

2007-09-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

Something else I miss about having a job.

2007-08-30T01:22:00.000-07:00

In addition to health insurance, I miss air-conditioning.

Its past 1AM and the thermostat in my un-airconditioned house has finally dropped to 85 degrees. At 10pm it was around 90. I refuse to look at it during the day. I dont know why I decided to keep an eye on it this evening. Its irrelevant, I already know its hot. Its supposed to be over a 100 for the next few days--probably longer. Im fine in the morning but by noon its uncomfortable and by 3 its ridiculous. Needless to say, I'm having a hard time concentrating on my painting. Frankly, Im having a hard time even getting off the couch. I try to put things in perspective by thinking about people in the desert, or people in the south where its hot AND humid. That hasn't helped.

At about 10pm I decided I could finally focus and paint for more than 10 minutes at a time. At midnight I put on a pot of coffee, threw all my ice in the blender and made my own frosty frappucino concoction. Seems perfectly reasonable to me that if its too hot to work in the day, I should just stay up all night and sleep through the heat. So yes, I drank the whole thing. Between working at night and going to "Camp Jeannie" (My friend Jeannie lives by the beach and naively offered me her studio & couch if it gets too hot up here) I should be able to function for the next two months.

I am very grateful not to have roomates. I am very grateful to have a friend & fellow painter who lives at the beach.

Hive Opening this Sat. Sept 1

2007-08-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

One of my Trucker portraits will be in the Hive group show this month:
Opening: September 1st 8-12:30AM $7 at door
from Sept.1st to Sept.30th
729 S. Spring St.
LA, CA 90014
www.thehivegallery.com.

Also, Los Angeles Downtown Art Walk is Thursday Sept 13th 12- 9pm. They have a handy shuttle to take you around to the various galleries which makes the whole artwalk experience a little nicer and easier to see all the galleries.
click here for map, more info & list of participating galleries.

August 18- Get out of the house!

2007-08-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

YAY! More Shameless Plugs!!

I know I just got home but already Im itching to get out of the house. It has a lot to do with the fact that I dont have air conditioning and its been in the mid 90's here in LALA land. I'm not good in the heat.

Two fabulously talented friends will be performing this Saturday August 18. These are separate events which will be quite different from each other but both very cool.

1) Wanna Camcam (she is also a very talented visual artist--we shared a space at the Brewery artwalk in April) will be performing with Francis Awe and the Nigerian Talking Drum ensemble. They're doing a performance, and a drumming and dancing workshop. It's early in the day, but if you wanted to learn some moves or just watch the shaking, now is the time.

Ford Amphitheatre
August 18th, 10AM.

Bring the kids--- they'll love it (Plus they get in free!). Adults $5

2) "Dr. Charles J. Maxey" will be performing with the Lunar Project (myspace page)

August 18 @ 8pm
OCCCA
117 North Sycamore
Santa Ana CA

Its Funky space agey--- I dont know really how to describe it but its cool! Its an experimental jazz influenced ambient music/video performance thing.

Maybe get a babysitter for this one.....

Worst place to play Fetch- EVER!

2007-08-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I backed up all of the photos I took on this trip to my hard drive. Slightly more than 500 files were transfered. I won't torture you with a slideshow but I will share a few of my favorites, starting with this one:

And if the dog jumping off the cliff is still somehow unclear, the bottom of the sign reads "Put your dog back in the vehicle!"

You know meetings were held to determine the best design. An artist probably had to draft several versions.(I would LOVE to see them!) I especially like the birds flying by. Its a nice touch and a subtle reminder that birds fly; dogs don't. ... and by the way, you are really high up.

Home Sweet Home

2007-08-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Got a little bit of mail while I was gone....

homeward bound

2007-08-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

headed to bend today...taking the long way there!

A few shameless plugs

2007-08-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

1- Last Tuesday I went and saw my friend Joe McMurrian and his band play some mighty fine blues at the White Eagle here in Portland. I managed to make it through the night this time without losing my car. Joe and his band are outstanding especially live. If you are anywhere near Portland, you have a pulse, and a penchant for good Blues, you must go see them play (they're there every Tuesday). If you can't see them live, you can get their CD through his website: JoeMcMurrian.com

2- My friend Mike partnered with Digital Steamworks and Kevin Kallaugher (aka KAL, the Economist’s editorial cartoonist) on a tech demo: Dancing Dubya (on YouTube)

Falling out here, Boss...

