kibart

Nother reason to visit sfmoma

2009-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

New rooftop sculpture garden enveloped in city sounds - distant
jackhmers, carhonks, humm of tire on cement.
People talk comfortably and walk thru sculptures. They pull out their
fancy cameras and train them on glass, steel, and cement surrounded by
our real world.
As an extra plus- a rooftop cafe, powered by Blue Bottle beans will be
opening shortly.
Can we pull all thepaintings out into the light and admire them here?

empty

2009-05-06T23:49:00.000-07:00

exiting davis studio....

April Already?

2009-04-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

In February I had aspirations of syncing with Baby's rhythm so that I could make some art here and there. While more sanity has permeated daily life, I am still entrenched in babytown and enjoying it. Ben now takes some naps on his own, and as he gets more interactive (smiling, grabbing, rolling) he is more fun to play with and encourage. Usually it takes two morning espressos to reconcile myself to the beauty of this new life, since the sleep is still pending.
Meanwhile I've made it up to UC Davis once to visit the incoming MFA candidates and peek at the progress of the first years. The '09 class is heavy into production mode - filling up walls, rooms, and ceilings with textile, cardboard, and canvas for the May show. I will definitely keep Ben up past his bedtime for the opening!

it's official

2009-02-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

a mark of recovery and settling in, is the creation of a blog for the little guy (or rather for the parents of the little guy)- Benjamin's Blog can be found at : http://superben.typepad.com . KibArt will return to its previously scheduled artsy focus. As I unpack kitchen boxes, and try to understand naptimes, I hope to pick up some drawing pads again soon.

Brian and ben under trees

2009-02-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

Went to the playground behind thousand oaks school today so we could
have a visit with kathy and john while 3 year oild savannah (sp?)
played in the sand, slides, and swings. Really nice to catch up and
for me to heAr about how kathy balances singing, music playing, and
mommytime. It's still hard to recap the last few weeks into a concise
tale...but we tried. It was great to exchange early parent stories
with good friends. The visit was long overdue!
In the background, toddlers ran around, made sand angels, and
navigated play equipment with impossibly long arms and legs. Id look
over at Benjamin in Brian's arms under the tree and realize how teeny
tiny he still is. His head slumps forward over brians hand, amd his
little legs are half folded in froggie position. In these early days,
my prime job is to feed him and seek out change and growth. We
celebrate each Effort he makes to lift his head, wiggle legs and arms
on his back, or echo back a couple verbal tones.
On the playground, I watched one larger baby smile at his parents as
they poured sand through a funnel in front of him. The prospect of so
much interaction seems both excitng and impossible.
Kathy got to hold Ben during one of his sweet sleepy spells, and enjoy
his repertoire of squeaky snores.
In the thick of it, these first weeks have not seemed quiet or easy,
but in the shade of some nice trees, the mellow company of a newborn
started to seem like slow, pleasant company. I could start to imagine
looking back on this time, as many parents do, and missing this
earliest stage of life.

In motion

2009-01-31T21:50:00.001-08:00

Ben likes to stay in Motion... Enjoying a reprise of "teddy bear
picnic" and a nice shuffle step dance.

Benjamin on the couch

2009-01-31T20:36:00.000-08:00

Flirting
With the
Wall...

Playing in the new house

2009-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

Leisurebaby part 2

2009-01-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

Baby tai chi - 3

2009-01-13T20:08:00.001-08:00

Baby tai chi - 2

2009-01-13T20:02:00.001-08:00

Baby tai chi -1

2009-01-13T19:57:00.001-08:00

Ben lays on his back, fixes his gaze off yonder, reaches his hands in
the direction in slow semicircles, before making a lunge, back arched,
towards the prize. He sometimes smiles, mouth open, at his phantom
friend.

Brian and babe - v2

2009-01-13T16:39:00.001-08:00

Leisurebaby

2009-01-11T13:31:00.001-08:00

Baby relaxin after lunch. My firstattempt at reading a book while
feeding. Feeding while laying downat night has led to much more
restful nights. I am already forgetting the insanity ofthose first ten
days.

Feet!!!!

2009-01-09T13:39:00.001-08:00

Hands free baby

2009-01-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Hi tech baby carrying. Now I can
Hold ben and finish my coffee

Fwd: family outing

2009-01-07T19:45:00.001-08:00

Took our first family walk to starbucks. First walk I've been on since
the birth. Bens first stroller ride too.
>

Benjamin Kibby Donaldson

2009-01-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks friends!!!

