Arting

Sketchbooks by Rob Sato. All numbered as you can see here.

I stopped at the Rob Sato show at The Arsenal on Tuesday. Rob is a truly incredible painter. He works on paper primarily and creates imaginary worlds and draws from life. I just loved this show of his sketchbooks and prints from his sketchbooks. It seems like he mostly works in ink and watercolor, two mediums that I love. Watch this video to learn more about him and his work.

I'll be exhibiting at The Arsenal in February 2016. I can't wait to fill this space with my work.

Eating

On Sunday I made avocado egg toast. It brought me back to Spain, where I often ate this. Just toast some baguette, smash avocado into it and in this case, add sliced tomato, eggs scrambled with mozzarella and top with dandelion greens and basil. Best breakfast ever.

Watching

I went to the Bellator MMA fights at the San Jose Arena on Saturday night, which if you know me, may seem a little out of character. Although I love jiu jitsu, I often have a hard time with other combat sports when it gets too bruised, bloody or violent. Still, I had a great time at this event which featured kickboxing and MMA.

Have you heard that the artist Jeremy Fish has a residency at San Francisco's city hall? It's pretty cool. I would love to visit him while he's working there. Check out this NBC video about the experience. I love seeing all the ways artists are being utilized and respected these days!

I have been trying to get up to San Francisco a bit more to see art shows. Every single one has been totally worth it. I'll run through these not-to-be-missed shows, but I am featuring Karen Barbour's work since I was actually able to get photos of the exhibition. I'll list the shows at the bottom of this post with their closing dates.

One of the things the three artists have in common is being prolific. I think that is a very important quality for artists, since you get less precious about the work and the more you experiment, the more you learn. These three artists reminded me to keep experimenting with materials, especially as I work toward an upcoming installation in April.

Back in November, I saw the Anders Zorn show at the Legion of Honor because that's what my mom wanted to do for her birthday. It can be hard to tear myself away from the studio, so this was the perfect opportunity to get up there. I had never heard of Anders Zorn, Sweden's master painter. His most jaw-dropping works are his watercolors. They are so masterful and really give you a sense of the world he lived in.

David Hockney, Yosemite I, October 16th 2011 — David Hockney, *Yosemite I, October 16th 2011*

In December, I saw one of my favorite artists, David Hockney. His work has always resonated with me with his incredible sense of color and boldness. The show, David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition, has gotten a lot of publicity and rightfully so. He is a very prolific artist, creating everything from work on paper to iPad drawings. I won't say much more about this show, except that you must go. It's a great show for kids too.

On Friday, I headed up to San Francisco to see the California Printed show at Rare Device. It was the perfect excuse to get out of San Jose and get inspired by seeing some new work. I had not been to Rare Device before, but I'd heard about it for years. It's a great little shop with handmade goods and the California-based art prints were fun. Before I left the house, I decided to check and see if there were any other shows worth going to. I stumbled upon a show by Karen Barbour at Fouladi Projects. What a stumble it was!

Figures with multiple sets of eyes, eyelashes or blue eyeshadow. Figures on stages or at tables posed. Karen Barbour works in a variety of media from oil to collage, but the work that most attracted me was painted in gouache and ink. There was something equally fresh and laborious in the work, with layers mixed with gutsy lines of paint. Acidic colors and blacks sit side by side and it all evokes a different reality. Her work is playful and I loved that her back wall was an installation of paintings and collage, which reminded me of my drawing wall at my show last month. No material is left untouched, including thread and glitter.

Please visit the links below for museum and gallery times., but try not to spend too much time looking at the work online. All of these shows are completely different in person. Please leave a comment below if you know of any shows that I need to see!

The List

Anders Zorn: Sweden's Master Painter closes February 2, 2014

David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition closes January 20, 2014

Karen Barbour: No Should Be As Friendly As Yes closes March 1, 2014

What Goes On 9/25/15

SF Art Shows: Anders Zorn, David Hockney, Karen Barbour

Past Posts