What Goes On 8/28/15

Admiring

Hyperallergic posted this article on Richard Diebenkorn's sketchbooks. I loved his work when I was in art school and plan on checking out his print show at the De Young Museum soon. I love the simple and raw look of his work. 

Buying

I bought the book Amphibian Love a few months ago through Leah Jay's Indiegogo campaign and it just arrived in the mail. What a great book! She did a beautiful job on the artwork and the writing on each amphibian is informative and concise. A percentage of sales go to the Save the Frogs campaign and it was printed in an environmentally friendly way on recycled paper. 

Arting

I went to the 100 Day Project meet up in SF on Thursday. What a blast meeting all these great people! It was pretty moving to see all these people who have worked so diligently together. Many of us have followed each other online so it was great to meet in person. It was also great to have Elle Luna there interacting with everyone. I want to do it all over again! 

The event took place at DIY, the headquarters for an online global creative community for kids. Kids can learn new skills and even get real patches for their efforts (just like girl and boy scouts). They were great hosts for the event and they even shared kids' 100 Day Project (including the pom-poms above). I was very impressed!

Collecting

What a sweetie! My friend Elissa brought me some treasures back from South Dakota including sage, quartz and slate. It was so thoughtful for her to think of me. I will definitely put these in a special place. 

Listening

I love the podcast Death, Sex & Money. A recent one I checked out was the episode  "In New Orleans: From Raising Hell to Raising Kids." With the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Anna Sale is interviewing a handful of people that experienced it and where they are now. The individuality of these stories is captivating and I suggest you check them out. 

Sketching

SoFA Sketch happened again this week. This time it was a much bigger turn out! It was great to meet new artists and see everyone working. From top left: A new group of artists working, Laura Johnston's portrait of a woman, Sean Patrick Kenney's pencil portrait, my 100 Day sketch of KNTV news reporters Dennis Richmond and Elaine Corral, an unknown artist's portrait sketches and Elissa Nesheim's beautiful landscapes and owl (with my sailboat above). I can't wait for the next one! 

Training

I'm continuing my training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I am somehow feeling a little more comfortable with it, even if it's still really challenging. I have been going about 4-5 days a week and my brain and body feel so much better for it. I will be heading to a competition in Santa Cruz on Saturday to watch teammates compete. Maybe someday I will, but definitely not now. 

Watching

I watched the Tig Notaro documentary, Tig, and was pretty blown away by all the things she has been through. I knew a bit of this comedian's story, but hearing it all in her own words was quite heavy. The second part of the documentary almost felt too personal, like reality TV, but I think a lot of her life has been an open book so she just kept going I guess. Definitely worth a watch. 

What Goes On 8/21/15

Admiring

Are you on Pinterest? I have an Art board that I love adding my favorite works to. The art above is by Clare Rojas (you can read an article about her below). She now works in a more abstract style which you can read about here.

Eating

Figs! I have been experimenting more this year with our fig tree. I made jam last week and plan on a new batch this week. I also made a fig salad with prosciutto, arugula, egg and olives and a fig banana shake. Both were so good! Figs taste like juicy candy, are rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and vitamins A, E and K. I can't wait for persimmon season...

Listening

I just listened to the Mystery Show podcast for the first time yesterday and really liked it! Plus, what a great logo, huh? Starlee Kine solves mysteries in this original and fun podcast. I listened to two so far and it reminded me of how much I liked reading mysteries as a kid. Starlee meanders through each episode with a sort of wide-eyed wonder about the cases she needs to solve, while also being creative and not just searching for the answer on the internet. 

Reading

I am now halfway through Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. It was so great to go camping this weekend and read a few pages at the site, but how I really made so much progress was by reading in the car out loud to Bryan. It's about his hike on the Appalachian Trail. He's super funny and he puts you right there with him. 

I found an article on the Mission School artists Claire Rojas, Barry McGee and Margaret Killgalen in the New Yorker. It's an interesting read since I have admired these artists for many years, but didn't know the full story. I highly suggest you read this 'ghostly' love story. 

