927 2013

NON TRADITIONAL FUN

    Summer fun in the Cambria artist colony means 927.  It is a tradition here on the Central California Coast where artists who live in the 927 prefix, create something non-traditional and out of our normal comfort zone.  You can see some pretty wild and creative things.  You may recall, my Well Traveled Lady sculpture, won a couple of years.  You can see her below.
    Here are my offerings this year.

QR-T  

as in QR art

    QR codes are everywhere, so I decided to use the interesting positive and negative space in lines and boxes to create a painting.  If you notice in the bottom left is a real QR code.  That is my code and will link you to this blog.

VINTAGE CAMBRIA

    Cambria is on the western edge of what has become California's most popular and prolific wine region, the Paso Robles Appellation.  More than a couple of the artists enjoy the local vintage, as do most Cambrians so, here is

Chateau Cambria

   Our cats and an occasional friend who wondered into my work space were mystified by the strange object that started taking shape.  It is a paper mache tribute and statement.

   After creating the form with cardboard, I covered it with multiple layers of paper mache.  

  Then I covered it with a layer of plain brown paper.  Then the

paint and label.

   Cambria is a village with a lot of opinions.  Of course everybody thinks their opinion is right, so on the front label where wine makers list the grape, I created a blend of 50% conservatrol, 50% liberale and 100% convinced.

   The back of the bottle reads "Chateau du Cambria is an aged blend of hard oak opinions with a complexity that lingers.  There is a slight hint of arrogance, an undercurrent of pine and pacific fresh overtones.  It pairs well with conversation and food.  May be hazardous to your health if taken too seriously."

     It is fun every year to see what kind of "non conventional" creations that members of our colony come up with.  Thanks

for visiting, and Cheers!

IMPROVISATIONS AT WINDWARD

HIGH NOTES ON A GOOD TIME

Windward Vineyard has a special place in my heart because of more than Marc and Maggie and their wonderful wine.

This is now the third time a new year begins with an exhibition of my work in their beautiful gallery.  In the past two years I have presented my Plein Air work.  This year, Improvisations is a departure.  Actually it is a return to my roots.  When I was a student, our art department was very much a part of the modernist school.  I painted in an abstract style until our move to Cambria and my study with the great Plein Air colony there.  My time and study with the Wednesday Irregulars has been extraordinary.

However for this exhibition, I did a series of lyrical abstracts and bio morphic paintings.

The Windward Vineyard takes a winter rest, and provided a beautiful setting for the opening reception. 

Manager Anna, has again been as helpful and supportive as she is gracious and beautiful.

The reception was a great time and gave us a chance to visit with some wonderful people.

Here's a closer look at the pieces.

Toccata

Cadence

Sonata Duo

Allegro

Gizmos

Equipose

Aguacate
Thanks for looking in.

FUN IN THE NEW YEAR

WINE DIVAS AT ALEGRIA

    Do you ever just feel like just breaking out of the routine and having fun?  That's how I'm starting this new year-having fun and introducing my "Wine Divas" to San Luis Obispo.

  The "Divas" are an outgrowth of a series of art cards that I started doing.  They've evolved over the years and have become somewhat popular, so I decided to do a series of Acrylic pieces based on the Divas.  Tom calls this my "whimsical series."

   Christine Hance who has Alegria  Wine and Ware at 942 Chorro St. in San Luis Obispo has invited me to put the Divas on display.

It is a wonderful Wine Bar near the historic Mission and offers a gorgeous view of one of the "Nine Sisters" peaks running along the coast.  

   It is a great setting for the Divas to "show their stuff" in a festive ambiance.

  Again, just in the spirit of fun, I made a paper mache' sculpture, called "Wine Dancer" who now greets patrons at Alegria.

      I hope the patrons, especially the women of San Luis Obispo,

 will enjoy visiting with and sharing a glass of wine with the Divas.

      What a fun way to ring in the new year.

COMING UP

More NEW in the New Year

   I'm also ringing in the new year with a return to my roots.  More coming up in a future post.

    I feel very recharged by this break and new creative direction.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

                                                     

   

A FIRST PLACE & SOME OLD FUN

 I felt lucky that I even had two pieces selected to be in the show, so I was surprised when I heard my name called for first place in painting in the Cambria Allied Arts Association juried show.

Lone Palm Trail
16 X 20 Oil
This is part of one of our favorite hiking trails that leads
to a bluff over looking the Pacific just south of San Simeon.
The wild radish was in beautiful bloom.

The winners pose for Ian in the shot above while below I chat with one of California's most accomplished painters, watercolorist Shirley Pittman.  

On the wall is one of my "Departure" pieces as I've begun returning to my abstract roots.  More about that later.

Tom found a couple of shots from earlier this year and
thought you might enjoy them.
927 Fun and Games

 I spent a lot of time with this little lady made of paper mache sculpture.  She was one of my entries in the annual 927 Show.  927 is a chance for the artists in our local colony to have some fun and do "non traditional art" which usually means fun and whimsical.

 This is another my entries-"Finding Yourself-How do you measure up?"  Hard to see in this photo is a tiny mirror in the middle of the painting which is framed by a yardstick.

   927 is all about fun, and that's what I had in getting ready. 

A DAY FOR GREENSPACE

A LOVELY SUMMER AFTERNOON

      Several Central California artists had a chance to spend a beautiful afternoon in Cambria, all for the benefit of Greenspace-The Cambria Land Trust.

  The setting was the lovely Greenspace Preserve, site of a restored Chinese temple, a fruit orchard, walking path, creek side path and a quiet and contemplative sitting area.

 I felt honored to be selected to show some of my work.  I had a little bit of everything there.  There were some recent plein air oils, miniature oils from old canvas, ceramic garden crosses, one of my new pop art paintings,

 a collection of my hand painted cards and miniature ceramic pears, along with a pear still life oil.  I just love pears as a subject, and to eat as well.

   The afternoon also gave me a chance to work on hand formed

ceramic birds.  

     I also had a chance to meet a lot of nice people, some from as far away as Germany.  All in all it was lovely afternoon.  But as I said to a couple of painter friends when were loading our cars at the end of the day "...glad we don't have to do that everyday."  But once in a while for a good cause is a good thing.

SUMMER FUN

A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT

Hi friends.  Sorry it has been so long since my last post,

but I've been busy having some summer fun.  The garden has taken a lot of my time, but with the fresh lettuce, beans, herbs and beets, it has been worth the time.  We've also entertained house guests,

but I've been busy in the studio as well getting ready for 927
and painting with the Irregulars.

I feel as though I'm at a point where I am going to start pushing my

plein air work in a new direction.  Before I moved to the Central Coast I concentrated on doing post modern expressionist work.

I was a bit intimidated to join some of the wonderful professional

painters who have given Cambria and this area such a great

reputation for plein air work. Over the last 5 years I have learned from these artists more than I can express.  It is a truly talented group.  I will continue to do plein air work, but I am also going to

see how I might connect with my artistic roots.  

In a future posting I will tell you about our annual 

927 Show which is all about fun.

THE RECEPTION

A WONDERFUL EVENING IN CAMBRIA

Bruce Marchese and I were a bit overwhelmed.  The turnout at our reception was the largest crowd anyone could remember.

The food was marvelous.  The music by young Dakota Nobel added such a nice charm.  Tom was busy with his iPhone camera and recorded some of the evening to share with you.

 Our daughter Katherine surprised me with a visit. She is seen here with our dear friend Jacque.

Thanks to Beverly, Kathi and other members

of the Hospitality Committee.

Tom recorded a few comments made by

President Steve Kellogg.