And Welcome to benjamin.
Born December 25 2008
7 on 13 ounces in Berkeley ca

See my facebook account for some pix (account is robinkibby). Does this link work?

Or, www.bendonaldson.com

I hope to post some non-invalid-mom and baby pix soon.

He's making squeaky noises right now on brian's chest. Cute!

Dec 25th ! Baby Kib

2008-12-28T23:09:00.001-08:00

2008-12-06T22:57:00.000-08:00

Visited our realtors holiday open house in Russian Hill (SF) tonight. A warm room full of interesting city folks was a nice counterpoint to a day marked by Braxton Hicks contractions and naps on the sunny floor of the new house. In SF, enjoyed a little non-alcoholic holiday cheer, and a tour of the artful home interior - bold patterned fuzzy wallpaper, italian plaster walls, tile pattern, and smooth dark wood floors. Cozy, regal, inspired.
They repeated their stellar "thank you" gift -- a nice visit and a homemade ginger cake. Fun to see that Ellen included Brian and I on her blog, along with the recipe for her amazing cake.

great mom movie

2008-12-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

watched this documentary last night: "The Business of Being Born" Highly recommended for any pregnant lady or interested companion of said-lady. Informative on the industry of hospital birth and midwifery, but did not strike me as preachy. Very empowering and inspiring for women's ability to give birth naturally. I plan to go to a hospital with a midwife. This movie made me think home birth was viable option also. Being so close to my due date, made for lots of happy tears as each birth story unfolded.

Current project

2008-11-26T13:01:00.000-08:00

Countdown has started...
My payoff for coming in to have more tests done- a glimpse Of the
chiblet in profile.

Whole image- rainy sketch2

2008-11-01T17:52:00.001-07:00

More rain

2008-11-01T17:51:00.001-07:00

Nother rainy sketch. Cropped off the edge of this one.. I think only
this half works. More congested.

Rainy hillside

2008-11-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Todays sketch. Suggestion of manicured hedges in the background. I
like those slash of sculpted foliage.

Waiting for records

2008-10-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

Waiting room

2008-10-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hospital lab

Train scribble

2008-10-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Bouncing train makes it hard to stay steady.... But fun! Painting on
the iPhone is like clean digital finger painting.

Carving

2008-10-14T18:33:00.001-07:00

Starting in on it.
I like to draw back over with charcoal so I can see what I've done

Reverse drawing

2008-10-14T16:49:00.001-07:00

Drawing for color plate 1 of c&h sugar factory. Most detail will come
from black plate (next one) but I want to establish perspective and
architecture and major light shapes here. I drew in more detail than
needed, but that helps me discover what patterns of form are most
interesting. Now, sharpen the tools and carve!

location

2008-10-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

drawing spot-
wonder what the grade was:

Testing hypothesis

2008-10-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Parking patterns. Fun to paint. Picked what I thought was a less
traveled street, but endedup explaining myself several times and
losing some of my subject matter to commuters. Reminds me how esoteric
art world is, when everyday hillfolk look at me like a lunatic for
choosing to study the way vehicles respond to hill terrain. Such a
tame subject of exploration.

29 weeks

2008-10-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

fun word diversion - wordle
typed in a few words about my future offspring, and program re-arranged them.

bodega bay marine research lab

2008-09-09T19:40:00.001-07:00

bodega bay marine research lab
Originally uploaded by robin kibby

original site of our class intensive paint session - BB marine research lab - a white land dotted with pvc pipe, netting, and cautionary flags to protect careful experiments regarding foliage and sealife. Before the sunburns started, we were gifted with a day and an hour of mystery - surrounded by cool moist fog. Picture postcard scenery of the rhythmic coast was hinted at by grey mounds below, and the sound of surf breaking over and against something substantial. At sunset, a fingerswidth of mist cleared from the horizon revealing a soft band of light. No wonder people trek in groceries, rent out cottages, and abandon cell phone service for a sunset in this place.

Pullout - bodega bay

2008-09-07T16:55:00.001-07:00

6x8 - oil on board.

Parking lot painting- bodega

2008-09-07T16:54:00.001-07:00

6x8 diptych-oil on board

Anniversary at the Marina

2008-09-02T17:48:00.001-07:00

Anniversary at the Marina,
originally uploaded by brian.donaldson.

Recipe for a happy painter.

