Sketches from bed

I've had to sketch from bed this month due to a turn in health. I miss painting! But I need to stay positive and committed.

Here's some snaps from my sketchbook including camellias that I practiced for when I come back to a painting in progress!

Art in Sac: Hi-Fructose: Turn the Page

If you’ve been reading my blog, you already know I was stoked to see the Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose Exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum. Aside from a bevy of sentimental reasons to attend, I've followed a fifth of the exhibiting artists since their actual features in Hi-Fructose and another three are on my list of very favorite visual artists (Yoshitomo Nara, James Jean, Audrey Kawasaki). I was also excited to see the work of artists I’ve read about in Hi-Fructose but only recently began to enjoy (namely Mark Ryden, Kris Kuksi and Kehinde Wiley).

The exhibit was immediately engulfing (as you'll see if you attend) and did not disappoint.

Unrequited (Variation in Pink), 2015 Resin infused refractory material, paint. 14 1/2 × 15 × 43 in. 

I was floored by:

• Nicola Verlato’s Carravio-esque chairoscuro and cinematic content in “Off the Grid.”
• all the manic eyes in Todd Schorr’s “The Last Polar Expedition of Commander Peary”.
• how my husband got lost in the chaos of Kris Kuksi's "Eros at Play" and the fog of Jeremy Geddes’ "The Street."
• the personified loss in Beth Cavener’s “Unrequited (Variation in Pink)." It made me choke on my tears.
• how reminiscent of Northern European Renaissance Dutch oil paintings the details in Femke Hiemstra’s "Hypnos” were.

Rosie's Tea Party Oil on Canvas, 2005

I savored:

• the magnitude of Kehinde Wiley’s "Philip the Fair”.
• the clown's doll-like hands in Ron English’s “Combrat Rising”.
• the sassy kitschy play in Mark Ryden’s “Rosie's Tea Party”. I found it ridiculously fun remaining entranced in Rosie's eyes and the details of her tea party. While Ryden’s technical skill is stunning, yes, “fun” is the word I’d use to describe experiencing this painting. I have fallen into his world fully and happily and now fully understand why Ryden is such a huge player in the pop surrealist world. 

I keep forgetting how marvelously thrilling it is to see a piece in person rather than on a computer or in print where it loses a bit of it's luster. It truly is in the experiencing of a piece in person that one can really understand what makes art.

If you are in the area and are interested in the exhibit, take note that it runs at the Crocker Art Museum through September 17, this year.

Inspiration: Podcasts

It's been a month since I've written here, due to a fortunate influx in graphic design work, a much-needed vacation and taking care of my mental health. I wanted to update all you beautiful souls, though. So, in the meantime, I wanted to share some great podcasts if you are in need of inspiration. I listen to at least one of these podcasts every day while I work. It's like having mentors and peers in my home office. The things I've learned are so invaluable!

Marketing / Entrepreneurship / Design

As a Creative freelancer, these podcasts keep me up-to-date and excited when I hit those all-to-common work flow snags.

Accidental Creative with Todd Henry Todd Henry's episodes are shorter than some podcasts but his pep talks put me in my place when I'm complacent or cowardly. Some weeks, I listen to this podcast as I make my coffee first thing in the morning.

Design Matters with Debbie Millman I listen to some of these episodes over and over . As a freelancer, I sometimes lack Creative commiseration, so hearing Debbie talk to hotshot designers and creatives is like getting encouragement straight from the mouths of mentors.

Design Sponge (reruns) with Grace Bonney Back in 2008 when I followed like 300+ blogs, Grace Bonney had already claimed her reign as the godmother of design blogs. These podcasts are older, but Grace's design and curatorial experience really shine through each episode.

Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield This one is targeted more towards teachers of online courses but Amy's interviews still offer TONS of encouragement and wisdom for businesses built on content generation (like mine!). Amy's energy is always inspiring, too.

Fine Art / Contemporary Art

It's important for me to remember that the role of "artist" (though traditionally pitied and misunderstood by the non-artist commercial world) is a necessary historical and cultural place in society. These podcasts remind me how important art will always be to humanity.

Hyperallergic I am grateful for everything Hyperallergic does to keep me updated on the living, breathing contemporary art world. This podcast reminds me to keep an eye on the history being made in art, not just the art history books I've read in school.

MoMA Talks Great for learning about both modern and contemporary art. This podcast features talks with artist, curators and scholars. 

Raw Material by SF MoMA The format of this podcast reminds me of PBS' Art21 series. I really like that I can keep my finger on the pulse of the art being made where I was born and raised: the Bay Area and Northern California.

KCRW Art Talk This podcast features artists in Southern California. I can't make that drive willy nilly, so I listen to this podcast to feel updated on that scene.

Lifestyle / Story-telling / News

When I don't have an audiobook to listen to, I listen to these podcasts. Story-telling is a huge aspect of my artwork and hearing the stories of both famous and regular people is necessary to my creative process.

Death, Sex and Money with Anna Sale This podcast is brimming with the human experience and Anna is a gracious interviewer. I find solace in listening to the stories told by people walking very different walks in life. Seldom are the topics of death, sex and money discussed elsewhere but this podcast makes clear that such "taboo" subjects are what tie us all together.

Rookie I am no teen but I've followed Tavi Gevinson's career since she was 12. Listening to this podcast, which is in line with the magazine she founded in 2011, is inspiring because interviewees are asked questions by unabashed teenagers finding their way through life. Quite often, answers are life-affirming and phrased in a gracious and honest way. 

