Let Sleeping Cats Lie

Look at how my cats sleep. Enzo sleeps face down, with his nose pressed into the furniture.



Sashi straddles the couch, like she's hanging onto the back of a horse.



And Cinnamon sprawls out unabashedly on the floor.



They're each so different, and so funny.

Epiphany

I was working on some paintings today, and I realized that the paintings that don't turn out perfectly, like I had wanted them to, are more interesting than the ones that do. To my eyes, anyway. The perfect ones are nice, but they have a bit of rigidity to them. The imperfect paintings have a life of their own. They won't yield to my will, and they do what they want to do instead of what I want them to do.

The trick is to let go of expectations, and not give up on paintings when they're imperfect -- sometimes hideously imperfect. These are the paintings that challenge me to see things in new ways and to treat them differently than I would my perfect paintings. These are the paintings that are on the cutting edge of my work.

Here are two of today's imperfections. This is just the first few layers of paint -- they aren't done yet.



Compare them to these two more orderly paintings, done in the same colors:



The imperfect paintings seem to have more personality and energy. The bottom diptych has a nice symmetry, but I think the top diptych has more potential.

It occurs to me that the imperfect paintings are a metaphor for life -- that things are more interesting when they don't turn out exactly the way you wanted them to!

Optimism

This month's Ode Magazine has an article on how to stay positive during negative times, something I have recently been thinking about. The author, Jurriaan Kamp, says that optimism is a choice, that it can be learned, and that it needs to be practiced and cultivated.

"You learn to become optimistic by concentrating on things that give you a sense of satisfaction, and you remain optimistic by feeding those things to make them grow. Intelligent optimists also know that for every problem there is (at least the beginning of) a solution and that the search for that solution can be inspirational in itself. They are also not afraid of negative thoughts, which they realize offer some protection and help them stay realistic."

Read the whole article -- it's really interesting. I highly recommend Ode. The magazine is published monthly in the Netherlands, and you can read it online or subscribe and receive it in the mail.

Palette Knife

I just discovered the Palette Knife filter on Photoshop. Why paint when you can instantly create fabulous images with the cllick of a mouse? Here's a photo of my house run through Palette Knife:



And here's my self-portrait in Palette Knife:



This is Ron's cat, Mooney, also run through Palette Knife:



Is this cool, or what? I'm having a lot of fun with it!

Impressionist House

Here's how I want to paint the outside my house, with a soft mustard yellow starting at the roofline and a dusty mauve starting at the ground. Then the two colors blend together in the middle, for a gradation effect, maybe with a pale sage green trim.



What do you think? Will I be run out of the neighborhood? I want it to look like an impressionist painting, with large brushstrokes showing. I've never seen this done before, but I think it would look interesting. I like the idea of using the house as a huge canvas.

Congratulations Quinton!

Today was my nephew's graduation from Kentwood Elementary School in Los Angeles. Here he is looking handsome before the ceremony in his dress suit:



And here he is accepting his diploma and awards on stage:



Congratulations Quinton! Have a great summer!

Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice! Today is the first day of summer, and the longest day of the year. The weather has been beautiful here lately. Not too warm, not too cool, with clear blue skies, which is unusual for Los Angeles at this time of year.

Here are two sheer jersey summer shirts I dyed and printed today:






This time I dyed the shirts before printing, so I started with a colored background instead of a white background. I think they look better that way.

I like this monoprint technique. Every shirt turns out different, even if the colors I use are the same. I never know quite what to expect, which opens the door for serendipity.

Terrence Rogers

I just found out that Terrence Rogers of Terrence Rogers Fine Art in Santa Monica died last Friday. There will be a memorial service for him this Saturday, June 25th, at 2:30 pm, at Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City. There's a really nice presentation about Terrence, his life, and his death on his gallery website. He was so young -- only 52 years old -- and he was the nicest guy. I'll miss him.

Compost Pile

I'm doing a new experiemental piece using red onions. I lay sliced red onions on unprimed canvas, cover it with plastic, and wait a few weeks or so until the whole thing turns moldy. During the waiting period, I hope that bugs and mildew don't get to it. Some bugs will eat right through the cotton, and mildew leaves unsightly black marks. The end result is the imprint of the onions on the canvas in earth tones. It can be very beautiful, or not. Here's the "before" picture:



It will be several weeks before I can show you the end result.

Is it a painting if you don't use paint? It's on canvas like a painting, and will be stretched like a painting, but the colors come from stains, not pigments. Is that considered painting?

Black and White

These two experiments may have potential. They're done with black and white gesso over other paintings. I allowed the gesso to partially dry, and then washed it off with the hose. The black one looks a lot like batik on fabric.

Cats

Gosh . . . I wonder who this could be? I love my cats, but I really wish they would learn to stay off the wet paintings that are drying on my studio floor. Either that, or walk across the paintings more artistically.