Anniversary is celebrated on bikes in the Marina, painting, flying kites, and pizza eating. Been attached to my companion (kib-panion) since '91, married since '00.

Couldn't be happier with my choice. Very supportive of my artsy efforts over mouse-clicking. Thanks bri.

in nature's air purifier.

2008-09-01T21:52:00.001-07:00

Plein Air Painter,
originally uploaded by brian.donaldson.

To get back into practice, have assembled a lightweight paint kit for quick studies. Everything fits in the front of my basket bicycle and can be setup in a couple minutes.

45 minute study. Today's task - use no white...

Tough!! - but worth repeating. After looking at student midterms last week, it became visually clear how white dilutes color intensity.

The scene i am painting had bright sky peeking through silhouetted trees. This could be shown with value alone (white and black), But I want to understand the color equivalent of this contrast. Avoiding white forced me to explore color relationships. This study did not "succeed", but I am excited to try it again.

Current Kit:
* open box m palette/panel holder
* throw-away paper palette for easy cleanup
* table tripod
* folding chair w/ back support (needed for big belly)
* set of tiny paint tubes (yes, they are heavy, but i hate to pre-squeeze paint and then not have enough. outdoor painting shouldn't skimp on paint body
* walnut oil / paper towels / gloves
* set of 6 smallish brushes & scrungey sponges for acrylic underpaint
* sketch book 4x4 moleskine rip-off (a little too small - hard to decipher what i've scribbled out in it)

work hanging at ACCI, berkeley

2008-09-01T21:28:00.001-07:00

IMG_0109,
originally uploaded by brian.donaldson.

Bodega 1

2008-08-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hard to tellhow this ones going- feels very beige....

Painting 2-bodega

2008-08-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

Dormview- bodega

2008-08-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

Bodega bay

2008-08-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Face buffed red by wind and sun, I just wrapped up day 2 at the Davis
marine research lab in bodega bay. The class I am Ta-ing in landscape
painting has two 3 day sessions out here. UC owns many acres (80?) of
this coastal land, where they monitor water activity, study invasive
plant species, and come up with various other reasons to place PVC
pipe and little yellow flags in the dirt, water, and rock. Standard
uniform is camouflage pants and waist-high rubber wading boots. .
Everyone looks like a slightly older version of my bio friends from
undergrad - sunbleached, tousled and happy.
Like many other california coastal retreats, bodega bay is actually a
teeny fishing town, dotted with crab shacks, rv parks, and modest
cottages. Its dubious that good coffee may be found. Up and down
highway one, there are places to blow cash on food and drink. On the
ocean, houses fronted with the large plate glass windows face the
stellar coastline. It's east to wonder who can afford to pay rent on
this view.
During daylight, we paint. Today I was lucky to have a couple hours to
get messy as well.
After the ritual of shlepping gear and setting up, Plein air is
veryfun. Health benefits include the perfect ventilation afforded by
outside air. Painting benefits are the full experience of the place-
sun, wind, jetlike pulse of the ocean, changes in view and color..
This immersion in a changing place informs me throught the day. I try
to keep making corrections- not necessarily to recreate the image, but
the feeling of it.
Ive had such a hiatus from painting due to the baby-protection
impulse, that just getting out there is exciting.
The instructor has steered students away from doing "tourist
paintings". I am starting to wonder if the pretty painting is an ok
place to start. What would it look like to do a set of tourist
paintings, and then a set that are not?

Pseudowork

2008-08-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

As my belly expands, and the daily walk becomes more cumbersome, I've
spent more time thinking about (rather than making) art. I originally
went to school expectant of technical improvements in my painting
skills. One year in, I think I understand the objectives at Davis.
Because of the diversity of media (sculpture, performance, written
word, captured image) the time there has more to do with forging a
rigorous daily practice. Advancing your field (whatever it may be) is
crucial. And "finished" product is hard to define. Is it an ephemeral
experience? A collection of discrete 2d or 3d objects? (these undergo
easy criticism.) a set of components to be assembled by the viewer. I
have developed sincere curiosity about the varied approaches to fine
art creation - displacing quick critcism of my past.
The more i look at art, it is harder to see what I can add to the
urban painting dialogue. Every subject matter feels cliché.
A small spark of enthusiasm came yesterday.
Went to Oakland and visited the roof garden of the kaiser center.
Halfway up the skyscraper, there's a great landscaped park. I sat on a
shady hill with my friend and had a picnic. Our backs were to the
small biomorphic lake. We were surrounded by the top half of the
city's taller buildings. I like how the city is abstracted here
against a foreground of hilly grass and mature trees.
Other subjects of interest- compressed back alleyways, jumbles of pipe.
Fueled by morning coffee and bagel, heading home to paint now. No
phenomenal subjects in view- just have an urgent need to work.
With a boy on the way, I've got to pick up the brush every day...
Habit must precede the little fella. Considering all the kicks I am
getting (an exciting sign) I suspect a lot of running around over the
coming years.

