a day at the park with my friends, painting. this sketch was about an hour and half.

i'm working on a still life painting at home in my livingroom/studio. hopefully by the end of next weekend i'll be finished.

Oh, Those Puritans

Last week I illustrated several Puritan costumes for the Thanksgiving release of Pogo "Mini's" avatars on the website I work for, Pogo.com (a division of EA). So, like always, I dove into research. It is widely held that the Puritan clothing of the 17th century was nondescript, but I find it anything but. Would the clothing of Roger Conant, depicted in the statue below, be more powerful if it were something else? I seriously doubt it.

Can you imagine meeting this guy on a dark Salem street?

(from wikipedia)
Roger Conant (c. 1592 – 1679) was the leader of the company of fishermen who founded Salem, Massachusetts (then called Naumkeag) in 1626. He was later supplanted by the governor sent by the Massachusetts Bay Company, John Endicott. He nevertheless remained in high standing with the community, giving long service as a juror and member of the Board of Selectmen, with duties including the establishment of boundaries for new communities.

i did another variation on the hair theme last night. i was surprised that using green on the face seems to work, oddly enough. so today when i went out with my friend Elaine to get a manicure i thought i'd try green on my nails. green is the new transparent oxide red! :)

Here are a couple of small plein aire studies from recent weeks. I wish I had more, but I'm working a lot. It seems I only have time to sneak in personal work a few times a week, which is very distressing:

More sketchbook stuff

I love working on this collaborative sketchbook project with my friend Cheryln. My train of thought always takes me to unexpected places. The blue mushroom drawing led me to the bavarian hair portrait after I saw a photo of a "coral head" in my friend Rhode's incredible studio:

http://www.pablosinferno.com/blog/?p=256

sketchbook experiments

(left side: gouache on buff colored gesso. right side: paper, glue and glitter and a little gouache)

i am working on a sketchbook collaborative project with my friend Cheryln. She does four pages, then I do four, each sending the book back and forth. Here are two pages of the four I contributed a few weeks ago. I am finishing up the remaining two pages tonight.

Weedy Girl

i'm back on weedy sea dragons.

20 minute life sketches

The Bay Area Models Guild holds a marathon drawing session every quarter. I prefer the 20 minute sketch area. I like to block in the shadows and then draw lines on top to show the form. Overall, it's a great exercise in proportion and tonal study.

emerge

i had a dream about cicadas: one cicada attached to the back of each hand. they were either putting something into my veins or taking something out, I'm not sure which. it doesn't matter; the cicadas were not easily removable, only a registered nurse could perform the task. in the dream, the cicada removal was very similar to the procedure of intravenous line removal and re-insertion at the hospital where I stayed, most unexpectedly, for about a month.

はつ蝉のうきを見ん見んみいん哉

hatsu semi no uki wo min min miin kana

first cicada
“Look at the floating world!
Look! Loo-ook!”

(Issa, 1812)

wikipedia:

In the Chinese classic Journey to the West, the protagonist Priest of Tang was named the Golden Cicada, in this context the multiple shedding of shell of the cicada symbolizes the many stages of transformations required of a person before all illusions have been broken and one reaches enlightenment.

Weedy Sea Dragons

I love these creatures. They live in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.

My friend Adelle Caunce sculpted one a few years ago, which can be seen here:

http://www.biguglyfishies.com/BUF.html

cat sketches

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Some cat sketches

sketching on a plane this weekend:

The untold want, by life and land ne’er granted,
Now, Voyager, sail thou forth, to seek and find.

- Walt Whitman

Cat Sketches/Cats Playing

"There are two means of refuge from the misery of life - music and cats."
- Albert Schweitzer

I Remember...

.......................................................................
.......................................................................

::: i remember, ashes and snow :::


http://www.ashesandsnow.org/


"The fate of all birds is to fall, but the phoenix is the only bird that transcends her own death . . . The fate of man is to fall, but some find a way to transcend their deaths. In this brief moment on earth, they succeeded in singing their song. The list of human birds of phoenix is long . . . There are millions of men and women who are also birds of phoenix, whose stories are unknown . . . but whether they are known or unknown, man or elephant, all phoenixes share the same dance:

Feather to Fire
Fire to Blood
Blood to Bone
Bone to Marrow
Marrow to Ashes
Ashes to Snow."

....................................................................
....................................................................

Laura Robb

Sorry I haven't posted more Leyendecker photos. I will resume soon. But before that, I need to post a link to one of my favorite artists, Laura Robb. I love her work:

http://www.laurarobb.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=2064

More Leyendecker images

Here are some paintings from the Leyendecker show at the Haggis Museum in Stockton, last year. I will post more in the coming weeks...







You might notice is that these photos come across a bit yellow. No need for color correction here, however. Leyendecker painted all of the kids in this series a little towards the yellow warm tones, as opposed to pinkish hues. I wonder if it had something to do with compensating for the printing process of the time.

Saturday Morning Zen: CANCELLED.

The place in Mill Valley that was hosting our Saturday morning drawing/painting workshop is no longer willing, canceling our sessions, much to the disappointment of the regulars who attended. I am sad, yet I am confident something else will open up.