PBS NewsHour ,  BBC NewsHour , (Time's) The Daily All for varying perspectives on world news. I avoided ingesting too much of the news in past years (it would depress me). However, I now feel a daily need to find my bearings in the world through learning what's going on elsewhere. It helps me navigate daily life when I focus on the human experience as a whole rather than my own little world of negative thoughts.

I hope you find these podcasts inspiring as you peruse them!

Spring 2002: First Time I Saw Justin

DETAIL: Spring 2002: First Time I Saw Justin (IN PROGRESS)

I travel space and time. 

I think we all do. As you sit and read, time passes through you- an imperceptible but relentlessly strong current. It won't stop for you just because you sit there. You're traveling time.

We travel space. Yes, we are literally hurtling through space on this little blue marble of a planet. We inhabit actual physical space, too. We move through it as we get up and walk. We can stand in the same physical space we stood in years ago and not be within the same spot in time the way we are within the same spot in physical space.

I believe it's a miracle that I inhabit the same speck of time and space as the man I love. We have been in love since 2003... married since 2015. This work in progress is a study of the exact time and physical space we inhabited when I first saw him.

Through this piece, I'm exploring how my mind makes and keeps memories. I'm recording the few but often revisited visuals my mind recalls from that very short moment.  I'm learning about how my mind organizes color, assigns value to simultaneous stimuli and amplifies recurring narratives into memories and my perception of history.

I'm fascinated with using commonplace traditional media such as paper, acrylic paint, colored pencil and glitter paint in my work. I also am interested in finger-painting and in using pure colors. There's something freeing about taking crayons straight from the crayola box and coloring the way I child would by focusing on association and content rather than exact color replication. Working in this way frees me from feeling I must meet public high brow medium standards. With these barriers gone, I can more freely explore my memories and mental color organization.

Art in Sac: Antemann Dreams Collection

Stepping into the Chris Antemann  x Meissen Forbidden Fruit collaboration at the Crocker Art Museum was like breathing the bright air of two different time periods.

"The Pursuit of Love", Antemann Dreams Collection, MEISSEN®

To me, Antemann's work is a powerful reimagining of and reintroduction to 18th century symbols, techniques and media through the point of view of an empowered 21st century female artist. I was inspired by that bold juxtaposition.

It's funny how art created within the vernacular of another time period can make a viewer feel that, although the piece was made within present day, they are looking at a portion of history. Is that an intentional deception or part of the magic? It feels like Antemann's work exists both in the 18th and 21st century- but of course it doesn't.

I'm fascinated with the idea of repurposing the medium and culture of a different time period as the vehicle of more modern ideas and whimsy. I know technically there are many mediums that we don't immediately think of as antiquated but are indeed very old. For example, oil paints are still used so often in art, I don't think of antiquated times immediately when seeing it's use.  In Antemann's work, the use of porcelain and Rococo visual cues have made a palpable and unique bridge across the centuries. Just looking at her work for a few minutes, I'm aware of their history as well as their modernity: Antemann's infused commentary on sensuality, cultural interpretations of the Garden of Eden and social rank. I find it exciting!

I wonder how people from the 18th century would view this artwork. 

The Forbidden Fruit collection will be at the Crocker Art Museum through June 25th.

Detail from "Covet", Antemann Dreams Collection, MEISSEN®

Keeping Me Honest: Artists I Admire

Living life seems to bring more questions than answers, and yet it's all-at-once beautiful and redeeming in it's darkest places.

To me, art is like that, too.

Being an artist is terrifying: Expressing one's truth even when  others demand answers. The truth isn't always pretty, doesn't always make sense, is sometimes more funny than pleasing, sometimes can't be explained succinctly... Yet, the truth, as art, is always beautiful in it's ability to inspire one to search deep inside for answers and reach outside for meaning.

I am inspired by

• artists who challenge truths. I might not agree with everything they do but I am inspired by their fearlessness.
• artists who seem to have styles/messages I try to convey. If they can do it, I know I can.
• artists who are having fun. Yes. Art can be fun.

Here is a short list of artists who constantly do this for me... artists who have got me through some dark times:

• Vincent VanGogh: for the dream
• Mark Rothko: for the depth
• Frida Kahlo: for making self-centered work okay
• Billy Collins: for making the mundane miraculous
• Odilon Redon: for the freedom in dream and myth
• Yoshitomo Nara: for the angst in the innocence
• Wassily Kandinski: for the child like expression
• Paul Klee: for the form
• Paul Cézanne: for the color
• Gustav Klimt: for the ornate
• James Jean: for making comic-like art high brow
• Audrey Kawasaki and Lady Gaga: for the dark and sexy
• Lykke Li and Zola Jesus: for the vulnerability and the raw power
• Es Devlin, Yoko Ono and Cai Guo-Qiang: for concept delivered through total  experience
• Alexander McQueen: for delivering the dark and the honest through beauty
• Friends With You and APAK: for youth, wonder, joy
• Fafi and Koralie: for being badass females and painting them, too
• John Steinbeck: for his simple but beautiful story telling
• Jonathan Safran Foer: for the stunning, sweeping narratives about the simple and commonplace
• Johannes Vermeer: for making it okay to find the beauty in the commonplace
• Louis CK: (see Billy  Collins)

Hope this is inspiring to you, too.