More Musicians

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!)

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

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!

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

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

More Thick Paint

Landscapes

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

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...

Nude Study

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:

2 from Utah and another from Bariloche

Happy New Years!

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

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-

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

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

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

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

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...

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!