Pentimento

Reception tomorrow in Solvang

2012-02-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you Newspress!

Original / Multiple

Following the Red Thread

February 4 through April 7, 2012

Reception Febraury 4 from 4-6pm

Elverhoj Museum

1624 Elverhoy Way, Solvang CA

ph: 805 686 1211

Business matters

2012-01-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

A great business article from the NY Times gave me some thoughts about the new start up business... Two Dog STAMPede. More design work and carving is in my future, but what about the marketing, promotion, planning, inspiration of it all?

Also in the schedule is preparation for the delivery and installation of the Limited Edition collection at the Elverhoj Museum in Solvang next week. Tuesday will be the beginning of installing a show that will showcase the 13 prints from the Limited Edition Project artists, as well as supplementary/complimentary pieces that will both educate and inform the editions printed.

The opening reception will be Saturday, February 4th from 3-6pm. There will also be a panel discussion with several of the artists on March 4th and a practical printing demonstration on March 24th.

More information will be forthcoming.

Good start to the new year

2012-01-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

The first painting finished in 2012 is a commission headed back East. It's a modification of a painting from 2009 titled Winter Surf. It will now get boxed tenderly and await it's journey to New York.

on and on

2012-01-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

Great news! for those who have yet to see the exhibit at Sullivan Goss. The February schedule had an opening which needed filling. Through the generosity of the gallery Islands Valleys Home will remain on the wall one more month.

Valley Twilight 24 x 48" oil on birch panel

The paintings have been rehung and the exhibition reconfigured, everything looks brand new and a fresh perspective on the remaining works. You can see the show through February 26th.

Much thanks and gratitude to Sullivan Goss.

Gallery at 11 East Anapamu at State Street. 805 730 1460

Celebrate art

2012-01-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

in the new year. First Thursday events tonight at Sullivan Goss. The 100 Grand Show is still up and full of gems to take home. Islands Valleys Home is up for one more month and tonight is the final reception.

AND there is a new artist to see in the gallery Leon Dabo, drawings on view starting tonight.

Hope to see you tonight!

Sullivan Goss

11 East Anapamu

Receptions from 5-8pm

From us to you.

2011-12-29T15:34:00.000-08:00

Have yourself a merry happy new year. Thank you for your love, support, kindness and generosity throughout the year{s}. I wouldn't be where I am, or who I am, without you and you all know who I'm talking about.

Blessings and light in 2012.

Islands Valleys Home

2011-12-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

Thank you Joe Woodard! A lovely review of Islands Valleys Home still on view through the end of January with one more reception, First Thursday in the new year!

Happy merry holy days to you and yours.

Thank you Westmont Auction!

2011-12-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

Recently the new Museum at the Westmont College campus held a great fundraising event called 5X5. It was a super idea which included over 400 artists producing images five by five inches. And let me say, five by five of superb, delicious, irresistible pieces.

It was a chance to donate, participate, advocate, and celebrate a new building, a new art center AND best of all! take home a one of kind something from your choice of over 500 small images. A spectacular idea to auction off really wonderful works to support a new venue for celebrating art in our community.

Me? I took home four lovelies for my very own.

Money by James Elston {Gouache, Acrylic & Colored Pencil}

Untitled by Lloyd Dangle {Ink on Paper}

Behind the Shadow by Luigia Martelloni {Mixed Media}

Wonderland by Barb Parmet {Digital Print}

Show Update

2011-11-27T10:49:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe another month is almost gone and only one month left of 2011.

Islands Valleys Home has been on the walls at Sullivan Goss for 24 days, just a few short weeks. The opening was wonderfully packed, full of friends and family, clients and artists. I feel blessed by the turn out and ever grateful for all the support.

The show will be up through the holidays and on until the end of January. There is plenty of time to enjoy the island images, the local foothill grasses and the ever changing skyscapes.

Don't forget! this Thursday, December 1st is the second of three receptions for the exhibit. I will be there with my babies and a new piece that will hang with the 100 GRAND exhibit in the front room.

Here are a few shots from the gallery to entice you to come see the paintings in person.

Big grid of 12x12" gems of the coast

Hope to see you Thursday evening 5-8 pm

Sulllivan Goss

11 East Anapamu Santa Barbara

Island Dreaming ...

2011-11-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow

2011-11-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

is the day ... the show is hung and dressed. The gallery doors are open for those wanting to preview and the party is tomorrow night. Hope to see you there..... xo

Islands Valleys Home

showing at Sullivan Goss

Reception: 5-8 pm November 3rd

11 East Anapamu

Santa Barbara

805 730 1460

Island Encounters at the Wildling Museum

2011-10-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

The show at the Wildling Museum in Los Olivos features a multitude of images of our local Channel Islands. Show runs through the end of the year.

The sun is shining...

2011-10-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

despite the dense layer of fog. The paintings are finished, cataloged in the database, signed, dated, and checked over twice. There are yet more details to be fussed over but breathing is easier. I long to clean my studio once the piles of wood are moved to the gallery next week, dust off the printing press and maybe draw for a while.

The show will host 65 painting, 40 of the much coveted 12x12" size and 25 medium to large pieces. It will be hard to say goodbye to living in and amongst the islands day in and day out. But, I'm already dreaming of what might come next!

November is nearly here

2011-10-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Time is flying and the delivery date is but a mere 7 days away. Putting on the finishing touches to the last paintings. Looking forward to seeing them all in the pristine gallery space.

Preview days will be Tuesday and Wednesday, the first and second of November. Come by the gallery for the first look at the show. I guarantee there will be a lot to see.

Two weeks from today

2011-10-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

Worktable Wednesday

2011-10-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Islands Valleys Home

coming soon to a gallery near you, Santa Barbara

Classic Santa Barbara

2011-10-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here in October,

sweet 80 degrees and not a breeze anywhere to be found.

At Press

2011-10-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

Show Prep

2011-10-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Slowly and surely working toward the delivery of my next show at the end of the month. All hallow's eve is the delivery deadline, just a mere 24 days away. There is finishing to be done on quite a few paintings plus all the publicity and marketing yet to be accomplished. Deep breath.

The show? you ask?

Islands Valleys Home

opening November 3rd, 2011 from 5-8pm

during Santa Barbara's First Thursday event.

Location: Sullivan Goss, 11 East Anapamu.

More information to come! Back to the easel and breathing.

Thank you Sundance

2011-09-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

New to the website:

New Year Sky 01 18x40" ©2011

Recently placed

Refuge 01 24x16"

Sunday Distraction

2011-09-11T16:37:00.001-07:00

From Indian Summer to Fall in 24 hours

2011-09-10T11:46:00.001-07:00

Just 7 weeks left to work on paintings for my November show in Santa Barbara. Mark your calendars, show opens Thursday, November 3rd. Reception will be from 5-8pm at Sullivan Goss downtown Santa Barbara.

Mountain Dreaming

2011-09-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sketches started while visiting in the pines....

Summer Island Getaway

2011-08-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

Chris Winfield and Fresno Art Museum

2011-08-11T14:52:00.001-07:00

A new show is opening at the Fresno Art Museum
curated by Chris Winfield and Linda Cano. The show
titled California: Landscape of Dreams runs from
August 19th 2011 through January 6 2012.

