The 2010 Los Angeles Art Show

This year I once again made my annual pilgrimage to the Los Angeles Art Show. It’s nothing compared with Miami’s annual multi-fair extravaganza, but it’s all we get. Galleries come from near and far (from Los Angeles to as far away as South Korea) to show and sell their art.

It ran Thursday through Sunday, January 20-24, 2010. This was its second year in the cavernous Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles, a space I think works well for the show.

For me, getting downtown is a major trek, upwards of an hour of navigating some of LA’s worst freeways. And this year there was the added complication of rain. Not light rain, not even heavy rain. We’re talking the storm of the century (well, decade anyway): several days of massively-damaging flood-inducing accident-causing downpour. On Friday the weather finally broke a little (at least when I set out) so I toughed it out to get to the show. I am relieved to report that I made it there and back without any untoward incidents, and only a little gnashing of teeth.

Let’s take a look at the show!

My intention was to enjoy the show on a weekday when I could have the place to myself and see all the art unimpeded. I arrived early enough that I could take as long as I wanted, take breaks, and revisit the more interesting booths. I spent about 3 hours at the show. The place was very quiet when I arrived, but by the time I left it was getting busier. Annoying for me, but good news for the galleries.

This year I didn’t see nearly as much Chinese art as last year. The Koreans, however, were still much in evidence.

The layout was better this year than last. There weren’t any pinched corners like I noticed last year. And I really enjoyed the large open “lounge” area placed at the center of the show. It provided ample seating with an interesting assortment of sofas, chairs, benches and oversized ottomans. Even though the crowds were light, the lounge was well-used (mostly, it seemed, by exhibitors taking a break).

There was the usual wide variety of art from traditional to modern to contemporary. I didn’t notice many overarching themes this time, but one I did notice was what I’ll call the “woman-as-sex-object” theme. I don’t remember seeing so many paintings and sculptures of naked or scantily-clad provocatively-posed women in prior years. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention before. Certainly sex sells, and it always has. It just seemed a little more crass than usual this year.

Only a few pieces really grabbed me this year. The work by Brazilian artist Mauro Soares (the 3 square paintings in the center of the above photo, shown by the Ward-Nasse Gallery from New York) excited me more for its technique than its subject matter. His technique is a variation on Pointillism using thin, angular brushstrokes instead of dots. The effect is shimmering and lush, just the way I like it. Here’s a detail view of the center painting:

Although a lot of abstract works featured stripes this year, I was more taken by paintings with an all-over organic patterned feel, like this one by Ghanaian artist Rikki Wemega-Kwawu (shown by African Encounters Gallery):

and these by Tony Abeyta (shown by Blue Rain Gallery of Santa Fe, NM):

For another opinion about the show, see this article by Christopher Knight of the LA Times. I disagree with him about the “highlights” of the show. I thought the bird-call video was tiresome and ridiculous. (I find most conceptual art tiresome and ridiculous, so that’s not much of a surprise.) However, I will admit to enjoying the silly but fun “galaxy of moss-covered spheres” installation at Gallery 825’s booth. Take note: you don’t often hear me say anything positive about installations!

If you go next year, be sure to dig around on the LA Art Show website for the discount coupon for admission. And be smarter than I was: actually bring the coupon to the show. Oh well, next year.

Art Inspiration Booklet for 2010

This year I got inspired. It was time to do something different.

For the last few years, I wrote up a “business plan” for my art business each January. It’s a Word document, about eight pages long, all text, no pictures. Frankly, it’s not much fun. And not surprisingly (especially in 2009) not much use either. (See this article about why business plans are pretty useless.)

I have all sorts of plans and goals for 2010. Some for my personal life, some for my art. I have my word of the year picked out. I’ve thought about what worked in 2009, and what I want to do differently in 2010. I have ideas that I might or might not actually do, but I need to write them all down so I don’t forget them. In short, I need a way to write this stuff down, but the stodgy old business plan format isn’t working for me any more.

