La Jolla Festival of the Arts – June 22-23, 2013

I and my booth full of paintings are traveling next to the La Jolla Festival of the Arts. I did this annual show only once before, several years ago. It’s about time I went back, don’t you agree?

Unlike my last time there (when I took the photo above) the show is now held in a grassy field. I think that’ll be nicer.

And hey lookee, the local rag chose one of my paintings to feature in their calendar section. Whee! I’m famous! (click to see larger)

La Jolla Festival of the Arts
June 22-23, 2013
10am – 5pm Saturday & Sunday
Warren Field, University of California at San Diego (click for map)
3453 Voigt Dr., San Diego, CA
Paid admission, free parking

I’m in booth 903 but there aren’t 900 artists at the show. I’m just located on Row 9, which is the last row.

Here’s a detailed map of the show layout (click to see):

Beverly Hills Art Show – May 18-19, 2013

I’m showing my art in the beautiful Beverly Hills Art Show this year. Held in a lovely park in the heart of Beverly Hills, this is easily the best Los Angeles outdoor art show. It’s well worth visiting if you’re in the area.

This is a highly competitive show for artists to get into. I’ve shown here before, but I don’t get accepted every year! So I’m very happy to be back this year.

And of course this show is local for me, so no traveling and no hotels. I get to sleep in my own bed. Ahhhh! That’s nice.

See you there!

Beverly Hills Art Show
May 18-19, 2013
10am – 6pm Saturday & Sunday
Santa Monica Blvd & Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, California
Free admission

Look for me in Booth 401, in the end block at the east end of the show.

Scottsdale: When you gamble, sometimes you lose

I was so excited to do the big art show in Scottsdale, Arizona. (The Scottsdale Arts Festival, March 2013)

Some sad, soggy art.

It was a gamble. I knew that. Coming from out of state meant my travel costs were high (there’s no such thing as a cheap hotel in Scottsdale). But it’s such a great show! Everyone says so. I did a lot of research, read lots of reviews, both from artists and from patrons. It sounded perfect. I was ecstatic when I was accepted to participate. It’s not an easy show to get into; the competition is pretty fierce. I was really looking forward to this great show I’d heard so much about.

Note: when a patron says a show is “great” they mean that the art is of consistently high quality and the show is a visual treat. When an artist says a show is “great” they mean that art collectors come to the show and buy lots of art. Usually the two overlap to a high degree.

I had very high hopes for this show.

Unfortunately, my hopes weren’t matched by reality. Frankly, I lost my shirt on this one.

The weather was against us for 2 of the 3 days. Cold winds and rain doused us all day Friday and most of Saturday. That surely dampened spirits. Oh yeah, and it hailed on Friday. Twice.

But actually a lot of people came to the show, in spite of the rain. (They did all leave when the hail started.) And even more people showed up Sunday when the weather was nice. It got quite crowded. So I can’t blame the weather. Plenty of people showed up, more than I expected.

It just wasn’t the right crowd for me. I gave it my best shot and lost. Sometimes that happens.

The good thing is there’s always another show. Up next for me is the Beverly Hills Art Show, May 18-19, 2013. Also a gamble, but at least I get to sleep in my own bed. See you at the show!

Silverlake Open Studios Nov. 10-11, 2012

An annual tradition, I’m showing my work at the Silverlake Open Studio tour this weekend, November 10-11, 2012. That’s the Silverlake neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Now, my studio isn’t in Silverlake. I sneakily get into the tour by showing at a friend’s studio, which is in Silverlake. Fred Chuang has graciously given me space on the tour for several years now. Here’s the street view:

Fred and I hang our work side by side and then hang out together all weekend. It’s a very casual, drop-in kind of event. We’ll have drinks and munchies, including Fred’s famous turkey chili (mild by default, but possible to hot up with optional saucy additions). Fred’s lovely dogs will be on hand to greet everyone (and beg for chili). It’s good, relaxed fun. I hope we’ll see you there!

Silverlake Art Collective Annual Open Studios
Saturday & Sunday
November 10-11, 2012
12 noon to 5pm
2974 Waverly Drive, Los Angeles, California

Silver Lake Art Collective annual exhibit 2012

Fall is in the air, and the annual Silver Lake Art Collective annual exhibit is on!

