“Yellow Square” painting

Yellow Square, acrylic on canvas, 10x10", 2009

This is another in my abstract dot series, which began with the “little bitty” dot paintings and includes the larger “Square, Red.” Like the others, it is a highly tactile painting, each dot being slightly raised and rounded. I am particularly intrigued by the optical “flare” effect along the diagonals. It’s an optical illusion, but it is particularly striking in this painting.

It is elegantly framed as shown below:

“Yellow Square”, acrylic on canvas, 10×10″ (frame 11.5 x 11.5″) is available for $400 plus shipping. Sales tax in California only. It comes framed and wired to hang.

No PayPal account needed, just a credit card.

One Angry Rattlesnake

I’ve been hiking in southern California for a couple of years now. Recently I met up for the first time with one of our most notorious forms of wildlife: a rattlesnake. One very angry rattlesnake.

My gentleman friend and I went hiking one sunny afternoon in Matilija Canyon Ranch, a secluded little canyon not far from Ojai, California. As usual, I took along my digital camera to take pictures for my paintings.

The Matilija Canyon hike started out on a dirt road but soon turned into a small narrow trail. We thoroughly enjoyed the hike, which crossed the stream several times. Usually I’m not too keen on stream crossings, but this stream had lots of boulders making the crossings quite easy and even kind of fun. Considering we’re in a drought, the stream had quite a lot of water. Here’s a view upstream that I shot while standing on some boulders halfway across:

Being a trail in a canyon, it’s a there-and-back kind of hike rather than a loop. So after a while we decided we’d gone far enough and turned back. We met the rattlesnake on the return leg.

We were on a particularly narrow part of the trail, where the canyon is very narrow and steep-sided. The path was hugging the left wall of the canyon, the stream some distance down to our right. My gentleman friend was in the lead on that stretch.

A sudden violent hiss erupted from the underbrush to our right, and we both instinctively leaped away from it. I shouted “rattlesnake!” as I scrambled backwards on the path. My companion leaped forwards. That left the unseen rattlesnake somewhere between us, hidden in the underbrush next to the path. Great.

I’ve seen rattlers on TV before, and I’ve seen them snoozing quietly behind glass at the zoo, but I had never experienced a live, angry rattlesnake doing its thing before. As it turns out, it’s not so much a “ch,ch,ch,ch” kind of sound like you make with a baby rattle, but rather a continuous “SSSSSSSSHHHHHHH.” It’s LOUD. And it just goes on and on and on without a break.

I’ve read the books. You know, the ones that say “the snake is more afraid of you than you are of it” and “if you leave it alone it’ll just go away” and “rattlesnakes only strike if they are cornered.” Right. Well, apparently this snake hadn’t read the books. It was pissed off and it wasn’t going to move!

We of course backed away from it. A long ways. We each had to retreat a good 30 feet away before the snake stopped its rattling. Then we assessed our options. My companion was safely away from the snake, but I had to somehow make my way past it to get out of the canyon. The canyon was too steep to consider leaving the trail to go around the snake. My only way out was on the path, past the snake. And that snake didn’t want me anywhere near it.

We waited a while so the snake could calm down and, we hoped, just go away, but it wasn’t having it. It was apparently in no mood to “just go away.” As soon as I got closer than 20 feet it started rattling again. I backed away again until the angry sound subsided.

We waited a while, then once again cautiously ventured closer, but the snake was still there and still very pissed, and it started its rattling again. We backed off.

I realized that the only way I was going to get out of there was to make a run for it. Scariest decision of my life. I edged closer to the snake until it started rattling again, then made a dash for it, all the while expecting it to strike at me as I passed.

It didn’t, and I got past it safely. In fact, I never did see the snake. But boy did I hear it!

Fun Times in La Jolla

I had a great show in La Jolla last weekend.

I showed my art, met a lot of really cool and interesting people, got interviewed for a TV show about art, sold some art, and just generally had a good time. Especially on Sunday when the clouds finally parted and the sun came out! Check it out:

Hey, there’s my booth! In the center, with the pointy top:

Barbara J Carter's booth at the 2009 La Jolla Festival of the Arts

Want to see my art in person? You can always find an up-to-date list of all my upcoming shows on my website. And of course I have photos of my paintings on my website, though as I always say “I’m a better painter than photographer”. They really do look better in person than on a computer screen.