Gaviota Pier 24x48" Oil on cradled birch panel

Two works of mine from the Winfield Gallery in Carmel will be included. At present I don't know how many artists or works will be included in this show. I'm looking forward to seeing it and finding out. Winfield Gallery has many fabulous landscape painters like David Ligare and Frank Galuszka. I'm honored to be hanging in their company. Thank you Chris.

Morning Estuary 48x24" Oil on cradled birch panel

Eyes and Ears

2011-07-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Books I have currently read, am reading and will read. I seem to be on a binge of reading books about making paintings. Even the crime novel has a painter depicted. Hmmmm.

I would recommend all these books. I particularly loved The Forgery of Venus for the twists and also the description of painting during the time of Velasquez and Rembrandt in the 1600s.

If you want something wonderfully fantastical but steeped in the english language and all about literature I would direct you to the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde, starting with the Eyre Affaire. I won't say more than they are delightful, creative and great reads {the audio, if you're game, is even better I think!}.

Madame Bovary was interesting to read again after many many years. I'm always happy to have been born in this century after reading an historical depiction of a long ago era where women were suppressed. Even reading something of this nature would have been scandalous in the 1800s.

The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

In the studio I'm listening to audio books... I'm so addicted.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

One of our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

What's on your summer reading list?

Worktable Wednesday

2011-07-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Today will be the first day back at the easel. It's been a full summer so far. Stamp commissions, big auction painting and party, summer cold, time in the mountains and clocking many hours at the easel. The show in November will be here in a heart beat, I can feel it already. Now, with most of my obligations behind me, I can focus solely on the show at Sullivan Goss.

There are no pictures from my worktable today... I will be starting on a blank panel to warm up the muscles. But here are some images from the Lotusland Gala last weekend.

The finished painting, Spring Morning in the Japanese Garden, Lotusland 24x48"

Yours truly with the finished, framed painting as you enter the gala.

The painting framed by the fabulous Chris Kirkegaard of Carleton Kirkegaard {a better picture of the frame to follow}. The lovely and talented Susan Bush, on the left, of Sullivan Goss.

Amazing floating bouquets of mums in the aloe garden.

Out to the lawn where 500 guests gathered and mingled. It was a wonderful and beautiful evening in the garden.

Gaviota Peak, Looking South

2011-07-12T16:43:00.001-07:00

From start to install "Gaviota Peak, Looking South". This painting was a commission through the County Arts Commission for the new Emergency Operations Center for the County of Santa Barbara. It is part of the "Percent for Art Program" through the county, a program that insures that any new structures have a budget to be used for public art.

The gals at the county office, Ms. Rita Ferri, Ms. Ginny Brush and Ms. Linda Gardy, make sure that this happens for the artists in our town but also insure that the County of Santa Barbara preserves it's visual heritage within it's own collection. Amazing. I love these women. They work with a board of equally fantastic artists, art teachers, administrators, city and county employees.

Today we got to install this painting into it's new home, with a few others, which will be semi-permanent in the new building. Semi... because it will remain in the collection of the county to be used in other shows if there is a call for it. I'm honored and thrilled to be part of history and art history of this community.

concept/design

second coat of paint

light wash over entire painting

building in the shapes

final glaze of golden yellow

bring it back to contrast and finish

installation day

islands valleys home

2011-07-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

Another promo piece for the upcoming show. There will be 5 in all. Collect one.. collect them all. Bookmark size for all you readers out there.

Super cute on a Tuesday

2011-07-05T13:20:00.001-07:00

A nest of Stellar Jays outside the bedroom door. Adorable.

Worktable Wednesday

2011-06-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I was invited to be the featured artist for this year's Lotusland Celebrates fund raising event. Nervously I accepted, knowing that I would be following some of Santa Barbara's most beloved artists. The parameters for the painting were to create an original work for the auction representing some part of the garden.

For those of you who have never been, the garden is ginormous! Amazing, beautiful, wonderful and numerous specialty gardens within the large estate, 18 if you count the sections on their website! The big question was how to choose the subject.

detail

I have been back and forth to the garden in the afternoon and in the morning. I finally just had to dive into something before my fear took over. I mean, seriously, there isn't any way to fit 26 acres onto one panel. Look at Monet's waterlillies, from only one of his ponds, it was a lifelong pursuit. And so I began and move steadily toward the finish line.

The event at the garden will take place on July 24th. I hear that it is one of THE events of the summer season. Lotusland staff go all out for this party and I'm hoping that the painting will sing next to it's most real and lush counterpart.

detail

Whether or not you attend the event, the garden is a not to be missed, hidden treasure in Santa Barbara. It is well worth the visit and if you're a resident, I highly recommend a membership in order to experience the myriad and varied blooming seasons throughout the year. I have only just tasted what this garden has to offer and find myself plotting my return each time I leave the gate back to reality.

Solo Show 2011, Santa Barbara

2011-06-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

New to Sundance!

2011-06-01T15:30:00.001-07:00

Refuge 02, 12x18" oil on birch panel

The Sundance Catalog has new work posted online and one more still to come! Thanks Sundance!

Santa Cruz Island

2011-05-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

changing from Spring to Summer

Scorpion Harbor

Looking East to Anacapa

Leaving the island....

Thalia Chaltas... book No. 2

2011-05-04T09:01:00.001-07:00

Our dear talented friend, our word loving companion and my sometimes travel buddy has a second YA novel coming out next month. DISPLACEMENT by Thalia Chaltas.

For those of you who don't know what the heck YA means... it means Young Adult which, in my opinion, means tweeners through adult. Remember the Twilight series? I know that most of my grown "teenage" girlfriends still finger their copies and take sides in the Jacob vs. Edward debate.

I had the great pleasure of traveling with Ms. Chaltas to Death Valley to do some research for this book and was thrilled when, at last, I got my grubby hands on it! The book is written in verse which is newish to me as most of my leisure reading is prose, fiction and either fantasy or classics.

I don't want to say a lot other than this was really a terrific read. You get lost in Vera's story immediately and the description of place, both physical and emotional, feel so tangible you can taste it, feel it, know it.

We'll be throwing a "soft" launch party for Thalia in June, once she has a stack of her second novel to place next to the first... another good read by the way. Don't forget to check out her debut novel BECAUSE I AM FURNITURE.

I'm already looking forward to what comes next!

New Print Offering - Libby Smith

2011-04-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

"In Touch" by Libby Smith

Image size 9 3/4" x 7 3/4"
Paper size 22" x 15"
Paper is Rising Stonehenge Warm White
Graphic Chemical Bone Black Ink
Solar intaglio
edition of 25
2011

Available through the SB Arts Collaborative
Find out more about the project and the artists at Limited Edition Project

Garden Love Spring 2011

2011-04-27T13:21:00.001-07:00

Doesn't get much better....

2011-04-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Island Dreaming

2011-04-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

First coats of paint on my new obsession.. our local islands.
Santa Cruz Island, taken from the boat over.

Dreaming of a long spring and summer spent out in our channel and on the islands. This is a sneak peak of my Fall show focus.

Super offerings from Santa Barbara's finest

2011-03-23T09:53:00.001-07:00

Thirteen artists are working in collaboration on a printing project to raise funds for the new organization Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative.

The idea was hatched by fund raising maven Tracey Morris as a means of, not only, raising money for direct-to-artist grants but also as a way to educate a growing audience that anyone can start a grand collection with limited funds.

Here are editioned prints {meaning limited to ONLY 25 of each image offered} at the affordable price of $50 each. They are hand made, hand pulled prints by our local and well loved artists. Half the money goes to the artist for the materials to make the edition, the other half goes to fund grants to help artists in our community stay in our community, realize a dream project or to purchase much needed materials.

