Granada/Alhambra

Granada Flamenco

We went to a gypsy cave in Sacramonte one evening to watch flamenco. At first we were the only guests and were served an odd dinner of Spanish omelet (lightly salted boiled potatoes covered in light egg batter). Just before the dances began, the room filled with a Japanese tour group. In fact one dancer was Japanese and spoke Spanish fluently. The older spider woman was quite dramatic and kept yelling at me to stop videotaping her. I guess my Lumix looked more like a filming tool than a digital camera.

Images of Mexico: People

Closing Ceremony at ex-Convento St Hipolito

Kiyo Akasaka and Tadatoshi Akiba

The UN Conference in Mexico City came to a dramatic close at the ex-Convento St Hipolito with a loud thunderstorm overhead. UN officials and the mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba exhorted NGOs to lobby the mayors and government officials for the abolition of nuclear weapons in their towns, cities and countries.

Night Walk on Donceles after Rainfall

It rained and thundered every night in Mexico City. One could plan on the skies darkening around 3:30 in the afternoon, then, the lightning, thunder and thick drops of rain appearing soon after. Even if the day started out dry, we knew umbrellas or raincoats would be needed in the late afternoon. Because we were in the old central part of the city, taxis were hard to get in the evening. It was a pleasure to walk back to the hotel after dinner after the rains had stopped and photograph the shiny streets cleansed of dust and trash.

Images of Mexico: Art

Amazing cougar at the Anthropological in Mexico City


Orozco Mural at the San Ildefenso



Orozco mural at San Ildefenso

We were stunned by the art in Mexico City. We had limited time and decided to see just two museums, spending an entire day in each. The San Ildefenso Museum near our hotel housed an amazing collection of murals by Jose Clemente Orozco. Built with an inner courtyard, this museum provides greenery, calm in the midst of a busy city and a feast for the eyes with the murals painted on the outside walls of each level. Inside the museum and in the courtyard was an exhibition of British artist Antony Gormley's works. Small groups of children wandered the museum, sketching and talking with each other on comfortable courtyard benches. With a natural food cafe and a fabulous giftshop, this museum proved to be the oasis we needed after three full days at the UN conference.
We visited the large Anthropological Museum on Sunday, absolutely the worst day in terms of crowds. It was crowded because this museum offers free admission to Mexican citizens on Sundays. And so the working people of this large city were taking in the arts together with their children and elderly parents. Though there were lines to get into some of the exhibitions, it didn't take long to get inside, and I enjoyed watching the parents point out artifacts and read their history to their children. The cultural wealth in this museum was impressive.

Purplesilk Fundraiser at the Legendary Palace

Maestra Sherlyn Chew with Steve Young


Tyler Thompson sings an opera solo


Satisfied fans fill the Legendary Palace

Spirited performance by the Great Wall Youth Orchestra

I attended a great fundraiser in Oakland last night to support the Great Wall Youth Orchestra & Chorus. The event was sold out and we were all treated to great music and a delicious banquet. Sherlyn Chew continues to amaze with her drive to nurture musical talent among the children of Oakland. The best testimonal came from a former student, who expressed how much her horizons were opened through participation in this orchestra. Bravo Sherlyn!!

7th Annual Altered Barbie Show

Tanya revealing her Barbie side


Crowds celebrate opening of Altered Barbie show at Shotwell 50 Studios


Jillee mc-ing the event

This is the first year I didn't participate in this annual show due to travels. Did manage to attend the opening reception last night at Shotwell 50 Studios. It's a great space for this show - lots of wallspace to show off all the dolls and photos. There were surprisingly a lot of photos at this year's event. Hope to be part of this event next year!

Images of Mexico: Dance

Dancing figures at the Anthropological Museum


Aztec Dancers


Shaman dancers in the Zocalo

Because our hotel was near the Catedral and zocalo in the Historic Center of Mexico City, we enjoyed the drumming, herb-burning and the energetic circle of dancers nearly every day. Helen noticed that the dancers' movements brought to life the gestures of ancient pottery figurines we saw at the Museum of Anthropology. Indeed I felt that we were witnessing something ancient, elemental and life-affirming in the zocalo dancers. My favorite shots were of the dancers' feet, which captured the energy of their movements.

Chochin-Making

Took a class on illuminated paper at the SF Center for Books.It was taught by Oregon papermaker, Helen Hiebert. For the round chochin, we cut molds out of foam core, then wrapped individual rings of reed around it, fastened by paper. Paper shapes were then glued to the reed skeleton. When the paper dried, the mold was disassembled. The magic happened when the chochins were lit.

Friday Art Happenings

Adobo Hobo at Fabric 8: marrying art with food cart culture


Octo-arm enjoys wine and art at Cityart Opening


Looking at art along Victorian corridor at 3352 24th St

Sugar installation at 951 Shotwell

Home is Something I Carry With Me is a 3-house non-trad venue exhibition. Love the idea of turning one's home into a gallery, love the idea of a unifying theme that carries across multiple venues. I hope more of these spring up in the City. Fabric8 had an interesting idea of combining the burgeoning food carts in the City with art. The venue was filled to capacity with people enjoying adobo, creme brulee, cookies and soup while viewing the artwork and teeshirts for sale. Cityart also had their monthly group show opening - their venue was filled as well.

