San Diego Sketchcrawl!

Today we had record attendance for our san diego sketchcrawl--24 people! We gathered in Helen's beautiful backyard garden in Vista. Lori took this photo.

Helen's garden

Very Giverny-like! And the weather was perfect.

sketchers at today's sketchcrawl

Art Quilt inspiration

I had the lovely experience of curating an online exhibition at Studio Art Quilts Associates online. Check it out.

Excerpts from the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts

Here's what Dana Gioia has to say, excerpted from his commencement speech, as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, at Stanford University:

"We need to create a new national consensus. The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society. "

"Art is an irreplaceable way of understanding and expressing the world—equal to but distinct from scientific and conceptual methods. Art addresses us in the fullness of our being—simultaneously speaking to our intellect, emotions, intuition, imagination, memory, and physical senses. There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories, or songs, or images. "

Makes me feel good about teaching art to kids...and sad that there's not more art instruction in schools.

Read the whole speech here.

susie's quick sketch of me.

Susan Avery Clark did this watercolor sketch of me when we were in Idyllwild recently.

Susie's Oaxacan wood carving.

fruit stickers

You know why I do this, don't you? (Aside from entertaining myself while I watch TV.) Here

BeBop

Could BeBop BE any cuter?!

Finished!!

It's located in SE San Diego at 45th and Imperial Ave.

side two

It ended up looking more like 'Finding Nemo undersea adventure' than pomegranates, from this view, but oh well......

side three

The painting was a challenge. I painted for 7 hours on Saturday, and luckily the weather was cool and slightly overcast--Thank goodness. The paint is enamel sign paint and mixes well in the can, but it's hard to blend colors on the surface. It drips, when you're not looking and dries quickly. I'm doing two more small utility boxes in August, and I'll be more experienced for those.

Husb does a very good deed.

While I was painting the utility box, Husb picked up the trash in the area next to me. It's a major bus stop on Imperial Ave, but has no trash can! He's a good man.

Speaking of good deeds, go here and order a 'big fat love' t-shirt or rock. A local guy (Encinitas) started the small company to help pay his medical bills--he has Lou Gerig's Disease.

Utility Box painting in SE San Diego

The all-day project begins. Look how fresh I look. That's because it's 8:30am and I've just begun. This is the corner of Imperial Avenue and 45th, in SE San Diego.

Messy work.

More than half-way finished...

A youthful advisor stopped by mid-afternoon.

I'll post the final photos on Monday, when I go back to finish it. For now, I'll take Advil and rest! I'm pooped!

pinecones and roses

Idyllwild and San Diego.

more from the weekend workshop

My book in progress at Traci's workshop last weekend. I'll post the finished book soon.
Be sure and check out Traci's blog--she mentions our workshop and there's a pic of me at work, and of my Pom series!

Pomegranates!

Some of the pomegranate-themed collages I created in Traci Bautista's workshop over the weekend. Red is my favorite color to wear, but I usually don't make art in red---I sure had fun with my Pom series!