The grants include all the arts, not just visual, but dance, theatre, music, literature .... I'm sure to be missing one, but you get the idea. The grants keep our community rich with culture, one reason why we all love it here.

How can this not be a win win for everyone! So far we have 7 prints available with a new print coming out the first of every month. There will be 13 in all, a good baker's dozen. You can get more information on the prints and their creators HERE as well as at the Arts Collaborative website.

Happy collecting! Let's get started!

Blissed

2011-03-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Introducing Ms. Molly Hahn aka Mollycules

2011-03-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Molly extraordinaire, Molly the writer, Molly the illustrator, Molly the designer, Molly the techy gal, Molly the publisher... what does Molly NOT do, I ask you.

I met Molly Hahn through a dear friend Tom Stanley, who spoke of her wit and charm and amazing ability. I was first smitten after seeing her newly self published book All the Things I Can Do. Wow. I was impressed and paying attention. She told me stories of taking that inevitable leap off the cliff into entrepreneurship. I have great admiration for anyone willing to make that blind jump into the unknown.

Molly is currently enrolled in the Women's Economic Ventures Self Employment training to figure out her business and build her muscles so that she will grow to be a thriving artist entreprenuer. While all that growing takes place she also needs to keep everything fluid, rent paid, pets fed, belly full and creative juices flowing. Meaning.... she needs to keep working while her own business buds into the fullness she needs for it to support her.

To know about what she has to offer, you can scan her list of credits:

Graphic Design - business cards, brochures, layout, newsletters, logos
Web Design
Illustration - personal commissions, web graphics
Art/Graphics Production Assistant
Teaching - Illustration/Cartooning Workshops
Data Entry - I can type 90 wpm!

You can see her resume HERE
And know all about her amazing talent by perusing her website HERE

Don't forget to check out her books All the Things I Can Do and Under the Sneep Tree

Santa Cruz Island

2011-02-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been making day excursions out to the local channel islands with a painting buddy {she joined me in January for the outdoor painting workshop}. Holli and I have been masquerading as plein air painters but more so, island loving day trippers. The last trip we were left off at Scorpion Bay where we hiked up the eastern slope to this look out and parked ourselves for most of our stay.

We were warned by the naturalists that the island crows have become extremely crafty and are most curious creatures. They have taught themselves how to unzip backpacks where they know most certainly the hikers will have carried their days rations. We were not expecting to be joined at lunch time by the wee island foxy.

He must have sniffed us out the moment we cracked our lunch pails. He crept up from the side of the cliff where we were seated and proceeded to nose the air for what might be on the menu. He then strolled a few feet down the trail and parked himself in the grass where he could keep a close eye out for falling crumbs.

He sat sunning himself while we ate but crept away into the tall grass when he realized his cuteness was getting him nowhere. It wasn't until we packed to go that he popped back up from his hiding place to circle back around us and check for anything left at our site. Sneaky, crafty little guy.

To know more about these darling little critters {about the size of a large cat} the Nature Conservancy Magazine has just published a wonderful article about the gal who is responsible for helping these wonderful animals return from near extinction, right here in our own backyard. Bravo.

Santa Cruz Island Fox at the Nature Conservancy

Rainy day painting

2011-02-25T15:07:00.001-08:00

First and second coats of paint on a 40x58" panel. Dreaming of the break in the weather and another great low tide.

Snow Day in Santa Barbara

2011-02-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

All the kids got play in the snow yesterday! East Camino Cielo was beautifully draped in white. A super treat for the coastal California kids.

Another stunner

2011-02-16T20:14:00.001-08:00

Winter light is the best! AND tomorrow, one of the lowest tides of the year at 3pm. Check your local tide guide.

Oh the places you will go...

2011-02-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

Too beautiful out to be in

2011-02-12T15:57:00.001-08:00

Team Minnie

2011-02-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

I had the great pleasure of working on my very first officially commissioned pooch stamps. Miss Minnie, loved by all, recently ailing, newly healed, pooch extraordinaire is now immortalized in several flattering versions of herself, ready to be stamped on any and all surfaces!

Minnie, who stole into the hearts of many during a recent illness, is beloved companion to the fantabulous jewelry designer Erin Balint of ERB designs.

I was very excited by the challenge to capture the dear expression of sweet Minnie and after the first go I realized what a challenge it would be. One wrong little flick of the carving tool and Minnie was no longer Minne but rather some other dogness looking back at me. I had to be far more careful when making choices about what to leave and what to remove on the block... tricky when dealing with a 1"x1" piece of rubber!

Yet there she was, all cuteness revealed. I made several attempts so that Erin could choose which was the true Minnie spirit.

Minnie Sit! Minnie Stay! Minnie roll over!

Minnie's many minis.

Thrilled that the Minster is on the mend and back to her frisky self. Team Minnie has many loyal fans, all rooting for a full recovery. Thanks Erin! What a treat for me.

BEAUTY

2011-01-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

Professing and confirming the eternal YES

View from Gaviota Peak Monday January 24th

Inside Outside Upside Down

2011-01-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

I had the great pleasure of working with Marcia Burtt last week. She held a 5 day workshop at the beach and allowed me to come for two days to learn her methods of working in acrylic paint on location.

Now I have been strictly an oil painter and devout studio hermit these last 23 years. Over and over I've tried working outdoors and what I've found is that I paint extremely trivial, conservative, representational compositions when I'm faced with the actual landscape in front of me.

I don't know why that is. My guess. . . that I feel like I need to be true to what I'm looking at, honor the actual scene that stares back at me. I thought perhaps working quickly with a water based medium might help, something that dries too quickly to fuss with and allows me to work later in the studio with oil.

Marcia has a wonderful set up with her acrylics that makes it light and easy to travel. I had a great two days with her. I am still wondering if it is something that will get folded and stitched into my process, but exciting possibilities continue to flower in my mind.

These were three of the unfinished compositions from the time spent at the beach. The colors are brighter, perhaps it's the new medium and perhaps it's being outside. I know it will take some time to learn how the acrylic tints mix. That was one of my struggles, learning to mix the right color with the new medium. Just when you thought you got the color, the tide would ebb, the sun would dry it out on your palette and the race continued to catch the fleeting moment while mixing and remixing the colors.

It's not bad for a first effort. I still look at these and see Marcia. It is her palette of colors after all. She is a most convivial and generous teacher. It really was a joy-filled two days despite the struggle with working in a new and unnerving situation.

Tideline 20x30"

Ebbing 14x36"

High Tide 14x36"

O.S.C. obsessive stamping compulsion

2011-01-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

The latest items have just hit my shoppeee, my newest obsession with hand carving stamps. It all started with the idea of wanting to make my own wrapping paper for the holiday. OF COURSE it was pet inspired, border collie infatuation and sincere pet worship which has been perverted into my foray of making hand made, hand carved rubber stampages.

It started with my own dogs, then dogs playing frisbee and then I thought "hey! why not all the breeds!" and "why not portraits of friends dogs?" I continued to spin out from there. I want to carve anything and everything. Dogs first... then maybe some cats... other beasts, and we'll see. I'm in the falling in love stage so anything and everything seems possible.

Here are the first stamps made and you have to mosey over to the Etsy Shop to see more and then keep checking back. I'm at about 4 dozen dogs at present {and counting!}.

