Orange Flower

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This is a pen & ink drawing from my Flower series. It is colored with Oil Pastels. It is on 5 x 7 archival Artist board. It is available on Ebay.

29 Blocks waiting to be cut...

I picked up some wood in Berkeley last Saturday. I cut it on my table saw this afternoon. Now I have 29 Blocks waiting to be drawn on and cut...

9 are 5 x 7
16 are 4 x 6
4 are 6 x 7 3/4
There are a few odd sized scraps, but I plan to use them, too.

The Great Baren Cairn

This wood cut is part of a bigger project organized by Maria Arango of Las Vegas, Nevada. Maria is one of my role models. The URL for her website called http://1000woodcuts.com clearly spells out her goals - to do 1000 woodcuts - she is nearly a quarter of the way to her goal at 238.


My part of the cairn was drawn and carved yesterday after work. The entire Great Baren Cairn project can be followed at Maria's website. Take a look at her other work. She is amazing.

Yellow Flower

Oil on Canvas
8 x 10


Painted on August 10th
Should be dry by September 10th

The Tree

Oil on Canvas
8 x 10
Painted on August 10th


This might take a few weeks to dry...

What's Your Number?

The Art Bureau is collecting numbers for an Art Bureau calendar. And now they have my number.

From their site:

Art Bureau (.org) is an online art gallery and publishing house for artists. As a supplement to the Art Bureau online gallery, we publish a black-and-white zine fostering a D.I.Y. approach to art, design and community. Each issue features 32 pages of artwork, interviews and articles about artistic collaborations, networking and organizations.

Play the accordian, Go to Jail

‘The Accordion’ is part of a music series which also includes ‘The Bass’ and ‘The Guitar’. It was created while I was hanging out with my brothers’ rock band. Yes! They played the accordion on some songs even though the singer had a sticker on his accordion case that said ‘Play an accordion, go to jail.’
‘The Accordion’ is 10.5” x 6” on a 12” x 18” sheet of rice paper. It is from an edition of 4, with two artists proof (A/P) that means there are only six in existence.

The Church in the Field

This is the church print. The Lino-Block can be seen here. I uploaded that image on March 19th, printed it the next night, but had a bad printing run. I decided to come back to it in a few days, hoping I would have a better printing session. I did and I was able to print the full edition that night. The original image had a window in the middle of the building, but I did not like the way it looked on the print so I tokk it out and I think the results are better.

Kathe Welch

Kathe Welch

I did a big update on my website this week and I made a site for my friend Heather - another artist.

Point Reyes National Seashore (Spring Break 2006)

The first Road Trip of Spring Break. We drove north out of Oakland across the San Rafael Bridge, up 101 to Lucas Valley road to Nicasio Valley Road, left on Point Reyes/Petaluma Road and all the way to the end of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.We got out a few times a long the way to take in the view and look at the many cows and waterfalls. We stopped at a gas station in Point Reyes station to check our directions – I usually go with out a map, though I did have my GPS unit. Inside the store two young business women (maybe 11 or 12 years old) asked if I wanted to buy some sage that they had picked. I was impressed with their entrepreneurial skills, so I bought one.

We were soon back on the road and began the count down of dairies on the way to the lighthouse – each one labeled with a letter – Historic C Ranch Established Circa 1859. At one of the dairies along the way, we saw a cow that had just given birth. Her calf lay on the ground at her feet and the placenta was still hanging from her body. There was a vulture waiting on a nearby fence.

At the end of the line we walk .4 miles from the parking lot to the visitor’s center and 400 steps down the hill to the light house. The views were amazing and well worth the long drive. The air was crisp and clean and it was one of the first sunny day in some time.

Ah...Vacation...

Nine Glorious Days!
Starting Right Now.

Window

4x6 lino-cut
Printed last night...

Flower Print

4x6 lino-cut
Printed last night...

The Church

This is freshly cut linoleum block that will be printed tomorrow night...

Project: Catch-22

Pro Arts Shows



Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the "Forgotten War"

Inspired by Korean American life stories of struggle, survival and compassion, three visual artists, three performance artists, a documentary filmmaker, a psychologist, and a historian came together to create a common vision for Still Present Pasts and its elements. As the oral histories are retold via text, audio, and video recordings, visitors experience the projected images of soldiers from all sides, cross a twelve-foot bridge of division and reconciliation, and are asked to help piece together gaps in family history via an interactive puzzle. All this and more intermingle with installation art, photographs, historical texts and first-person recollections to create a strong visual and deeply evocative experience.