Still jumbled

2008-08-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

But getting re-sorted in another new studio. The campus requirement
that we label every jar gave me an excuse to start filling up shelves.

Also, on wall, made some white paper white with gesso to prep for
daily painting. Baby steps are needed to surpass my toxics fear before
baby arrives. Armed with good gloves, linseed oil, and new media ( oil
that acts like acrylic, and vice versa) - i need to paint every day.
Subject matter has become less compelling- so all I can imagine is
built up stroke and color. Actual practice will test my fiction.

Morris Hirschfield

2008-08-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

1945.
Like the patterned hill contrasted against the gate. Like how stacked
up the elements are.

From Wayne Thiebaud's office door on campus. Notecard inspiration.

Early light

2008-08-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

Makes me wish I was a natural early bird.

Container breakfast

2008-08-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

Happy discovery. Real oatmeal and whole lead mint tea at bette's diner
en route to the 6:44 eastbonmd amtrak

dona memorial

2008-08-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

I normally blog on art... but today is for my Berkeley councilwoman, Dona Spring. Endurance in politics is an active art. Vision is often tempered by the burden of bureaucracy. Tenacity is required to carry issues from stump speech to the voting floor (often reams of paperwork and many years later). Dona is a rare politician who always votes her conscience and represents her people.

I roll down the hill on bicycle to attend her memorial service in a park across from City Hall. Dona posters are taped up to orange cones. Visitors line up to sign into her book. The traffic din of MLK street backs all activity. I miss my old neighborhood. In the weeks since her passing, I've had time to think about what Dona gave us. I knew her from my advocacy work on smart growth on University Avenue corridor of the city. She always returned my calls and carried issues (regardless of their seeming complexity or un-popularity) to the council floor to be addressed. While most council-folks were quick to dismiss homeowners in exchange for the easy favor of large developers, Dona kept everyone at the table. Over the years, I started to see glimpse that she offered this courtesy to the wide variety of individuals, businesses, and advocacy groups in her district.

In Civic Center Park, neighbors, city reps, friends, and community leaders gathered. There was song and spoken word. Spectators clapped, sought shade under the few trees, and nodded in agreement from time to time. Recurring themes were her strength, integrity, and fair representation of her constituents.

As the speakers continued, I felt increasing admiration for the hard work she did, regardless of a difficult illness. I think of the times when I have balked under lesser problems. I feel grateful that my respect for Dona is growing now, but wish that I had understood the greater scope of her generosity and strength during the time when I worked with her.

Some highlights for me, are her approval of the pedestrian/bike bridge that marks a graceful entrance to the city, and access to the Bay Trail, her push for a Density Bonus committee (to unravel convoluted development standards for large buildings) and her advocacy for open space and city park improvements.

At the event, I saw a few friends from my years of city-meeting-attendance, and felt a refreshed inspiration to improve Central Berkeley quality of life.

Thanks for the inspiration Dona. You are missed.

Familiar

2008-08-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Through the hills, past the opening to Tilden park on one side and the
water treatment plant on the other, the road opens up to the familiar
roll and twist of grizzly peak. My most common bike route of the past,
now absorbed in comfortable foot stride. The solitude givesme time to
talk to the baby without much worry of eavesdropping or speculations
of lunacy. I wish for some of the sweet familiarity of this hilly
street to be enjoyed by our child. Will they be excited by the
abstractions of hillsides? House and yard suggested in the tops that
are visible at street level -- street pattern and roof squares forming
patterns down below. I like it more here than kensington. There is
less foliage, the grey street arcs gracefully downslope, well
complemented by green canopy and sky. It feels like city and land in
balance.