Speechless

2011-01-16T17:39:00.001-08:00

and spoiled in Southern California. It's 5:40, the sun just went down and it's a balmy 75 degrees out. It's been a pretty spectacular weekend. Far better than the summer ever shaped up to be. Drinking in every last drop of it.

Santa Barbara Shores off Hollister to the dead end... walk through the Eucalyptus trees through the field of grass, down the cliff to the best tide pools. Bliss.

Solar Plate Open Studio

2011-01-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

Enjoy a full day of printmaking at the Rusty Barn Saturday, February 5th from 10am-4pm. $60 will give you access to an amazing studio with two presses... one large enough to print full sheets and multiple book plates.

Harmon Cabin 7x12"

It's an open printing day but I will be available for instruction and help with solar printing... exposing, printing, curating... whatever your printing need might be. Plates and paper available for purchase. Light boxes are handy in case there is a lack of sun for exposure.

Make sure to check out all the other interesting workshops lined up for 2011 HERE.

Paradiso/Inferno Catalog is ready!

2011-01-11T16:05:00.000-08:00

Paradiso/Inferno by Nicole Strasburg | Make Your Own Book

Coming soon to Sundance

2011-01-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

Refuge 01 18x12"

Ebb & Flow 02 12x12"

Winter Shore 3 12x12"

Jumping in... 2011

2011-01-05T11:47:00.001-08:00

Ready for a long winter hibernation in the studio. Work sounds like the perfect way to spend the first month of the new year. October is the distant goal, with my next solo show in Santa Barbara set to open on the First Thursday of October 2011. That gives me 8 solid months to pull myself together and connect the dots. Right now it is a random constellation of disparate ideas, with a twinkle of what might be, where I might be led and how to get there.

Looking forward

2010-12-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

to winter hibernation... stocking up on supplies, ideas, warm friends and hot cups of tea in the studio.

Happy New Year 2011!

Still

2010-12-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

missing my girl .... one year later.
We love you Miss Athena.
Queen for eternity.

Wishing for a break in the rain...

2010-12-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

I have no complaints. I love staying in, reading, painting, crafting, or writing holiday cards. Pooches? not so happy... waiting for a car ride, or creek, or park, ANYTHING. Happy Solstice.

Sundance ....

2010-12-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

We love you.

Look who found a new home....

Afternoon Refuge 18x36" ©

Someone else is waiting for good wall space
and happy, smiley owners.

Wilcox 24x48" ©

See more @ SUNDANCE

...and look for more in January!

First Thursday, December 2

2010-12-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

Two excellent group shows opening
tomorrow during First Thursday.

Lacuna, Marcia Burtt's gallery, will host a show of her
gallery artists along with some invited guest painters.

Erling Sjovold, Still River, oil on panel, 12×9 in

Meet the artists at a reception on Thursday evening, December 2, from 5:00 to 7:00.

The exhibition will continue through Sunday, January 9.

Marcia Burtt Gallery is located at 517 Laguna Street between Cota and Haley in Santa Barbara. Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday, open 11:00-5:00 weekends, and 1:00-5:00 weekdays.

Ann Sanders, Fields, Spring, 8 x 10 inches, pastel

Then, of course, is the 2nd annual 100 Grand show at Sullivan Goss.

DATES: December 2, 2010 - February 27, 2011

OPENING: 1st Thursday, December 2 | From 5 - 8PM

ARTISTS FEATURED: Tony Askew, Rebekah Bogard, Ken Bortolazzo, Perry Castellano, Melissa Chandon, Connie Connally, Alia El-Bermani, Martha Erlebacher, Richard Erdusun, Nancy Faulkner, Jon Francis, Rafael Gaete, Nancy Gifford, Dane Goodman, Robin Gowen, Colin Gray, Tracey Sylvester Harris, Dan Levin, Larry Mills, Jennifer Moses, Brad Nack, Ken Nack, John Nava, Zoe Nathan, Zack Paul, Rafael Perea, Angela Perko, Chris Peters, Hank Pitcher, Ian Putnam, Robert Redfield, Brad Reyes, Blakeney Sanford, Susan Savage, Elena Siff, Barry Spacks, Nicole Strasburg, Jane Taylor, James David Thomas, Susan Tibbles, Dug Uyesaka, Sarah Vedder, Monica Weisblott

PREVIEW THE SHOW ONLINE!

Hope to see you all around the galleries tomorrow night.

Carmel for the holidays

2010-11-29T11:42:00.000-08:00

New addition to inventory at Winfield Gallery in Carmel.
Located in the heart of Carmel, Chris Winfield's gallery
is just a half block off of Ocean Ave on Dolores.
Chock full of wonderful works of art...
it's well worth a stop if you are cruising 17 mile drive.

Gaviota Pier 24x48"

Winter Pools 36x48"

Morning Estuary 48x24"

Kooky Beautiful

2010-11-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

Another spark-a-licious day out at the beach.
Pooches loved the break in the rain.

Molly loves chasing the birds and drinking the salt water while Skye waits for a ball to be tossed.

Home from San Diego

2010-11-19T13:49:00.001-08:00

These little beauties made the journey home yesterday with the gallery owner Susan Street in Solano Beach... just in time for the Sullivan Goss holiday show 100 GRAND which opens with First Thursday events December 2nd from 5-8pm. Susan Bush at Sullivan Goss was the happy recipient of these wee ones yesterday. They are at the gallery for previewing!

Winter Shore 01 12x12"

Winter Shore 02 12x12"

Evening Sky 12x12"

Spring Island 2 12x12"

Spring Island 3 12x12"

Spring Island 4 12x12"

Dear Sundance....

2010-11-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you.

Mountain Meadow 12x12"

We regret that this item is not available at this time.
Below are some alternative products you may wish to consider.

Creek Birch 24x18"
See more @ SUNDANCE

We regret...

2010-11-12T11:37:00.001-08:00

this item is no longer available.

Utah Desert 24x30" oil on panel ©2010
See more online @ Sundance.

Miss Daisy Jane

2010-11-10T10:53:00.001-08:00

A good dog. Devoted companion.
Singer, lover, beauteous hound.
You will be missed.

Introducing Fabian Ojeda

2010-11-09T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have to redeem myself after making the mistake of not knowing what the new fabulous store on State Street was when introducing the work of the fabulous Billy Woolway last week.

Plum Goods is the name of the store at 909 State Street in Santa Barbara. Can I just say HOORAY for the little mom and pop shop in the midst of the big mega stores taking over our little main street in Santa Barbara.

Upon entering the store and looking for my dear, sweet pal Billy I ran into Fabian who informs me that he is one of the visual merchandisers for this gem of a store. The description in the business write ups I've read goes like this "Hand crafted, upcycled, fair trade, unexpected eco-chic goods. Locally owned and operated."

Upcycled... fair trade... unexpected... eco-chic.... all music to my ears... then the big kicker... locally owned and operated. Hallelujah.

Fabian is a wonder and wonderful, as well as an amazing jewelry designer. Check out his website at Fabian y Felipe.

Now get out there and shop local peoples!

First Thursday events

2010-11-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Places to go and things to see.

Opening this Thursday at Sullivan Goss
The Winter Salon

Kelp Tide 48x36"

January Sky 36x60"

After a perusing and glass of somethin'something...take a walk down the street, looking left, passing the new sculpture in the Anapamu outdoor mini-amphitheatre (it may be too small to call it that but it's a beautiful grassy sitting area with fabulous new 3-d elements!) and head over to Channing Peake where the Art in the Parks show still hangs for another 2 months.

