Weekend 12/9/16

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Making

The 2017 Escape Calendar is here! Each month, let a dreamy image take you someplace else. You can order yours here.

Listening

  • I just discovered a radio show from Berlin called Vantage Point. I listened to the interview with amazing artist Andrea Wan. Her creativity and technique is astounding.
  • I also listened to the episode with Jonathan Levine, of the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York. He shows work by some of my favorite artists like Jim House, Souther Salazar and Seonna Hong so I had to give it a listen. It was really interesting to learn how he finds his artists.

Meeting

The internet can be a pretty incredible thing. Seattle artist Betty Merken found me online and wanted to meet up while she was in San Francisco this past week to talk about the art residency I did in Spain a couple years ago (she's going next year). What an amazing artist who has led a life traveling and creating. She and her husband published a book on Los Angeles murals in the 80's, she has work in collections at the De Young and the Legion of Honor and a show up at Nancy Toomey in SF right now. So nice to meet her and her husband Stefan! 

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Reading

  • I recently bought the Ladies Drawing Night book. I was excited to hear about this since I run a drawing night, Sofa Sketch. It has great ideas for hosting communal sketch nights.
  • My good friend David Ma wrote this beautiful homage to the recently passed singer Sharon Jones. He has been doing all kinds of writing lately for publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and The Guardian. He also runs the great Nerdtorious Blog, a resource for music nerds.
  • With racial tension in America, the election and the situation at Standing Rock, I feel I have been stirred up politically. I used to be more political when I was younger but in the last five years or so, I have been lazy. The one positive thing to come from all this is seeing a lot of people wake up. Artistically, I feel I have more to say than I have been. This article by Symone D. Sanders, Using Our Authentic Voices, from Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter really spoke to me. We can't be lazy and we can't suffer in silence. Be bold.

Seeing

  • When Cherri Lakey of Anno Domini posted about the William Kentridge show at San Jose State University, I had to run over and see it. He was one of my favorite artists when I was in art school with his inventive charcoal drawings and animations. This show is the only West Coast viewing for this body of his work and SJSU is lucky to have it.

Thinking

The only thing keeping me sane lately is my work. I have been swamped with holiday work between commissions, orders, the new calendar, a couple workshops and all. I have been angry about our president-elect and the horrific Ghost Ship fire in Oakland. Sometimes the world is too much, but it can be made better by supporting local artists, continuing to make work and helping those in need. Please consider making a donation at the link above.

WSQ Fall/Winter 2016 Illustration

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I'm excited to share the spread I did for Washington Square, the alumni magazine for San Jose State University. I was contacted about an article they were doing on Moss Landing Marine Labs celebrating their 50th anniversary. The school administers the Masters of Science program for California universities in northern and central California. 

I received a brief and worked through some ideas. There was a three week turnaround from when they initially contacted me until the final files were due. I kind of love a short deadline. It makes me a little crazy, but I also power it out and get it done.

They highlighted the areas they wanted me to focus on: vessels and sharks. I love painting boats and at first thought I would just paint some spot illustrations of their different vessels and other marine life. 

After researching about Moss Landing Marine Labs, some fun loose sketches. I really liked the way the boats turned out. I love drawing with my paintbrush, without starting with a pencil. I feel like it makes the paintings really fresh. I also tested out a variety of blues to see which shades I might use. 

More sketches. As I researched, I was really interested in their Point Sur boat. It has been all over the world, including Antarctica, and I wanted to include the scope of that in the spread. I also wanted to include the Ninja Lanternshark since a student of MLML named Victoria Vasquez discovered and named it. Plus, it's a pretty cool species that looks quite sinister and glows to disguise itself.

I sketched the sign post at Moss Landing. I really wanted to include it, but it just didn't make sense in the final. 

As I started to think of ideas, I liked the idea of the illustration being from the ship's bow. The editor and creative director expressed interest in both the article and the issue having a look of deep exploration, to boldly go where no man has gone before, so I thought I could accomplish that by having the reader feel like they were the explorer. You can see above the rough idea of being on a boat and looking at Moss Landing Marine Labs.

My presentation of imagery for the first draft meeting included a variety of color spot illustrations to show my style and a black and white image to show layout. The loved it, a huge sigh of relief.