Art Show in La Jolla, June 20-21

I’m coming to La Jolla this weekend!

This is very exciting for me, because I don’t often get a chance to come to that area. I know a lot of art lovers live in San Diego, but it’s far enough (and expensive enough) to make traveling there difficult for me. So I’m very happy to have this opportunity to show my work there.

If you’re in the greater San Diego area, make sure not to miss this one! It’s a doozy. The La Jolla Festival of the Arts is a big art and fine craft show with a strong emphasis on higher-end work. It’s a prestigious show for artists and I’m very proud to be included in this year’s show.

Oh, and I plan to show a special new painting there. (I’m finishing it up right now.) It’s the largest painting I’ve ever done before: a triptych that measures three feet tall by six feet wide. You just have to see this thing!

You’ll find me in booth 161, in the north-east corner. See you there!

La Jolla Festival of the Arts

June 20-21, 2009, 9am-5pm.

Genesse Ave & Campus Point Drive, La Jolla, California

$10 admission (email me at info@barbarajcarter.com for a $2 discount coupon). Free parking.

Art in Thousand Oaks… this weekend!

This weekend is my last Los Angeles art show until the fall… so don’t miss it!

Conejo Valley Art Museum ArtWalk

Thousand Oaks, California (intersection of W. Hillcrest Drive and W. Wilbur Road)

Saturday & Sunday, June 6-7, 2009

10am – 6pm both days

Oh yeah, I won a ribbon at this show last year! Neat, huh.

Ambling in Ojai

Over the holiday weekend, my gentleman friend and I took some lovely dayhikes (ambles, really) in the beautiful Ojai Valley (Ojai, California).

We take these hikes for two reasons. One is for the sheer enjoyment of the beautiful weather, varied landscape, and physical recreation that California offers. Hey, we pay ridiculously high property taxes for the privilege of living here. We’re determined to get our money’s worth!

The other reason is to give me reference material for my neo-Pointillist landscape paintings. I keep my digital camera in my back pocket on our hikes, and I’m constantly whipping it out and snapping a few shots. I take lots and lots of photos, the vast majority of which are useless. Fortunately, a select few turn out to be useful, enabling the creation of future paintings.

So last weekend we ambled about in the Ojai Meadow Preserve. The walking was very easy, except for a couple of deep ditches we felt we needed to cross (bridges or steps would have been nice). But other than that, the path was quite easy to follow and mostly very level, and the views of grassy meadows and stands of eucalyptus trees and oaks (non-native and native, respectively) were outstanding.

We encountered some wildlife. I wasn’t fast enough on the trigger to photo the jaw-dropping aerobatics of a brilliant iridescent-blue mountain bluebird because I was so busy being amazed. They hover! Like a hummingbird, but bigger! The bird swooped over the grassy field, then hovered in a single spot a few feet over the grass. With each wingbeat, the bird’s body shifted forward and back slightly, but its head stayed perfectly still. The sun flashed on its blue feathers and the spectacle was simply incredible. As if that weren’t enough, it did it a couple of times right in front of us. I guess to make sure we really got an eyeful.

I did manage to snap this shot of a California king snake just as it started to slither down its hole. I spotted the snake from only a few feet away, and barely stopped before I stepped on it. It was lying perfectly still and straight, about 30 inches long or so. In spite of its stripes it was surprisingly well camouflaged. We watched it for a few minutes to see what it would do but it stayed perfectly still, just occasionally flicking its tongue out. I finally decided to take its picture, and at that moment it casually started down a tiny hole that didn’t look big enough to hold it. We watched it disappear completely into the hole.

I highly recommend checking out the Ojai Meadow Preserve if you find yourself in Ojai and in need of some quiet ambling time.

Pictures from My Art Shows

Two art shows finished, two to go… for the spring, anyway.

If you didn’t make it to either of my shows so far, here are some photos I took. Enjoy!

