goodday sacramento!

I got to be on a local tv show to promote the upcoming arts festival I'm in this weekend:

iconic sacramento

I got a request for iconic Sacramento images, which I have actually done but never put together as a collection, really - sometimes the obvious things most escape me -

So here they are, with the status/availability of each:

"California State Palms" ready to go as a hand embellished print.


"Sacramento, CA" similar coloring available for scanning, ready for printing in a few weeks.

"Catalpa Tree" (Capital Park) available for scanning, ready for printing & delivery within a few weeks.

"Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament" Great painted version currently hanging in Formoli's restaurant on J Street near 33rd - ready for reproduction, delivery within a few weeks.

"Memorial Elm" (which I've since figured is more likely an ash!) similar coloring available for scanning, ready for printing in a few weeks.

"Sacramento City Hall" Great painted version currently hanging in Formoli's restaurant on J Street near 33rd - ready for reproduction, delivery within a few weeks.

"Tower: A Mighty Heart" Horrible, but I'm pretty sure this one is at Formoli's as well - so that would make it ready for reproduction, delivery within a few weeks.


"Pony Express" available for scanning, ready for printing & delivery within a few weeks.


"Tower Bridge" another image that is sold, I have a print on hand that would need to be colored, scanned, with a medium-long lead time. (Like that?)

"Live at the Crest" Painted version might be at Formoli's too, which would make it ready to roll in a few weeks - this month has been a blur! - otherwise could be printed in darkroom, colored, then scanned for reproduction - which would make it a longer lead time.


"Capital Palms" Sold, but similar could be printed in darkroom, colored, then scanned for reproduction - longer lead time, of course.

"Tower Theater" sold but it could be printed in darkroom, colored, then scanned for reproduction - longer lead time, again.

davis cemtery

9.22.09
Davis Cemetery
late afternoon
special commission project for Joe
warm, clear, just the hint of an occasional breeze

little birds chirp in the trees

a pair of mocking birds chase each other through the air

camphor tree

Sparky is with me - we stick to the shadowy outskirts watching the sun dance through the tree branches that shad and protect the final resting place of so many loved ones

Dark dragonflies dance on spent flowers and scented leaves - bumble bees find late blossoms still yielding pollen. Jays call and chase in the distance, robins forage in the shaded lawn.

a grove of Chinese pistache

meditation labyrinth

London plane trees

honey locust

art fest

Hanging out at my booth at the Lafeyette Art & Wine Festival... selling art & havin' fun...

little canvases

A small series of small works on canvas that I just finished, each titled with the message I feel it carries:



"Tenacity"



"Strength"



"Refuge"



"Calm"


All are black & white photographs in mixed media collage on 8x8" canvas, $95 each.

evolution of mystery

I've been working on a big piece that pretty much demanded to be done NOW. Artwork is funny like that - so I went along for the ride and now I'll share this piece in three simple steps. Okay, so maybe I only remembered to take two photos along the way & then the final documentation...

These three black & white images, also known as a triptych, were taken a few years ago at Gibson Ranch before I started working in collage. I knew I wanted to do something different with them at the time, but didn't know what exactly, so I waited. Recently I realized what needed to be done so I printed them a couple weeks ago in the darkroom.

I was so jazzed with the darkroom prints that I ran to the art supply store the very next day and bought a 24" x 48" canvas. I immediately taped the photos on the canvas & put it on my home studio wall to begin to feel out the basic composition.

I think it was the next week before I decided to dig into the first collage step, which I put together at my midtown studio between students one day - the burlap happened to be in a box of supplies I had brought for students but it begged to be in the piece & I relented. I spent a serious amount of time just unraveling the burlap to get it just right...

Later I added a couple bird sketches, then some texture with modeling paste & could barely wait for that to dry before I started the pencil work on the photos. A deep violet blue pencil popped out at me, a little more blue than I have been using before, but I went with it...

That was last Friday and I brought it with me to finish the pencilwork at a patron party at the Kennedy Gallery (where I have my midtown studio.) I left it there to return to it for the weekend. Saturday I started adding the acrylic glazes, painting with some of my art compatriots on the patio adjoining our space, Sunday was busier with the Rainbow Festival and I continued the painting in my studio space inside.


(click on this to see more detail)

I brought it home to finish it up, so this is where it was at sometime on Monday, sitting on my mantle in our family room, where I like to assess works in progress.


(click for more detail)

I carefully proceeded to fine tune little details in paint and finally added text in the upper right hand corner, let it dry, varnished it yesterday & photographed it again today, completed. It gets it's title, "Mystery of Faith" from the text of Hebrews 11:1 that I transcribed onto it, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

I'll go more into how that relates to the imagery on my Visions of Heaven blog later...