If you look back on the first photo, you can see my original layout draft on the left. They loved the initial two sketches, but asked that the deep sea diver be moved to the second page. They mentioned they wanted the feeling of going wide and deep. I thought being on the boat with Moss Landing on the left and Antarctica on the right would convey that well. The second page of the spread would express going deep with the deep sea diver and the Ninja Lanternshark below. They live at 1,000 feet below, so it worked perfectly.

Here's the second draft. I moved the whale tail to the right, since it was too close to shore in the first draft. It was great to get really positive feedback from the staff and creative director. 

One of the biggest challenges was making sure there was enough space for the text of all 50 facts. I kept wanting to take over the paper and make it a whole painting. 

The creative director asked me to illustrate the title and the numbers for the spread. I cut out the words and played around with different layouts and angles of text. I ended up scanning the letters and numbers and cleaning them up in Photoshop and then they were vectorized in Illustrator. 

These are the final paintings that were used. I think some of the colors surprised me. The kelp is a brighter green than I thought it would be, but I think it works since it does glow when the sun shines through it from above.

In addition to the Moss Landing article, they asked me to illustrate their donor envelope. SJSU has a program where dogs....This is the final. I sketched it quickly once in my sketchbook and then this is the final, which of course got scanned and cleaned up. The great thing about illustration work is that your "finals" can look like the above and digital editing takes out all the marks and stains on the paper. 

And the printed final...

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Here's one of the dogs for the giving envelope.

And the second dog. SJSU has therapy dogs in residence.

They asked to use my full moon painting for their memorial page. 

And the final Moss Landing spread...

It was fun to contribute to the Fall/Winter 2016 issue of Washington Square. I spent so much time on this campus: as an undergrad and grad student, then I worked at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library for 5 years. It was an honor to make this work for SJSU. 

Weekend 11/18/16

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First off, hello there...it's been awhile.

I know I have been neglecting the weekly blog for months, but this week I am bringing it back. It's been a busy year and I just didn't have time for it. That's how it goes sometimes. I feel like I hit the ground running after my early October wedding with various projects. It feels good to be busy.  

 

Cat Watercolor Workshop

On Wednesday, I led another cat watercolor workshop at The Dancing Cat, a cat rescue space, in San Jose. They call it "San Jose's first creative space for people and cats." I really love teaching at this spot. It's 7 blocks from my house, the owner is great and so far, the classes sell out before I can promote them. She finds the best students, some with experience, some without, but they all are really open, motivated and have a really good time. I really like to encourage freeing yourself up, allowing yourself to have fun, experiment and embrace your own natural style. These workshops have been getting me motivated to teach more workshops in the future. Sharing my knowledge with new people reinforces my love for what I do. I have wanted to expand my offerings for workshops after the Content Magazine event over the summer and these recent cat workshops, so you should be seeing more in 2017.

I'll be teaching a pre-teen/teen class at The Dancing Cat for ages 10-14 (there's still room if you know anyone!) on December 10th and possibly another adult one in January.

 

Listening

A friend recently posted this episode of Malcolm Gladwell's podcast. She was right, it's fascinating. The title, Hallelujah, references the iconic song by recently departed Leonard Cohen. If you don't know Leonard's music, check it out. It's seriously beautiful. 

I heard a Radiolab podcast, From Tree to Shining Tree, a few months back on the community among trees. It's an unbelievably magical episode. I won't say much, but if you want to have your mind blown on the interconnectivity of trees, you must listen. I also just found out there is a TED Talk on the subject as well. 

 

Reading

Artist Alicia Dornadic curated an art show over the summer at Alite Outpost called Not a Lemon. She put together this beautiful catalog of the show and it's available on Blurb for $11. I can't wait to get mine!

 

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Reflecting

After taking a little unplanned break from art last week, I made this combination of paintings. The top room is of Leonard Cohen's living room and the bottom is Trump's living room. I was watching a Leonard Cohen documentary and the narrator said:

“Leonard’s house is sparse, without decoration. The walls are pale gray with white trim...The furniture is is minimal...He has everything he needs and nothing that he doesn’t need.””
— from Adrienne Clarkson documentary "Leonard"

In thinking about how Donald Trump got a lot of support from the blue-collar or working class, it's pretty ironic that his three-story penthouse home is $100 million and filled with marble, 24 kt gold and chandeliers. My unplanned break from art last week was due to a combination of working on a grant application, reflecting on the election and what I am doing with my art. Sometimes I get so disenchanted with art in its modern context. It feels like it's all about conveying perfection on Instagram, everything looking homogenous and branded. I still have my rebellious side and I see it coming out more lately. It's so important to voice your opinion and be yourself.

