Sunday, February 28, 2010

A New Series of Collages










Here are the first three of my new collages, each six inches square. I've used a variety of media: ink on fabric, ink on paper, screenprint, intaglio, hand printing. Each collage is affixed to the top of a painted wood panel. I plan to do at least nine in the series.

Friday, February 26, 2010

The Color of the Irises At Trader Joe's, For Example


It has been a very busy week and I've been remiss as far as my blog is concerned. So, I'll make it all up by posting a sample of LOVELY BLUE, today's favorite color.




.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Great Morning for the Signal Hill Walk

After a night of more rain, we've got bright skies and puffy clouds. A beautiful day for a walk. This is the view of the city and ocean from the top of the hill.


Civil Disobedience: I entered anyway.

Robert Rauschenberg at The Armory

Got to see a great show of prints (serigraphs, lithographs, mixed media on paper, mixed media on fabric) by Robert Rauschenberg at The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena this week. How prolific he was! And always thinking out of the box. A very inspiring visit.


The Armory Center for the Arts


Some of the prints in the exhibition


A close up of a mixed media print.
(Phooey, I didn't write down the title.)

The Armory is also known for its excellent education program of art classes for children and adults. I'm thinking of taking a letterpress class there this summer.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

How To Draw Cupid

In honor of the day, I'd like to offer instructions for drawing Cupid, thanks to The Mini Page, a newspaper supplement written for kids by Betty Debnam.




I think I'll give it a try. I see there are four steps...

Step 1...

Step 2...

Step 3...


And finishing up with Step 4... Viola!!!

Cupid (drawn by an abstractionist)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

And Hearts To You For Valentine's Day!




Jim Dine


Henri Matisse


Cy Twombly


Latin American folk art


Howard Hodgkin

Weedus Prolificus

The recent heavy rains caused huge growth spurts of the heartiest of
our native plants.

From Our Reporter In The Field


This was the scene for my lucky friend, Pam, who spent the last week cross-country skiing in Wisconsin.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Whoopie, Saints!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A GREAT GAME!

Colts or Saints????


As you can see, Sophie is very excited about today's Super Bowl game.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

A Cozy Evening By The Fire

The rain continued steadily all night but we were warm and dry inside, reading by the fire. A nice night.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Let's Just Call This Our Monsoon Season

More rain again in So Cal! It has been coming down steadily all day. I've had a front row seat by the window in my studio. Such a fun day working on a drypoint, drinking hot tea, listening to a CD of Gregorian chants. For lunch, I treated myself to a delicious take out salad from The Factory, a new restaurant nearby that specializes in locally produced foods. Yummers!


Los Cerritos Salad from The Factory: greens, red bell peppers, green onions, avocados, oranges pieces, udon noodles, basil chiffonade, soy glazed almonds with a citris miso dressing

Advanced Intaglio Students At Work

A very nice thing about LBCC's advanced intaglio class is that artists from the surrounding community take it to gain access to an etching press while working on their independent projects. This semester, after a dark classroom in the fall due to budget cuts, the class was reinstated. Much to my delight, many of these artists are back. They are working on etchings, collagraphs, mixed media works on paper and found objects, wood cuts, monoprints and drypoints. It is a pleasure to see them at work here again.


Here, Shuyun Shih is inking several small collagraphs which she will print in combination with found papers as chin colle elements.


Mary Coromelas is rolling her zine plate covered with paper through the press. Momentarily, she'll get to pull back the press blankets to reveal her print.



Martin Salazar compares two impressions of his collagraph. Behind him are drying prints from the evening's work by several artists.



Lorraine Papadopoulos inks a zinc plate that she will soon print experimentally on found diary pages. If she likes the print, she'll combine it with other found items and hand brushed elements.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Forecast of Great Snow in Wisconsin

To good friends heading out tomorrow for a week of cross-country skiing: Rest, Relax, and Enjoy!!!!

And Finally A Couple More, One Being Mine



I've always been a huge fan of the French artist, Jean Dubuffet, for his energic line and quirky abstractions. This one is from a series of portraits of artists and writers he knew, shown together in an exhibition called People are More Handsome Than They Think.


And the following is my self-portrait, created in 1993:



Two Hearts, 2
1993
intaglio with chin colle