1890 Bryant Street Studio

When I moved into my studio in 2010 I knew it was a special place, after all, Catherine Mackey was new to the building and Trish and I had been stalking her at fall Open Studios for years. The building also housed Katja Liebenath, Liz Hickok and Cynthia Tom. I moved into 1890—shorthand for the former Best Foods building and now home to more than 100 fine artists and crafts people and began to reap the benefits of being among artists who are wildly talented, brilliantly capable, and super creative. Luckily, I am among them in location, and get to soak up all the other stuff.

I've been free to experiment, encouraged to grow, celebrated when sales are good, and comforted through hard times by my fellow artists there. 1890 has come to be my home away from home. Even during times when my creativity or schedule are art-anemic, I am buoyed by the knowledge that I have this glorious place, among some of my favorite artists, to go and create. 

Fall Open Studios is November 5 & 6 at 1890 Bryant Street Studios. It's weekend 4 of ArtSpan's Open Studios. Join us and see what I am talking about. November 5 & 6, 2016, 1890 Bryant Street, San Francisco. Preview event from 6:00 - 9:00 on Friday night.

Playing with Pigmented Wax!

Lately I have been anxious to get work completed, feeling like I don't have time to luxuriate in the creative process. "Produce, produce" my internal voice screams. I've also completely neglected this blog. Working full time has many perks, but time to create is not one of them. 

I began to feel uninspired by my subject matter, birds and birds on wires, image transfers, layers and layers of smooth wax. The process I have perfected and love but needed something new. So I began experimenting with different mediums and different styles. 

At first I tried going back to roosters, and still life paintings, work that requires tremendous skill and attention to detail. I liked the results but still didn't feel very inspired. Finally I tried to produce abstract paintings, not like anything I've ever done before, abstract landscapes. 

This one was done with encaustic paint and I like the results. Since this, I've pulled out the acrylics and am now going to take a class in cold wax and oils. I'm back to having fun! 

Vintage Appliances

Here are two pieces in my vintage appliance series. I've been doing these since December but am only now getting around to posting any. Occasionally I take a break from birds and draw other things, in this case, kitchen appliances. Or at least that's what I did during the winter. These two are also part of the tiny (4"x 4") series. I'm so grateful for the time I spend in my studio these days. It's not there nearly as much as I would prefer, but I am so lucky to have the time I do. 

Tiny Continues

The tiny pieces were a big hit at Open Studios, thank you everyone for coming out and supporting. They also helped dislodge a little creative block, that's been gnawing at me for the past several months. I now know that feeling stuck is a part of how it goes for me, but this last round went on longer and felt more permanent than ever before (of course). I have tools to apply acceptance to most areas of my life, apparently my artistic process is left a little behind. 

Tiny

I am saying yes to invitations to participate in exhibitions this year. I have a piece in a small venue in North Beach and will be in several shows in November and December, including Open Studios on November 1 & 2. One of the shows will be in a community acupuncture clinic on Valencia Street, an intimate clinic setting. I decided to make tiny pieces for the show. All of my work is small (today I saw an artist at Hunters Point, Randy Bechelheimer whose work averaged 64" x 96". The  pieces I am working on for this show are all 4 x 4. This is the first of a series.

Flycatcher Mono Print

In August, a small group of fellow artists and I took a print making class with Jenny Robinson - trace mono type with chine colle. I had no idea what any of that meant, but Jenny said I would like it and I believe her. We worked hard and long and had a lot of fun, plus we all got some great prints. While in the class, I pulled this print, and was convinced it was garbage. My class mates and oohed and aahed and all I could see were the mistakes. Mono type is a medium full of surprises and one that takes me way out of my comfort zone.

Found Fabric

It's been a while since I have photographed and talked about my work in the studio. As I mentioned earlier this year, I found this sisal coffee sack on my walk between my job and my studio. Now, I am waiting for an order of four more that I bought online. Of course, I would rather tell the fun story of "found and free" but the truth is, I love the texture, the letters, and the printing on the sack - I love everything about the sisal sacks. I did find this one, but stay tuned for the less romantic versions to follow. These will be on display at Open Studios at 1890 Bryant Street in San Francisco on November 1 & 2 from 11:00AM - 6:00PM.