Following careful preparation…

the show is finally ready for prime time. My work is there…

(If you’re not sure which ones are mine, you should maybe take another look at my website for a refresher.)

And of course that of many other artists, both 2D and 3D…

Want to come see? The show is free and open to the public. And there are receptions! Both an opening and a closing reception… no end to the fun. You should definitely stop by.

Silver Lake Art Collective Annual Exhibit “Spectrum 2012″
Citibank Art Space Gallery
2450 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles (between the bank branch and the coin-op laundry)

Opening Reception: Saturday Oct 20, 2012, 6-10pm.

Open Hours: Fridays through Sundays Oct 21-Nov 17, 2012. 12-8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 12-5pm Sundays.

Open Studio Tour: Saturday and Sunday Nov 10-11, 2012, 12-5pm. See my website for details.

Closing Reception: Saturday Nov 17, 2012, 6-10pm.

Kings Mountain Art Fair

If you want to see my latest paintings, you need to come to my next show: the Kings Mountain Art Fair, Labor Day Weekend, September 1-3, 2012.

People who come to the show get first crack at the new stuff. I only put the new paintings up on my website after the show is over, by which time many may have sold. (But people on my mailing list get a sneak peek. You should get on my mailing list.)

The Kings Mountain Art Fair is in the Bay Area of California, “up north” as we Angelenos say.

This year marks the show’s 49th anniversary. (It’s older than I am.) It is an amazing and magical event, not to be missed. I hope to see you there!

Kings Mountain Art Fair
Saturday, Sunday & Monday September 1-3, 2012
10am – 5pm
Free admission, free parking, free shuttle.
13889 Skyline Blvd, Woodside, CA

You can always find an up-to-date list of my upcoming shows on my website.

Art Show in Thousand Oaks, California June 2-3, 2012

My next art show is coming up!

Conejo Valley Art Museum Artwalk 2012 is an outdoor fine art and craft show held the first weekend of June every year. I haven’t shown at this event in a few years, so I think it’s about time I returned. A number of my collectors live in the area. I’d love to see them again, and of course I’d love to get some new collectors too!

I’ll have a bunch of new paintings at this show. I’m keeping them off my website until after the show, to give “first pick” to those who come to the show. If you’re in the area, I do hope you’ll stop by! Look for me in Booth 76.

Conejo Valley Art Museum Artwalk 2012

Saturday & Sunday June 2nd & 3rd, 2012
10 am to 5 pm
Free admission, free parking

Art & Fine Crafts
Food and Beverages
Live Music
Children’s Hands-on Art

Bank of America grounds (formerly Countrywide)
152 West Hillcrest Drive (click for map)
Thousand Oaks, California
Exit 101 Ventura Freeway at Lynn or Moorpark Rd

You can always find an up-to-date list of my shows on my website.

My art shows in 2012

So far I have two art shows confirmed for 2012, one in southern California and one in northern California:

Conejo Valley Art Museum ArtWalk
Thousand Oaks, California.
Saturday & Sunday June 2-3, 2012, 10am-5pm both days. (more info here)

The last time I did this show was three years ago. Maybe it’s time to go back, eh? I’m looking forward to it!

Kings Mountain Art Fair
Woodside, California
Saturday-Monday Sept 1-3, 2012 (Labor Day Weekend). (more info here)

This will be my third year at this fabulous show. It’s been my best show two years in a row. Let’s make it three!

Newsletter

Want to know about my upcoming shows? You should subscribe to my email newsletter. I send out an email a few times a year, reminding about my upcoming shows and giving sneak peeks of my latest paintings. (It’s not the same as this blog, it’s a private email just to you and my other fans.) You can subscribe here.

Art LA Contemporary 2012

Rounding out the lineup of major art fairs in Los Angeles this January, we come at last to the outlier: Art LA Contemporary. Unlike the other shows which were held downtown, this one took place in Santa Monica. It’s a long haul from downtown to Santa Monica, and there’s no public transportation between the two. (You gotta have a car. It’s Los Angeles.)

