What Goes On 9/18/15

This week I have been busy working on commission sketches. I have several portrait orders going, including a returning customer from 2 years ago. She wrote me to say that they have had a child and he is mesmerized by his parents' portraits and dog portrait I made. She wants to add him to the wall too. How sweet is that?

I am also working on some new make-believe book sketches. These are for a couple of musicians who live in the North Bay. Hopefully I can see them perform someday! 

Now onto the list...

Arting

Ok, LOTS of arting happened since my last post. I've been making it to more art shows recently and sketching out and about. 

Colin Frangicetto and Drew Roulette at Empire Seven Studios - I thought these two artists' works went great together after attending last Saturday's opening. You can see Colin's work above. I didn't get any clear enough photos of Drew's work, but you can see them side by side here.

One piece of exciting news is that I will be in a Screaming Hand group show at Empire Seven Studios in January. Jim Phillips came up with this image in 1985 and it has been a classic skateboarding logo since. The show is part of a Santa Cruz Skateboards art tour sponsored by Vans. It is an honor to be included in this show with such an iconic theme. Watch this Jim Phillips video to get a little background and for some good tips on being an artist.

Opening today, Naoki Onodera, one half of Bahama Kangaroo has a show at Luggage Store in San Francisco. I worked with him and his wife on Jen Stark's mural at Facebook headquarters. Both he and his wife are amazing artists. The work is just so pure, fun and brilliant.  

Also opening today, Nine Lives at RVCA in the Haight in San Francisco. If you didn't know, RVCA has an Artist Network Program that supports artists in many ways. You can watch some artist videos here. Mitsy Avila Ovalles, an amazing artist I met in art school, will be showing amongst eight other artists. 

Drinking...and sketching

I have been having such a blast meandering around and sketching while drinking coffee, tea or wine. In the last couple of weeks, I have met with my friend Kyle Pellet a couple of times and it has spawned more sketching in public. I'm so excited for the next SoFA Sketch, which is coming up September 30th. I feel such a great sense of artistic community in San Jose right now. Between SoFA Sketch, The Exhibition District, gallery and museum visits and random meet-ups with fantastic friends, I am thoroughly enjoying being an artist in the San Jose and the Bay Area lately. It's about time:)

The sketch above was done of Le Bateau Ivre (French for The Drunken Boat), a great dining spot and cafe in Berkeley, CA. The brick section of the building is so cool and the place has a relaxed vibe with a kind staff. It's the perfect, quiet place to draw or read. We'll definitely be going back! 

Okay, this one wasn't sketched in public, but I really liked how it came out. I wanted it to be freehand and loose, embracing any wonkiness. I really liked how it turned out and I will definitely be working with Sumi ink a lot more. 

My friend Kim had a baby a few months ago and it struck me that she must continue making art even so. I invited her to come and sketch with me at B2 in San Jose. I thought we could stroll over and I could help watch the baby. It worked out amazingly well. We both got work done. I sketched her and she worked on her annual Halloween card. Her daughter fussed just a little bit, but mostly sat on either of our laps or slept. Parenting is easy, right?? 

Friday, I will be heading up to San Francisco with my friends Laura and Elissa to see the Turner exhibit at the De Young Museum. I'm so excited to hang out with them and meander around. It's gonna be, as always, a really inspiring day.

Eating

I made this last night. Boy, was it good. This is one of our classic meals around the house since it involves sweet potatoes, onion, mushrooms, kale, fresh basil, pork and an egg top. These meals are super satisfying and give me lots of energy, especially after working out. This time, I chopped up some insanely good pitted green olives and it really made the meal. I say put an egg on everything all the time. Same for olives.

Listening

I listened to Lee Fields on Employee of the Month with Catie Lazarus. He's one of my favorite singers and I love the way she interviewed him while he was on stage. So cool. 

Danielle Krysa on Tiffany Han's podcast - These two ladies are great. I've been a longtime fan of what they have to bring to the world. They have their own podcasts and do so much more to help the creative community. It was a blast to listen to them together. Be sure to give this one a listen. 