2008-07-30T14:47:00.001-07:00

mmm. pretty

Vellum

2008-07-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Experiment

detox

2008-07-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

the baby-factor has added a material component to my studio migration - trying to detoxify. Found a few links for non-toxic painting online:
http://www.baughnormanoils.com/solvent_free_oil_painting.htm
http://helenesart.blogspot.com/2008/03/water-soluble-paint-and-squirrel.html

Things to try:
* winsor and newton water-soluble paints
* watercolor crayons on big paper
* gouache for printmaking

Currently using and liking
* water soluble plate oils by daniel smith for woodblock
*** a little "stickier" than the normal oils - had to add a lot of water on the plate to keep it fluid during print session.
*** matte colors are quite nice
*** limited palette (lots of earth colors + basics) but they are all gorgeous.

Modification of practice for oil-based existing supplies

* soysolv for oil cleanup in printmaking
* safflower oil for gamblin oil cleanup, followed by soap
* linseed + stand-oil as a medium (apparently this may be easier to clean up with safflower than
Teaching drawing class has excited my enthusiasm for line - so perhaps this will enter more of my practice.

General Safety for All Work

* PROBLEM earth pigments seem safe, and the spunky colors can be toxic if eaten / absorbed through skin. If I find the comprehensive list, will link it here.
* SOLUTIONWear non-latex, nitrile gloves
* no eating while working
* wash up thoroughly after work.

Summer school

2008-07-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Summer brought both quiet & storm.

At home, 9 years of accumulated items made it into small office
supply boxes. A third followed us up the hill to our temporary
respite, the rest were hauled to an air conditioned warehouse where
time erodes their relevance. When we unpack in several months' time,
it will be an excavation- both welcome and strange.
I come from 3 generations of boxfillers. Some family create labrynths
of cardboard and pillars, others line the walls, shrinking floor area
year by year. The contents are precious. To fill so many of my own
with stuff generiously labeled with "knick knacks" is bittersweet.
Most of my daily needs follow me in a blue backpack to and from davis.
To face the volume of other objects is disheartening.

I am teaching drawing 1 in Davis summer school. Class is good. Below
is a nice one from a positive/negative space drawing exercise.
The city itself has been socked in by smoke from nearby fires and the
temperature crested 108 the last few weeks, so I've been spending time
in the bay area. With a Little One on the way (my other big news) I
keep seeking put the cleanest air. This means refamiliarizing with
past patterns of graphic design work, while slowly unearthing paper
and plastic from stacks of cardboard.
Personal art is on pause. Skittish about toxicity- although I know
there is some media that will replace (sigh) the oils and their bad
solvents. Some beefy watercolor brushes arrived in the mail- hoping
size will overpower the delicacy I normally associate with this media.
Also have a few good block prints left to execute while I still have
access to a press.

Kibby Art @ ACCI & Marin Art Fair - this weekend

2008-06-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

"Graven Images"
Opening: Friday Night 6-8 pm
A show of printmaking work at ACCI Gallery
1652 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley
http://www.accigallery.com/Index01.htm

Marin Art Fair
June 14, 15 - 10-6 pm
Booth 33W
San Rafael, CA (near Lagoon Park) - Directions
http://www.marinartfestival.com/

Second round

2008-06-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

Trying more delicate paper and lighter tones... More of a glaze effort
to layer the colors

Crazy town

2008-06-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

My first train print with all 4 colors!
Considering that red... It got so intense

Paper chandliers

2008-06-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

More screenprinted installation art from stella's class

Nother train view

2008-06-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

First plate for marshland view

Partial Deck

2008-06-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Stella Ebner had the screenprinting class do prints as installation
art. Results were great- including these oversized cards.

183 steps

2008-05-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

183 counted in the tamalpais steps. I went both up and down them
today. Followed shasta road till a block before grizzly peak. I headed
out for a short visit to coffee abd the rose garden. Bur the contest
against gravity entices me uphill. Every built object challenges the
terrain. Dirt and roor crumble the cement. House, tree, and earth are
staked and anchored. The bay and city view is abstracted into wedges
around shingled roof edges, stucco walls, and ambitious decks.

2008-05-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

keith rekevics
neat fabrication of structures.
all in plaster - started from sketches from memory, destroyed after duration of show.

Quantifiers

2008-05-16T13:56:00.001-07:00

Tonight I walked behind two men describing how to quantify some form
of growth. Wide arm gestures were used to symbolize some
Angle or rate of progress. Standards were cited, methodology relayed
with enthusiasm. This is not uncommon to overhear jargon-laced
abstracts and reference to esoteric studies.
Rather than bask in the comparitive simplicity of my own program, I
was jealous. Shared rules allowed for collective discovery and
excitement. They offer a common language-a baseline. A progression of
ideas emerges. Many artists see regulations and standards as a
hindrance, but I like structure to bounce off of. The perfect
subjectivity of review in my field makes it easy to regress. There is
no set of shared principles or practice. My feet are kicked out when
I've regained my stance.