Happy Birthday Ron!

It's my friend Ron's birthday! He doesn't want anyone to know, because he doesn't like people to make a big deal about it. If you feel compelled to wish him a happy birthday, you can send him e-mail.

This is Ron on Fossil Rock at Charmlee Park in Malibu, taken with my pinhole camera.



And this is him at Mt. Wilson, taken the day I bought a fisheye lens and had to try it out.



That's what you get with an artist behind the camera -- more beautiful background than portrait! I guess Ron's not really worried about being recognized from these photographs.

Hope you have a great birthday day, Ron!

Ray and Noreen

I spent some time with my friends Ray and Noreen Castellani yesterday. Ray runs Frontline Foundation, the organization he founded seventeen years ago to feed homeless people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. It always does my heart good to see Ray and Noreen. They are living reminders of what's important in life . . . and what's not important. Things that are important: our interconnectedness, learning to love unconditionally, being of service to others. Things that are not important: appearances, material possessions.

Noreen recently rescued a severely injured dog, and has spent thousands of dollars and countless hours rehabilitating him. I got to meet the dog for the first time yesterday, and he's adorable.



You can see more pictures of him and hear his story on his very own website page. Noreen is looking for a home for him, after he's completely healed in a few more weeks. She wants it to be a home where he's cherished, because of all of the trauma he's been through in his life. He's also looking for a name.

Frontline is putting on a fundraising Comedy Night in August at the Hollywood Palladium. You can bid on two of my paintings in the silent auction, as well as other great items, mingle with interesting people, and see the comedy acts. This is definitely an organization that is worthy of your support.

Thanks Ray and Noreen, for all of your good work. And thanks for being an inspiration to me.

Death and Art Sales

Here's an interesting phenomenon. As I said in an earlier post, my artist friend, Ann King, died on Monday. When I heard the news, I suddenly felt like I had to have one of her paintings. It turns out that I'm not alone. A lot of people who knew Ann now want to buy her paintings. I think we want to have a piece of Ann -- something we can remember her by. And what is more personal than one's paintings? It proves my earlier point that death is a good career move for artists.

It occurred to me that perhaps I should have bought one of Ann's paintings while she was still alive. But buying art is an extravagance for me, and probably for a lot of other people, as well. It has become a now-or-never situation with Ann, which is why I'm now willing to spend the money. It's sad that Ann will never know how valuable her paintings are to so many people.

Here's one of Ann's paintings, titled "Gotta Tell You," 30" x 22":



I think her work is fabulous. I told her this while she was alive, but I wish I could have backed it up with purchases.

Craig Butler

Recommended show: Craig Butler's "Portraits of People Who Don't Want to be Recognized." This is Craig's first solo show, and he's done a good job of it. Through June 28th at Risk Press Gallery, 8533 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. Craig is there Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from about 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Ann King and My Aunt Carol

My friend Ann King died yesterday afternoon, almost one year to the day that my Aunt Carol died. Ann was a very gifted artist, and a lot of her art dealt with her experience of cancer. My aunt also died of cancer.

I met Ann through Topanga Canyon Gallery, and she was always incredibly generous with me. She invited me to share her studio space for the Second Annual Topanga Artists Studio Tour. Ann was a well-known art director in advertising for many years, but to me she seemed very down-to-earth and humble. She was warm and kind, and will be missed by many. There will be a memorial service for her this Saturday at 4:00, at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades.

I was with my aunt, Carol Wedin, when she died one year ago today. Sashi was there, too, kneading my aunt's arm with her paws as my aunt took her last breath. Sashi was her cat then -- my cat now.



My aunt's passing has made me acutely aware of how little time I have left. She was only 62 when she was diagnosed with cancer, and she was 67 when she died. I often think about what I want to do with my remaining time. What more do I need to accomplish before I leave?

Goodbye dear Ann. Goodbye Carol. You're not forgotten.

Experiments With Photography

Here's what happens when you dip color slides in bleach:






I'm sure that's something you've always wondered about, right? What would happen if I dipped my slides in bleach? I'm the kind of person who not only wonders, but has to try it and see. The yellow dye bleaches out first, leaving the blue and magenta dyes. It's just the opposite of bleach on fabric, where the blue bleaches out first leaving yellow and magenta. I think it looks really interesting -- like seeing the world through sunglasses with deep blue lenses

I was looking through my slides tonight, and I also found this one:



It's a picture of reflections of the sun on the water in my cat's water bowl, taken with a pinhole camera. It kind of looks like rainbows and clouds. I really like the strange effects I can get with a pinhole.

New Diptych

This is a diptych that I just finished stretching. The overall size for both panels together is 24" x 36". I'm taking a bunch of paintings to Image-ination in Van Nuys tomorrow to get them photographed, and then I'll post new work to my website later this week. Paul Moshay, owner of Image-ination, is a wonderful fine arts photographer. I highly recommend his work.