Artists' Reception: Thursday, March 9, 6 - 8pm
Artists' Talk: Saturday, March 11, 1pm
Making Connections: Saturday, March 25, 1pm
Intergenerational Dialogue & Closing Program: Saturday, April 15, 1pm More information ...

PROJECT: Catch-22 presents works on 81/2" x 11" paper by local artists exploring their personal response to military conflict and war.
Artists' Reception: Thursday, March 9, 6 - 8pm More information ...

Tonight...

PROJECT: Catch-22
Exhibition Dates: March 2 - April 23, 2006

Artists' Reception Thursday, March 9, 6 - 8pm

PROJECT: Catch-22 presents works on 81/2" x 11" paper by local artists exploring their personal response to military conflict and war.

Participating Artists:
Mandell Andres, Chris Beards, Melissa Bolger, Timothy Buckwater, Brent Bushnell, Tony D'Aguanno, Susan Feldman, Henry Fesler, Erik Friedman, Thomas Frongillo, Annette Goldberg, Lulu Hanna, Judy Hiramoto, Monica Johnson, Verlena Johnson, Mary Kandalian-Aslanian, Stefan Krikl, William LaRue, Elaine Maute, Nancy McHone, Laura McHugh, Ronald McKenzie, David Miller, Ibraim Nascimento, Anna Natille, Kathleen Ney, Lori Pino, Julia Pombo, Rob Prideaux, Courtenay Redis, Barbara Rogers, Tiffany Sankary, Joyce Shon, Sue Shuff, Alison Smith, Kathe Welch, Melissa West, Al Wong, Holly Wong, Julia Wren

My fear of Falling off of the Bed

This is one of the drawings for my book I am illustrating. It is called The Last Monkey and it is about my fear of falling off of the bed. There will be about 140 drawings in the end. Last night I finished number 25.

HANG

This is a sculpture I made a few years ago. The figure is strung up by his feet as he struggles to hold up his arms. His major bones are wood and his muscles are built out of twisted Brass and Copper wire.

Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the detail in the way the wire muscles wrap around his bones.

I am quite proud of this sculpture. It is one of my favorites because of the detail and the time involved in creating it.

The Three Graces

‘Three Graces’ is my version of a classic pose. Three curvy women stand together huddled as if they are telling great secrets. Many famous artists have painted or sculpted this pose. My favorite is Rodin’s version which stands invitingly atop “The Gates of Hell.”

I started this print before I move to the bay area the first time. I made all of the cuts and printed the Blue at my first apartment in Alameda. Life got in the way and the woodblock and prints were put aside for quite a long time. When I move back to Alameda, I dug the woodblock out of a box and put it on my kitchen table, so that I could see it everyday until I actually finished it. One day in January, I sat down to finish the cutting and last week I went out to the studio to print. I am excited that it is finally finished as it seems to be the culmination of a lot of other things. I feel more and more like I am getting to where I am supposed to be and finishing this print is like finishing this chapter. Now I feel I can move on from where I have been stuck.

‘Three Graces’ is a wood-cut. The image is 7” x 8.25” on Rice Paper. 5 were made in blue and black. 4 were made in orange and black. There are 10 in black only. The color (blue or orange) was printed in water based ink and the black printed on top in oil based ink.

The finished version can be seen along with some shots of the print in progress at my website.

We Hella WON!!!

At the encouragement (or prodding) of my Principal and Office Manager, I entered several of my students pieces of art in a show at the Pittsburg Art Collaborative (the work should be posted here by the end of next week).

I almost did not enter, but I am glad I did. My office manager is the Secretarial type, I don't think she gets the ADHD world in which I live. Non-Artists do not understand the ordeal of getting your work into a public venue, but it is usually worth the time and effort. This one really paid off, because we totally won – not that that is why we make art, but it is nice to get validation from our peers.

Last week, I pulled several pieces from the pile of stuff I had not yet returned to students and I asked several students to create stuff specifically for the show. I took all of them to my best friend Heather, who happens to work for a custom frame shop – Creative Framing in Oakland. I had her help me narrow down the choices and then she framed all of the pieces as a donation to the school. If we had to pay the bill it would be a damn lot of money that we don't have.