2007-08-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

The other day I took Oxford (Ken’s dog) for a walk down the street that runs on the back side of the studio. I had been completely engrossed in a painting so I was in that state of mind where I’m hyper aware of anything painting related but oblivious to all else. I may notice things but if they aren’t related to the painting, it just doesn’t click.

Because I’m working on the trucker series, I immediately noticed the way the roads intersected across the field bordering the complex; that the afternoon light would be hitting it soon and that there were a lot of trucks moving along the road and onto the I-84 onramp. With my zoom lens I’d be able to get some good shots. The sun was behind me, so I kept turning around to see where it hit the trees and figuring how long before it was likely to make the trucks coming down the road look extra cool. I noticed, but immediately dismissed, the large parking lot on the opposite side of the road, the remaining warehouse buildings… and the group of guys (all dressed in orange shirts) sitting in the shade of the building clearly waiting for something.

I let Oxford run around in the field for a while and then went back to the studio for my camera. I’m getting great shots of trucks coming on and off the freeway with the field in between. I’m still looking behind me to see where the sun is hitting and where its likely to go. The guys in the orange shirts are now watching my every move. It vaguely occurs to me that they might be thinking I keep looking in that direction because I’m looking at them but I’m so focused on the trucks that the thought barely makes a blip.

A truck pulls into that parking lot and the guys jump up and start loading. The light is now that perfect golden light just before sunset. The driver’s got one of those Australian leather cowboyish hats and its too much for me to resist so I start taking photos of them. The guys notice and really start hamming it up. I think, wow, these guys don’t’ get out much….

I’m far away but my lens is really good so I’m zooming in and getting some great shots. The security guard (or so I thought) starts walking over to me. As he gets closer, I realize it’s a sheriff. This doesn’t particularly surprise or alarm me because in LA with the movie industry and all, its fairly common for a cop to be around big trucks as they’re loaded up with props and such. He starts chatting with me and makes a joke about my disruptive presence. I ask if its ok that I’m taking photos, and he says the guys don’t seem to mind. We chit chat as I’m snapping away, the guys are still loading but clowning around for the camera. I’m zoomed in but looking at composition, the light, etc but ignoring small details. Like what is printed on their shirts and caps. I zoom in even closer and FINALLY it registers: printed on each and every one of their shirts: Marion County Sheriff’s Inmate Work Crew.

I’m nothing if not observant… and I was right, they don’t get out much.

one more...

2007-08-04T13:58:00.001-07:00

Truckers and Truckstops

2007-08-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

Troutdale is a heavily used truck stop. There are trucks and truckers everywhere. Seemed a no- brainer to do a series. I used to wait tables in college at a diner frequented by truckers. From that experience I knew that while they can be gruff sometimes (I know I would be cranky after 14 days of driving), they are typically good people; they’ve got plenty of hilarious stories and more importantly (at that time at least) across the board they were the best tippers. All things being equal, I’d pick the trucker tables over the business lunch crowd any day. Regardless, the idea of hanging out at a truck stop talking truckers into letting me take a photo to do a painting off of was a little intimidating. Actually, to be honest, the idea scared the hell out of me.

I talked to my friend Cliff who tried to help me analyze exactly what I was afraid of. When that didn’t work, he resorted to calling me a chicken and all sorts of other juvenile names. I’m ashamed to admit that’s what worked. I’ve spent the last few mornings at the truck stop catching the truckers after they filled up and were going inside to pay or grab a Coke.

Some I only talk to for a few minutes, others I talked to for up to 45 minutes. I met truckers from all over the U.S. and even ones from Rio, London, and India. Richard Montgomery (“Like Montgomery, Alabama… but I’m from OMAHA!”) just turned 50 but maybe looks 40. We talked about everything from Paris Hilton to Condoleeza Rice, of course that led to Iraq, then Syria…somehow ended up talking about Orwell’s “1984”, the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis…he did a hilarious impression of an American talking to an Iraqi (he wants to be a comedian some day). My guess is this guy spends most of his time driving listening to news and talk shows. He’s very well informed and a lot smarter than he thinks. The one and only female driver I saw was from Wisconsin and was very excited about getting her photo taken for a painting. Tarry’s been driving for 11 years and LOVES her job. She’s an evangelist spreading the Word and she’s got more energy than she seems to know what to do with. A very funny lady. There were many many good stories. This is going to be a fun series.

