this just in..

I just committed to the next six months of "Drawing Wednesdays". I will be drawing on one Wednesday a month until June. I think my head might go crazy if it were every single week.. but I think once a month is manageable. Dates will be posted accordingly.

(pictured: rough napkin sketch of Zander)

new best friend = worst enemy

If you can't tell what that is from this dark early morning dim lit photo.. well.. it's a self propelled treadmill.. and just in time for 2011. weeee!!

drawing wednesday

I was in last nights drawing Wednesday. The crowd was very large this time with many customers as well. So happy they got the lights figured out.

Happy artists chatting away..

I did two drawings but was feeling a bit blocked and a bit intimidated.. I have really let my drawing skills slip over the years and really focused on three dimensional work.

 Below is the start to my H.R.Giger's Sistine Chapel. a.k.a touching spaghetti

I also randomly drew a homeless lady... guess I do have a dark side... and err.. a random one.

she is pissed! ha

I wasn't very proud of either of them.. but realize I need to practice more... correction: I want to practice more. I've mentioned that before but I think I'm going to make it even more of a practice with full effort and energy. The goal would be able to mix the sculpture and the drawing so that they work in cohesion.

Anyway.. practice makes perfect or so they say..

music pacifier right now:

a well traveled book full of love

Do you recall me telling you about Marlene White's 108 page book.. Well.. the book is now well traveled..visiting France and all.

Check out her blog and the book in front of The Louvre and the The Eiffel Tower, all over really!!

The book isn't the only thing well loved.. Marlene proposed to her long time partner at the top of The Eiffel Tower.. and she said yes! Congratulations and Mazel tov!!

It's a wonderful feeling to know that the book is being used and loved by such a great artists and friend.

working it out this a.m.:

Rachel's - Handwriting

bread and butter

Back to the basics.. I decided I would try my hand at baking my own bread. I've never tried to bake anything other than cookies or muffins. 

*Segue* the term "bread and butter"..is an old superstitious term said by couples when their holding hands are forced to split by an obstacle. This is to avoid bad luck of something coming between them. Kinda cute huh... who knew. (they also said "salt and pepper") (thanks wikipedia) 

It really wasn't that hard.. I did however use one of the most basic bread recipe EVER.

I got that lovely dough mixer from my mom for Christmas. Most things I received this year were very home driven... anyway..

You mix all the dry stuff then add the wet stuff w/ yeast and before you know it the dough is rising and doing cool stuff. I cleaned the house while the dough was rising and then came back to it.. plopped it in the loaf pan and baked it until golden brown.

Not bad eh? Not for my first loaf of plain old white bread. 

I made a large pot of Andouille sausage n' wild rice stew as well.. Dipping my buttered bread in the stew was absolutely delightful! I thought at first the bread tasted strange and was paranoid that I messed it up.. then realized quickly that home made bread tastes different.. as in really effing good.

One must eat to have the strength to create.. next on the agenda.. clean up studio to create more.

sweetly dancing upon my ear drums:

Christmas Day 2010

Below is a series of Penelope and Theo on Christmas.... it's all about the kids you know... oh and baby Jesus.

Below is right after Theo gets to my sister Amy's house and hears that Santa has magically brought his presents over.

The kids were locked out of the living room until the moms gave the okay to attack the tree and poor pretty presents. Why are adults so mean.. whyyy..

Here is the tree before the kids saw/touched.

The mean adults holding poor Penelope back from seeing the tree. My sister looks super excited.

Penelope realizing that she narrowly escaped the naughty list.. whew.

                                      
Auntie Em is still wondering what happened to her pants..and also wondering why kids don't feel cold.. wtf?

Theo discovering something large and plastic.. wahoo.. Oh Santa.. you shouldn't have..

Below is a picture of about how the rest of the morning was... a blur of excitement.. the kids wouldn't hold still very long.

Theo showing off his new vest and hat set.. auntie Em was jealous.

Penelope trying to figure out the wings on her new dress.

The below picture is of  kids before dinner that night..

 Still amped and full of sugar and wonderment..

My mom made this incredible roast w/ creamed potatoes.. oh my! sides included rolls, cooked carrots (YUM), gravy, and salad. Dessert included my sisters apple pie and Bake Sale Betty's pumpkin pie w/ vanilla bean ice cream.. I think 5 pounds just hit my hips describing the meal. 

Auntie Em is exhausted and relieved.. I am so grateful for all the thoughtful gifts and cards I got this year. Thanks you friends and family.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve 2010.

Penelope wouldn't hold still.. but she is super cute.. I'm wondering where her pants went

?

Sold Out!

Isn't it funny how things work out.. especially when you thought it would work out a different way. Last night I planned to meet a friend who was interested in purchasing a book. I went to Laneplitter to meet her with the 4 remaining books. I sat and waited and waited and she never showed, after texting her she replied that she forgot and was now busy doing something else. Being annoyed and sarcastic I said out loud.. "erm.. does anyone want to buy a  handmade book"? while making a face.

To my surprise the woman sitting next to me said "what kind of book"? I pulled out the books and she looked them over and was immediately drawn to one. She ended up buying it as gift that will go to a tattoo artist as a sketch book. She was also nice enough to let me take her picture.

When one door closes - another opens.. so true isn't it. The magic didn't stop there.. I ran into a friend and her mom who is visiting from out of town. I told them about what had just happened. Well.. long story short - my friends mom ended up buying all 3 remaining books to take back home as gifts.

I couldn't feel happier or more blessed... and it all happened at a much needed time.