Tidying

I mentioned ages ago that I have been using the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up to declutter my life. At first, I had a lot of momentum with going through all of my belongings. Then I took a break then I half returned to it and then abandoned it. I went crazy cleaning and tidying on Tuesday. I threw out, recycled and donated a bunch of stuff. Things are feeling so much better. I know I will have a few more days of this before the summer is over, but it will make the rest of the year so much better! Also, maybe I won't need to do any spring cleaning next year??

Watching

I watched the documentary Supermensch this week and I thought it was really fascinating. Shep Gordon has lead a life extraordinaire. He has managed many famous acts including Alice Cooper and Debbie Harry. I love that he just decided to become a manager. The decisiveness and self assuredness is pretty inspiring. The movie also covers his interest in cooking and Buddhism. 

Mammoth Weekend

Oh man, I went on the best camping trip last weekend. I can't believe all the amazing things we saw and did in under 48 hours. We left Friday night and headed back Sunday morning, but even in that short a time we covered a lot of ground: sunsets, sunrises, guns, hot spring and on and on. Every time I get away camping, I come back reinvigorated and new. I sometimes feel so overwhelmed by what I saw and experienced, when I return home I feel like my art seems so insignificant in comparison. As if there is something that draws me to be back out there and not at a desk painting. Then, that feeling goes away and I get back to work. 

Lately, I think I should have been a park ranger or professional road tripper. I think I could camp and be on the road most of the time. The textures, colors and smells are so much better than what I experience in San Jose. It isn't until you get out of town that you realize how the murky air quality is in the valley. Everything feels so big and magnificent on the open road.

The road to Mammoth Lakes

The drive out to the Yosemite and Mammoth is actually really unpleasant. The central valley is hot, flat, dry and boring in my opinion. Once you get to about Oakdale, the landscape includes some hills and trees finally, but really doesn't get nice until you get to Yosemite, which we had to drive through to get to Mammoth. It's always beautiful there. The picture above is from the 395, past Yosemite.

School bus and cows

The dirt road to our primitive backroad campsite was rocky and even had some potholes and bumps. Probably best navigated by a 4x4 and not the Honda Civic we were in, but we did ok. There was a school bus parked by the river and surrounded by cows. 

The view from the road on the way to our campsite was something else. The granite peaks are nearly as beautiful as Yosemite, but without all the crowds. I just missed shooting a pic of them lit pink by the setting sun. Still even the dusk colors and valley were really pretty. 

We stopped and caught this alien sunset. The elongated orb clouds looked like UFO's. 

On Saturday, our only full day, we drove to Convict Lake, where we had a whole beach to ourselves. The water was cold and the mountains were high. 

Later this day we drove to a makeshift shooting range and shot some of our friend's guns. It's a little scary for me since they are dangerous and I don't feel very experienced or that I have much control over them. Luckily, our friend knows a lot about them and it was super fun!

I almost skipped waking up at dawn to watch the sunrise from the hot spring, something we planned by the campfire the night before. A friend came by my tent to wake me up, but I declined at first. As I lay there looking at this I thought "What the hell am I doing?" and jumped out of the tent to head down to the hot spring. I walked alone and didn't know where it was, but had an idea. It was a little eerie. When I got to the spring, the others mentioned hearing a pack of coyotes when they woke up and on their walk down. So glad I didn't hear them! I may not have trekked down myself.

And yes, it was totally worth it. It was definitely the best natural hot spring I had been to. Only four of us made it down and we were rewarded with this. 

I'm a huge fan of watching the sunrise while camping and hiking. The colors of everything are completely different from the daytime. 

Friends weren't kidding when they said that Mono Lake is like the moon. It's a strange and still place. 

It reminded me a lot of the Salton Sea, another desolate and salty body of water. Mono Lake is a pretty fascinating place and you can read more about it here. 

And by the way, we never made it to Mammoth Lakes, just nearby. Next time I want to check those out and the Devil's Post Pile, an amazing rock formation in the area. I definitely want to go back next year. 

What Goes On 8/14/15

It's summer so I have to spend as much time in nature as possible. This weekend I am headed off to the Mammoth Lakes area. I haven't been so I can't wait to see what it looks like. I'll be bringing art to work on and intermittently swimming and eating. Sounds ideal, right??

In the meantime, here's what I've been...