Contemporary Crafts Market

Look at this fabulous shibori tank top I got at the Contemporary Crafts Market yesterday, made by Justine Limpus Parish.



It's made out of polyester, which holds the pleats permanently, unlike silk or cotton.

This is a great show, and it continues today and tomorrow at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Lots of my friends are exhibiting there. Look for Cinthia Joyce's bronze sculpture and jewelry, Dolores Littles' reverse painting on glass plates, Linda Lundell's paintings and cloisonne jewelry, and Christi Friesen's sculpture and jewelry.

If you miss the show this weekend, it's at the Santa Monica Civic twice a year, in June and November.

Another Experimental Shirt

This shirt is kind of interesting. This time I'm experimenting with white-on-white detail on the top and tropical colors on the bottom. Would you wear it?

Indecision

I'm still trying to decide which paintings to submit to the New American Paintings competition. Of these two, which do you like better for Spring?





I think I prefer the second one, but does it overwhelm the other three paintings in the series? Here's the four of them together:



The dots don't stand out as much on the new Spring painting. Does it matter? It's difficult for me to be objective about this decision when I've been working on and staring at these paintings for weeks.

Shirt Designs

I'm working on some new T-shirt designs, using printing techniques similar to the ones I use on some of my paintings. What do you think?

Google Logo

Cool! Frank Lloyd Wright on the Google logo today. Is it his birthday?

It's also Cinnamon's birthday! She's 16 years old now, which is something like 80 in cat years. She looks great for 80. Happy birthday, Cinnamon!

Forgiveness

I'm reading the latest Ode Magazine, and there's an article about Aqeela Sherrills, a man who has been working to eradicate gang violence in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities for sixteen years. You can read the article online: "Peace is not a field of flowers. It's hard work." In 2004, Sherrills faced the ultimate test of his beliefs. His eldest son was shot and killed while visiting his father in Los Angeles. "Sherrills said he had no choice but to choose love over revenge. . . 'You can only conquer hate with love.'"

I was thinking about this in regard to my previous post about bullies. I suppose the best course of action is to talk with a bully and attempt to bring them back into the fold -- back into society. Find out what is causing their pain, and why they feel a need to inflict pain on others. I'm not sure I'm up for that task. I would rather avoid bullies whenever possible. Unfortunately they're not always possible to avoid, and I often don't recognize them right away. They come in many different disguises.

If you're not familiar with Ode Magazine, take a look. It's published monthly in the Netherlands, and they have a wealth of really terrific articles.

Bullies

I've been listening to tapes of a Pema Chodron retreat and thinking about the eightfold path and the ten precepts of Buddhism. One of the things Pema talked about at this retreat was how to change behavior. Every time we behave a particular way, we strengthen that behavior. We cultivate behaviors through our everyday actions.

I've also been thinking about bullies -- people intent on hurting other people -- and how to best deal with them. When shoved, it's hard not to want to shove back. But I'm not on a path that's conducive to retaliation, nor do I want to cultivate meanness in myself. Do I simply turn the other cheek? Do I somehow let them know not to mess with me, and how could I do that without the backing of some sort of threat? What would Buddha do? What would Christ do? What would you do?

New American Paintings

Here are the four paintings I'm submitting to the New American Paintings competition this year. Clockwise from the upper left they are "Spring," "Summer," "Winter," and "Fall."



I'll be able to show you more detail when I get them professionally photographed and post them on my website. I realize that they're difficult to see in these small images. Each painting is 22" x 16".

I'm glad they're finally done!

Companion Animals

Here's Sashi helping me with the blog.



Sometimes she sits right in front of the monitor, which makes it really hard to see. She also likes to walk across the keyboard. Right now she's sitting on my lap, and I have to reach across her to type. Do I love these cats, or what?

Sashi was one of my aunt's cats until my aunt died and left her four cats to me. Sashi moved in with me, Cinnamon and Enzo last summer, and she's doing remarkably well. Sometimes I think about how strange it must be for her to be in a new home with a new guardian and different cats than the ones she lived with before. She seems to be happy here, but she's afraid of every little noise, and when other people come over, she freaks out and runs under the house. Sometimes I feel like running under the house myself when the doorbell rings, but I seem to be able to control my impulses a little better than she does.

I have three of the four paintings done for the New American Paintings competition, but I don't want to show them to you until all four are finished. Maybe tomorrow.

Diptych

What do you think of this new diptych?



They're the inverse of each other, but I didn't plan it that way. The painting on the right is one of my washout water-blast-with-the-hose paintings. It didn't become the inverse of the painting on the left until after I blasted it with the hose. It's yet another case of serendipity. I seem to specialize in that. Why do I even bother trying to pretend that I have a modicum of control? My work looks a lot more interesting when I give up that illusion!

For reference, each painting is 24" x 18", and the overall size of both pieces together is 24" x 36".