Book of bad ideaS

2008-05-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

ear wax erector building
(kudos to neighbor jon, and spouse, bri)

ingredients:
* 1 year of ear wax, both ears, collected daily (may collect wax from family members as well)
* q-tips

project:
* construct a city structure (highway, bridge, skyscraper). q-tips used as erector set style components to build. natural adhesive quality of earwax to be used as glue.

(secret sidenote)
if artist can devise an equivalent color and texture to earwax, it may be used as a substitute. in this case, time of creation should still be one year, to facilitate illusion. earwax distribution should be uneven in color and quantity to mimic real wax. fiction should not be disclosed

Test blocks

2008-05-13T16:16:00.002-07:00

Little guy

2008-05-13T16:16:00.001-07:00

Test print using water soluble relief ink. Made small versions of my
big blocks to test out colors

Earning my stripes

2008-05-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

On impulse, with only a baggie of strawberries and thermos of water, I
pedaled my brompton into winters- that's 13 miles each way- my
furthest venture in Davis. Passing field, farm, truck, and palettes
loaded with green starter plants, it was an easy ride. Important gear-
sunglasses (aka bug guard) and sunblock. Forgot the latter- as
evidenced in photo. In winters, stopped in a diner for a deliciously
mayonaissey tuna sandwich and coke.

ready to hang - pence gallery friday

2008-05-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Brian hard at work

2008-05-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Taking 4x5s of my paintings. Used daylight instead of flashes since
paintings are wet and shiny!
Thanks photographer!

Documentation day

2008-05-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

Artist psychology

2008-05-02T15:11:00.001-07:00

(detail - 'intersection' for mfa show)

"you should have a cliff behind you, so you have nothing to fall back on."

An alternate to having another skill to fall back on as an artist, from an artist interview of Steve Hanks on cap radio, sac

I think about this often- its easy to consider alternate jobs when
facing how hard it will be to have an art career. Artmaking is an act
of faith. Dedication is weakened by contingencies- and while in school I have the luxury to work on art only. Does this keep me from considering my cafe/workshop/studio? Not completely. My school focus lightly curbs my entrepreneurial impulses.
Good work days involve absorption into the canvas color and brush.
There is nothing perfprmative in my painting. My art subject is the
outside, Ive realized that its creation relies on solitude. Perhaps
this is in tandem with how I most enjoy the city- on foot for hours by
myself, with an pccasional chat with a stranger.

Fussy fuzzy

2008-05-02T02:12:00.001-07:00

I am on the verge of giving the "brushes down!" order to myself.
Working towards resolution to hang this puppy next Tuesday at the
pence. 48" x48"- oil on canvas

MFA - First & Second Year Show

2008-05-02T01:57:00.000-07:00

I'll be wheeling a few new paintings out of the studio for our first year MFA show.
Show opens May 8.
Press Release for Reading by You

When:
May 9, 7-9pm - First Year MFA show opens. Artists will be there (including myself)
May 30th 7-9 pm - Official Opening (first year and second year MFA shows)

Where:
Pence Gallery
Davis, CA

Book of bad ideaS

2008-04-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

Preface
When the form of ones art is belittled, the creative mind turns to schemes, distractions , and many many bad ideas.
idea #1
Red tape art show:
Goal: replicate beurocractic systems to create a familiar environment in a gallery setting. visitor walks into gallery and takes a number. Art is visible, but inaccessible due to a maze of low grey walls. The visitor is given a form to fill out. (questions determined by the artist. Goal is to determine aesthetic or conceptual presence). Visitor moves to waiting room. Form is processed by artist, and viewer is led to one of many pieces of art on view. Piece should match their survey (inspire pleasure or disgust). If they wanted to request a modified viewing option, they must take another number and repeat process.

oldie but...