Admiring

A fave from Ken Davis's show at Anno Domini

I went out for South First Fridays and even though I was super tired from being up at 4am, I had to see Ken Davis's show at Anno Domini. His skills with lettering and sign making are unparalleled in my book. The above Black Eye Specialist uses abalone for the eye, mixed with hand painting and gold foil. 

Noise Furniture's space at South First Fridays

Noise Furniture always puts together a striking display. This one in particular stopped me in my tracks wit that super cool lighting. After being out for South First Fridays, I yet again realized that San Jose has really come into its own in the last year or so. The creativity and innovation around here has been pretty astounding lately. 

Commissioning

I was so happy to get this frame in the mail this week. I am working on a sailboat commission for someone special. I had used a similar frame for a painting before and when this customer asked if I could paint something similar, I had the idea that I could look on eBay and Etsy for a frame. After scouring through both sites and sending the customer links, she selected this frame. I think it will work fantastically with the painting. 

The small stack of unfinished paintings are near the top of my list of things to do. I look forward to finishing them and getting them out there in the world soon. Hopefully at our late September pop-up!

Jamming

Er... I mean canning. Our fig tree has been going crazy so I decided to make jam this year. It's nice to hand out fresh figs to people but I thought this would be a good way to handle all that fruit too. The first batch is going to family members and a couple of neighbors. I hope there's enough for another batch for friends. It is sooo easy to do. I want to start pickling too. The ingredients are figs, honey, lemon juice, walnuts, cinnamon, vanilla and 4 of the jars also included some orange liqueur just for fun. 

Reading

It was funny that I got this horoscope this week. This is something I have been feeling. That I could be going in a different direction, but I'm just not sure what that direction is. I feel like it's important to not do the same thing again and again. It's also important to try new things artistically, experiment and push yourself. Sometimes you just need a 180!

The blog, A Cup of Joe, had a post with 20 Career Tips From Entrepreneurs. Some good tips here. 

Did you hear about these balls to help California's water situation?

Watching

It's the end of an era with The Daily Show finishing up. Luckily, Documentary Now! seems to be the perfect thing to fill the void. I've been a fan of Vice for a long time and I look forward to more episodes of this spoof. 

And of course, still working my way through the amazing Human Planet series. 

That's all for now! Hope you have an awesome weekend. 

What Goes On 8/7/15

Admiring

One of her smaller pieces that sold at the show

The show looked fantastic on Chromatic's walls. 

Nikkea Takagi had an art show at Chromatic Coffee this week. She is a self-taught artist with a gorgeous style. She's also a super great and inspiring person. Nikkea talked about one of the pieces in detail and it made me love her work even more. Go see her nearly sold out show. There are still a few pieces available!

Commissioning

A work in progress commission

I've been working on some awesome commissions lately. I love working with my clients and making them happy. I've been hiding out and working on a few lately and will be busy with them until mid-month. 

P.S. I can take several commissions per month and you can contact me here if you have any questions about them. 

Eating and Drinking

I've been eating breakfast for lunch a lot lately. Here, I have white sweet potatoes, sausage, eggs and, of course, olives. It's so good! I found that Verve has a Costa Rican coffee, Finca Salaca. Pretty much the perfect thing midday. 

Hiking

The shadow of Mission Peak on the valley.

This morning I hiked Mission Peak with a good friend. It was amazing. We woke up at 4am and headed to Fremont. This was maybe the 4th or 5th time I've done this trail and it just doesn't get old for me. Watching the colors change at sunrise or sunset is really the best way to hike. The golds, the purples, the blues and a little bit of green. It's always great to view the valley from up here because all you hear are birds and not the chaos of down below. We sat up top at the peak eating figs, peaches, cherries, salmon, tomato and avocado. Pretty much the ideal way to start the day. 

Installing

My friend Anabella Piñon and I reinstalled String Theory at SoFA Market this week. We stopped in Sunday morning for a couple of hours. The exhibit is part of the South First Fridays art walk August 7th. Don't miss the Ken Davis show across the street at Anno Domini. 

Walking

I walk and bike downtown a lot. On my way to Japantown Thursday morning, I noticed this back wall of a restaurant that closed earlier this year due to fire. There is something about the draped fabric, variously hued pink wall and burn marks around the window that was kind of beautiful to me.