Here are a few pieces in various states of finish. The woman by the way is an attendant at the station, not Tarry.

Scandolous Small Town Behavior

2007-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ken and Mary made it back into town yesterday. Their home away from home is a Holiday Inn up the street. The same place I do my drive by blogging/email postings from. I swing into the parking lot and take advantage of the fact that wi fi doesnt magically stop at their walls. The other day though, I needed power and more importantly, I hadnt had my coffee yet. Ken had introduced me to several staff members before he left in case I needed anything.I went into the lobby and figured I should say hi to the manager, let her know what I was up to. Mind you I had met her before. Ken had even told her who I was, what I'm doing here, and we had chatted a bit. She seemed pretty friendly at the time.

I realize a lot of people come through there, so I wasn't horribly surprised when my greeting was met with a blank stare. I tried again by reminding her I was Ken's friend. Her eyes narrowed and she gave me the evil eye. This wasn't going as well as I'd hoped. I just wasn't exactly sure why. Did she think I was going to steal a cinnamon roll? Maybe she'd seen me in the parking lot and didn't appreciate that. She finally spoke: "You're not Mary."

Uh-oh. Not at all what I thought it was.

Mary thought it was pretty hilarious.

Death of an Ipod.

2007-07-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

July 27th was a very sad day. After valiant attempts to resuscitate, my ipod was officially pronounced dead by the Genius at the Bridgeport Apple Store just outside of Portland.

My ipod is dead. No more music.

It’d been acting strange for a while. Occasionally it would get confused. The symptoms were there-- started to tire easily; scrolling through the music list would leave fragments of text on screen -- I just hoped it would hold out a little longer.

I’m on a road trip and my ipod is dead. This is catastrophic.

The Apple Genius felt my pain. I gained full sympathy when he learned my plight : on a road trip and far far away from my back up disk. He really tried everything to bring it back; or at least save the music. Several geniuses tried to help, talking to each other under their breath like I wasn’t supposed to hear. They kinda rallied as each learned the horror of my situation. A road trip without music?! Get Josh over here…It was a valiant effort. I think I saw a little tear in his eye when the guy called the official time of death: 6:12pm.

Sure, I can replace it, but we had such good times. Flying up the coast of California listening to godawful one hit wonders from the 70’s (and knowing every word)…. Easing into my first day in Oregon with Dustin O’Halloran and later rocking out with the Frames. Neil Young seemed an appropriate soundtrack for Mt. Hood. This is just too sad.

I really tried though. For God’s sake, I spent an entire day at a MALL trying to save it. I didn’t even paint. I went to two malls in fact (The Genius bar was booked at the first one….) Those who know me well understand what pure dedication that was. It takes a lot to get me near a mall.

more paintings

2007-07-26T18:31:00.001-07:00

Mt Hood

Sandy River

I 84 Overpass

7.26

2007-07-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

A bad photo of a not half bad little painting (6x8):

Wrong lens on the camera; I'll try to post a better one later.

Don't Panic (or the longest run on sentence ever...)

2007-07-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

If you ever go see your friend’s band play at a bar and (hypothetically of course), lets say you park your car in another restaurant’s parking lot, and suppose you (as smart as you are) miss the significance of a big iron gate that obviously shuts across the drive way, and you read the sign that says “customer parking only” but youre late and it’s a one way street and you’re not really sure where you are so you don’t want to have to drive around the block if you miss the bar and you’re thinking “Gosh that parking lot is SO well lit I can even read the sign that says ‘cars left over night will be towed’ ….Gee, I sure will feel safe coming back to my car in such a well lit parking lot!” then you go see your friend’s band play and my, oh my—they play rocking good blues well into the wee hours of the morning and afterwards you go waltzing back towards your car thinking gee that was fun… until you’re stopped dead in your tracks as you realize what exactly is wrong with this picture: the restaurant closes before the bar (the locked gate between you and your car being the clincher)…. its really best not to panic. Its best to go back to the bar, take heed of the bartender’s advice and leave a message on the restaurant’s answering machine telling them what a lovely time you had at their fine establishment. So good, in fact, that you lost track of just how many beers you had and took a cab home. That way, when the owner/ manager comes in the next morning and sees a car with (Gasp!!) California plates on it, and goes to the phone to call the tow truck, he/she will notice the blinking light (hopefully), and will listen to the message (preferably before calling the tow) and will (hopefully) have pity on the drunk but responsible customer. Much better odds than him/her having pity on the completely sober but idiotic person who thinks they can park anywhere. That way its only a 20 mile cab ride home (yeah, suck it up....), not a cab ride home plus get your car out of the impound. Just a suggestion. I wouldn’t know but it sounds like it could work.