Lost Doggie goes home at Midnight ©Billy Woolway

Then... mosey down State Street to the 900 block and directly across from Border's in a new shop a dear dear friend has some of his amazing paintings.
The wonderful and charming Billy Woolway and his endearing and rich paintings.

LIMITED EDITION - November 2010

2010-10-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Santa Barbara Printmakers in collaboration with

the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative are thrilled to present
a special offer of limited edition prints.

The Deal

One print from a different artist each month, for 12 months, starting October 2010.

The prints are $50 each in a limited edition of 25. They will be available on the 1st of each month with a bonus print on December 15.

Proceeds benefit the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative Direct-to-Artist Grants.

Prints can be picked up at Frame, 901 De la Vina Street (corner of Canon Perdido) during regular business hours or mailed for an additional shipping charge.

November's Print by Pamela Zwehl-Burke

Grace Under Fire
"A sleeping cat is a touchstone for reconsidering how to be peaceful in the present moment, no matter how chaotic it may appear."

Image size 7" x 10"
Paper size 22" x 15" (halfsheet)
Paper is somerset 100% rag
Charbonnel soft black ink
Solar intaglio
edition of 25
2010

About Pamela Zwehl-Burke:

Forever interested in what the natural world means, Pamela Zwehl-Burke has spent many years looking, to encode and decode visual matters. She learned (at the Hochschule fuer bildende Kuenste, Kassel, Staatliches Seminar, Goettingen (both Germany), California State University, Northridge and the University of Southern California) and then taught (at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and Santa Barbara City College) drawing, figure drawing, printmaking, design and artists' books. After years of helping others to unfold their skills and visions, she (retired since 2008)now takes time and opportunity to pursue her own.
Her work manifests in a variety of scale, format and material, but the intention and subject is for the most part commonplace visual experience re-seen and re-excerpted: animal, vegetable, mineral, and their "stories". Seeing is as much the subject as the seen.
She lives with partner Harold McHugh and many animals in Santa Ynez. Interactions with two daughters and their daughters, friends, as well as the beloved extended family, richen her life.

web: www.pamelazwehlburke.com

To purchase GO TO: SB Arts Collabortive

There are still prints available from October's edition by Nicole Strasburg (yours truly).

I recommend.....

2010-10-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

The wonderfully talented Heidi Swanson.

101 cookbooks

I just received my copy of her first book Super Natural Cooking in the post today. I can't wait to dive into the recipes. She also has her second cookbook ready to publish next April, Super Natural Every Day. She is vegetarian, I am not, but could be swayed by these most delicious looking recipes. Buon Appetito!

Wordless

2010-10-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

The dampness and fog of the summer have leaked in and made a fug of the fall. Looking at things through blurry, fuzzy, somnambulant haze leaves me wordless and somewhat anxious knowing the holidays are starting, kicking off this weekend with all hallows eve.

Instead of ignoring writing duties and wishing I were full of pithy, erudite things to say... I will start with offering up some local, and not so local, favorites who are not tongue tied at present or in a sleepy narcoleptic mood.

The lovely Lily & Louise
The fabulous Monica Wiesblott
The charming Camilla Engman
The ever inventive Amy Karol
Super crafty fun at Sublime Stitching

Art in the Parks

2010-10-19T15:30:00.001-07:00

ART REVIEW : Art Inspired by County Parks - In the current Channing Peake Gallery exhibition, 'Art in the Parks,' artists show how natural spaces manifest creatively

BY JOSEF WOODARD, NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Santa Barbara News Press, Scene Magazine, Friday, October 15, 2010

'ROCKY NOOK I,' NANCY TALIAFERRO
Courtesy photos

'TWILIGHT ESTUARY, GOLETA BEACH PARK,' NICOLE STRASBURG

'DUNE RIPPLES, GUADALUPE DUNES,' JULIE HARRIS

'RINCON BEACH SEASCAPE,' HILDA KILPATRICK

October 15, 2010 6:48 AM

'ART IN THE PARKS'

When: Through Feb. 18, 2011

Where: Channing Peake Gallery, County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu St.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday

Information: 568-3990, sbartscommission.org

Even in Santa Barbara's relativity relaxed urban setting, parks can seem like God-sent oases. We cherish the open fields, lawns, vegetation and undeveloped acreage that are open to the public and regard park land as a hedge against civic claustrophobia. We breathe easier just knowing the park system is in place.

Or perhaps this is a romanticized vision, encouraged by the considerable wealth of inviting, preserved and government-kept park spaces in the county. We're spoiled, in a sense, and loving it. The same can be said for the artists in the group exhibition "Art in the Parks" at Channing Peake Gallery. The show's assorted visions have channeled inspirations from county parks into inventions suitable for framing.

This gathering of works uses various media and is spread out over many county park sites. Curator Scott Canty, from the Los Angeles County Municipal Art Gallery, is an objective outsider, allowing him to view the entries without fear or favor. The end result is a show well-stocked with some fresh faces alongside other, more locally recognized artists.

Not incidentally, this exhibition also serves as a showcase for the properties being dealt with, showcasing the diversity of topography and terrain in the county park system, including beaches and in-land sites. The creek-sided Rocky Nook Park's quasi-forested and cloistered feel is nicely captured in Nancy Taliaferro's detailed but also dark and moody paintings.

By contrast, Nicole Strasburg brings her inspired minimalist attentions to light, forming a lean, luminous mystery to the Goleta estuary at twilight. Goleta Beach is viewed differently through the artistic prisms of Mary Frederick's faux folk art style and Allan P.C. Liu's fine and more traditional way with watercolor.

Noah Erenberg livens up the show with his lovely and lively primitive touch, moving down the coast a bit to Isla Vista Beach Park, which is more underappreciated and rarely painted by the area's plein air gang. Somehow, we've consigned that fine spread of beach to I.V. student follies, "Floatilla" and other activities off to the side of natural and artistic reverie.

A more popular site for artists is Arroyo Burro Beach (aka "Hendry's" for those in the local know), which is given an appealing twist in style and perspective in Carolyn Hubbs' "Arroyo Burro From Above," a spare, airy color patchwork in watercolor.

Photography takes varied turns in the show. Julie Harris shows intriguing images, including the study in blue and white, "Dune Ripples," from the famed Guadalupe Dunes. The dunes are a magical site, beloved by Cecil B. DeMille and Edward Weston, whose classic nude/dune shots are among fine art photography's greatest anagram-related works. Arroyo Burro Beach is envisioned in fog-enshrouded lyricism by Kate Connell, while Roe Anne White focuses on the visual poetry of reflective ocean surfaces.

In a distinctly different and more realistic direction, Hilda Kilpatrick's "Rincon Beach Seascape" is a large canvas, solid and evocative of the reddened, rocky and less-trodden area of the Rincon. And what's this? Across the lobby, we find Marcia Burtt's ruggedly beautiful paintings of the North County's Orcutt Ranch, a place I have yet to experience, but now feel compelled to seek out.

Such is the nature of inspired art about nature, implicitly promoting the places we ponder. Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran, whose art helped secure Yosemite and the U.S. National Parks system, knew the truism well, and the effect now prevails on a local level, as well.

Things to do, places to be

2010-09-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

Two new shows opening the first week of October.

