Palos Verdes

Malaga Cove
12"x16" Oil on linen panel


This painting was done on a cliff over looking the Pacific Ocean. Jerry and I drove down to Palos Verdes on Sunday. In the attempt to get set up and be done before noon, I scouted out a spot, said, "Let's do it...", and Jerry went on his bike ride while I worked. I love the ocean and plan to paint there more often.

Each step upward makes me feel stronger and fit for the next step.
Mohandas K. Gandhi

Open Studio and Group Exhibition

Artists Open Studio
The ARTS Commission, Sierra Madre
Sunday, June 3, 2007
1:00-5:00 p.m.
Pigment @ Koop Studio
$10/person, map and shuttle available
Tickets available at the Community Recreation Center,
Creative Arts Group and Leonora Moss
For more info:
626.355.5278
city@ci.sierra-madre.ca.us


82nd Annual Artist's Juried Exhibition
Pasadena Society of Artists
June 6 - 23rd
Artist's reception June 17th, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
Viva Gallery
13261 Moorpark Street
Sherman Oaks, CA
818.385.0080

Second Goal Met

Pasadena's Bridge 8x10" oil on panel























Eaton's Meadow 12x16" oil on linen



Treasures 16.5x24" Charcoal on Rives paper

I set myself a few personal goals this year. The first being my website. It was to be online by the first of the year, and I met that goal the second week of 2007.
My next goal was to show my work. I have done this twice already. Not sure why that didn't count as having reached my goal.

Today I had the opportunity to enter my work into a juried show here in Pasadena. These three works were accepted into the Pasadena Society of Artists, Annual Juried Show, in June. My first ever entry into a juried exhibition. I am delighted to have this opportunity to show my work. Perhaps the fact that this is a juried show, I know no one, and they don't know me. My work made it in on its own merit. That matters.
I need to go back in my posts to find out what other goals I am reaching for.


I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
-Thomas Jefferson

La Casitas del Arroyo

La Casitas del Arroyo
19 x 26" pastel on Canson

I have passed this many times without bothering to really look. Today my art friends decided to meet here. After chatting about an upcoming show we are working towards, we found our spots and enjoyed the views. From the Old Pasadena bridge, to the butterfly garden, all the way across the Arroyo, to a SoCA vineyard in someones backyard.
It is definitely summer here in the south of Cali-for-ni-a. My pick was a seat on a cool rock (yea right... my tush went numb after 2 hrs), and I found the light beautiful on the facade of La Casitas del Arroyo. My goal was to create depth without drawing detail, and I think I achieved that.

What? Are there no artists in the U.S.?

This really caught my attention today, and I am downright livid about it.
We have a National Mall and Memorial Park in Washington D.C.
I have visited it many times, since I have family in that part of the world. In fact my last trip was to Washington D.C. The Monuments are amazing and at times quite emotional.
So today I hear that they are placing a new monument there. I am excited because the famous quotes always makes one take a deep breath and consider under what situation it was inspired from. Yet, as the information was being ingrained into my brain cells at 5:30 A.M., the hair on my back started to rise...

A Tribute to Martin Luther King... designed by who else... someone from China.

Because really, what could be more Chinese than Martin Luther King and the American black civil rights movement? So Chinese. And not only will the sculptor be Chinese, but the stone as well. China's all over this one. On Thursday, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts chose China's "national treasure" Master Lei Yixin to create the 28-foot likeness of Dr. Martin Luther King, to stand at the new D.C. memorial dedicated to the civil rights leader. Contrary to my initial assumption people in China couldn't give a rat's ass about Martin Luther King, Lei told the AP, "Martin Luther King is well known all around the world. In China, everyone knows about him." I did a little research of my own, asked a few Chinese people. They all know the speech, nobody quite understands its message. The sculpture will be carved from a light beige variety of granite stone found in China's Fujian province, according to the AP, and the project itself, expected to last a year, will take place in D.C. ..... the statue is going to be of King with his arms crossed. Facing the Jefferson Memorial, to be exact. There will be 14 quotations of Dr. King adorning the statue. Lei, who has carved a famous likeness of Mao Zedong said of the project, "When I was assigned to the task, I felt tremendous pressure and responsibility. This is the most important project I have ever had." While Lei Yixin is obviously a very accomplished artist, I can't help but think it is a little strange to have a Chinese sculptor carving the first D.C. memorial dedicated to a black American. I mean first, it would be nice to have an American do it. And second, it would be a bit more meaningful if an African-American sculptor was chosen to carve King. Of all the things to outsource to China?
From Flumesday

Can you understand why I am a bit steamed under my collar? I could name a few incredible artists that would have been quite proud to put their name on this monument. I don't know about you, but I am thinking that a few letters, to a few prominent people, might just let our feelings be known. If it hadn't of been for a brief comment on the Laura Ingraham show this morning I would never have even know about this. I seem to know more about the problems Paris Hilton has, and a few other simple minded situations our society seems to be obsessed with. I suggest that you take a moment to consider the absurdity of this choice.

Contact:

Rica Orszag
Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr.
National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
202-253-8974
rorszag@mlkmemorial.org

Update two

Precious... I think not.

"It isn't delicate, nor precious. If it needs to be changed, scrub it out and start over. If an object needs to be moved, do it. Know that you are in for a long journey, and adjust when necessary. Look at the big picture not just the details"
Michael Newberry

So I study my thumbnail and paint freely. Crispness can happen later. For now I am searching for depth and the light. By shifting the tones, naturally detailing in the process.

Update

I see clearer now with more understanding.
Michael's guidance is invaluable and something that I hold very precious.




I light my candle from their torches.
Robert Burton

He who would do some great thing in this short life, must apply himself to the work with such a concentration of his forces as to the idle spectators, who live only to amuse themselves, looks like insanity.
John Foster

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
Confucius

If we all did the things we are capable of,
we would astound ourselves.
Thomas Edison