 

Seeing

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Last night I saw the great Anthony Bourdain in San Jose. I have been a huge fan for a decade now so it was pretty amazing to see him in person. I love how he is both a food elitist and calls out food snobbery. I can't wait to get his new cookbook too.

 

Sketching

I painted this sketchbook cover for a friend's birthday. It says "sueña en grande" or "dream big." I used BFK Rives paper to wrap the sketchbook cover, using a technique I learned in a book making course in art school. The painting is of Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico, a place we hiked while on a road trip together a few years ago.

I painted this little window, thinking of that super moon everyone was talking about, thinking of a light at the end of the tunnel, that kind of thing. 

 

Walking

I think having a dog is key to working freelance or from home. They get you of the house and out of your head. You also get to go to dog parks like the one pictured above. Hart's Dog Park is a new spot in Downtown San Jose and one of our best artists, Roan Victor, painted this stunning mural at it.

Weekend 8/5/2016

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Exhibiting

I'm finishing up work for a show that opens next week called Pairs. It's a group show that features artist couples at Empire Seven Studios. I can't wait to see what everyone puts together for this show. It opens next Friday, August 12 6-10pm. 

A recent painting of mine, Ascension, will be on display at Anne & Mark's Art Party since Empire Seven Studios will be curating a massive area of space within the event and my piece will be in that area. I really look forward to checking it out this year. I remember when they used to host at their lovely house. I love that it has grown so much. They are some of the best supporters of art in the area so be sure to check it out. The gala opening is September 24 and events run through October 1st. 

 

Sketching

Tara working on her motorcycle camping painting

Tara working on her motorcycle camping painting

Last week's SoFA Sketch was great. It was a hot night and we all just chose to paint whatever we wanted. Tara chose this motorcycle. She nailed it with all the camp gear on the back. The next one will be Wednesday August 24th.

And my sketch from the night. I had to finish it the next day. I'm always working toward simplifying and including only what is necessary. 

This is a sketch for a new painting for a show. I often like to move between reality and imaginary places of escape, solitude or strangeness. I am doing a lot of playing around in the studio this last week. I am not posting everything I make. I think that can defeat the purpose of making. I've been feeling fatigued by social media, both consuming it and just being bored of it in general. It can be so overly presented so I am having fun with posting whatever suits me or not posting at all. 

 

Swinging

There's a really neat thing happening in San Jose right now. There's a giant white swing set in Cesar Chavez Park that plays music as you swing. There are four different colored swings each representing a guitar, harp, vibraphone or piano. The more in synch you swing, the more complex the music gets. It's super cool and up until October 2. 

 

Watching

I just finished watching Stranger Things. When you grew up loving John Carpenter, Italian horror, E.T.. when you saw Poltergeist when you were 5 (thanks dad), Spielberg in general, read Firestarter as a teenager, watched Star Wars, Stand By Me, D.A.R.Y.L, Flight of the Navigator or Goonies. All those movies where kids get into paranormal or imaginative mischief. If you liked Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, the Clash, Television, this show brings to mind all those nostalgic memories from that time. The show captures a lot of the feelings of my youth and nails the era. Ah, the era before selfies :)

This week I watched Tacos and Punk: Discussing What Women of Color Face in the Local Scene. It gives some great insight on being a woman of color in the punk scene. I continue to find music and visual arts dominated by the same demographic. The same goes for the handmade world, bloggers, etc. It's hard to believe that not much has changed, but videos like these prove that maybe they are.

Chef's Table. I said it once and I'll say it again, Chef's Table blows my mind. It is such a great show about people who have found their purpose in life as it relates to food. These chefs often travel the world and lead carefree lives, while now running some of the best restaurants in the world. It's an absolutely stunning show. A ceramicist friend in San Jose, Rosella of RossLab, had her gorgeous bowls featured in the show (pictured above) and in the opening credits of each episode of this season. I really want to get a set myself. You can purchase them here.