2008-04-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

berkeley - painted on the back porch today. brian was good enough to take large format shots of my last painting - so I finally made use of my "home studio" paint set. I've hijacked enough of the tubes for davis, that I was left with a limited earthy palette. A reminder of old favorites. Reverting to past format (local landscape spread between multi-mini canvases) brought some new sensibilities into relief. Quicker to get paint on the canvas; Judicious with shwoopy (painterly) brushstrokes; Editorialized easily for goal; Keep the subject texture in mind. This is a first pass on my backyard. Like using each panel as a clue to one other, without having obvious line-up points. Once they were going, its fun to look at them mixed up - sky, window, branch, and gutter. To do a reasonable job, I need to find a space that would hold my interest for 50 panels.

time-lapse kib painting

2008-04-23T10:06:00.001-07:00

my palette and painting over a 2 hour worksession

observations:
* 1 hour to forget click of camera
* texture of paint just starts to come together at end
* haste led to thicker paint app than normal > good since I have to try out goopy thicker texture
* trying to contextualize my brushstroke - thicker paint seems appropriate
* favorite part of movie is the palette

collage-o-rama

2008-04-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

heads, eyeballs, skin, hair... super mega composite of the 6 first year mfa-ers. our first collaborative effort.

more things not to forget

2008-04-21T20:37:00.001-07:00

my friend in nyc showed with her last year:

AMY MAHNIK

SleepiReader

2008-04-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

The reason I never finish books.

Nostalgia

2008-04-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Culling thru the old work file cabinet. This is a typical "to do" list
for my publishing job - converting 100s of paragraph style formats
from one layout program to another. Other highlights include hundreds
of clip art adjustments, newspaper ads for nonprofts, printouts of
backend sgml code, folders of unrealized business plans. Started my
freelance business in 99 and had an absurd pull towards the mist banal
facets of design.

2008-04-07T01:38:00.000-07:00

nicholas coley
like that pic of him painting on the edge of the road. ptgs are nice too.
found this while looking for davinci brushes online

Prettier than normal

2008-03-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

En route to Martinez , a city I only know for the labrynth of c&h
sugar processing factory pipes the train travels thru. By contrast,
the road takes us into ridiculous abundance of green.

Derailed

2008-03-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

A union pacific train derailed in Richmond, so now we are driving
slowly through city streets on a bus - hopefully making our way
towards the highway.
We drove past an wedge shaped lot bearing a sign indicating a future
teen exercise center. Two men in bright orange vests weild gas powered
weedwackers- patiently clearing knee high weeds one foot at a time.

surprise

2008-03-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

a few weeks back, a professor slipped a card of gustavo acosta under my door. like seeing his angle on city paintings.
i feel bad swiping and posting an image here... so you'll have to click on the link. Its worth it! Iconic, surreal, monumental. My favorites are the city grids, where familiar shapes dissolve into pattern. The aerials seem most interesting vantage.
will try to catch his show down south this month

re-grouping

2008-03-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

the shock of the first year review is subsiding under a pile of woodcarving chips and the thick odor of oil. I spent some days under the sweatshirt hood, moping around. But I am ready to refuel. I went west for the Ann Gale opening at Hackett Freedman last week. After navigating SF traffic to retrieve my spouse, we parked in the rainbow-levelled parking lot, and elevatored up to a brightly lit gallery. Ann's work is intriguing on an lcd screen thumbnail, but captivating in-person. The varied marks are gestural, loose yet deliberate. Like giacometti's drawings & paintings, Ann seems to hone in on her sitter's face. As she approaches the head, brushstroke vary into delicate hatches or cuts, and a judicious application of stronger hue draws attention to an ear, neck, or chin. Up close, the faces are all texture, but from a step or two back, there is palpable presence. And I didn't tire of searching through the greys, blues and browns in the background. The tone of the paintings was sober (bordering on morbid) and beautiful. The interplay of these qualities left me sad, happy, and inspired to paint.

Test print-train woodcut

2008-03-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

More chipping to go!

Bike car

2008-03-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Caught the 7:59 out of Berkeley. My haste rolling down the hill earned
me the two minutes needed for a coffee stop, and a seat in the bicycle
car- a special car fitted with lots of bike racks instead of the
normal 3 slots per car on the amtrak. With the brompton, I can usually
wedge it in a suitcase spot anyway, but this is a big improvement for
the Davis crowd.
Busy day today between ta-ing and seminar.

Fingerpaintings

2008-02-29T19:21:00.001-08:00

2008-02-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

Lunch

2008-02-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

Violent winds have mellowed outside. Studio is so porous that "inside" is a generous term. Cold permeates the corrugated metal wall. I walk past covered painting stacks, and hop on the wall ledge to force a pane open to allow in modest gusts. The fabric window cover is thrown to the ceiling. Shadows flail exposing cool bright outside. A play of white's personalities -- cool blue, warm yellow, murky brown. Each reveals somethign about each other. A captivating diversion until the sun descends and rats enter along exposed metal ceiling beams and window gaps. They wait for the relative darkness of my departure to interrupt the floor dust with delicate paw tracks.

