Art School Confidential

There's a film coming out this spring called Art School Confidential, about an art student at a prestigious East Coast art school who wants to be the greatest artist of the 21st century, but isn't as talented as he had hoped. He'll do anything to be recognized, and evidently his plan turns bizarre. Starring John Malkovich and Max Minghella, amongst others.

Cats and Truth

This is today's Zaadz motivational quote from Denis Waitley, a personal development expert:

“That which you create in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come. Don't spend your life accumulating material objects that will only turn to dust and ashes.”

I like this quote, but I'm kind of caught in the middle here. I create beauty through my art, but my paintings are material objects. Certainly I want people to collect my work so I can continue to make a living, but on the other hand, I don't want to contribute to an accumulation of unnecessary stuff. Which, once again, begs the question, is art necessary? You, too, can receive daily, weekly, or monthly inspirational quotes in your e-mail box by signing up at Zaadz.com.



Nelson impulsively ran up one of the trees in the backyard this afternoon, and I was there to catch it on film . . . or in pixels, rather. It's so funny when they do that and then can't figure out how they're going to get down. Then they see me below, laughing and taking pictures, and they try to act cool, like this is what they had intended to do all along. It's very cute.



I like to watch the crows on the telephone wires at dusk, calling to each other.



I used to think they were facing the setting sun, but then I discovered that they face into the wind. Hundreds of them gather here every night, but once it's dark, they're gone, and I always wonder where they all go. Do they disappear into the trees?

Rainy Monday

It’s difficult to find time to paint right now. I’m preoccupied with the cats. Cinnamon is not doing well, and is going downhill rapidly. I don’t think she has much longer to live, but I could be wrong. The grief of losing her creeps up on me every now and then, even though I haven’t lost her yet.



I did manage to paint some backgrounds the past couple of days for my mold pieces. I want to get back to that body of work and play around with it some more. I'm really interested in the soy milk paint and Earth pigments, and figuring out what I can do with them. I want to transition to natural and completely nontoxic materials.

It's raining here today. We've hardly had any rain at all this winter, and now we're supposed to get deluged with two inches tonight and another inch tomorrow. The weather is becoming very strange.

I went to the opening reception for “The Likeness” at Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art on Saturday night, and then a party at Jon Swihart's after. The reception was fun, because I know so many of the artists in the show. It was great to see that four pieces had already sold, including Jon's piece and a piece by Kimberly Merrill. I think one of Peter Zokosky's pieces was sold, too.

I've been letting my hair go curly lately, and people are surprised when they see me. They think I've done something elaborate to curl my hair, but really I just didn't bother to blow-dry it straight. It's easier this way, but it is a bit unruly.



My mom grows these really great greens, and she gives some to me whenever I see her. I'm thinking of them now, because I'm eating them with tempeh, sprouted brown rice, green onions and pickled ginger for lunch. She grows all sorts of different greens – kale, collard, arugula, and chard. She picks them when they're young and tender, and wraps the stems lovingly in wet paper towels. They taste so much better than the greens I buy in the store. I can't imagine finding the time to grow my own food, but my mom loves working in her garden.

Studio Space

I've been painting backgrounds for my mold pieces, and I'm using every available space for drying.






I think I need a bigger studio. Where am I going to put these once they're stretched?

The Post Show

If you're not easily offended, watch the latest feature at The Post Show called "The Interveners." It's about dealing with your artistic dreams, and like all of their shows, it's very funny. Warning to sensitive viewers: most of The Post Shows' work contains potentially offensive language and content, and dark humor. Watch with caution!

It's my birthday . . .

. . . and I'll cry if I want to. Oh wait . . . wrong sentiment. My gift to myself was a day off, and I went hiking at Charmlee Wilderness Park in Malibu. It was very windy, but an otherwise perfect day.



I didn't do a thing. I hiked out to the edge of the park, and sat and watched the ocean and the oak trees for three hours. I really needed the time alone to decompress.



The poison oak is coming back nicely from its summer hiatus. Did you know that poison oak is not poisonous to deer, and it's one of their favorite foods?



There are fossils of shells on the rock I always sit on, and it's many feet above sea level. Was the ocean once that high, or was the rock once that low?