Art LA Contemporary, having the word “Contemporary” in the name, is aiming for the bleeding edge of cutting edge art. The artists aren’t just alive, many of them are barely out of their teens. It’s conceptual art, mostly. Which means I’m going to take a pretty jaundiced view going in, because frankly most conceptual art comes off as childish and ridiculous to me. Not all, but a goodly percentage. Still, I enjoyed last year’s show well enough to return this year. Buried amongst all the pretentiousness is the occasional gem, and that’s what I like to concentrate on.

Let’s take a look.

The show isn’t huge, and it’s laid out in a very easy-to-understand grid. You can go through it pretty quickly and find the few pieces you really like.

Holton Rower, poured paint over square forms, shown by The Hole, New York.

I had previously seen this video showing how the artist pours the paint, so it was fun to see the finished product in person. This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” ideas. Simple but elegant. And I do love all the dazzling colors.

Light sculpture by Ryan Perez (according to commenter Brett Schultz), shown by Yautepec Gallery, Mexico City.

Again I’m drawn to the simple idea, well executed. It’s just wood and fluorescent tubes, but this piece made a dramatic statement. It is admittedly a little reminiscent of Dan Flavin (an artist known for his work with fluorescent light tubes) but I think this is distinctive enough not to be derivative. I’m sorry I don’t know who the artist is, there was no sign in the booth and the gallery’s website doesn’t help. Thanks to commenter Brett Schultz for identifying the artist. (Too bad there’s no photo of the piece on his website.)

At another booth, I found myself snapping photos of several pieces by several different artists, rather than my usual one (or none!). This was the booth of Quint Contemporary Art in La Jolla, California (near San Diego). Any time I see a high concentration of work I like, I figure this is a gallery I should pay closer attention to. Here are the pieces that caught my eye:

 Ryan McGinness, Women Parts series, acrylic on paper, 30×22 inches, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.

Thomas Glassford, Espejo 1, 2011, anodized aluminum, 32×42 inches, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.

The more I looked at this piece, the more I liked it. You could see the different kinds of industrial aluminum extrusions used: threshold, drip edging, siding, and other common building materials. The varying textures and colors are playful, which I appreciate. I like art that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Peter Alexander, Royal Blue Drip, 2011, polyester resin, 24×18 inches, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.

I enjoyed the simple yet luscious sensuality of this piece. It looked a little like slumped glass, thick and heavy yet floating slightly away from the wall. There’s no way Royal Blue Drip is the right title for this piece. I’m guessing Royal Blue Drip sold and was taken down and replaced by this similar green piece (probably called Kelly Green Drip or somesuch) and no one bothered to fix the wall label.

Kim MacConnel, enamel on board, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.

I could just sit and stare at these all day. Love!

Continuing my stroll through the show, here are some more pieces that caught my eye:

Zoi Gaitanidou, textile work, shown by David Castillo Gallery, Miami, Florida.

Unknown artist, shown by Altman Siegel, San Francisco, California.

 Sérgio Sister, Caixa series, 15x10x3 inches each, shown by Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York. Not dissimilar to the previous artist, eh?

Andrew Schoultz, Melting Gold Flag (Made in China), 2011, gold leaf, acrylic, and molten gold fluid on stretched American flag, 30×54 inches, shown by Jerome Zodo Contemporary, Milan. Sold, but no price shown.

Marco Maggi, cut paper in slide mounts, 2×2 inches each, shown by Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York. These utterly fascinated me. The intricate precision of each tiny cut had to be seen to be believed. He must use a very sharp surgical scalpel to make these. Click on the photo for a bigger version.

More by Marco Maggi. Because they’re so amazing!

Frances Richardson, 010611, colored pencil on paper, detail. Shown by Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles. Full view below:

Frances Richardson, 010611, 2011, colored pencil on paper, 19×26 inches.

Mike Pratt, Redred, 2011, oil, enamel and resin on canvas, 83×55 inches, shown by Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK.

Georgi Tushev, Strange Attractor series, oil painting with embedded iron filings, shown by Fitzroy Gallery, New York. You can see more photos of this series here. I was fascinated by the dimensionality this artist achieved with such simple materials. He apparently uses a powerful magnet to draw the wet paint up into these spiky, mounded shapes, which retain their shape as the paint dries.