Fluorescents loll at chain end. The view of sun is as much as I can take, in my post-review state. I've had to sit near the Kleenex box on the amtrak so days in a row. Studio is grim. The brownie, tea, and Mediterranean sandwich discovery just two blocks from school is a needed one. Sweet, savory, without too much external warmth.

dinge

2008-02-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

Studio is colored by a varied palette of whites. Texture is provided by rats, ceramic dust, neglect. High ceiling and outside light are promising, but years of dinge and nightly droppings, undermine any sole claim to the space.

2008-02-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

i drove to the backside of the picturesque green hills lining highway 80 east in mid-ca.
i visited 5 "distinct communities ". when i squint down my eyes, homes become a mass of peach and tan texture against vivid green hill. a hefty wooden trellis abuts a station where the private security monitors visitors. i drive around 15 minutes and see under 5 people outside, and three times as many landscapers. The houses look to be over 4000 sq feet - shoulder to shoulder, but with some variety in plantings, british village-type trim around the windows and entryways. The eastern communities have more variety than the western. But there is something inherently bizarre and sad about both places. They feel unnecessary. There is no visible town, port, or hub. Streets are bisected by golf cart crossings and the only visible store is a newly opened dry-cleaner, and country club lounge. An apparent desert excluding the plaster and stone dwellings pooled in the valley floor. The only sound is of hammer and saw, as new boxes make their way up hill.

Glaze bonanza

2008-01-31T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ongoing experiment with pseudo abstraction.
My new brush allows for some fun calligraphic marks

Limited

2008-01-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

Quick limited palette study
Alizarin , ochre , white, black

underneath

2008-01-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

Pix from the day
Wandered around Potrero Hill with camera. Using the lens as a sketchpad to frame bits of sky and city. I have simple abstractions in mind for clay and glaze. But while I was out, also keep finding panoramas for paint. Clumsy with the camera, but loving how close I can get to some surreal collisions of metal & cement.
Continuing to think of city as nature. SF holds appeal due to its scale and variety - in the smallest slice, theres an ecology of commerce, persuasion, and inhabitation. Place is created by the contributions (both conscious and un) many people over time.

Invisible Cities

2008-01-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

"Isura, city of a thousand wells, is said to rise over a deep, subterranean lake."-Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino

Calvino's imaginative abstracts craft city structures and networks. I found some attempts to illustrate these vignettes. Off to sketch myself. Instead of my current mode of photo-image translated into paint-image, or recent attempts to capture hazy image memory with paint, I will start with words.

"Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else."

Tangentially related reading to revisit on anti-romanticism

Ugly 2

2008-01-14T00:19:00.001-08:00

Pass 1 on the hiway- my bit of reality to work on in tandem with the
imagi-marsh below. Want to keep this pale but not insipid. Favorite
quality is that big curve - other elements may come and go.

Ugly - part two

2008-01-13T22:39:00.001-08:00

As an exercise, spending the week on an abstract (marsh inspired)
canvas. No cheating by looking at mini iphoto pix. Concepts in mind--
radiance of water- organic shapes (a tough one considering my hands'
bias toward horiontal blocks), suggested perpective. Extremely
frustrating to work without a visible subject. Stan Brakhage referred
to working towards an "aesthetic ecology" in his scratches and a
scribbles on film. Will this emerge from pseudo abstraction? - a
vibrant aesthetic, whole undiverted by the form of a specific subject.
Working on a highway painting simultaneously to contrast the two
processes. I love human-built shapes, and still enjoy starting with
some visual structure

2008-01-11T11:49:00.001-08:00

The outside is all shades of white. Sky and water are delineated a shift in color temperature. The air carries a warm pink, the water, a slight green grey. Sky haze encapsulates land, housing strips, the pattern of triangle roof and rectangle window. Status, size, and finish level of homes are obscured by weather. Climate is a great equalizer. Watched a show on refrigeration last night- and the air conditioner was blamed for driving people from common social places (breezy porches in the southern heat) to solitary coled indoors. While I am hermetic, I feel the error of indoor isolation. Enduring severe weather with neighbors, brings unavoidable unity. Weather reminds me that human control over nature is a temporary illusion.

Winter

2007-12-04T16:28:00.000-08:00