And some art....

2007-07-25T10:42:00.001-07:00

These are all oil on canvas board or linen on board

Blue Skies!

2007-07-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I drove to Mt. Hood. Drove all around it, in fact, but never saw it. Lots of trees and clouds, but no mountain. The thing about Oregon is that it rains. A lot. I’d forgotten what that’s like. It actually never occurred to me that it might be raining in July. I’ve been in LA too long.

Yesterday morning, I saw blue sky so I jumped in the car and headed to the mountain. Its about a half hour to Mt Hood from where I’m staying. I must be getting ready to leave here because the drive felt way too short. I really wanted to keep going. Doesn’t really matter where to, I just love a good road trip. Always have. The day after I got my driver’s license, my friend Tristen and I took off on a road trip to the top of California to see my sister. I think our bags were packed before I even took the test. We were gone in less than 24 hours.

I think I need to drive across the U.S.

Some random thoughts/observations/ little stories for the day:

In California, if you see a big truck with monster wheels, you can be pretty certain that there is a bumper sticker on the back window that says “No Fear” or “Bad Boyz” (so clever!—See? it’s a Z not an S). In Oregon, especially in the southern part of the state, the sticker will say “ Get R Done”. They too are clever, so they flip the R backwards. Or maybe its an homage to Toys R Us.

People in Oregon actually say hi when they pass you on the street. They make eye contact too. Sometimes they even start a conversation. They’re weird that way.

When they ask how you’re doing, they actually wait for an answer.

It’s a little different though if you are in a car with California plates. I was pulled off to the side of a dirt road somewhere near Mt. Hood when a guy pulled over. I think he assumed I was lost or needed help (logical enough). He didn’t fully believe that I knew where I was because he insisted I take his map. The second or third question he asked in the natural chit chat was “Yeah, I noticed you have California plates…You’re not going to stay here are you?” He was dead serious...and sincerely wanted to know. It reminded me of the bumper stickers that were very popular a decade or so ago: “Welcome to California. Now GO HOME!” Regardless, it was nice of him to stop.

Bonneville Dam

2007-07-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

The studio I’m working in is next door to the Army Corps of Engineers. Last week, Gary (from the Corps) took me on a tour of the Bonneville Dam. Actually he took almost the entire day to show me the dam and parts of the Columbia Gorge (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!). As an added fashion bonus, I even got to wear an Army Corps of Engineers hard hat! Didn’t get a picture of that, so you’ll just have to imagine it.

They’re refurbishing some of the generators so they had giant parts laying about and massive holes where the stuff was supposed to go. OK, that’s an incredibly simplified version of what they were actually doing but it was pretty cool.

I’m only semi-mechanically inclined. By that I mean I can take things apart and put them back together without any “extra” parts at the end, but I rarely know how the thing works. I'm a good puzzle solver. My sister and I changed the carburetor on my bug when I was in high school-- impressing both my brother and my mechanic--but I have only the vaguest idea what a carburetor does.

At any rate, I got the grand tour, was walked around the facilities and shown the giant rotors and turbines and the gaping hole where it all comes together. I can look at the parts and envision how they all fit together but after that…. Um…The part with the blades sits in the Columbia River, the water turns the blades and presto-magic, Oregon, Washington, and parts of California have electricity! There’s my high-tech explanation which will surely leave Gary on the floor laughing (I have a feeling I just failed the test….)

This is a one man elevator with barely enough room to turn around. These guys are extremely safety conscious; you have to sign in everytime you use it because it goes down into a confined space. Of course, this guy dutifully filled out the form. If he hadn’t, he would have been mortified to see someone at the top taking photos. If he hadnt followed protocol, his buddies just might have convinced him the woman with the camera was from Safety Engineering... at which point all color would have drained from his face.

(the elevator)

(the shaft)

Speaking of the shaft, some guy has to crawl through this tiny door and weld all day. That's Gary pointing to give size perspective:

Part of the Homeland Security Act resulted in lots of fancy new equipment for the dam. I got to go up and take pictures of it all but I have a feeling I shouldn’t post them. All you really need to know is this: If you are out hiking within a few miles (yes, miles) of a facility deemed worthy of Homeland Security funding, and say you think you’re in a private place where you can duck behind a bush to pee…its not probable but it is possible that someone is watching… and laughing.