Thursday's Art

Frey Norris Gallery: Laurel Roth


Hang Art: Heather Patterson


Cafe Royale: Megan Wolfe



Fifty24SF Gallery: The Date Farmers

Detail of a piece by Date Farmers

A full evening of art openings in San Francisco. We started at the Frey Norris and ended up at the Fifty24SF Gallery. I was very taken by the Date Farmers, Mexican American artists whose vibrant pieces were a visual feast. Their imagination and ability to create beauty from discarded materials resonated. Visit http://thedatefarmers.com/ for more information about them.

Final: Salute to the Muse

The blue piece now completed. It is titled "He'd Never Seen Her Out of Uniform." It's a tribute to my muse, Heather Fong, and will be part of the AAWAA exhibit this month.

Working with Blue

Started a couple of blue paintings today. For one, I embedded undergarments under cheese cloth, then painted over with Prussian blue. I had an idea for this painting, with the undergarments covered over with layers of materials and paint. At the moment I love the effect these layers have created, the leaching out of paint around the fabric, giving the painting a cyanotype feel. Will have to wait for a couple of days of drying to see what the final color will be and what I will do next. I am making a piece on Heather Fong for the AAWAA Salute to the Muses exhibit in Sept. I've laid down blue paint on cheesecloth for my second painting and am vaguely considering a paperdoll of HF.

Tour des Artists - Round #2

Zannah Noe, the raven painter, in her studio at Hunter's Point


Tanya Wilkinson, mixed media artist, in her studio at the Noonan Building


Blowing glass in David Patchen's studio at Public Glass

Rebecca Fox in her metal works studio at Islais Creek

Dimitri Kourouniotis in his painting studio at Hunter's Point

This time the Tour visited five artists near Third Street and Hunter's Point. As in the first Tour, the group got to meet a variety of artists in their studios in a work-setting (well, sort of). The artist has to clean up their space a bit so that people won't trip or be frightened off by the dust, trash and unwashed coffee cups that usually litter the scene. The first time, six artists were visited, some in studios that were too small to fit the nearly 20 people on the tour. Five artists in larger studios was just about perfect. A limo bus shuttled us from studio to studio so no one had to do the driving. For me, it was a nice, relaxing break from the everyday work in my studio and an opportunity to see other's works. David Patchen put on quite a show, creating a Venetian-style vase during his 45 minutes with us.

J-Pop in J-town

TsuShiMaMiRe - an all-girls punk band rocks out. The song is silly - about stinky American microphones. Lead singer went all-out to get the snuffling noises down just right.


Women dressed up in Lolita and Goth fashions at the J-Pop summit in Japantown this weekend. Actually this event seems like a hyped out opening for a new Japanese mall called New People where the old bowling alley used to be. A long line of people waited to get into this mall and it was a definite "no" for me. I'll visit later, when the excitement dies down. Cannot imagine a lot of people buying into the Lolita look here. For one, hard to fit into those clothes. Cleaning bills would be prohibitive. And it would rate a real laugh at the office. I may, however, buy a sun umbrella with lace trimmings.

What About Tomorrow?

Piece #1: Love Me Tomorrow


Piece #2: Thinking About Tomorrow Clears Away the Cobwebs


What About Tomorrow? is our new roundrobin theme. I had to think about it for a while - a rather nebulous theme that sounds lighthearted, hopeful and yet foreboding. For my first piece I decided to make another altered book. My imagery came from a skanky women's magazine from Japan. Many women alter their looks via makeup, hair color and surgery, with the belief that their idealized anime character looks make them desirable. I wonder what they will look like in old age - will their fans love them as before? The song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" came to mind while making this book. I looked it up on Youtube and found a great rendition by Amy Winehouse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ludxpkyrab0. My instruction to Gwynn was to have her listen to this song while going through my book.

I received a framed humming bird print & collage from Patricia. It was a beautiful piece of work, with colors I love - turquoise, gold, oranges and reds. But how to relate it to the theme and my next work? In the end I took the frame idea and moved it forward in piece #2. I found this image in an old book I picked up from a thrift shop. How sad and tired these girls look with their younger siblings strapped to their backs! They are not far in age from the girls in my first piece. Life was difficult for girls back then for quite different reasons. I lifted the image with packing tape and adhered it to two postcards. I got the idea of the two postcards from some works I saw recently. They are adhered to glossy black paper that looks like dried seaweed. I found a kitschy bamboo frame at the thrift shop and repainted it. Now I'll need to put the picture together. I'm going to send Gwynn a Youtube link to Broadway musical Annie's song "Tomorrow" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnjkb4q6FKU. Pairing art with music is something new I've discovered in this round of collaborations.

Control Reception

Guerrilla Girl hands out pamphlet


The pamphlet!



Opening Reception of Control

By Jessica and Beatrice at the Muriel Right Residential Center

Over 500 people attended the opening of Control at the SOMArts Gallery on August 6, 2009. Lots of great works by women, the Guerrilla Girls showed up with pamphlets in hand, and everyone agreed it was the best show they've attended in quite some time. Now there is talk about traveling the show. Also wonderful: works by girls at the Muriel Right Residential Center and Peninsula WCA Youth Project were also exhibited.

Painting on Vintage Cards

Went to an opening of works by Marin artist Mike Shine called Flotsam's Wonder Tonic. The location was The Soap Gallery, an alternative space at 3180 Mission St, SF. Shine paints on all kinds of unusual surfaces - just not on canvas. His graphic paintings were devilish and pretty cool. I especially liked a series of painted cards, which seemed too small to be postcards. He found these greeting cards at a flea, the front are family portraits. He liked the aged paper of the reverse side and the deckle-cut edges. He used housepaint and guache and put them inside vintage tramp art frames that he scored on EBay. Very cool!