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.

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.

From Chiapas With Love

One of my work pals asked me to make a picture for her sweetheart using this coffee bag as a background. Apparently their trip to Mexico was so romantic she wanted to be able to commemorate it by giving her honey some art for her birthday. I was so happy to do the commission and ended up making a second one for the office (in honor of the yummy coffee she brought back). Working with these new materials is proving to be super inspiring.

8"x8" "From Chiapas With Love" Encaustic, coffee bag, carbon transfer, 2014

Two Birds in a Nest

I heard a story on "This American Life" about boring conversation topics according to the mother of one of the show's producers. The producer and her mother embarked on a challenge to see if the show could track down stories and make these so called "conversation killers" interesting. The topics included: what you are eating, how you slept, your dreams, menstruation, and routes, among other things. It was a fun show, partly because these are all topics I like to talk about, but also because of the banter between producer and mother. 

I have since begun a list of my own: what I did at work (unless I cured cancer or created glasses for otherwise blind babies), the unexceptional work life of most people is not interesting, at all, ever. I have also added to the list excuses for why I am late or why I have not been doing something I promised myself I would do, like exercising or blogging. So I will not bother to discuss why blogging has not made its way to my to do list. I will say, I still paint and play in my studio, and am very happy when new things emerge. Happy New Year!

Two Birds in a Nest
encaustic, carbon transfer, coffee bag  & button, 2013

Going Places!

One of the artists at 1890 Bryant saw me embedding stamps into paintings so he gave me a bunch from his father's stamp collection. I decided to use color as a design element to create this back ground. I had this piece out during open studios as a work in progress and it got a lot of attention. Now that it has the birds, I can call it done.

"Muni Barn" Drypoint Monoprint Etching

Working out printing techniques is crazy complicated. I now have so much more appreciation for print makers. I am really enjoying the challenge, and covering the prints with wax is allowing me to add my personal touch to the process.  My studio will be open next weekend, so if you are in the area, come and see.

1890 Bryant Street, San Francisco

Studio 311

April 20 & 21, Noon - 6pm

Friday Night Preview:

April 19th, 6pm - 9pm

Visit my Studio - April 20 & 21, 2013

You are invited to stroll the halls and enjoy the view from inside artist's studios in the Mission:

1890 Bryant Street (50 incredible artists)

Studio # 311

Bryant & Mariposa

San Francisco

Preview Party 

Friday, April 19th, 6:00 - 9:00 pm

Open Studios

April 20 & 21, 2013

12:00 - 6:00 pm

Hope to see you there!

Here is a map of all the studios and buildings that are participating in Spring Open Studios.