Afterwards we went to a fishery where I was completely repulsed and fascinated by these suckers:

Columbia River Gorge

2007-07-19T20:45:00.001-07:00

7.19

2007-07-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Vancouver color studies

2007-07-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

Vancouver Sketches

2007-07-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

These are mostly from coffee houses. From where I was sitting, I had a good view of people ordering and then getting lids/ cream and sugar. Generally I had about 30 seconds to get the drawing. The baristas were pretty fast....

On the Road Again..

2007-07-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

I've been in Vancouver once or twice before, but it was for work, so didn't get to explore much. Doesn't really count. This time, I got a lot more wandering in. Ken and Mary have a few places here, so I bounced between two of them, both a few blocks from Stanley Park or a few blocks from the beach, depending on which direction I head out in. I spent a lot of time walking around the city and the beaches. Went through China Town and got a lot of good painting reference, even made it to a Jazz club and got some got some good musician reference. Were heading back to Seattle tonight and then Portland in the morning. As soon as I can get my sketches digitized, Ill post them!

-A

How I started out for Portland and ended up in Vancouver...

2007-07-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

No, I did not miss an exit and end up in Vancouver, Washington... I'm actually in Vancouver BC.

True to form, I don't plan anything when I travel. I just load up my car with things I think I might need or dont want to be caught without. As I was leaving my house, I saw my passport on the bookshelf and thought what the hell... you never know.

I took the long way up here: 101 to San Francisco, spent a very enjoyable night at a friends apt., jumped back on the 101 and rolled into Gold Beach Oregon at about 10pm (after many "hmmm... wonder where that road goes" inspired detours, a couple of walks on the beach and of course I HAD to drive through the giant redwood car tunnel). Interesting thing about Gold Beach. Everything, and I mean absolutely everything shuts down by 10pm. Hotels, Motels, gas stations.... everything. Shocking to a city girl like myself. So I pulled over into the (cover your ears mom...) darkest hotel parking lot I could find and had a lovely night's sleep in my car.
The next morning, up bright and early, I continued up the coast and ended up at the Cape Lookout Campsite (with an unexpected bonus: they had showers!!). From there I headed north a little while longer until I realized I was actually getting tired of driving after 3 days. I found an east bound road and made it to Portland sometime around noon. Ken (who's studio I'm visiting) was particularly relieved to see me. Change of plans and he'd misplaced my cell number-- he needed to head off to Vancouver in a few hours and the maintenence crew was changing all of the locks in the building ( they had lost some keys). We had lunch with a very nice guy from the Army Corps of Engineers (they're neighbors to the studio) and somehow by the end of that lunch, we had all decided that the best thing for me to do was to jump back into the car and head up to Vancouver with Ken. It had something to do with the number of galleries here, a Monet exhibit, and a pretty happening music scene (i.e. lots of reference for my musician series). It had absolutely nothing to do with fantastic weather, an empty penthouse with a swimming pool and getting to hang out a little bit with Ken and his wife Mary. So here I am. Drinking coffee in Vancouver, and updating my blog.

So here are a few highlights/observations/whatever...

My first stop for gas was in East Palo Alto. East Palo Alto is not the same as Palo Alto. I was greeted by a crack head lady asking very nicely (all things considered) for some cash. When I said no, she became less polite and called me a few bad names. Screamed them actually. I thought it was a fantastic welcome to the bay area.

Gas prices are significantly lower in Oregon. My tank was pretty low when I hit Crescent City at the top of California. Not so low that I couldnt make the 10 miles to the first town but I gassed up anyway. I was pretty pissed off when I passed the gas stations in Brookings OR that were a full 50 cents a gallon lower. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Later I discovered something that apparently everyone except for me knows: You are not allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon. I tried. They really dont like it when you do that. Apparently its illegal. No one knows why though...and believe me, Ive been asking around. The official story is that it keeps insurance costs down for the stations. A comparitive study between Washington and Oregon insurance rates, though, shows little difference (I dont know who did the study). Regardless, it is kind of nice to have someone pump your gas for you...now that Its not completely unexpected.