Small Images 2010
25th Anniversary
on exhibit from October 1-29

Opening Reception: Friday, October 1, 5–7pm

Rooted 7.5x7.5" embroidery & encaustic
©2010 N Strasburg

The ingathering brought 320 entries from 159 artists.
A total of 87 artworks were selected for the
25th Small Images exhibition.

The juror was Thomas Lawson, artist, writer,
and Dean of the School of Art at the
California Institute for the Arts

Atkinson Gallery
Santa Barbara City College
Humanities Building
721 Cliff Drive

.....................................................

Twilight Estuary 14x30"
oil on birch panel ©2010 N Strasburg

Santa Barbara County Arts Commission and
County Park Foundation
present Art Inspired by the County Parks
A juried exhibition curated by Scott Canty

Channing Peake Gallery
1st Floor County Administration Building
105 East Anapamu St.

Reception in conjunction with First Thursday events
October 7th, 2010 from 5-8pm

Low Tide 7x5" Collagraph
©2010 N Strasburg

Winter Shoreline 36x48"
oil on birch panel ©2010 N Strasburg

LIMITED EDITION - Print Project

2010-09-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Press Release from Tracey Morris ...

So some of you know, but now all of you know, I've been cooking up a little project with Nicole Strasburg to raise some funds for the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative's Artist Grants. I'm really excited at how it's turning out, we have a wonderful solar plate etching from Nicole that will be available via the Arts Collaborative's site on October 1 - AND IT'S ONLY $50! So cool! (scroll down to see it)

There are a limited number of subscriptions to the project - you can get all 13 prints for only $550. If you're interested contact me here on FB or at traceyamorris@yahoo.com.

Campus Point Rock Pools by Nicole Strasburg
Solar plate etching printed with mixed black ink

Here's the whole deal:

Beginning October 1, 2010, California Arts Day

Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative and Santa Barbara Printmakers

Limited Edition

One year, one artist per month, one print in an edition of twenty-five

Participating Santa Barbara Printmakers
Nicole Strasburg, October 2010
Pamela Zwehl Burke, November 2010
Marie Schoeff, December 1 2010
Carolyn Hubbs, December 15 2010
Nina de Creeft Ward, January 2011
Teresa Zepeda, February 2011
Valori Fussell, March 2011
Dug Uyesaka, April 2011
Libby Smith, May 2011
Rafael Perea de la Cabada, June 2011
Michael Jameson, July 2011
Nina Warner, August 2011
Stephanie Dotson, September 2011

Subscriptions available now! Get all 13 prints for $550, or one each month for $50 – with a bonus print on December 15. www.sbartscollaborative.org

There are a limited number of subscriptions available. Please contact Tracey Morris for more info traceyamorris[at]yahoo.com

Sale of individual prints begins in October 2010. www.sbartscollaborative.org

Proceeds benefit the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative Direct-to Artist Grants.

The Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative is an inclusive group of artists and arts supporters committed to sustaining and growing all forms of the arts in Santa Barbara . SBAC welcomes all to participate in the focused support of individual artists and arts organizations that contribute to the unique cultural ecology of our community.

We are: Actors, Arts Professionals, Arts Supporters, Dancers, Directors, Designers, Musicians, Filmmakers, Poets, Visual Artists, Writers, and everyone who wishes to collaborate and sustain the arts in Santa Barbara.

www.sbartscollaborative.org

The Santa Barbara Printmakers are a group of artists dedicated to promoting and producing art work that uses hand and press printing techniques for the purposes of artistic exploration and expression. Images by artists in this group have been made with printing processes that include: etching, monotype, woodblock, collagraph, linocut, clay, lithography and digital programming. Santa Barbara Printmakers provides exhibition opportunities several times a year, as well as information about printmaking activities in the Santa Barbara area via their website, blog and email list serve. Its membership encompasses both emerging and established artists.

www.sbprintmakers.com

California Arts Day was created by the California Arts Council and established by Proclamation of the Governor. It takes place the first Friday of October every year during National Arts & Humanities Month.

Arts Day began not only as a celebration of creativity; in its first year it was part of the healing process after the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and served as an opportunity for Californians to re-connect with their communities and affirm humanity's finer instincts.

The purpose of Arts Day is to demonstrate the role and value of arts and culture throughout California . The California Arts Council has encouraged the celebration of Arts Day by working to make this a commonly recognized annual celebration using two simple messages:

•The arts are important - economically, socially, and educationally.
•The arts are everywhere.

Arts Day has been celebrated in many ways during the last several years—from music festivals, free museum admissions and free nights at performing arts venues, to arts advocacy rallies, advertisements, contests and newspaper columns. It is an opportunity for Californians to appreciate and experience the power and influence of the arts in all aspects of our lives—building communities, bridging cultures and celebrating diversity.

San Luis Obispo Review

2010-08-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

One artist's hell... Painter Nicole Strasburg marries disaster and art

BY ASHLEY SCHWELLENBACH

NEW TIMES San Luis Obispo, August 26, 2010

Nicole Strasburg’s paintings are on fire. That is, the Central Coast landscapes and long yellow grasses captured on her birch-wood canvases are consumed and concealed by flame. The impetus for the series was the trio of wildfires that raged between July 1, 2008 and May 20, 2009, threatening homes and filling blue Santa Barbara skies with noxious black smoke. Strasburg’s abstract renderings of the fires are on display at ARTS Space Obispo through Sept. 8.

The exhibit is the second curated by the Central California Museum of Art, an organization that spans 13 counties and presents “artists and exhibitions—both historical and contemporary—that speak to the varied experiences peculiar to the middle region of the Golden State,” according to the mission statement. The first was a show of Peter Zaleski’s mixed media paintings and prints at Cuesta College last March. The next scheduled exhibit features the work of photographer Sky Bergman, a Cal Poly Art and Design professor.

Strasburg’s work didn’t always depict fire. In fact, there was a time when landscapes were entirely absent, though anyone familiar with her work may find that difficult to believe. In high school, her obsession was realistic portraits, of herself and friends. This gave way to black-and-white charcoal drawings in college. She began to draw her figures into an interior space. Then the interior had a window looking out to a landscape. As she puts it, one day she opened the door and walked outside.

“At some point I just went outside and I never came back,” she explained. “For some reason, that big open space is what I want to live with. I’ve tried to go back to the figure but painting is such a solitary thing and by painting the figure you’ve got company.”

Appropriately enough, Strasburg’s landscape meditations are painted onto a birch panel, the remnant of a happy accident. After living in Paris for several months, Strasburg returned to the United States dirt poor. She couldn’t afford canvases so she salvaged birch scraps from a carpenter’s shop. When she ran out of wood scraps, Strasburg would sand down the paintings she didn’t like and paint over them. This is where she got into the habit of sanding her paintings between layers.

Fire entered the picture as a reaction to the brutal and traumatic Santa Barbara fire season. Strasburg calls the shift “a natural progression.” It started with the Gap fire that raged for nearly a month in the summer of 2008. Strasburg created a handful of small paintings of the fire, which were included in an exhibit at Santa Barbara City College. Two days before the show’s opening, the Tea fire began and the gallery was closed because of the smoke. Strasburg’s fire paintings—gushing black smoke and elegant plumes—mirrored what was happening outside.

So she continued, proving that plein air isn’t always pretty. Strasburg’s fiery landscapes are beautiful, and terrible. Gordon Fuglie, founder of the Central California Museum of Art, is proud of the statements these paintings make to the local art scene.