Last night we listened to so much good music. T-Rex, Vashti Bunyan, Ariel Pink, Roy Orbison, Talking Heads, The Cure and My Bloody Valentine. I've been listening to a ton of podcasts and interviews so it's always good to get back to the music I love.

Reading

https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/11/10/pico-iyer-the-art-of-stillness/

Training

I did my first jiu jitsu competition class (note class, not actual competition) last Saturday and second one on Monday. It was really hard, but awesome to put what I know together at a faster pace. Of course, you realize how little you know. The funny thing with jiu jitsu is I learned a lot in the first fundamentals class. You kind of think you know what to do, but when you go to apply what you learned you forget one or two little things: the placement of a foot, where to distribute your weight or to not let your arm hang out, and are immediately are back to square one or submitted. The technique is super important. 

I've probably said this before, but I do find jiu jitsu really amazing for the mind and body. It has changed my perspective and made me a much, much more chill, open minded and expansive person. No, really. I love being a part of Heroes Martial Arts. It's been amazing. I was pretty timid at first there and far less nervous or afraid then I was when I started. 

Have a great weekend!

What Goes On 9/11/15

I missed last week's post since I was so busy with a wedding, birthday and otherwise. Happy to be catching up today!

Arting

A collaboration with Kyle Pellet

Last week, I sketched with Kyle Pellet. He is one of my favorite artists. His work is super funny and original. We collaborated on the above piece, which is available for purchase here. 

Tonight, Empire Seven Studios will be opening their show by Colin Frangicetto and Drew Roulette. 

When I had work for sale at the Oakland Museum of California, I had the pleasure of meeting Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh. I loved her work and on Saturday her show at Oxtail Studio in Berkeley opens. 

Rob Sato is an incredible artist with sketchbooks on display at The Arsenal. I can't wait to check this show out. 

Listening

I've mentioned the podcast Death, Sex and Money and I'll mention it again. The latest episode with Maria from Sesame Street is really, really good. 

The latest That's Deep Bro episode, Why Be Good? is really excellent. Christina ponders, "Why bother being a good person when some people seem to opt out?" I consider myself to be someone of pretty good morals and do question humanity a lot so this one was quite excellent to listen to. 

Meeting

On Thursday, I was waiting for Bryan at the SoFA Market when I ran into an old friend, Demone. Demone is someone I worked with at Streetlight Records, many years ago. He is now really involved with arts in San Jose and was there for a meetup for MALI (Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute). It was great to learn that something like this exists in San Jose. Being loosely to extensively involved in the art, blogging, Etsy/maker world, I constantly notice the lack of diversity in it. I had no idea of this organization until last night. I met a new artist who knows my work through a mutual friend and she came over and introduced herself. It was great to meet her and she has a potential new and exciting project happening in San Jose.

Reading

I started the book The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux. My mom had given me a small stack of his books and I've finally gotten around to reading one. So far, so good. I like his writing style. It was written in 1979, so it should be interesting to hear his perspective on travel back then. 

Redesigning

The website got a redesign this week. I have often gone back and forth with this style and a single image on the front page. I do like being able to show all that I do on one page. I have also been thinking about my artistic goals and I want to do a broad range of work, so I think this reflects that. Hopefully sooner than later I will be working on a book and other special projects. There are some things that I need to do like adding all the sizes of the artworks, a new logo and such, but I wanted to let you know about the new look. If you have any feedback for me, please leave it in the comments below. Thanks!

Training

I labored on Labor Day. I trained for 2 hours midday and it was so much fun. I love Heroes Martial Arts. Everyone works so hard and has a great personality. I also couldn't ask for better exercise. I learn so much from everyone when I go. It felt great to go in after a long wedding weekend with a few too many drinks:) I ended up training 3 hours on Tuesday, 2.5 on Wednesday and an hour on Thursday. Somehow, it still feels good to work this hard at something and progress so slowly. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

100 Day Project: Days 51-60

Last week I attended the Global Meetup for the 100 Day Project. It was such a good time! I met artists that I have been following and met new ones along the way. 