Just in the nick of time, I found Lisa Sonora Beam’s blog, where she shows how she makes a visually appealing booklet (she calls it a “strategic planner”) to contain all her plans, goals, and ideas for the new year. What a great idea! As she says, creative people need visual stimulation. You can see what her booklet looks like here. It’s pretty fabulous. (She does have the advantage of being a collage artist.)

Inspired by her adorable booklet I decided to scrap my usual art “business plan” in favor of my own version of the booklet. It was so much fun to make! Here’s a peek:

OK, the cover isn’t the most exciting part. It gets better inside, where I’ve collaged images of other artists’ work for artistic inspiration and visual stimulation. This is the stuff that gets my creative juices flowing!

The first page lists some of my personal values (“integrity,” “honesty,” etc.) plus my word for the year, “prolific.” I chose prolific because I intend to create more art than ever this year.

The next page lists my personal goals, like decluttering and daily exercise. Additional pages include my artistic and business goals, and some ideas for better time management.

I collect pithy sayings, so I put some of those in the booklet too.

I was pretty frugal about the materials I used. The pages are some old cardstock I had lying around (standard 8.5×11 inches). I cut out some images from an Artful Home catalog, choosing art that inspires me. I also printed out pictures I’ve collected from the internet of other artists’ work.

I stapled the booklet down the middle, then painted each page a with a different background color or pattern before gluing down the various pictures. I used Sharpie pens to write in my various goals, plans, and ideas. It helps that I took a class on collage, because this is not my usual medium! The class emphasized working quickly and spontaneously, so I was able to put the booklet together in fairly short time.

For once I find I’m looking forward to using my plan. Just looking at it makes me feel good. So much better than a business plan!

Goodbye 2009 (blowing a raspberry or two)

Yes, it’s the end of the year. The time when everyone feels the need to take stock of how things went during the past year, and make plans (resolutions, whatever) for the new year to come.

So, OK, I’ll play along, but only reluctantly. And I’ll be blowing raspberries.

2009 was not a great year for me, financially. (I know, same for pretty much everyone else too.) Let’s all blow a big fat raspberry for the “Great Recession” and all the havoc it wreaked. Because it wreaked a LOT of havoc. A lot of people suffered a great deal. Lots of jobs were lost. And homes. And, ultimately, hope. Ick.

But there were some very good things this year too.

In my art life, I accomplished a number of goals I’d set out for myself. I applied to and was accepted into some better art shows than I’d done before. I joined a respectable (and selective) artist group in Los Angeles. I held my very first open studio event in my home. I showed my work at an art gallery over the summer. And I made some wonderful new artist friends along the way.

Sales were fewer than I hoped (drat that recession!). I was very grateful to the people who did buy art from me this year, when it had become so fashionable to not spend money during the recession. To each and every one of my collectors, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Raspberry to those who let fear hold them back from buying art this year!

In my personal life, this year I triumphantly lost the 20 pounds that I’d somehow gained over the course of the previous decade. I also got better about exercising regularly. I started buying more of my food at local farmers markets, and also started baking my own bread. Yum! I cleaned out a lot of clutter I didn’t need and donated it all to charity. Cleaning things out felt so good. Raspberry to the excess stuff!

This year I finally found a good way I can give back to the community. I am now the volunteer webmaster for my local homeless shelter. I’m glad I found something I can so easily give which had previously been such a struggle for the shelter directors to deal with.

In 2009, clutter got cleared out, money was a bit scarce, but the truly important things grew and improved boundlessly. Raspberry to the recession! Later dude! Here’s to the real things, the intangibles, that make life worth living. Here’s to a better 2010.

Is Art a Good Christmas Present?

It’s December, and Christmas is just around the corner. For those of us who celebrate this holiday, our thoughts naturally turn to gift-giving. (And for those who don’t do Christmas, there are still birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and other gift-giving events that we all deal with.)

So, it’s Christmas (or some other gift-giving occasion) and the age-old question arises once again: What to get for the person who has everything?