“”With all the predominance of plein air painting it’s what people think of all the time,” said Fuglie. “But this gets you to think differently about the region that you live in, and what is landscape painting? Does it have to be pretty?”

The painter collects her landscapes from trips she takes specifically to harvest imagery, as well as her wanderings. “Every time I look at the landscape I’m looking at paintings,” she explained. “It’s hard not to be working.”

The first order of business, after finding and photographing a landscape, is to eliminate the elements that Strasburg considers excessive. Her paintings are about her own experience of the space, rather than capturing an exact depiction of a particular scene. This process lends her images a universal quality that appeals to art buyers who hail from all corners of the country. Strasburg surmises that she learned to simplify from her father, who was a theatrical set designer.

Strasburg works from her studio, citing painting en plein air as too stimulating. Her current pastime, while painting, is listening to audio books, the classics she never had a chance to read in school. The voice silences her inner critic, allowing her to paint continuously without questioning her use of a particular color.

As exhibit facilitator, the Central California Museum of Art sought out Strasburg. Fuglie visits Santa Barbara on a monthly basis and the powers that be introduced him to her work.

She’s represented by one of Santa Barbara’s more prestigious galleries. Having a curator organize everything, from selecting the paintings to titling the exhibit, was an unexpected boon. The painter operated a downtown gallery to promote her work for more than a decade, and knows the organizational challenges that attend such an effort. The more art facilitators there are, the more time she has to dedicate to painting her local infernos. And the more time local venues, such as ARTS Space Obispo, have to commit to myriad other programs and events.

When times get tough—fire waging an unholy war against pure air and an economic recession that strips artists and organizations of resources—art endures. Through artists who see the beauty in flame. And lovers of art willing to step forward with a helping hand for artists and organizations alike.

Arts Editor Ashley Schwellenbach would be a pyro if fire didn’t scare her. Send unlit matches to aschwellenbach@newtimesslo.com.

Worktable Wednesday - the double drop

2010-08-11T16:49:00.001-07:00

check back for results soon!

Paradiso/Inferno

2010-07-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Paradiso/Inferno:Drought and Fire in the Central Coast Landscapes of Nicole Strasburg

August 2 - September 8, 2010

Art After Dark Receptions:
August 6 & September 3 from 6-9pm

ARTS Obispo and the Central California Museum of Art are pleased to present a solo exhibition of Santa Barbara painter and printmaker, Nicole Strasburg.

Paradiso/Inferno expands Central California landscape painting by moving beyond idyllic depictions of nature to portray the environmental realities of drought and the wind-blown wildfires in Santa Barbara County. Avoiding temptations to sensationalize, Strasburg’s paintings are minimalist in their approach with a muted poetic color sensibility based upon abstracted forms drawn from the land, water and sky.

Santa Barbara and Montecito are among the most beautiful and affluent communities in the United States, situated against rugged coastal sagebrush mountains with dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean. For residents and tourists alike, the region is a paradise.

Strasburg has lived in Santa Barbara since she was a youth and knows the region well, understanding that the area is frighteningly vulnerable to periodic fires, fanned out of control by raging winds, jumping from dry canyon to dry canyon. Such conditions created incredible infernos like the Tea, Gap, and Jesusita fires of 2008 and 2009.

According to Strasburg, “I strive to show an understanding of locale and environment from a number of standpoints. My process comes from internal promptings and emotional influences rather than intellectual ones. The paintings are records of personal connections and the allure of knowing a place intimately – in its beauty, fragility, danger and resilience . . . Color comes from the dialogue with the painting and a visceral reaction to the experience in the field.”

Curator Gordon Fuglie, a native Californian with a 30-year involvement with California art and culture, organized this exhibition for ARTS Obispo as part of a series of projects developed by the Central California Museum of Art and displayed in venues throughout the mid-state. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the museum and serves on the exhibition committee for ARTS Space Obispo. (reproduced from ARTS space obispo website, news page)

Arts Space Obispo
SLO Creamery, #165, 570 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo

Faux pas or blunder?

2010-07-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Seems that someone at the Santa Cruz Art League wasn't paying attention to the ribbon labels carefully. As it turns out, my beloved Shoreline painting was not, in fact, an honoree of honorable mention status but a First Prize winner in the oil painting category.

It's wonderful to know, yes. A check arrived with congratulations last week, very nice. However, I am still somewhat miffed. I'll tell you why. The entire show the painting, First Prize, hung with an honorable mention ribbon attached to it. Also, I found out about the prize, by mail, 3 weeks after the show closed. Not even when the paintings were picked up was there any indication of the award.

I find it really odd behavior for an 80th annual statewide show to have such disorganized operations. For someone who worked in retail and has read up on consumer psychology, it would have been really great to have had that first place ribbon on my painting. Maybe I'm just being persnickety. Is it wrong to want the recognition?

So here it is again, drum roll please, the first place oil painting, Winter Shoreline, 80th Annual Juried Landscape Competition, Santa Cruz, California June 2010.

Garden Love - Succulents

2010-07-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Live gifts from friends who share an affinity
for the succulent genusphere

pinch pot by Jocelyn Webb Pederson with Sedum varieties

Dug & Elaine

Dug Uyesaka

Worktable Wednesday

2010-07-14T11:50:00.001-07:00

Audio book meets book making....

Summer, at last, arrives

2010-07-13T15:52:00.001-07:00

...and with that there are big plans for some serious hangin' and doin' nothin'.

Molly is way ahead of us!

Class this Fall at the Rusty Barn

2010-07-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Worktable Wednesday

2010-06-30T16:51:00.001-07:00

A mat cutting fete that I'm quite certain will continue tomorrow and will lead on to framing. Stacks of my own prints and drawers of prints from friends with a dash of sleeping pooches and the ambient sound of the fountain outside.

Garden Love - Lewisia

2010-06-30T10:21:00.001-07:00

My newest plant obsession involves the spectrum of succulents in the world. This species popped out at me while visiting a nursery site. Lewisia Cotyledon "Sunset Strain". Then I stumbled onto this nursery while hunting the plant, Wild Ginger Farm, to find the entire Lewisia Family.... I'm smitten.

Honorable Mention

2010-06-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Not too shabby and maybe next time a ribbon!

just add water continued....

2010-06-19T16:30:00.001-07:00

Views from the gallery...

San Diego Exhibition

2010-05-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

JUST ADD WATER
Group Show

June 3rd - August 22nd 2010
Opening reception, Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 6-9pm

Susan Street Fine Art Gallery

415 South Cedros, Suite 160
Solana Beach, California 92075

Phone: 858.793.4442

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am-5pm | Sunday 12-4pm

Carmel by the Sea

2010-05-25T15:33:00.001-07:00

My two day road trip this past weekend took me to Santa Cruz where I delivered work to the Art League, dropping off two paintings for their annual juried landscape exhibition.

While in the area I drove south to Carmel to meet (for the first time) Chris Winfield in Carmel. He has a beautiful space, Winfield Gallery, off Ocean Avenue, the main drag in Carmel. The gallery hosts an amazing collection of artists, a virtual treasure trove of painting and sculpture.

Chris is wonderful and easy to talk to... about anything, anything art, business, politics. He seems to have his hands in many cookie jars as well, working both with the Fresno Art Museum and the Crocker Museum in Sacramento.

