Purisima Creek Redwoods Hike
Posted on | September 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Purisima Creek Redwoods Hike
Photography is new to me, and I’m having fun with it and learning along the way …
This weekend, Marc and I had time to try out the new lens and tripod I bought last weekend. First lens outing was a hike on Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve on Sunday. It was gorgeous, and I got some good shots. The lens is a (zoomy!) Tamron 18-270mm AF VC, and I’m happier with these photos than the ones I took with the rented (also zoomy!) Nikon 18-200 AF-S VR a couple of months ago.
Here are a few photos from the hike.
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- Thistle
WTF.ORG?
Posted on | September 7, 2009 | Comments Off on WTF.ORG?
So the “Not So Sparkly” blog entry from Friday, the one where I vowed to write more about everything, including the eponymous not-so-sparkly-stuff, and explained how bummed I was about the Art in Storefronts project … all that … GONE!
I didn’t delete the post, but it is gone. Gone, gone, gone! Where did it go? As of writing this, the link is still on my Facebook fan page, along with an excerpt of the now DISAPPEARED post.
WTF? Or, more accurately, WTF.ORG? As in, I am way more outraged than the usual WTF, which could indicate mild annoyance, irritation or confusion, depending on my tone.
I realize this is most likely the result of some kind of glitchy computer weirdness, but I remember the admonition, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” Also, are there gappers for blogs, like there were for goats in Frip? And if there are, why did they love my words to death?
(Marc is on the case … apparently the fact my website was down last hints at the reason why data in my blog was lost … stay tuned for a strongly worded memo, oh-keepers-of-my-website-data.)
Give It Away Now!
Posted on | August 28, 2009 | Comments Off on Give It Away Now!
Today I met Charles, winner of the framed print of “Strum” from my random drawing following the Tiburon Art Festival.
We met at his office at Prepress, Inc., in San Francisco (SOMA). Prepress is awesome. In fact, all day, I haven’t stopped talking about how cool the place is. Charles gave me a tour (I love tours) and I got to see all kinds of equipment–lights, computers, drum scanners, offset printing equipment, an industrial-looking sewing machine (for certain binding jobs), a digital photography studio, and all sorts of other things. He also showed me books and catalogs they have printed, as well as books and other work in production. Art books, memoirs, novels, catalogs, all with amazing color. I kind of want to camp out at Prepress sometime and watch everyone work and see the machines in action. I bet they’d think that was really weird, but I think it would be fascinating.
After the tour, Charles took me over to a new coffee place on 7th St. near Folsom called Sightglass. The cafe section is still under construction, but they’re serving coffee next door. Go there. Charles thinks they have the best cappuccino this side of Rome. It was delicious. I think I will stopping there regularly from now on …
Thank You Notes
Posted on | August 25, 2009 | Comments Off on Thank You Notes
I went to write thank you notes to the people who bought my paintings this weekend, but my tasteful taupe cards suddenly looked WAY too boring. So I decided to make each note more interesting by doing a little work on the back.
(Thank you ... No, thank YOU!
The View From Booth 23
Posted on | August 25, 2009 | Comments Off on The View From Booth 23
What a weekend! I think I’m still processing a lot of what went on and what I learned. Overall, it was an incredible experience. It was really exciting to have so much of my work on display, and so many supportive friends came to see what I had been working on. All those friendly faces made a huge difference for me.
As you know, Marc and I were up bright and early on Saturday, loading the car and getting ready to go. So we packed everything up, motored across the bridge, and started setting up the tent around 8:30. We papered the peg boards so they looked cleaner and started putting in pegs. We felt pretty smart to have laid-out the panels for the tent the night before. Marc’s additional idea to take photos of the lay-out so we could review them in the camera reproduce them in the tent was right on. Once we had gotten to hanging paintings on the the fourth of six panels, though, it became obvious that I HAD FORGOTTEN FOUR PAINTINGS AT HOME. They were still on the floor, laid-out. Crap. Marc’s first response was to offer to drive home and get them. That was the perfect first response, by the way. But we decided the better course of action was to spread the remaining paintings out on the fifth and six panels and revisit the arrangement on Sunday.
I was very nervous for the festival to open. I didn’t need to be. One woman came within the first hour and bought two of my paintings. One big idea I have started to understand thanks to this weekend is that even though my style is still evolving, it is definitely a good thing for me to be out in the world and showing my work. I don’t have to be more “together” or accomplished than I am. There are people who like my paintings today. (What a concept!)
Some artists at the festival were rookies like me, and the seasoned participants were (for the most part) an incredible source of information. They offered suggestions on how to arrange the booth (like where to place the table, for example) and how to interact with the people who came by. And even the grumpy and abrasive artist who seemed to be doing everything possible to rattle my cage liked my idea for the drawing for the print.