They don’t really have everything, of course, but they certainly have everything they need. Worse, they probably already have everything they really want. If they really wanted an iPhone, or a bread machine, or a puppy, they probably would have gotten one by now, right? This kind of dilemma makes it hard to come up with ideas for gifts that would surprise and delight, the ultimate goal for a thoughtful gift-giver.

So what about giving art as a gift?

Art seems to fill the unique-gift niche nicely. Most people like art in one form or another. And many people don’t take time to shop for art for themselves. Lives are busy, time is short. An original work of art is guaranteed to be different from anything else they have, even if they own a lot of art already.

So art makes a perfect gift, right?

Well, maybe. Art is extremely subjective. Everyone likes different things, different styles, different colors. Even people who live together and know each other intimately have trouble predicting what each other will like best when it comes to art.

I learned this lesson at my very first art festival. A family came into my booth and it was clear they all enjoyed my paintings very much. They started talking about which paintings everyone liked best. Mom favored one painting, Dad preferred another. The younger son challenged the others to guess which painting he liked best, and no one guessed correctly. Daughter did the same, and again no one guessed right. Even though they all agreed that they liked my work, everyone preferred a different painting, and no one could predict what the others would like best. (The story has a happy ending: they ended up buying three of my paintings, which I delivered to their home and helped to hang in different rooms. That sure made my day!)

If you want to give art as a gift, I recommend proceeding with some caution. Even if you know the recipient and their tastes very well, you probably won’t be able to guess their absolute favorite piece. You don’t want them thinking “gee, I wish you’d given me that other painting that I like so much better!” The only way to know which is their favorite is to ask them, or do some careful sleuthing. Art can be a wonderful, thoughtful, special gift, but it’s best done with the cooperation of the giftee. But you can still do this in a way that preserves some of the fun and surprise of an unexpected gift.

Try this: ask the person to identify a few pieces that are their favorites (for example, while visiting an art gallery, or looking together at an artist’s website, ahem, like mine for instance). Find out which pieces are their absolute favorites, and which they’re less interested in. You’ll probably be surprised at their choices! But that’s the whole point of this exercise: you just don’t know what someone else will love. Get them to point out several favorites. You can then go back later and purchase one of their favorites without telling them which one you got. That way you keep a sense of surprise, but you know they’re going to absolutely adore their gift. And that is the goal, isn’t it?

Another option would be to give a gift certificate. You could tailor it toward the purchase of their favorite artist’s work (it might be easier for you to find out their favorite artist than their favorite piece of art). This would allow you to give whatever dollar amount you’re comfortable with (this is especially good for you if your giftee has expensive tastes!).

The gift certificate idea could be made even more fun if the artist herself creates a custom gift certificate for you to wrap and give, like you would a store’s gift card. (I’d be happy to create a personalized gift certificate for the purchase of my art. And of course, I’d refund it if your gift recipient decided not to use it within, say, a year. Email me if you’d like to do this! I think it would be fun.)

So to the question of whether art makes a good Christmas (or any other occasion’s) present, the answer is yes, if you do it right. With a little extra effort you can ensure you’re giving a piece of art that the recipient will love and enjoy for years to come. And you can feel good about being such a generous, thoughtful gift-giver, as well as a patron of the arts. A happy ending for everyone. Happy art shopping!

A very small painting… “Dots 15″

Here’s another painting in the series I like to call my “little bitty” dot paintings. They’re not exactly microscopic, but for original paintings they’re fairly small at only 5×7 inches (that’s 13×18 cm for you metric types). An intimate scale, if you like. A hand-sized work of art.

I actually painted this little guy back in October, but I’m behind on posting my paintings. I blame the holiday season.

“Dots 15″ by Barbara J Carter, 5×7″ (13×18 cm), acrylic on canvasboard

Like my other little bitty dot paintings, this one is available for $45 plus a token amount for shipping and, if you’re in California, sales tax. I can ship anywhere (and often do). Happy holidays!

Me, At the Exhibit

Here I am, in front of my paintings in the ongoing exhibit of members of the Silver Lake Art Collective.

