Chester Arnold at Catharine Clark

Not to be missed:  New show of Chester Arnold art 

November 3, 2012 to December 22, 2012 at the Catharine Clark Gallery in SF

San Francisco Art Markt 2012

Lots of great art at the Art Mrkt.  Here are some of my favorites:

Photographs (like the one above) by Alfred Seiland
Encaustic paintings by Alicia Tormey
Works on paper by Frank Stella (scroll down on this link to the Faaris Car blog post)
Paintings by Timothy Cummings, (especially one titled "Floralia," which is not visible on the Catharine Clark Gallery website - gallery, also, of my art teacher Chester Arnold's work)
A lot of photographers represented by the Modernbook Gallery (especially Tom Chambers, Jamie Baldridge and Sara Friedlander)
Some great sculpture and paintings by the late, great Viola Frey from the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in NY
Some beautiful photocopy collage from the late, great Bruce Conner
and last, but not least, C. Antieau and Jason Holley's art from the Red Truck Gallery in New Orleans (especially C.'s "Ghost of Birds")

All in all, worth the trip to the Concourse Exhibition Center in SF this weekend!

Charles Burns - Fabulous Off-Kilter Cartoonist

I confess I love Charles Burns' weird comic art.  The piece above is a B&W version of the cover from "Black Hole" comic magazine No. 4 posted on the blog Accidental Mysteries.  I have most, if not all, of Burns' comics still (there aren't very many).  And, I loved the work he did in 1991 for the ballet "The Hard Nut," commissioned by choreographer Mark Morris (a funny take on Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker").  Burns has worked with some of my favorite comic book publishers:  Kitchen Sink Press and Fantagraphics Books.    I met Charles Burns once at one of San Diego's Comic Conventions.  He was nice and seemed much more normal than one would expect from his art.

Robert Ryman - artist

Recent artist discovery via my art class.  The more technique I learn, the more I'm impressed by art I wouldn't have looked at twice before.  Robert Ryman's fabulous paintings are a prime example of a new appreciation for art that looks simple but isn't.  Artwork from MoMA

Chris Van Allsburg

Just heard Chris talk at Book Passage in Corte Madera.  What a treat!  I'll use 17 adjectives to describe the man who has written and illustrated 17 wonderful books + more with other collaborators:  Talented, humorous, original, smart, funny, interesting, wise, gifted, different, unique, nice, caring, hard-working, skillful, proficient, prolific, worthy.   Plus, he has a great website here:
One of my favorite books of his is his first.  I'm happy it is now autographed!

Marisol Sculpture in San Francisco

I had no idea when I took this photo in San Francisco in August, 2009 who created it or what it was about.  I just liked it.  I was taking the ferry into the city from Marin to help take care of my new Taylor twin grandsons and would walk through Sydney G. Walton Square on my way to Mason and Taylor.   Now, more than two years later, I discover the object of my admiration is a sculpture of Georgia O'Keefe by the Venezuelan artist Maria Sol Escobar, otherwise known as Marisol. Well worth a visit! More information from Wikipedia on the artist is here.

90+ Year Olds Who Paint

My 92 year old mother and 91 year old father still paint.  Yesterday, after a Sunday lunch at my house, my mother painted the roses from my garden which were in a vase on the table.  A lovely memory of a nice day.  The best thing about art is that it is something wonderful you can do your whole life and share and enjoy.

The Autry Museum

Another exhibit I'd like to see:  The Autry presentsThe Mexican-American Generation of artists.  More info at ArtNews and at Autry National Center.  So happy to see my distant relative Gene (5th cousin once removed) Autrey's legacy living on in the arts!