Lucky me, Chris has agree to try a few paintings. I will be interested to hear the response from an entirely different kind of audience.

If you are passing through the area Carmel is an incredible location to stop and get out. The trees are breathtaking, the ocean air invigorating and there is a lot to see in shops, galleries and restaurants. Make sure to pay a visit to Chris' gallery for an eyeful of beautiful work and a warm, knowledgeable host.

Acceptance

2010-05-16T15:57:00.001-07:00

Two of my paintings were recently accepted into an exhibition at the Santa Cruz Art League Gallery. Delivery is this coming weekend and the show will open on May 29th with a reception on Saturday, June 5th from 3-5pm.

Winter Shoreline 36x48"

Sand Shadows 48x24"

80th Annual Statewide Juried Exhibition
"Nature's Treasures"
Contemporary Landscape Painters of California

Juror is Artist Richard Mayhew

Santa Cruz Art League
526 Broadway, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (831) 426-5787 Fax: (831) 426-5789
www.scal.org
hours: Wed.- Sat., 12AM - 5PM,
Sun. Noon-4PM

Lecture
A lecture entitled “Exploring Creative Consciousness” by the Juror Richard Mayhew will be presented on June 4th, 2010, Friday, at 7:00pm, in the SCAL Gallery. Mayhew, who refers to himself as “an improvisationalist,” has had a long distingished career since his first solo exhibiition at the Brooklyn Museum in 1950, to his latest exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of the African Diaspora (October 10, 2009 - March 7, 2010). After retiring from his teaching position at Pennsylvania State University, he moved to Aptos, CA to continue his work. Mayhew’s work is represented in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Smithsonian Institution, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.

Time Machine

2010-05-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

How is it that it's May and nearly a third gone already. Can we get in a time machine and go back a few months? Pretty soon we will be watching 2010 disappear in the rear view mirror and wonder where it all went!?!

I would love to say that it's been all painting and printing all the time but it is has not. Life has a funny way of interjecting it's own designs on your time. The home projects continue and one more piece of the puzzle has dropped into place and crossed off the list.

Last week the back yard landscaping got completed. Yes, yours truly and the hero husband dug for two days installing gopher mesh for the new sod that arrived last Monday!

Do I need to say that the supervisor was on duty? Or perhaps the inspector... the one that inspects surfaces for adequate sleep-ability?

ready for action

inspecting equipment

mid morning siesta

let the digging begin

we slowly worked our way across the yard... that we thought looked really small until all that darn digging!

then there was the compacting and the grading

OF COURSE more napping ...
Molly was exhausted witnessing the work

Finally the first piece of sod went down...
what a beautiful thing that was....

and a little more napping was needed before we finished....

It's beautiful and we're tired but couldn't be happier. Soon I will be talking about painting again. May is full of fun and deadlines and shows coming. It's good the hard labor is done for the time being.

The Smell of Soil

2010-04-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

and dirt under your nails... ahhhh springtime

refreshing fountain and orchids

path with the beginning of irish moss meandering

my shadow

who loves the new bark

newby vegies and herbs for summer feasting

and the approval of the supervisors!

Good Golly Ms. Molly

2010-04-07T09:53:00.001-07:00

We're in love, we're smitten. Last week Bill and I traveled to Los Olivos to collect a new family member. There have been no posts as of yet about the fabulous Ms. Molly because we wanted to make sure she was willing to put up with us.

I wasn't certain that adopting another pooch was in my near future, perfectly content to be a one dog family for a while. Bill however came across an ad for Molly on Craig's List while looking for tools in the "farm + garden" section. He sent me a link, as he does many days when trolling for puppies on the internet, and was surprised by my response "should we go look at her?" And so we did and fell head over heels.

Molly is 3 1/2, just one year younger than our sweet Skye. She's trained and sugar sweet natured. What more can I say... look at that face. She's a beauty queen. We are all getting settled and learning how to commune together in harmony. It's going well so far!

and SOMEONE doesn't
seem too worried about making herself right at home.

Home from the Capitol

2010-03-30T12:23:00.001-07:00

A dozen or more paintings arrived at my doorstep yesterday from a "term in office" at the California State Capitol building. They traveled north last May to participate in a show at the Scott Hill Gallery in Dixon and then moved right over to Sacramento where they hung in the offices of Lori Saldaña, speaker pro tempore for the State Assembly.

Now home, they have been carefully cataloged and put on to shelves where they await their next adventure.

Springing

2010-03-19T12:17:00.001-07:00

It's really hard to believe that it's only March 19th. The weather has been unabashedly indifferent to the fact winter has not officially ended. Still... Santa Barbara has been in the high 70's and 80+ ranges of the thermometer this week. The garden thinks purely that we are mid dance with spring and pushes out new growth and flowers daily!

Through the writings of Billy Goodnick, (garden coach, landscape architect, garden wise guy) I discovered the amazing Australian nursery owned and run by Jo O'Connell. Australian Native Plants Nursery is tucked into the foothills halfway between Ventura and Ojai in Casitas Springs. What a treasure to visit this oasis, filled with luminous specimens from Australia, New Zealand and South African. It was beyond pleasure to visit and pick out something to grace my studio steps.

One of the picks was this fantastic variety of Leucospermum called Sunrise. It's like watching fire works in slow motion each day I walk out to the studio. Nature always manages to take my breath away.

Thank you Carolyn xo

2010-03-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Santa Barbara Seasons

2010-03-10T20:36:00.001-08:00

More coverage in the local Seasons magazine {Mar/Apr issue}
featuring the beautiful home of Brian Donohoo.

Air Earth Fire Water represented in the master suite. Beautiful.

Art Ltd Magazine Mar/Apr

2010-03-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

Art Ltd.

Special Eco Issue

excerpt from:

Eden Is Burning
by george melrod
Mar 2010

"Another California painter who has found a convincing muse in the state's fires is Santa Barbara painter Nicole Strasburg. Santa Barbara, of course, has suffered its own terrible fires in recent years, including two significant fires in 2008, the Gap Fire, in July, in Goleta, which burned over 8,350 acres, and the Montecito Tea Fire, which burned nearly 2,000 acres in November, tearing through some very pricey real estate and destroying 210 homes. Strasburg, who works out of the more staid tradition of landscape painting, locates the fires within the range of elemental forces inherent to nature. Thus, her autumn 2009 show at Sullivan Goss Gallery, entitled "Air, Earth, Fire, Water," placed her fire paintings among a larger series of works featuring imagery of clouds and waves. In some paintings, the licking flames of fire suggest golden fields of grass, curls of dried brush, or the dynamism of ocean waves. In others, they are ferocious masses of orange and yellow, made all the more dramatic by their contrast to dark backgrounds, or the artist's vigorous brushstrokes. In several of these works, such as Gap Fire, Day One or Omen, the fire in indicated only by its ominous plumes of smoke. As destructive as they are, her fires represent a dynamic transformative energy that is as much as a part of nature as the vegetation they feed on, or the water, clouds and earth that frame them." from Art Ltd. Magazine Mar/Apr issue

Gap Fire, Day One 24x24" oil on birch panel ©2009

See the show again at Sullivan Goss Online HERE
and the amazing video brochure HERE

New to Sundance

2010-03-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

The paintings sent to Sundance in January have just appeared in the online catalog. Seven, new to them, paintings added to the already 6 existing... all awaiting homes.

Online promotion to follow in the months ahead.