All that said, I had light envy pretty much the whole weekend. Ark Row in Tiburon is pretty shady, and the tops of the tents kept sunlight out. And after I heard on Thursday evening how people had bought last minute lights for the 2008 festival, I was convinced that if I had lights in my tent, my foot traffic would have been better. I think that’s just the perfectionist talking, though, and it is probably not a fair assumption. More than half of us didn’t have lights. But if I do this again, I think I would like to use lights because, at a minimum, they would make me feel like the tent was warmer and more inviting.
On Sunday, we got to the tent a little bit later than we had on Saturday because most of the time-consuming work had already been done. We (intentionally) left home one huge painting and brought the Forgotten Four as well as my four panels that comprise the piece called “SF 2008.” That piece proved to be a great conversation starter. It turns out that collecting a year’s worth of Muni Fast Passes is more common than I would have thought. Plenty of people told me they kept theirs even though didn’t know what to do with them, and they loved the piece.
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- Me in the Tent
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- Hour 1. Look closely …
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- Hour 2. What’s missing?! (Yay!)
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- Most of one side wall
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- Flowers!
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- Beats & Strum
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- Sparse? Nah …
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- Sparkle!
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- Step right up! Enter the drawing!
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- New & Improved Sunday Tent!
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- YAY!
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- Yes, those are still sold!
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- Hello again.
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- Yes, that’s me. Wearing a scarf in AUGUST.
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- With SF 2008
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- Still sparkly!
I sold four more pieces on Sunday, all of them to friends. I have wonderful friends. And I am very fortunate that we have similar taste in art.
Like I said, I’m still processing some of this, but here are the lessons I’ve learned so far:
- Make and use a checklist for EVERYTHING
- Invite friends
- Be flexible
- Be open to suggestions
- Remember that cheerful confidence helps keep would-be cage rattlers at bay
(So? How did it go?)
Posted on | August 23, 2009 | 2 Comments
Six paintings sold! I am absolutely thrilled. Hooray Tiburon Art Festival!
The website will be updated soon to show that the following paintings are now in private collections: Handbag, Earrings, Golddigger, Mossy Mind, Party Dress, and Take-Out. I am really pleased to send my art into the world, and into such wonderful homes.
I’ll add a longer and more complete blog entry about my experience in the next couple of days. But right now, I’m off to enjoy a fabulous Barolo from the wine shop, Prima Palate, that was my neighbor-across-the-street for the last two days. Cheers!
Ready To Go
Posted on | August 22, 2009 | Comments Off on Ready To Go
Well, the paintings are all packed up and ready to go to Tiburon.
Last night, we laid-out what we think will look good on the panels of the tent. And then I took a picture. And then we bundled them into the boxes. Here are most of them:
Yesterday, because I’m like that, I called the company that gave me my merchant account to make sure everything was in place for this weekend. It was.
I continue to be confident that I’ve forgotten something. But I have absolutely no idea what that could be. I hope it doesn’t thunderstorm, and I hope a lot of people come to the festival. I hope everyone’s nice and that I don’t need to go buy lights for inside the tent … (Nervous much?)
Artist Party!
Posted on | August 21, 2009 | 1 Comment
Last night was the Tiburon Art Festival artist party. It was fun to see some of the faces behind the artwork I’ve seen on-line. And the wine and snacks were delicious.
I can’t believe the festival is tomorrow. I need to make a list of all the things I have left to do today to get ready … make signs, go to bank, find a fishbowl …
(The fishbowl isn’t for fish. It’s for collecting cards for the drawing to win a free print. I may just go with a regular bowl.)
Off I go to accomplish things now. Wish me luck!
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- Festival Sponsors
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- Fellow Artists
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- Artists and Plus-Ones Snacking
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- Nice spot for a party!
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- Chatting about artistic things, no doubt.
New Threads, Courtesy of Anne Bocci
Posted on | August 19, 2009 | Comments Off on New Threads, Courtesy of Anne Bocci
Last year, I bought a dress I love by Suzabelle. The dress fits perfectly, and it’s just my style. I was pining for another dress by the same designer last week, and after a little bit of searching around on-line, I found Anne Bocci Boutique and Gallery in Portland, where the dress and other irresistible-to-me items were on sale for 50% off.
I contacted the owner, Anne, and over the phone, we figured out sizes, and she shipped everything to me. The box arrived today. I love everything. Anne even included a lovely note in the box, wishing me all the best with my new pieces.
I think I have found my new favorite shop.
Here are two pictures (please excuse the camera in front of my face):
Suzabelle Mont Royal Jacket and Sutton Pencil Skirt:
Suzabelle Adelaine Gingham Dress
That Watch Needed Numerals
Posted on | August 19, 2009 | Comments Off on That Watch Needed Numerals
I have been considering adding some numerals to this painting for awhile. I finally got around to it tonight. Here is an early photo:
Ahhh. Much better.