De Kooning in New York

I wish I was in New York so I could go see this exhibit!  More info at MOMA NY

Sausalito Art Festival 2011

My favorite artists from the festival this year:
More Traditional
1.  Andrea Tucker-Hody (gold leaf paintings on handmade paper) - San Anselmo, CA
2.  Taman VanScoy (watercolor paintings) - Long Beach, CA
3.  Patty Mulligan (Polaroids on gold) - Berkeley, CA
4.  E. Michael Wommack (pastels & prints) - Bucks County, PA

A Little Wackier
1.  Cathy Rose (porcelain, metal sculpture) - New Orleans, LA
2.  Chris Roberts-Antieau (fabric sewn paintings) - New Orleans, LA
3.  Chris Vance (painting - a bit in the style of Gary Baseman, who was NOT at the art festival) - Des Moines, Iowa
4.  Brian McGuffey (paintings) - Seattle, WA

Creative Wonder

What a treat to find some of my art selected and posted, out of the blue, on Judy Felker's Creative Wonder  blog, especially given the high quality of the other art Judy features on a regular basis.   I have no doubt the world would be a better place if more people were to answer Judy's question with some positive action: "What if we spent our time creating beautiful things, looking at all of the beautiful things created by others, and helping other to find creativity in their lives . . ."

Artist Caspar David Friedrich

So much art today is ugly, I needed a beauty fix.  This painting, by the 19th century German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich, makes me feel happy to be alive.  I'm not sure what the objective is of much of the stuff labelled "art" one sees daily on the web.  If it is to make you more depressed than you already are/were then it does accomplish that - but who wants to feel that way?

This image is from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, an incredible art museum I wish I could get to more often.

Artist Kim Ford Kitz

Walking home from the San Anselmo library today I passed a window display with some great art by a local artist.  Between people's beautiful gardens, the local birds, and a few nice window displays it was a beautiful walk despite the grey weather.   For more of Kim Ford Kitz's art look no further.  Her website is here

Thomas Wood Prints

At the SF Fine Art Fair at Fort Mason today, I discovered a new Pacific Northwest artist who does really interesting etchings.  More of his work can be seen at the Lucia Douglas Gallery, located in Bellingham, Washington and at the Lisa Harris Gallery in Seattle.

Raimonds Staprans The One That Got Away

As part of Chester Arnold's art class S.F. Gallery tour last night we were supposed to see Raimonds Staprans artwork but the gallery was closed.  Crumb!  Now that I've checked Staprans work out on-line I might have to take another trip to S.F. to see these paintings in person.   The exhibit is at the Hackett/Mill Gallery at 201 Post St. from April 8 to July 1.

Suhas Bhujbal and Alex MacLean Worth a Look See in S.F.

The Dolby Chadwick Gallery's exhibit of artist Suhas Bhujbal's citiscape paintings from Pune to San Francisco is worth a visit.  The exhibit is on from May 5 - May 28.  Born in India, Bhujbal received his MFA in Fine Art from The Academy of Art in San Francisco.   His use of layers of thick paint and brilliant color to render some of India's dense housing can only be fully appreciated by viewing the original large oil paintings.

The Dolby Chadwick Gallery is at 210 Post Street, Suite 205 near Grant.  After you're done there just walk one block away to 49 Geary and take a trip to the 5th floor to see the Alex MacLean photography exhibit at the Robert Koch Gallery.  MacLean is a pilot, architect and photographer who puts this interesting combination together in unforgettable ways.  The MacLean exhibit is on from 5/5 - 7/2.

Andrew Wyeth Master Painter

Andrew Wyeth: Memory & Magic

I've lately begun to buy art books again, even though I don't have room for them.  Pouring over great paintings is a fabulous way to spend time and get inspired to do more painting myself.  Having just bought a new book on Andrew Wyeth I am reminded what an incredible talent he was.  The Squidoo website has a lot of great material on the artist.  I also recommend my new book "Andrew Wyeth Memory & Magic" published by Rizzoli.  There are paintings in it I've never seen before including one titled Moon Madness done in 1982 that I just love.

Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle

I'm about to visit Seattle, WA again to see Amber/Matt and my twin grandsons so have an increased interest in that part of the world.  Accordingly, I was happy to find the artist Brian Despain, who is represented by Roq La Rue, exhibits there along with other favorite Pop Surrealism/Underground Contemporary artists such as Mark Ryden and Marion Peck.  Looks like the gallery will be a great place to visit on my next trip!

Great Local Artist David Fullarton

David Fullarton on the Behance Network

David Fullarton's website

Miriam Ellingson Artist

Nice artwork by Miriam Ellingson as experienced at this weekend's ICB Marin Open Studios at 480 Gate 5 Road, Studio 278, Sausalito, CA 94965.  Worth a look/see!