Those were the last books I had fully made. I have several at home that need to be assembled and the wood is being cut for another set. 

Thank you to all the new book owners and the universe for making it happen.

celebrating with me in music form:

This last weekend was Alison OK Frost's opening at zza's trattoria in Oakland.. You would never tell by meeting Alison that she was the one that skillfully painted these dark images. The show is up till January 21ist 

I only captured a few of her paintings.. 

These particular paintings are all done in watercolor... fantastic!

The lightening and detail are amazing.

I have a special place in my heart for the dark and strange.. maybe it's because these paintings remind me of work.. nah. 

If you're in the area you should stop by for a glass of wine and check out her show. Alison also participates in "Art in Box" program that I mentioned recently.

a rare choice this morning:.. 

Books find their loving home just before Christmas. I had two orders for special books intended to be wrapped and put under the tree with care.

Thank goodness that both people met me at the same place to get their books. It also worked out in another way.. a friend that purchased one of my books earlier this month called with some troubles involving her book. While she was out her dogs decided that they would put their special touch on the book as well.  So I was also able to pick up the damaged book for repairs.

Below is one of the new books. I really enjoyed this book, it has mixed used paper, and the stain is over gold leaf paint. What this means is there are lovely shimmers that come through in just the right light.

Laura with the new book... she said she liked it so much she wanted to keep it for herself.

Here is Tracy with her new book. This book was custom made just for someone special in Tracy's life. We sat down and had an interview a couple months back about the person getting the book. The pages are randomly filled with drawn images about this person.

Uh oh.. below you can see some of the damage from the dog. If you can recall this is one of my favorite books of all time.

This shouldn't be to hard to fix. 

I'm suddenly feeling a sense of relief that the books are out. No more book orders, shows are all done... Now I can sit back and relax for a minute.

Music moving the airwaves:

finally..

I put up some Christmas joy around the house. I put on the Pandora Christmas station and went to town.

My humble little tree:

The mantle all dressed up for Santa. You can't see that there are blue lights on the mantle as well. No stockings this year.. First I don't have stocking hangers and second.. I ran across Dean's stocking and was a little sad... so no stockings. 

After visiting Holton Studio's on Friday, my friend Trevor and I ran into a guy on the street with a bundle of fresh holly. The gentleman who knows Trevor offered me some and I gladly accepted. Below is why.. I painfully made my own wreath... ouch! the leaves are sharp!. It's not bad eh.. I know a sixth grader could probably do better but I think it's good.

I also put lights in the windows.

I can now take that off my checklist.. now I have to do my Christmas shopping. This weekend was a mess out there so I waited to do it after work this week. I have to tell you.. I'm feeling a bit anxious about it all, I think I feel that way every year.

Try out the Christmas station on Pandora if you're into that sort of thing. 

ho ho ho

surround this..

My five year anniversary gift from work finally came. Not that I was waiting forever but it did take me a very long time to decide. I love that companies give you several pages of basically crap.It was really hard to turn down the bronze cast statue of a soccer player.. but I decided to get something random that I would use until it breaks... and who knows maybe it won't

I got a very cheap home theater system... very, very, very cheap. Look at all these damn wires.

Each corner of the room has a speaker.. for being so cheap, the speakers actually sound pretty good. Of course the wiring they give you isn't long enough.. so I spent some time re-wiring everything.

Overall it's not a bad little toy.. it's pretty crazy to hear a movie like that.. The one downside to it is: It came with a DVD player that works as its amplifier.. another cheap piece of...

When the DVD player is working there is a nice somewhat high pitched hum when it's not on a loud part.

someone I know needs to clean the studio..

Holton Studio Frame-Makers

On my lunch break yesterday I stopped by the wood shop to visit my friend Trevor. I've written in the past about the wood shop.. if you can recall. Anyway, Trevor took me over to see the gallery/showroom that is associated with the wood shop. I know that they show artwork but I truly was blown away with their current show.

First I should tell you that Holton Studio specializes in custom frames with the highest quality of wood (fancy!). They make frames that don't require any nails or screws, all frames fit together with wood joints.. it really is very beautiful and quite the art to make.

Their gallery features landscape art from Northern California artists. Their current show features four artists from Pixar studios showing their landscape art. At first when you hear Pixar you automatically think of Monsters Inc and all the wonderful movies.. but hold on friends because this was mind blowing.

I love the cozy little entrance. 

The owner of Holton Studio told me about how this group of four friends when not at Pixar travel around together and paint or draw. I love that!

Below is work by Ernesto Nemesio - Oil on Canvas

Below is work by Diasuke "Dice" Tsutsumi - Oil on Board

Below is work by Sharon Calahan - Oil on Canvas

Below is work by Bill Cone - Pastel on Canson Paper

As you can see I was pleasantly surprised by my lunch time pit stop. I think people forget the true art in landscapes and being a landscape artist. Most of the paintings looked like photographs at first, it was a bit hard to believe they were done by hand.

Seeing this work makes me think very deeply -  I could write about it forever. I enjoy when art does that, moves me to feel so many things that words can't really do it all justice.. because I can't find the words to say all that I want. One thing that comes to me is that we are so hung up in our busy lives that we forget the true art of sitting still and taking in where we are. I also think that many forms of traditional art are thought to be something of the past, I believe it's good to take in ALL areas and aspects.. never to be confined to one genre or style. 

Below are a couple other images around the showroom.

Go Pixar!

Round one of the Christmas cards are in the mail as we speak. I'm proud of myself.. I actually sad down and did it.

Christmas is suddenly creeping in.. slowly but surely.

uh...

crap...

just another day at the office.