The prize for most colorful wall at the show goes to the same gallery, Fitzroy Gallery of New York, for the outside of their booth:

And the prize for the biggest paintings of… nothing in particular, but in REALLY bright colors and cheerful, goofy shapes goes to Ed Moses shown by ACE Gallery, Los Angeles:

Ed Moses is turning 86 this year, and still paints every day. A good example for us all, I think.

You may have noticed that none of the art had prices. There were no price tags at this show. Apparently being cutting edge means avoiding all trappings of commerce. We’ll have none of that filthy capitalism here, we’re above all that!

Never mind the foolishness, it was a fun show. Totally worth the $6 Groupon admission price. Thank you Groupon!

The Los Angeles Affordable Art Fair 2012

The year 2012 brought a brand-new art fair to the city of Los Angeles: the Affordable Art Fair.

“Affordable” is defined here as $10,000 or less for each work of art. If you were paying attention to the prices at the LA Art Show and the LA Fine Art Show, you’ll realize that restricting an entire show to works under $10,000 is a rather novel concept in art fairs. (Mind you, the kinds of shows I exhibit in are typically way below this price range.)

The Affordable Art Fair is already a big hit in New York and a couple other places. I hope it becomes a regular show here; Los Angeles could use a few more art fairs, especially fun ones like this.

To get to the Affordable Art Fair, all I had to do was walk out of the Convention Center (where the LA Art Shows were held) and cross one street:

…and then climb a bunch of rickety stairs to get to the rooftop deck of LA Live, where a ginormous tent was pitched:

It hardly felt like a tent inside. Sturdy walls, bright lights and carpeting made it very welcoming:

Some of the booths I liked best were right by the entrance, so we’ll start there:

The first booth was the Conrad Wilde Gallery from Tucson, Arizona. I loved just about everything they had on display, including this gnarly wall sculpture (visible in the photo above):

Jessica Drenk, “Cerebral Mapping,” 2012, books, wax and glue, 100×42 inches, $10,000. Conrad Wilde Gallery. It says it’s made from “books” but it looks more like “strips of pages from books” to me. Quibbling, I suppose. More work from the same booth:

Robert Moya, “Untitled 2,” “Untitled 6,” and “Untitled 3,” glue on panel, 14×14 to 24×24 inches, $950 – $1800. Conrad Wilde Gallery.

Joanne Mattera, “Silk Road 125,” 2009, encaustic on panel, 12×12 inches, $2400 (between “Silk Road 120″ and “73″ above and below). Conrad Wilde Gallery. This is an artist I highly regard; I read her art blog religiously and have heard her speak publicly before. I even have a signed copy of her book about encaustic painting, a medium I greatly enjoy looking at and hope to someday learn.

Pieces by Jessica Drenk (left), John Dempcy (center: “Vent Life,” 2010, acrylic on panel, 36×36 inches, $3200), and an artist (right) whose name I failed to note, sorry. Conrad Wilde Gallery.

Miles Conrad, “Bioslice Pink,” “Bioslice Green,” and “Bioslice Orange,” 2006, encaustic on panel, 10x10x3 inches, $600 each. Conrad Wilde Gallery.

Clearly if I ever find myself in Tucson I need to visit the Conrad Wilde Gallery! I just loved their display.

Moving on, we suddenly find ourselves in the Australian outback:

The Cicada Aboriginal Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.

OK, the gallery itself is located in staid Brisbane, but the artwork is produced by Aboriginal Australians (the native peoples) many of whom live in the outback. I find their traditional art inspirational and exciting to look at, so this booth was a real treat for me. Here are a few highlights:

Judy Martin, “Ngayuku Ngura (My Country),” acrylic on linen, 48×24 inches, $2500. Cicada Gallery.

A selection of works from the Cicada Gallery. Upper left: Yinarupa Nangala, “Mukula Rockhole,” 18×15 inches, $1950. Upper right: Matthew West Tjupurrula, “Ngarru,” 18×15 inches, $1700. Middle left: Maisie Campbell, “My Mother’s Country,” 18×15 inches, $990. Middle right: Wintjiya Napaltjarri, “Pinari Rockhole,” 18×15 inches, $1850. Bottom: Charlie Tjapangati, “Pirrinya,” 12×24 inches, $1600. All paintings acrylic on linen.

