Open Studio Spring 2012

Please Join Me for Spring Open Studio

Swan Brothers

I will be showing new work in my series of pieces based on fairytales and legends.  

At left is a piece inspired by "The Swan Brothers", a story of transformation and sacrifice that has haunted me since I was a small girl.

The book shown in the three images below tells a story in pictures, one that is both familiar and mysterious, referring to and mirroring many archetypal tales.

Ur-story

March 30th 6-10pm--Reception


March 31th 12-5PM - Open Studio    

April 1st 12-5PM -  Open Studio



ARC Studios and Gallery
1246 Folsom, between 8th & 9th
San Francisco, Civic Center BART


The collage painting below, 40 Thieves, is one of several works in this series that are meant to honor Shahrzad, a prodigious storyteller.

40 Thieves

The dress below is one of Cindrella's, giving you a sense of what happens when your wardrobe is made by Bluebirds.

Waiting for change

Fall Open Studio, Oct 14-16

Reception:

Friday, Oct 14
6–10pm

 

Open Studio:
Saturday, Oct 15, Sunday, Oct 16
11am to 6pm

ARC, Studio #205

1246 Folsom St.  San Francisco
between 8th and 9th
Civic Center BART station

 
  Come to my studio on October 14th, 15th or 16th to see my new work.  I will be showing mixed media pieces and artists books made with glass, resin, handmade paper, fiber, found objects and ephemera. 

2011 Spring Open Studios, April 1-3

mixed messages

joy of cooking

Please Join Me for Spring Open Studios 

ARC Studios 1246 Folsom, SF, between 8th & 9th Civic Center Bart

April 1st, 6-10PM - Friday Night Reception---Eat, Drink and be Foolish
April 2nd & 3rd, 12-5PM - Open Studios

Some new work, some old work, some troublesome work. My theme for this year, or perhaps for this decade is:
PRETTY OBJECTS MADE FROM SINISTER MATERIALS

dites-moi

I have also put together a photo book of my visual ruminations on this topic from the last 3 years and you can find it posted on both my blog (March 11) and my Facebook Wall. Or just come to Open Studios and see the originals.

lingering ache

Fortuna

Open studios prep-a-thon

Little Wing

New work, old work, can't show everything but I really, really, really want to.  Open Studio is such an adrenaline shot,  it's very tempting to keep makin' new stuff right up to the last minute.  Having to switch over to getting organized is such a buzz kill--not to mention having to go to the mortgage-paying day job.  These people want me to do the stuff they pay me to do.  Don't they know I'm an artist?   Here are four pieces in the newly re-named series "Angels and Odd Bitches" (formerly known as "Seen and Unseen"). I changed the name because it's obvious that these girls are angels and odd bitches, and because they are no longer unseen--I see them and you will too when you come to Open Studios this weekend, along with a couple of their sisters whose varnish is still drying.
.

Dites-moi

                        
OPEN STUDIOS AT ARC   
Reception...........Friday, October 15,  6–10pm
Open Studio.......Sat., Oct. 16 & Sun. Oct. 17, 11am-6pm
Where................ARC Gallery and Studios, 
                           1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
                            Between 8th & 9th, 3 blocks from Civic Center

Seen and unsee

Fortuna

                                                                                                                                                     

New work

Here is a new piece called Fortuna, the third painting in the "Seen and Unseen" series.  I think it's finished but I am also considering mounting it on a dark, reddish-black background.  I notice that I go through a cycle with new pieces that is sort of like cycles in dating---I'm in love, no I'm not, this is perfect, no it's not, this is the best, oh no, don't get to happy, something will go wrong........Anyway, I'm happy with Fortuna at the moment.

REMEMBER: Open Studios, October 15,16,17 at Arc Studios, 1246 Folsom St., San Francisco

FourSquared closing reception and preparing for open studios

The current show at ARC Gallery,  FourSquared, will have a closing reception on Saturday, September 18th from 10am to 3pm.  There will be an Artist's Panel from 1pm to 2pm.  My studio will be open as well.  The opening reception, on Friday, August 27, was intense--lots of people, lots of family, lots of art talk.  The first sale of work from my 5 piece "Illusion of Choice" series was completed that evening.  Yes, Do Supermodels Dream of Anorexic Sheep?, at left, was the first to leave home, but her sisters, a sample of which can be seen at right and below, are still in my studio, waiting to be seen, and perhaps adopted, at Open Studios in October.  Although I had a somewhat conflicted time producing the "Illusion of Choice" suite of works, I kind of love them now, as they are on their way out into the world.  Both studio space and mental space are opened up and I am enjoying focusing on my new series, "Seen and Unseen", which will include mixed media paintings, artists' books and assemblage. 