I had a big realization upon hitting Day 60. I realized I need to work in a more concentrated way. It's too easy to reach for my phone or open a new tab. I also listened to a podcast on going on an "information diet" where you really limit who you follow and what you get from the internet. I kind of try to do this anyway, but I realize I need to do it more. 

Day 51 Are there sections? Consider transitions

With 51, I painted the courtyard of a place I stayed at in Grenada, Spain last year. I love how these kinds of homes feel like they consist of different compartments. I actually originally started drawing this for the Cinequest Film Festival live painting event I did earlier this year, but changed it into something else. I'm glad I got to carry it out after all and I'm thinking I will make a really large version of this, maybe 3x4 or 4x6 feet. My favorite part is the tile with the orange and pink hues. 

Day 52 Towards the insignificant

I had the idea to paint a tiny universe for 52. We are not even a pinpoint in this universe (I made that up, maybe it is true, maybe it isn't). The Milk Way galaxy is roughly 100,000 light years in diameter and it's one of billions of galaxies in the universe. How it that for making you feel insignificant?

Day 53 Don't be afraid of cliches

Do you remember these canvas binders? I had a blue denim one that looked quite like this with all the usual blue ballpoint pen clichés. This one made me a bit nostalgic. 

Day 54 Cut a vital connection

I went to Capitola Beach and saw this woman laying in the sun on her pink towel. I loved the way she looked with her red hair falling over her arm. For the photo, I added some sand from my bag to the painting. 

Day 55 Not building a wall but making a brick

I love an A-frame. My thoughts first went to brick, but I knew I didn't want to make it literal. After running through a few ideas, I thought about how you have to shape each piece of wood to build a house. I liked the idea of conveying the same idea with a different material. I love the way this project is stretching my brain. 

Day 56 Look at the order in which you do things

At first I had thought about the way I go about making these daily paintings: pull a card, think, grab a brush or a pencil and go. I thought about other ways I could mix things up with materials. Then, it hit me to look at how many days I have missed and make abstract art about it. I was thinking it would turn out to look like a maze or something that moved fluidly around the paper. It ended up looking like Tetris. I really got into the mathematical aspect of this and sort of felt like I could just make art like this. 

Each row represents each day of this 100 day project so far. The color squares represent how many days I missed until I posted for that particular day (between one and seven). The pencil rectangles represent drawing two in one day as a desperate attempt to catch up (happened 6x). There were only 28 consistent days (though none for more than 3 days). Conclusion: I'm not good at doing things daily. 

Day 57 The inconsistency principle

I had to laugh out loud when I pulled this card! After Day 56 and realizing just how non-daily this project has been, it was kind of the perfect reinforcement that I need to get consistent with this project. I am determined to finish all 100 and I wanted to do so by the end of summer. I am thinking about doing two a day until then.

This one required more math and measuring. It actually plays with the number 11 and that number on all 4 sides since I have 44 left for this project. Again the math and also the transparent layering felt like things I want to pursue in future work. 

Day 58 Just carry on

Day 59

This was a fun one to get. There are so many things that can be faked, but I thought it would be fun to fake a style. At first I thought I would do that of a really famous artist, but decided to do the art in the style of my friend Kyle Pellet. His work can be on old gridded paper, include hilarious descriptions, date stamps, state info for meetings that never happened and more. His color palette is black and white or bright vintage video game colors. I decided to paint Dennis Richmond and Elaine Corral in my own style since I didn't want to fully copy him. It's funny because when I wrote the date, I meant to make it the actual date of the sketch night, which was 8/26/15

Day 60 Don't be frightened to display your talents

I mulled this one over for some time. I think I don't like the word talent, especially when I am thinking of myself. I decided to use one of my sister's travel photos to make this drawing. I received this Blackwing pencil set as a gift recently and thought I'd put it to use on this one. These pencils actually have a really cool history. They were discontinued after being considered the best pencil ever made. They had a cult following and in recent years they have been made again. 

This drawing made me realize I need to take more time with my art sometimes. While I have developed a quick style, I do really love sitting down and working for longer chunks of time. This piece also was successful to me because I was able sit and focus without the usual internet distractions. Got to try this again. 

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.