Calabasas May 2009:

Barbara J Carter's booth at the 2009 Calabasas Fine Arts Festival

Sierra Madre May 2009:

Barbara J Carter's booth at the 2009 Sierra Madre Art Fair

See you at my next two shows! You can see them all listed on my schedule page.

Meet Me in Sierra Madre

Hey, it’s time for my next art show!

Sierra Madre Art Fair, May 16-17, 2009. Saturday 9:30am-6pm, Sunday 9:30am-5pm. Held in leafy Memorial Park, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd (at Hermosa Ave), Sierra Madre, California. Free admission and free on-street parking in the neighborhood (you might need to circle a couple of blocks to find a spot).

See you there!

Here’s a photo from the show in Calabasas. Hey, that’s my booth on the left! Nice, huh?

Barbara J Carter's booth (left) at the 2009 Calabasas Fine Arts Show

Want to know where else I’ll be showing my art this summer? See my full schedule here.

Come to Calabasas for some art

This weekend is my first art show of 2009!

Yes, it’s been a long wait. But worth it! I’ll be showing all my newest paintings at the Calabasas Fine Arts Festival this weekend, May 2-3, 2009. (This is in southern California near Los Angeles, if you don’t know the area.)

The show is open 10am to 5pm both days, and admission and parking are free! Take the 101 freeway to the Parkway Calabasas exit, head south and turn left toward the Calabasas Civic Center just after the freeway. There should be signs to guide you. Here’s a map of the location.

It’s going to be a lovely weekend, perfect weather for looking at lots of fun and interesting art. I’ll be in booth 150, which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the show. Come by and say hi, and bring a friend!

The World’s Biggest Artist Colony

Last weekend I went to the Brewery Artwalk in Los Angeles. Quite an experience.

The Los Angeles Brewery is the world’s biggest artist colony. Echoing the city’s renowned urban sprawl, the Brewery is itself a sprawling landscape. It’s an entire city block (and a huge block at that) filled with 22 buildings, large and small, old and new, crammed with studios of artists and all sorts of other creative-type people like graphic designers, clothing designers, jewelry artists, etc.

The Brewery contains a total of 300 studios. About 150 of those were open for the spring 2009 Artwalk, a twice-yearly open studio event.

And by event, I really do mean Event. The folks organizing the Artwalk seem to be pretty disorganized about a lot of things (maps? signs? parking lot attendants?) but one thing they do well: they do get the word out! The packed parking and crowds of people made it seem more like a big sporting event than an art event. Pretty amazing, really.

Michael Salerno's studio at the Brewery in Los Angeles

As is usual when I go to open studios, I came away with very mixed feelings. I’m deeply envious of those huge, light-filled, high-ceilinged studios (like the one pictured above). I’d love to be part of a large “art community”. And yet I’m astonished and puzzled by how unprofessional most of the artists acted during the Artwalk, how poorly a lot of the art was exhibited, and how disorganized the whole event was.

Don’t even get me started on the artists. Well, OK, but you asked. First off, DON’T burn incense (or scented candles) in your studio. My gentleman friend and I were driven away from several studios by the overpowering fumes. And if we did manage to cross the threshold, how about at least acknowledging our presence? I mean, this is supposed to be about welcoming the public into your creative space, and maybe even selling some art. How about making it possible for us to tell who’s the artist and not feel like we’re crashing your private little party? Use the other 364 days of the year to socialize with your buddies. And is any of this stuff actually for sale? Is it really so difficult to put a few price tags up? Oh well, I can go on, but you get the gist.

What I really want to know is, in spite of all the negatives, how they manage to generate such enormous crowds. I’d kill for crowds like that at my weekend art festivals, which typically have the same number of artists (150-200) but normally get much less foot traffic. How do they do it?

Hey, speaking of weekend festivals, I’ve got a bunch coming up. You should come to them! I promise they’ll be much easier to navigate than the Brewery, and the artists will be on much better behavior. Definitely no incense.

• Calabasas, California, May 2-3, 2009 (more info here)
• Sierra Madre, California, May 16-17 (more info here)
• Thousand Oaks, California, June 6-7 (more info here)
• La Jolla, California, June 20-21 (more info here)