The exhibit remains open to the public 5 days a week through November 29, 2009. It’s only closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and Thanksgiving Day (and the day after). It’s open all the other days (even Sundays!) 11am to 5pm. Each artist in the show (some 24 of us in all) volunteered to “babysit” the show one day that it’s open. These photos are from “my” day earlier this week.

Silver Lake Art Collective Fall Exhibit

When: through November 29, 2009, Wednesdays through Sundays 11am – 5pm. Closed Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving. Closing Reception (meet the artists!) Sunday November 29.

Where: Citibank building, 2450 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles

Open Studio this Weekend!

Open Studio with Barbara J Carter and Fred Chuang

When: Saturday & Sunday November 14-15, 2009.

Where: Fred’s home studio at 2974 Waverly Drive, Silver Lake (Los Angeles), California. Call 323-661-0595 if you get lost.

Hours: 11am to 5pm both days.

This is a very casual event. You can enjoy both artists’ art, pat the nice doggies, have some munchies, and just generally relax and have a good time.

By the way, this is my last art event until sometime next spring (date TBD). If you’ve been meaning to see my latest work and haven’t gotten around to it, this is your last chance for quite a while!

While you’re at it, you should also go see the large annual public exhibit of works by members of the Silver Lake Art Collective, which we both belong to. We’ve both got large pieces in the exhibit. It’s just a few minutes away, so you might as well take it in while you’re in the neighborhood for the open studio.

Silver Lake Arts Collective Annual Members Exhibit

When: November 7-29, 2009

Where: Citibank building, 2450 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, 90039. Enter through the metal gates at the north end of the Citibank building (the end opposite the main bank entrance). Park inside the gate or in the Citibank main lot (the latter is easier to maneuver in).

Hours: Open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11am to 5pm. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday after Thanksgiving.

Closing Reception: Sunday November 29, 1-5pm. I missed the Opening Reception, but I’ll be there for the Closing!

Santa Fe: Art, Food, and Chocolate, oh my!

I just got back from my dream vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Wow.

Photo: San Miguel Church, Santa Fe, built 1610

I knew it would be cool and fun and arty. But I was unprepared for the magnitude of the awesomeness.

It occurred to me that maybe I shouldn’t write about it, wanting to keep the secret to myself. But then I realized (1) it’s not exactly a secret that Santa Fe is cool and artistic (after all, even clueless I knew that much), and (2) my obscure little blog is hardly going to make a dent in Santa Fe’s tourism industry.

So fine, let’s talk about Santa Fe and how amazing it is.

First of all there’s the food. I love hot and spicy food. Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian, bring it on! The hotter the better. Sadly for me, the vast majority of the US feels otherwise. I’ve lived in New England, California, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest, and I can say with authority that most Americans are spice wimps.

But not New Mexico! This is the one place in the US where spicy is the norm. To New Mexicans, chile peppers are a major food group, and they unapologetically add chiles or chile sauce to just about everything. I love it.

There’s a huge debate in New Mexico over which is better, red or green chile sauce. The difference between the two is quite striking, and I had great fun sampling both and coming to my own conclusions. You can order a dish “Christmas” which means you get both red and green sauces for a side-by-side comparison. The red chile sauce is made from dried, ground-up red chiles, while the green is made from the same chiles picked while still green. The red has a deep, rich smoky flavor. Green has a bright, fresh, tart flavor. Everyone has their favorite. I tried both several times but I quickly came to strongly prefer the green.

Interestingly, in spite of getting all sorts of recommendations from friends, people on Twitter, foodie blogs and rating websites, we never found the holy grail for foodies: the perfect authentic New Mexican restaurant. Not for lack of trying, I assure you. We ate at plenty of decent little places that came highly recommended, but none were real standouts. The best chile sauce we had was on an amazing plate of huevos rancheros at a breakfast place (The Chocolate Maven). The best dinner we had was at a Spanish tapas place called El Meson – amazing food but not particularly New Mexican. I’m sure there are lots of superb authentic New Mexican restaurants, but we didn’t quite find them. Still, the hunt was fun, and turned up a few goodies here and there.

