dearest bobby

click to see image large

the letter came from a large batch I bought at a flea market.
It always makes me a little sad, a life ending up in a bin, photographs torn out of albums.
I do really enjoy reading them, trying to glean a story (bobby had gone to what I presume was a summer camp, and had LOTS of letters from different girls.)

I love the use of the "H" for the perky "Hello There!", the plaintive nature of the question, and the eccentric and arbitrary use of the comma.

"Hello There!"
Dearest Bobby...
have your feelings, toward me, changed yet?
You know darn well bobby that our likings are equal

I love that last line..

bosphorus

click image to see large

click image to see large

this is a collaboration between myself and gary amaro.

the name derives from the bosphorus, the straits that divides istanbul, and east from west.
the origins of the name, bosphorus, derives from classical mythology. Io, one of Zeus’ lovers, was disguised by him as a white heifer to avoid the attentions of his wife, Hera. Hera wasn't fooled by this ploy, and sent a gadfly to pursue the little white cow, who was forced to swim the strait to escape.
from the greek ‘the cow’s ford’ (like "oxford").

the lapwing flies

image taken from...

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com

sigh.
i'm having extreme seller's remorse...
this is one of the pieces that will be at the sfmoma artist's gallery big hoo-haw warehouse sale. The title comes from a fragment of text on the page "the lapwing flies". when I titled it, I wasn't sure exactly what a lapwing was. I imagined those lacy winged mayflies that hover over quiet water.
(I usually don't read the text while I'm painting, not until afterwards.)

I painted this last week - researching today, I discovered a lapwing is actually a bird, and, much to my delight, there is a type of lapwing that has markings much like the painting.

the poem, the deserted village is by oliver goldsmith
(the book I used was a beautiful discarded rag-paper replica from the 1920's- I would never destroy an actual book in good condition). this book had never actually been read..the pages were still uncut.

looking up oliver goldsmith right now,
I found that he was..
"a likeable but disorganised character who once failed to emigrate to America because he missed the ferry".
also, that the term "goody two shoes" derives from a children's story he wrote.
(sometimes, it's delightful to let oneself be tugged through one rabbit hole after another on the internet)

...."No more thy glassy brook reflects the day,

But, choked with sedges, works its weedy way;

Along thy glades, a solitary guest,

The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest;

Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies,

And tires their echoes with unvaried cries."...

pond, newt eggs

click to see large

when I started this painting, I was thinking of allium - the beautiful pale spherical flowers of onions and garlic.
but as I worked on it, it transformed into a pond.
earlier this spring, I was in the berkeley arboretum.
in the japanese section, there is a beautiful pond.
look closely, you'll see bevies of newts, and clusters of their gelatinous egg masses. (hint, wear polarized sunglasses).
newts go through an astonishing metamorphosis.
(btw, what is the difference between a newt and a salamander? hmmm.)

botanical garden

SFMOMA's annual artists warehouse sale

click to see large

phew! I've been a real laggard about updating my blog, I'll try and catch up.

I've been doing alot of landscape painting, and recently, I've been on a collage frenzy, getting ready for the annual san francisco
museum of modern art artist gallery warehouse sale. It's a big huge event, with all work %50 percent off of the gallery price. Last year
was the first year that I actually went to the event...wow!
It's kind of a exuberant art piranha feed, tables and tables and TABLES of art.


sfmoma annual artists warehouse sale

my studio at the moment...