wishing you all...

a very happy new year.

Thank you to all who have followed my humble & sporadic blog both recently & over the long haul!
and thank you especially to those who have supported and encouraged me along my artistic path. It's been a good year.

Truthfully, I tend to see it as a continuous flow, without big divisions at years beginning and end-- I don't tend to get caught up in 'the year's best' etc... Yet tradition encourages us to look back at what we've accomplished & experienced-- and forward to what we desire.

And so I say, It's been a good year!
And there is still so much to make & want & see & do!

Onward...

(image made with 'brushes' app on an iphone + photoshop words)

Today: Gauguin

Gauguin was a favorite of the little group with whom I toured the DeYoung Post-Impressionist Exhibition last week (see also Cezanne, below). Here are a couple of the paintings that were there.

Tony knew the backstory to some of 'em, as I gave him this book last year, a big thick volume extensively following the couple of weeks Gauguin & Van Gogh spent working together in the South of France-- and he actually read it.

He knew for example that Gauguin was not terribly happy with the landscape shown here...
I'd call it a good day's work!

I bring you Cezanne

On Thursday last week Tony & his mother, Alice, & I visited the DeYoung in SF, where the Post-impressionist collection from the Musee d'Orsay is visiting... It was a beautiful sun-sparkled winter day, and it was great to stand before these masterworks, close enough to touch their brushstrokes-- you know, when the crowds would part a bit.

So, in honor of that excursion, I bring you some Cezannes-- though none of those shown here were actually in the show.



When I do my large tree paintings, I try to channel a little Cezanne, truth be told.

Show continues through Jan.18th. Deyoung Exhibition info here.

As always, click to see larger.

Wishing you all the best that the season has to bring.

And promising far more posting of actual paintings in the New Year!

(one more from the 'Brushes' app for iphone. with photoshop for text.)

'brushes' compositions:

...now featuring a return to our regularly scheduled color palette!


click on any image to enlarge it,
and scroll down for more info...

Two more...

small iphone paintings made with 'Brushes'. (see previous post)


After seeing the previous batch of paintings all together here, I decided to try starting from some darker background tones...

Experiments with 'Brushes'

I was recently checking out a cover of the New Yorker illustrated by David Hockney and speculating on its medium. A short time later, a facebook friend posted a link to an article about Hockney, and his daily practice of drawing on his iphone, or ipad with the 'Brushes' application.

As a fairly new iphone user, I figured maybe I should give it a try...
Above are some of my experiments of the first week. Like photoshop, it's composed of layers-- but you're drawing with your fingertip on that 2 x 3ish" screen of your phone... it's some fun, and a good way to while away a long dark car drive, say (for the passenger anyway...)
The article with David Hockney is here.

P.S. you can see here that my predisposition towards certain colors is firmly entrenched, regardless of medium.

"Probably the Best Blind Painter in Peckham"

Sargy Mann from Peter Mann Pictures on Vimeo.

If I should ever find myself whiney about my painting practice, I hope that I will remember this...
It's a rather quiet 40 minute film, but this painters outlook brings new levels to the the word inspiring.

Article here; and thanks to Deborah Barlow for sharing!

I went, I saw (art in S.F.)

Tuesday was the day for another pretty spontaneous jaunt to see what was up in the Galleries in SF, and a very fine day it was.

Just a few highlights:
1 +2. gorgeous drippy detail in small multi panel pieces by Cornelia Schulz at Patricia Sweetow;

3 + 4. small collage, big painting, beautiful colors, by Linda Geary at Rena Bransten;

5. always inspiring work by John Yoyogi Fortes at Jack Fischer;

6. Ricardo Mazal(?) & Timothy McDowell (right) at Elins/Eagles-Smith;

7 & 8. two by Jason Rohlf in Caldwell Snyder's office space;

9 & 10. Fain Hancock and Jessica Martin leaning around in HANG;

11. Pati demonstrates scale in front of Sherie Franssen's work at Dolby Chadwick;

12 & 13. the day was bookended by fabulous SF views at Fort Mason Center's SFMOMA Artists Gallery, & the Jewish Museum;

14. Did someone say Happy Hour? at Amber India.

As always, the updates on what's in the galleries provided by Alan Bamberger over at ArtBusiness.com were instrumental in inspiring me to get in my car and go!

Thank you...

Thank you to all of my recent visitors!

scenes from the studio

painting, still painting

Another one with a somewhat new color direction for me. Not quite done, but close.

'Fresh Paint' in Culver City

An update photo, on those paintings I was shipping off to L.A. a week ago. My three pieces are hanging on the left-hand wall in this photo from the show that opened last Wednesday at Fresh Paint in Culver City. The show will remain up for a few more weeks.

Upcoming: September 15th at Fresh Paint in Culver City

I'm about to ship off a few paintings which will be part of the Fall Line-up at Fresh Paint in Culver City (L.A. area). The Opening Reception will be Wednesday Night, September 15th, from 5-8pm, concurrent with the Culver City Block Party.


Check it out if you live out that way.
Wish I could be there! We're way overdue for a trip to the area.

like Day & Night...

...that's what runs through my mind, seeing this lighter & darker painting (both nearing completion) side by side.

Collaborative Paintings from B.L.T.

For over six months now, I've been participating in a 3-way painting collaboration known as B.L.T. (that's for Bob, Lisa, Tony).

It's been fun, and it's given us an interesting new perspective on the creative process-- and it's probably surprising how well it seems to be going, both because we're all still getting along(!) and that we're feeling as happy as we are about the results.

There are at least a dozen pieces under development-- all three of us work on each panel. Here are some of those that have been considered 'done' (some of them already had a public debut at the 'Sideshow' exhibition at Sonoma State this Spring), mixed in with a few that await at least one more layer.

Impromptu SF Art Day

On Saturday, very spur of the moment, we darted in to the city to check out a few shows. We got a late start, but several of the galleries were having openings, which allowed us to view art into the evening, check out Valencia Street on a hoppin' Saturday night, and have pizza at the infamous Little Star . : )

We were very happy to visit several galleries which are new (or at least new to us): 941 Geary, Guerrero Gallery, and Rosenthal Gallery. Installation was underway for a new show at Fort Mason's Artist Gallery for an exhibition which looks like it'll be great (show opens Thursday). Also glad to see Michelle Muenning's beautiful paintings at Jack Fischer.

This wall of ephemera is part of the show at John Berggruen; it accompanies a show of works by Alexander Gorlizki (in collaboration with an Indian miniature master.) The works are interesting-- but I was even more drawn in by this collection, like a wall in an artists' studio, covered with sketches & inspiration. (click on the final 4 images to enlarge.)