Left: Wintjiya Napaltjarri, “Pinari Rockhole,” $1950. Middle: Charlie Tjapangati, “Pirrinya,” $1440. Right: Kayi Kayi Nampitjinpa, “Ngaminya Rockhole,” $1850. All: acrylic on linen, 34×11 inches, from Cicada Gallery.

Returning to the U.S. we pay a quick call on Artspace Warehouse, a European gallery with a relatively new storefront in Los Angeles. The gallery’s focus is affordable art, dovetailing nicely with the theme of the Affordable Art Fair. My friend Barbara Kolo‘s works, the two blue paintings in the center of the photo below, were featured in the booth alongside works by several other artists. At least one of Barbara’s pieces sold at the fair, which makes sense because her work is lovely (and she uses dots, which I think is fabulous!). Congratulations to Barbara, Artspace Warehouse, and the lucky buyer!

Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, California.

Meandering further through the fair, I enjoyed this visual feast from the Accola Griefen Gallery from New York, a painting hung on a custom-painted wall:

Here are a few more pieces that caught my eye as I wandered hither and yon:

Peter Arvidson, “Village Greens,” oil on canvas, 36×36 inches(?), $4000. Offered by Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Mauro Soares, “Vincent,” acrylic, 42×42 inches, $10,000. Offered by Ward-Nasse Gallery, New York. I’ve seen his work before, at the Los Angeles Art Show in 2010. I still love his technique but wish he’d find more interesting subject matter to cover. But his skill is undeniable.

Teresa Stanley, 3 pieces, acrylic & resin on panel. Largest piece: “Road Map No. 2,” 42×42 inches, $4900. Offered by Anelle Gandelman Fine Art, Larchmont, New York.

Works by Anat Shiftan & Andrea Bonfils shown by Anelle Gandelman Fine Art. Left: Anat Shiftan, one “Bronze” and 8 “Celadon” pieces, all porcelain, 8×8 inches, $500 each. Right: works by Andrea Bonfils, “Momentum,” 2 panels above (crow in tree branches), each panel 40×20 inches, $4800 for the pair, and “Colored Woods” below, 30×40 inches, $4200, all oil and encaustic on panel. Yeah, I have a thing for encaustic.

At the back of the tent were tables and chairs which I gratefully made use of (and the obligatory Wolfgang Puck cafe, which I studiously ignored).

While resting, I noticed a display of, well, something strange and interesting. I needed to see what it was. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be uber-geeky “maker” stuff, a DIY 3-d plotter called “The Replicator” by MakerBot. They had several of the things set up, whirring away, making 3-d stuff out of molded plastic… very very slowly.

The upper box is the “Replicator,” which you can buy for under $2000. (The lower box is just a display case.) Considering the technology involved, I’m impressed it’s so cheap. Remember when 3D prototyping was cutting edge technology? Now it’s something almost anyone can have at home. Amazing.

Here’s a closer view:

You feed a spool of plastic (it looks like the stuff that goes in a weedwhacker, and comes in various colors) in the back; it gets heated and extruded through a nozzle, kind of like a glue-gun. The nozzle is on an x-y plotter, and moves back and forth quite quickly. The platform it builds the model on moves slowly in the z direction, giving you the ability to create 3-dimensional plastic parts…slowly.

I watched for several minutes. While I could see the nozzle moving back and forth, I couldn’t discern any growth in the model bust. I guess it takes hours.

The hard part is generating patterns for the 3d objects. MakerBot has a huge library of objects you can make, but I’d think the most interesting (and hardest) part would be creating new parts that no one else has ever made.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Affordable Art Fair’s Los Angeles debut, and fervently hope it’ll be back in future years. I think this is just what Los Angeles needs: an easy, comfortable, entry-level art fair where buyers can shop without busting their budgets. I appreciated all the thoughtful touches the organizers put into it. Lots of comfy seating throughout the fair, a reasonable size and layout, a very useful printed guide, extended hours, and (great for cheap folks like me) a special “free entry” time. Thank you for that!

If it comes back, I’ll definitely be back.

Next up: Art LA Contemporary.