"Seen and Unseen" ( here you see a detail from the first painting in that series, Dites-moi) continues my ongoing rumination about Femininity, in both its luminous and disturbing manifestations, its cultural distortion and archetypal power.  Several years ago I was in Italy, and when you are vacationing in Italy, going to Museums and churches, you are completely surrounded by Mary.  It's all Madonnas, all the time.  I became very interested in the various iconographic conventions of the religious paintings that I saw everyday.   I especially enjoyed the attributes of the Virgin-- objects included in her portraits that symbolically indicate her qualities, virtues and powers.  One night I had a dream that took the form of a slide show and each slide was an attribute of Mary: a crown of stars, a mirror, a spindle, a book, Lilies, a rose, many others.  A narrating voice said "you  should go home and do portraits of the bad girls of the bible.  You should portray Eve, Jezebel and Salome and give them the attributes of Mary". My first thought at waking up and remembering the dream was "gosh, that seems kind of blasphemous."  Many times over the years I have attempted to follow the exact instructions of the dream, to base work explicitly on the bible stories of Jezebel or Salome, but those pieces inevitably failed.  Instead, with "Seen and Unseen" I am implicity exploring the attributes of good and bad girls.  So far, I have been able to re-experience the playful and exuberant feeling of the dream.

On a final note, another really good thing happened at the FourSquared opening.  I was able to buy the fabulous Sabertoothed Rabbit, below, by the fabulous saberbrushed painter, Sandy Yagi.  I have admired her work for many years and I can't wait to bring this angry bunny home.  Come and see the rest of Maestra Yagi's wonderful hybrids while you have the chance, along side the other fascinating work in the show.

Reception and Open Studio, Friday August 27

On Friday August 27th a new show, titled FourSquared, will open in Arc Gallery, located at 1246 Folsom St, San Francisco  (details about the show and directions are at the end of this post ). Although I am not in the show my studio, upstairs from the Gallery, will be open during the reception, from 7pm to 10pm on the 27th.  In my studio you will be able to see the first pieces in my new series of mixed media paintings and sculptures.  The series is titled  Seen and Unseen and will eventually encompass 10 works. The triptych below is "Dites-Moi", one of the series in progress. I hope to have the first 5 of these finished for Open Studios in October.


 To acknowledge the theme of FourSquared, in which 16 artists were asked by the curators to create a coherent series of 16 compact works, I have completed a suite of small pieces called 16 Recollections of Places I Will Probably Never go to Again.  The pieces in 16 Recollections are cast paper tiles (linen, abaca, cotton and plant fibers), mounted on 6"x8" canvas board, with silkscreened, lithographed, stenciled, drawn and transferred images, polaroid transfers and emulsion lifts, wax and metallic pigment.  The series is on display just outside my studio door.  Below are "Ubud" and "Penang".

FourSquared

Opening reception for the artists:  Friday, August 27th, 7 – 10 pm


Exhibition dates:  August 27 – September 18

Gallery hours:  Saturdays 10am – 3pm;  and by appointment

ARC Gallery is located at1246 Folsom St. in San Francisco, between 8th and 9th streets, South of Market.  The Civic Center Bart station is 3 blocks away at 8th and Market.

“FourSquared”, co-curators, Matthew Frederick & Michael Yochum, invited 16 local San Francisco/ Bay Area  to create 16 small works each.  “FourSquared” will showcase all 16 series – a total of 196 works. “FourSquared” artists include: Brett Amory, Blair Bradshaw, Mitchell Confer, Sidnea D’Amico, Rebecca Fox, Ivy Jacobsen, Denise Laws, Michael McConnell, Brian McDonald, Molly Meng, Silvia Poloto, Kristina Quinones, Fernando Reyes, Monika Steiner, Marcia Stuermer and Sandra Yagi.

See http://arcsf.wordpress.com/ for more information about the show.