Last Tuesday I carted the 12 finished pieces from 9 of our students off to Pittsburg. I told all of the students about the show and each student who entered was asked to be there tonight (Friday) when the show opened. During 7th period I got a phone call telling me that one of our students won, but I was not told what she had won.

There were about 40 people in attendance at the opening. The show had about 60 works of art from 45 student artists from high school and middle school. The gentleman in charge, Martin, started the award ceremony by telling about the Pittsburg Arts Collaborative and then he talked about show and the judging process. Each judge had several stickers which they placed on the most deserving pieces.

Martin then began to hand out the awards. First, three honorable mentions – $25 to the artist – we were not in that group. It was getting exciting, that meant we placed in the top three, a much bigger deal! Next was third place – $50 to the artist and second place – $75 to the artist. It was almost over and I started to wonder if there were some other prizes, maybe more honorable mentions before announcing first place, and I started to get nervous. I looked at Heather and she looked nervous, too. Then Martin said the name of the first place artist. I looked around the room to check, but I knew she was not there and I told them so. “She’s not here? BUT THAT’S MY KID…uh…STUDENT.” I collected her prize – $100 to the artist. Even better!

By the way, Martin told me later that the winning piece had more than twice as many stickers (votes) as the second. My School RULES!

They're back... the toilets are back.

I posted more of my toilet prints on eBay - here .

It has been a busy week. I have been working hard to get a bunch of my students artwork framed for a student show. Today was the only day to turn in the work. I worked a bunch of long hours just to get the stuff prepped and the paper work in order in addition to doing my actual job of teaching art to the kiddies – some of whom are bigger than me. My friend Heather, at Creative Framing in Oakland, worked super hard to get the artwork framed in time, got a lot of materials donated and has been invaluable in getting and keeping me organized during the shenanigans. The show opens at 5:30, this Friday night (the 20th) in Pittsburg, CA at the city hall. It will run for about 10 days.

I had the stuff for the show all ready to go and then last night about 9:00 p.m. I started to experience the most intense pain in the left side of my mouth. A toothache kept me up all night. I called in sick then called a local dentist to beg for an emergency appointment. Thankfully they took me in and fixed me up, but I have to go back on Saturday for a root-canal. That should be fun.

I had to stop by my school on my way to drop off the art work and part of my face was still numb. I stopped by my classroom on my way out to check in with the substitute and see how his day was going. There were three kids in my class that did not belong there, so I hauled them off to the class they were supposed to be in and made them admit to their teacher that they were ditching his class. Usually I am the nice easy-going teacher and I let them get away with some stuff, but I had extreme pain and very little sleep last night and I think I was just annoyed that they would treat the sub that way. They would not have tried that if I was there.

Now, it is 1:30 a.m. and I should have been asleep for the last three hours, but the Novocain has worn off and I can’t sleep. I will be sorry in four and a half hours when I have to get up.



The scattered bodies are a shot of plaster sculptures in progress.The images enter in the art show are all drawings, paintings or mosaics.

Altered Plans

My friend Mike who is a master gardener has a website on which he teaches people all about growing and propagating plants. He is amazing. Mike has plan on his site to create a potting bench. I built one this summer and it worked wonderfully, until I decided to leave my living situation and my angry ex would not let me have my potting bench.

I moved into an apartment with a garage and slowly started to reassemble my studio. My Print Press is in the other corner across from my workbench. My friend Heather who shares the studio space with me needed a table to attach her glass torch to and a safe area for any flying molten glass to fall. We were trying to avoid burning down our new work space. Heather described the table she needed and since I had already built something similar I told her about Mike’s website and his potting bench. I thought we could build the base the same way he did and modify the top to suit her needs.

I built the base in less than two hours and when she came over later that night we talked about the best way to modify the top. She also wanted to add a collapsible drawing surface. The main work area is covered with Hardy-backer (a sheet of cement used to cover walls that will have ceramic tiles attached to them) to make is fire-retardant. I will put up a picture of the attached torch soon.

You can still see Mike's table, but it is no longer a potting bench, now it will be use to make Glass beads, pendants and small sculptures. Heather's Kiln sits at the base of the Glass Bench.

Tin Can Alley - Lithograph

Toilets for Sale...

I put a few of my toilet prints up on E-bay. All as part of my plot to take over the world thru art. Of course I hope they sell, but I am very interested in feedback. They can be found here.