Art. Did I mention art? Because you can’t go to Santa Fe without noticing the art. It’s everywhere. You trip over it just turning around. Our hotel room was decorated with original art. Several pieces. Even in the bathroom! Swoon.

Photo: Allan Houser sculpture "When Friends Meet"

Every restaurant and cafe we ate in had art hanging on the walls, all of it for sale. (We bought a small piece from one restaurant where we had dinner.) In downtown Santa Fe, art galleries seem to outnumber all other businesses. One street, Canyon Road, is almost nothing but art galleries for its entire length. But even off of Canyon Road art galleries are everywhere.

Photo: Canyon Road, Santa Fe

Sculpture is everywhere too. Just wandering around town you see sculptures in public spaces, at the State Capitol building, at bus stops, in gardens, everywhere. Plenty of art galleries display large sculptures outside. I was particularly struck by the number of private homes, many quite modest, with sculpture visible in the front yard.

For an artist like me, all this art everywhere is almost too much to take. It’s like throwing someone dying of thirst into a swimming pool full of drinking water. I felt overwhelmed and overstimulated (but you know, in a good way). So different from Los Angeles! In Santa Fe art is a way of life, fully incorporated into every aspect of living. I’ve never seen anything like it. These are my people!

So, chocolate. This is the part I really didn’t expect. We hadn’t thought of Santa Fe as a major chocolate destination. But while planning our trip we came across something called the Santa Fe Chocolate Trail, and from that discovered the Mecca for serious chocolate lovers: Kakawa Chocolate House.

Photo: Kakawa Chocolate House, Santa Fe

Kakawa is not for chocolate wimps. Their chocolates are dark, bitter, rich, varied, and complex. Not to mention extensively researched and historically accurate. The house specialty is their drinking chocolates, hot concoctions that you sip slowly and savor like fine wine. When you go there in person, you can sample as many of their dozens of drinking chocolates as they have on hand (usually about a dozen) for free before ordering. Oh, and they will also cheerfully custom blend a half-and-half version if you just can’t decide between two. Try a blend of Jeffersonian and Modern Mexican. That was our hands-down favorite.

Beyond Kakawa there are several other good places for chocolate in Santa Fe. We didn’t visit the other stores on the Chocolate Trail but did make it to the Chocolate Maven, which is actually a bakery and breakfast restaurant. True to their name the chocolate croissants are beyond description (we watched them being made while we ate breakfast). Their plain croissants are also amazing: flaky and buttery yet satisfyingly substantial. Then there’s the Spanish Table, a cookery store that will blow the mind of any serious cook. They had several specialty Spanish chocolates available so of course we just had to buy them. We came home with quite a bit of chocolate, and a newfound respect for Santa Fe as a serious chocolate destination.

Photo: Kakawa’s make-your-own hot chocolate wafers on the left, Spanish Blanxart chocolate bars for either eating or making hot chocolate, and a bag of Blanxart powdered hot chocolate mix on the right. Quite a haul.

Was it the trip of a lifetime, as I had predicted? Sort of… it was certainly a fantastic trip, but it won’t be the only one of my lifetime! I’ll definitely be back. I’ve found art-food-chocolate heaven.

Santa Fe

I’m off on vacation… in Santa Fe! Which is pretty much like Disneyland for artists. I’ll tell you about it when I get back.

Oh, and if you buy one of my paintings while I’m gone? Well, you’ll just have to wait til I get back before I can ship it to you. Don’t worry, it’s just a few days.

“Dots 14″ little bitty painting

The latest in my ongoing series of small “little bitty” original paintings, each only 5 x 7 inches (or 12.7 x 17.8 cm if you’re into that kind of thing). Each is unique, all are experimental.

This one’s kind of like a maze:

By the way, there’s no right way up for this painting (or any of the others, for that matter). You can display it any way up you like.

“Dots 14″ by Barbara J Carter

5×7″ (12.7 x 17.8 cm) Acrylic on canvasboard

$45 plus postage ($1.50 in the US, $3 everywhere else) and sales tax in California.

No PayPal account needed, just a credit card.