Ironically, two years ago I bought a large amount of charcoal paper to be used specifically for this workshop. The drawing below is rendered on my very last sheet.

Thanks so much to Lenny Lee for putting the workshops together at Mill Valley Art and Paper. It was a great run!

:::UPDATE:::

my car was stolen while I was in Chicago during the holidays. the entire set of drawings I did during the two years of my "saturday morning zen" life drawing workshop were in the trunk. All those drawings gone, like tears in the rain. :)

Elvgren sketches

Someone sent me these beautiful, rare, Elvgren sketches. These were most likely done in the late 5o's, and probably studies for his paintings. Simple line work, minimal shadows, gorgeous drawings.

Oakland Bay to Golden Gate

Judith, model today at my Saturday morning zen workshop:

What a gorgeous day it was all over the bay area. How do I know it was nice all over? Because my drive to this workshop spans two bridges, the Oakland Bay Bridge (still being retrofit...) and the Golden Gate Bridge, the most beautiful bridge ever. The weather was nice on both spans.

and a better photo from a few Saturdays ago:

the model in the drawing above reminded me of Waterhouse's nymphs:

The turpentine haze in my studio

i listen to music while i paint. it helps to create an incredibly zen-like state; paint and the brushes and the color of my still life travel through my eyes, into my mind and back out onto claessen's lead primed canvas while listening to elliott smith, thinking about my mistakes, facing my future, and hoping that this
alternate-verse I just stepped into is the right one. I am hopeful because I know that the ether that permeates this universe is made of the turpentine haze in my studio, and the kindness and patience of friends.

after a hiatus, i am painting again when i can. my living situation is such that i don't have a good place to paint, but that is all working out.

"Azevedo Ranch Chickens", oil 9"x12"

I have never heard A more moving rendition of Bob Dylan's song, "Forever Young", than the one sang by Randy at his brother David's memorial service.

You are missed, David Threlfall

David Philip Solari Threlfall
October 3, 1948 - March 6, 2007

*photo was taken by Kathleen, somewhere in Sequoia National Park

Sometimes there are people that flow through our lives that make a really big impression. An avid hiker, mountain climber, photographer, husband, father, baseball fanatic, geologist and all around interesting person, David Threlfall was and continues to be one of those people for me.

The first time my sister Jenny and I met Kathleen and David was at my Dad's wedding to my step mom, Susan, many years ago. Other than Susan, we'd never met people from California before. They were so cool and casual, so laid back and friendly.

Over the years, as my step mother's family became more a part of my life, I had a chance to get to know Kathleen and David. I was always excited to take trips out to their house at Azevedo ranch. David always had his cameras out as well as prints, slides, his new scanner or a new book, and talked enthusiastically about what he was working on or an interesting photographer he'd come across. As a young adult, it was his passion for photography and the outdoors that made a powerful impact on me as I was forming my own artistic pursuits. The idea of combining a love for hiking and the natural world with a love for photography made sense to me as a young painter hoping to someday be able to do the same as a landscape painter. David represented to me the idea of pursuing your interests for no other reason than just because you love it and it makes you feel alive, which is far more courageous than I'd realized.

Now at 38, I have come to understand that there is no place for guilt in wanting to pursue your interests. What are we if, at the end of our lives, we have lived nothing but 'responsibly' and have failed to listen to our hearts? As I look at the walls of Kathleen and David's ranch house, I see the beautiful prints he made of his work, as well as the ones he acquired, all of it a record of his existence, of what he saw and thought worthy to photograph, and of what he saw in other's work that made him need to own a print, and am left thinking, this is a man who really lived...

How fortunate I have been to have known David Threlfall.

My thoughts and love are with Kathleen, Rosie and Willie.

"And yet, there is only
One great thing,
The only thing:

To live to see in huts and on journeys
The great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world."

-song from the Kitlinguiharmiut, Copper Eskimo

Rainer Maria Rilke and Mr. Kappa

A good friend recently sent me the following passage via e mail:

In 1903, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke responded by letter to a young man seeking his advice. Rilke eventually wrote ten letters now collectively known and published as "Letters to a Young Poet." They are heartfelt advice from a successful but still struggling artist to another who was deeply mired in self doubt. Rilke's idealism is applicable today to all who might pursue any sort of creative activity:

Your work needs to be independent of others' work
You must not compare yourself to others
No one can help you but yourself
Criticism leads to misunderstandings
Work from necessity and your compulsion to it
Work on what you know and what you love
Don't observe yourself too closely, just let it happen
Don't let yourself be controlled
Live in love and the activity of your work
Be free of thoughts of sin and guilt
Be touched by the anxiety of life
Be patient with the unresolved in your heart
Try to be in love with the questions themselves
Be gentle to those who stay behind
Your inner self is worth your entire concentration
Allow your art to make extraordinary demands on you
Bear your sadness with greater trust than your joy
Do not persecute yourself
Its good to love, because love is difficult
You are not a prisoner of anything or anyone

Rainer Maria Rilke counseled the young poet, known only as Mr. Kappus, over a five year period. No evidence exists that they ever met.

-Namaste