the huntington gardens - pasadena

gehry - los angeles

little dancers - los angeles

los angeles

The good husband and I went to Los Angeles to visit friends.  Like most people, we wait too long between trips. By the time we're headed somewhere we're fried and running on empty.  We had a long leisurely week to refuel, sleep, eat good food, be with people we love, check out a new city, see a ton of art and be happy when we got home to the slow moving Memphis.  I'm rejuvenated and inspired.

The first few days were sunny and gorgeous.  Our friend loaned us her white convertible Cabriolet to tool around town in. Then the rain came, the top went up and we headed inside to museums.  We didn't even get to any galleries because it took so much time to check out the museums.  The Getty, Los Angeles County Museum, MOCA, The Museum of Jurassic Technology - there was so much to see. Oh,and not to mention the earth and sky with The Huntington Gardens and The Griffith Observatory. 

Both of these pictures are from a bike ride from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica Pier.  The Light would be full on bright and then fog would roll in really fast making everything glazed over and eerie. 

recurring

This is Jupiter's moon Europa, but the pattern could be on a rock, a nerve center or the palm of person's hand.  One purpose of art for me is to find these recognizable universal patterns, juxtapose and reorganize them so the viewer is presented with something familiar but dissonant. 

(The photo from one of my favorite sites, NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day)

dead winter

Last week when it looked like it might snow for the third time this year, my friend remarked how much she has enjoyed this Memphis winter because it's reminded her so much of Ohio winters she experienced growing up.  "We're having a real winter.  Spring will be revelatory, as it should be!"   

I left last year's remnants in the garden much longer than  usual because I wanted to have the texture around.  Today it warmed up a lot so I got outside and whacked it all back.  I need winter. 

trails

thursday mornings

Now that I've taught a few beginning acrylic painting courses at Flicker Street Studio, there are plenty of students ready to dive into the new intermediate course.  Every Thursday I load the '91 Toyota (it's a real excitin' buggy!) with all kinds of brick-a-brac from around the house for a still life.  The paintings have to go pretty fast since there's only three hours, but each week I see the students laying out their compositions and colors with more and more confidence. After they've got that beginning phase mapped out, I encourage them to tweak some areas and keep other areas lose.  I showed them Alice Neel as an example of that. 

Alice Neel, Self Portriat1980