At an out of the way diner somewhere near the top of California, I sat at the bar top for lunch and coffee where I could very easily hear the conversations at the waitress station. A couple came in and sat somewhere behind me in a booth. When the waitress went over to take the order, the couple asked if there is MSG in the ribs because the lady is extremely allergic to MSG. The next five minutes of conversation and running around at the waitress station was both hilarious and frightening at the same time. Five waitresses dilligently tried to figure out if there was a mysterious ingredient called MSG in anything that woman might ingest. None of them knew what it was. One of them thought it might be that "stuff" on the spinach everyone was "freaking out" about a while ago. Another corrected her and said, "no, that's that E-Goli stuff...MSG is some kind of Chinese food...we don't serve Chinese food here". The other three were systematically reading all the salad dressing bottles, soft drink labels, the coffee bag....anything they could find with ingredients listed. One of them remembered hearing the term "Mono-Sodio- something with a G" so at least they were getting warmer. Eventually they came up with several items they were sure did not have MSG and reported back to the couple. I'm pretty sure the lady walked out of there fed and without any impending trips to the emergency room.

That's the update. Im going to wander around, get something to eat, check out some galleries and sit in a park somewhere with my sketchbook. Hope you all are having a lovely day!
-A

Road Trip!!

2007-07-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

I am off on an extended road trip! I'll be living out of my car for the next several weeks as I travel up the coast of California and Oregon. I'm honored to be able to spend some time working in the studio of a very generous artist friend of mine outside of Portland near the Columbia River Gorge. Stay Tuned for postings from the road.....

Last Call

2007-06-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not in this show but I'm planning to see it during this month's artwalk in downtown LA.

Nice to see that the city of Los Angeles holds historic buildings with such high regard, but hey--at least the police cars will be nice and shiny:

M.J. Higgins fine art & furnishings
244 South Main Street, L. A.,California 90012,
213.617.1700 Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 12-6pm
artgallery@mjhiggins.com www.mjhiggins.com

E S C A P E
U r b a n s c a p e s a n d L a n d s c a p e s
J u n e 1 4 - A u g u s t 4, 2 0 0 7

Opening: Thursday, June 14, 6-9pm
During the Downtown Art Walk www.downtownartwalk.com

Artists: Jamie Ennen, Dick Heimbold, Star Higgins and William Wray

This will be an evolving six week plus exhibition due to the fact that the City of Los Angeles has begun eminent domain proceedings to take over our beloved 1896 building, the birthplace of the Gallery Row Organization and The Gallery Row District. The City is taking the property for the purpose of creating a five story Police parking structure complete with a fueling station, maintenance center and car wash for 1,000 police cars. Last spring our "Eminent Domain" exhibition shed light on the City's short sighted plan to do away with the only green space public park slated for the developing downtown and instead build the new Police headquarters on the site, the block south of City Hall. In light of these developments we are calling this exhibition a "Cash & Carry" style show where art works will be allowed to be taken when purchased (credit & checks accepted). Works sold will be replaced by work by the same artist or another landscape artist we currently represent, perhaps through September 8th!

Old Friends

2007-06-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

I did this last month at Jax. These guys were great. I have a bunch of sketches of them because they made the mistake of sitting in front of me. The guy in the center is very expressive when he talks. He was hard to get because he never sits still --I'll post more later. Very funny man. The guy on the left, Jose is his cousin (I think?) and was visiting from Mexico. On the right is a fellow artist. They seemed to have known each other for many many years when you've known someone that long theres a level of comfort and familiarity-- and a lot of stories. Very interesting to talk to.

Bad, Bad Blogger....

2007-05-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

I never kept a journal when I was a kid either. Except in 6th grade but only because I was being graded on it. Its not that I don't want to its just that I'm lazy about it. I keep thinking I will get to it later in the day but I dont. I even have a ton of sketches to post I just....havent done it. Apparently I need to put this in my schedule too! So here's the scoop (some of you got my email/newsletter so sorry for the repeat):

Update & News:
Last month's Brewery Artwalk was a great success, & I want to thank
you so much for your support!

The most common question I get now days is "what's it like not
working?" . I want to say that its fabulous. I want to say that I get
up every morning, put on my striped shirt and black beret and create
masterpiece after masterpiece while sipping espresso. Thats only
partly true. It is fabulous but its also kind of scary. I do drink a
lot of coffee, but I don't own a beret and not every piece is a
masterpiece. I'm learning a lot about myself and how I work. So far,
the most important thing I've learned is that I can't focus without a
schedule.

