just about there...

yep, I think this one is in the final stretch. Took a rather under-water turn, didn't it?

Open at the Atelier: One Day in May

Saturday, May 22nd, noon to five, a number of the artists (& small businesses) in Graton's Atelier One will open their doors.

Graton will be hosting a "Party for a Park" that same day, with music (the Hubbub Club & more) food & games down at the street level.

Come join us if you can!

Something Else Entirely

If you're a long time visitor here, or you know us personally... you'll know of these big pieces Tony & I & others have done collectively, under the moniker "Art Farm Motel."
Originally conceived to be taken to Burning Man, (three different years), they've been shown numerous times since, and quite a bit this Spring. Three of the pieces are out on display just now: "The Boy" is at Project One in SF through May 9th, with a closing party on the 9th; "Headgames" and "Portrait of a Girl" are still up at Kuhl Art in Oakland through the end of April. (Two others were included in "Sideshow", at Sonoma State's University Art Gallery, now closed).

Art Farm Motel has also recently been nominated for a SECA (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art) Award through the SFMOMA, and I've been working on our application process for the last couple of days. A real long shot, (200 nominees, 3 awards), but an honor in any case. Wish us luck!
(Each painting is approx. 8 x 12 feet, and the surfaces are covered with hundreds of drawings, by many contributors. Click on images to enlarge, and visit the blog to scroll back in time through their creation.)

On the wall today

(in progress)

Here's something I've been working on, and haven't posted about here yet. It would appear that I am firmly in the middle of a Green Period. (click on image to enlarge)

As in the theme of the post before last, this painting is being resurrected from a state of abandonment. Somewhere down the line I'll show you the painting which it has evolved from. That curly bit on the right is a vestige of its former self, and perhaps it'll have to go.

Below, it's shown with another painting which has been not abandoned but stalled for some time, awaiting my renewed attention.

Nature Bits

Nature--particularly the botanical world-- is the richest source of inspiration for me.
These were taken on a recent walk nearby. I tend to call it Spanish Moss, but don't know if that's what it truly is. The third picture shows that it's growing like crazy, whatever it is, as a result of so much (endless) rain this year.

...and below: other recent moss, fungi & lichen, seen either in our yard, or on a recent hike near Calistoga.

Calling it done...

Well, for now at least. There's a Picasso quote I sometimes mention to my students that says something like..." a painting is never finished, it just stops in interesting places." That's come to mind a few times in the studio recently, as I resume work on some pieces begun long ago.

This canvas was one of those, started (my iphoto records reveal) in 2007. It spent most of two years hidden in the racks.
I've been working on it in recent weeks, and it's already up in a show, the one I hung at the Santa Rosa Country Club yesterday.

(scroll down for some exhibition news, & click on photos to enlarge).

Photo 2 shows 'Source of Spring' together with a couple others (liking the three foot square, I gotta say); photo 3 shows an early phase of the process. Somewhere along the line the canvas was flipped.


(Google alert: well, research shows the quote above attributed to Paul Gardner (?), not Picasso, and also give us this, from Da Vinci: "Art is never finished, only abandoned."

Creating Pattern Repeats

I love fabric designs-- but had no idea how one worked out a repeating pattern (like this recent fave, called Chiang Mai Dragon, by Schumacher). So I love the simplicity of this tutorial, over on Design Sponge. (sorry, can't for the life of me remember whose link sent me over to it.)

I've also enjoying gaining insight into the process of the pattern designer over at the blog of Tula Pink.