I watched the clouds, which looked like lace and whipped cream.



The wildflowers are starting to bloom. I don't know what this plant is, but I call it Snake Plant because rattlesnakes have been known to lurk near it. I didn't see any snakes today, though -- only lizards.



This is the trail leading out of the park.



I did have some profound thoughts while I was sitting and contemplating the ocean, trees and clouds. I was thinking about art, and thinking that it's ironic that our culture values art that isn't functional, like wall art, more than art that is useful, like baskets and bowls. Some ceramics and basketry are priced as fine art, but only the ones that aren't functional.

Think about that. What does that say about us -- that we have so much that we can afford to collect items that have no functional use? If I were living in more primitive conditions, I would much rather have a basket, bowl or blanket than a painting to hang on my nonexistent wall.

Then I was thinking about how I could make art if I lived at Charmlee and could only use the materials there. No paper, no canvas, no paint, no pencil. Lots of rocks, dirt and plants. Basketry was the first thing that came to mind. I could make baskets out of the native plants.

There's not much else available for creative expression, except perhaps manmade crop circles in the meadow grasses. Or maybe Earth art. I could rearrange rocks into a design.

Why do I even feel a need to do these things -- to make my mark on an otherwise beautiful landscape? Why aren't humans content to leave things as they are? Why must we muck with it?

Anyway, it was a fabulous birthday, and I feel so much better after being in nature all day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a joyous Valentine's Day!

The Dot

Here are some pictures from "The Dot" show at The Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago. These were taken by Charles Gniech, the gallery director. "The Dot" features the paintings of three artists who use dots in their work, and one of them is me! I'd like to see this in person, but I don't know about going to Chicago in the middle of winter!

Adyashanti

I went to hear Adyashanti at The Marina del Rey Hotel last night. Not only is he an inspirational speaker, but he's funny and entertaining, too. His basic message is that thoughts are a problem. Our thoughts keep us in the past or the future, and we never actually experience the present. He'll be in the Marina again tonight, before moving on to San Diego tomorrow. If you get a chance, join him for this evening's satsang, 7:00 - 9:00.

Does Size Matter?

I just remembered something else that Jack White said in his recent Art Calendar article: work smaller. He said that most people's homes don't have large wall spaces, so we should create work that is smaller. And yet the galleries that show my work have recently been asking for larger pieces. What's your experience with size?

Art as Commodity

Jack White has an article titled "What Is Selling These Days?" in the January issue of Art Calendar magazine. In it he advises artists who want to sell their work to pay attention to the market and create art that people will want to buy. It makes sense, doesn't it? If you want to sell something, you have to have a product that people want to buy. But there's something about it that bothers me.

It bothers me when art is treated like any other commodity. I would like to think that art is more than that -- more than something to be bought and sold. Most art is very personal -- one person's unique view of the world. How can that be altered to suit the market?

And who goes into art thinking that they're going to make a lot of money, anyway? Yes, it's nice to be able to make a living from sales of your work, but it's not the best method of making money. Most artists are artists because it's a calling. They have a need to create. Of course they also have a need to eat, and it would be great if they could make a living doing what they love to do.

I know I definitely pay attention to trends, and modify my work accordingly. If a gallery tells me that red and green are hot right now, I put more red and green in my paintings. Is this a form of prostitution? Perhaps, but like everyone else, I have to make a living.

Maybe there should be a separation between art created to make money and art created with no other purpose than to express something. What do you think?

Operation Migration

Check out Operation Migration -- a non-profit organization started by two artists-turned-biologists who teach endangered species of cranes to migrate to Florida by following an ultralight airplane. It's an interesting story, and they post a daily journal about what's happening with the birds.

New Work

I don't know where the time goes. I've been busy working in my studio, and suddenly it's February already, and I haven't posted anything in nearly a week. Here are a few of my new paintings. The photographs aren't great, but at least this will give you an idea of what I've been doing.

More Blooms

I don't know what these flowers are, but they're some sort of bulb, and they bloom at this time every year. Aren't they gorgeous? This is the prettiest time of year in Southern California.