Last week I had my first panic attack. I felt like May had flown by
and had nothing to show for it. Over the weekend I let the other side
of my brain take over and created a schedule and spreadsheet that
would make my past project managers proud. This week a few seeds I
planted recently broke through the ground and I realized I actually
did accomplish something:

• I was invited to be in the May group show at the Hive Gallery in
downtown LA and will have another piece in the June show (see below
for opening info).

• Returning to my roots, I signed on at a new gallery in Claremont,
my hometown. Loft 205 gallery currently has 4 pieces that debuted at
the Brewery last month: my two largest steel pieces and two
portraits. The Director wants a studio visit already so my studio
inventory is rapidly declining. Artist reception is next week, see
info below.

• Virtual Art Scope (http://www.visualartscope.com/ ), a Los Angeles
based art consulting firm has officially launched its website. I am
on their featured works page.

• I spent a week in Mammoth landscape painting, some of the pieces
are on my website under New work.

Not too shabby! So what's next? June will be spent locked in my
studio for the most part. According to my schedule I have a lot of
work to do ;o)

I will be traveling for most of July. A fabulous opportunity landed
in my lap and I have to take it. More on that as it develops but for
now I don't want to jinx it!

OPENINGS:

Los Angeles:
Hive Gallery Opening is this Saturday, June 2 from 8pm to 12:30am.
The Hive openings are becoming a very popular part of the LA scene
and attract a very diverse crowd. It should be a lot of fun. Aside
from the great artwork, there will be a live band, food & drinks and
fabulous people watching!
More info at the hive website: http://www.thehivegallery.com/news/
news/june07.html
The show runs June 2 through July 1.

Claremont:
Art Loft 205 Artist's Reception is next Saturday, June 9 from 4 - 6pm.
More info at the Art Loft 205 website: http://www.artloft205.com/
My work will be there on an on going basis.

Art Loft 205 is a new gallery in the recently renovated Claremont Ice
House. Downstairs from the gallery is the new Claremont Museum as
well as a creative studio for kids.

This Saturday at the Hive

2007-05-03T07:46:00.001-07:00

If you're looking for something different to do on Cinco de Mayo, the Hive Gallery in downtown LA is having an opening for the May group show. If you haven't been there, the Hive openings are a lot of fun: there's food, there's booze, there's live performances, there's a lot of cool art....what more could you possibly want??? My work? OK, theres one in there:

So go, have fun, and tell me all about it....'cause I need to live vicarioiusly through you on this one. I'll be in Mammoth this weekend and hopefully most of next week.

JAX

2007-05-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

So loving my life right now

2007-04-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

There's a new park just east of Dogers Stadium. After I picked up the remaining paintings at the Brewery, I relaxed a little in the park and did some sketching. Here's one of them:

Brewery Artwalk

2007-04-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

I had a great show this weekend at the Brewery Art Walk with Wanna and Dan. Kind of overwhelming at times but Lots of fun! It was a great turn out and I got to meet a lot of cool people (as well as re-unite with a few old friends I havent seen in a while). All in all I think it was a big success and incredibly inspiring! Patrick Burns let us use his loft and Charles (who actually lives there) was incredibly gracious with the invasion.

For those of you who were able to make it; thanks for coming and I hope you enjoyed our efforts! We had a web-cam going, you can see a fast forward flurry of activity here at Patrick's website:

Day One
Day Two

Color Comp

2007-04-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a color comp for a new piece Im working on!

News News News

2007-04-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize its been...umm...awhile since I've posted but um...Im not even going to bore you with an excuse. Busy?? :o)

The big news:
I've quit my job to focus on my painting. I'm going to spend at least the remainder of this year working on pieces that I've been wanting to do, but havent had the time (or energy). I'm beyond excited to be able to devote myself to my work full time! I do the dance of joy each morning while I make the long commute to my studio (AKA my dining room) to start work.

Newsflash #2 : Save the Date: April 21 and 22 10AM to 6PM
I will be participating in the Spring Los Angeles Brewery Artwalk. Come on by and see the show!

642 Moulton Ave #E26
Los Angeles CA
(map is on www.antrese.com or you can google it)

I've been working on some new stuff. Very excited about it! Here's a color study for one of the pieces to whet your appetite:

1/20 off San Fernando Blvd.

2007-01-20T20:24:00.000-08:00

1/17 Taco Naco

2007-01-18T23:55:00.001-08:00

1/15 Blue Room

2007-01-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

1/14 Cha Cha

2007-01-17T23:22:00.000-08:00