i just started a new website: here. click the refresh button a few times if all the images don't load the first timeit's in progress. lots of the hyperlinks won't work yet. let me know what you think.

museo correr, veneziafrom my anglo/italian sketchbookwhen i was sketching alone in italy, following graduation, i would spend hours drawing without any distractions, other than from passersby. actually it was a great way to meet local people to sit and draw, since they would love to take a look at what i was doing and would inevitably roll into an interesting conversation. paper and pencil. that was it. no watercolors. no oils. just black + white. so simple and yet such a delicious medium to render shape and light. this one was of a beautiful relief on the wall along the stairway in the museum. i was drawn to the flowing lines and heroic nature of the woman. ahh to draw for hours in italy again. maybe someday, maybe someday.

conservatory of flowers, san francisco

it was such a gorgeous day, although quite chilly for s.f. there was ice along pathways in golden gate park. in all the years that i lived in s.f. i had never seen ice there before. it was amazing!

sfmoma from yerba buena gardens (i did the construction documents for some of the gardens there many moons ago).

inside moma ...architecture by mario botta.
we visited some of his cool buildings in lugano switzerland on our honeymoon.

the inspirers

after a recent visit to the de young museum i was pleases to bring back a new book, ruth asawa contours in the air, which has been delightful to read. long an inspiration, since she developed many public works in san francisco when i was growing up and was a continual presence for art education in public schools, reading, especially about her youth, was fascinating. what friends she had: buckminster fuller, joseph albers, willem dekooning, imogen cunningham! b. fuller even designed her wedding ring! it was such incredible joy to see an exhibit devoted to her long career of extraordinary work in so many media, especially the long overdue recognition of her wire works that are sublime. i can't think of a solo exhibit that i have seen that has been so overwhelmingly pleasurable as this one was.

back in my studio, here's more stuff that inspires me mixed in between my paintings.

architecture notes

from my spatial composition class
architecture has quite the syntax!
i was going through boxes of stuff in my mom's garage and came across some folders of class notes. some i recycled like planning, blah blah blah, all talk and no action. but the design stuff i saved mostly because of the enthusiastic professor that taught the class, but also because it reminded me of all the hidden language of design that was pounded into us for five years which tends to pervade the process to much of my artwork.

everywhere i looked there was another live diebenkorn paintingtime to get out the oil paints and a big fat canvas

i left my heart in san francisco....legion of honor museum
i miss the sweet old museum
(damaged beyond repair after the '89 earthquake + demolished)
but the new one is quite a wow! experience.

my son reflected in a sculpture at the legion of honor

coit tower cityscape
ahhhh san francisco in january!
could there be a more beautiful city?

buzz.....my latest illustration friday submission

just a peekat clarity of adornment in the january exhibit

gilding remnantsfrom oil paintings in the january show

old stuff

gilding is so much fun.
light bounces all over the place, when the sun is out, off the little orbs of gold.
i dragged this one (oil on panel) out of the archives just as a reminder,
on this stormy dark day, that spring blossoms will come again.

a peek at the altarcloth shown this month at gallery fraga.
it's one of the ingredients of the birdie altar.featured here is applique of an oregon junco and red-shafted flicker.

what a way to start the new year!

i think it's going to be a great new year with the sighting this morning
of a female peregrine falcon in our back yard!
it was perched atop the bunny hutch (empty!),
that we painted recently, from where she surveyed
the whole garden for critters to eat.
no wonder there were none of the usual small birds present.
they knew when to hide!
what a gorgeously regal creature that falcon was
as she spun her head completely to her rear
and back around 360 to the other side
with those intent eyes beeming.
happy new year to all and happy birding!
(painting: detail from 3, oil on panel)

wishing you a happy new year!

please come visit either on opening night, january 5th,
or through the month of january
to see my latest creations at gallery fraga
in the group show entitled, "birds of a feather".
my installation will be a shrine,
combinating oil paintings, fiber art and sylvan votary,
in reverence to endemic bainbridge bird friends.

ho ho ho!

happy holidays!

making photoshop paintbrushes has been too fun

left-over paint
oh the buttery goodness of oil paint! i hate to leave any remnants on my palette just to dry up into uselessness. so some of it ended up on these little squares of masonite, for what i don't have a clue. experimentation i guess. painting on textureless surfaces is dreamy. no fighting the weave of fibers. luscious paint, i just want to use it all the time. could it be like making mud pies when you're little? the slimey squishyness of adulthood.

detail from my latest birdie creation
in progress
using ribbons, velvet, silk, chiffon, corduroy, linen, cording, flannel...
it's a soup of fibers.

i'm sorry!i would guess about eight years ago i bought a fraser fir seedling at a christmas tree farm, which is now city parkland, and planted it in the backyard. abies fraseri are the ideal christmas tree. beautiful symetrical structure, strong green color, lovely needle form and an openness that allows for decorations to shine. well, as our garden has become more mature all my little seedlings, and i have planted many trees of all sorts, have started to obscure my beloved sunshine so i made the decision that i would wait until christmas time and harvest the faser fir. i think the tree grew four to five feet just in the last year, so if it were to come down this would have to be the year to do it. this is the worst part of christmas time to me. i hate that a tree that has grown for years and years is chopped down to enjoy for just a few weeks and then turned into compost. so i said to the tree just before we cut it down, "i'm sorry!".

i must admit that this is the most beautiful tree we have ever had in our house. we cut it so it is just a couple of millimeters from hitting the ceiling. it looks so odd out there were it used to be in the garden, so open, unconfined. the tree was cut right to the ground so it appears as if it were never there. a ghost tree. it has to be the freshest christmas tree ever, just hauled in from the backyard. thank you tree for your years of growth to become our holiday decoration.

happy holidays.

World AIDS Day is Today!

"Visual AIDS Postcards From the Edge Benefit

Hosted by Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
530 West 22nd Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues)
New York City

Preview Party on World AIDS Day
Friday, December 1 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Sneak peek only -- NO POSTCARD SALES.
$75 admission includes one raffle ticket.

Benefit Sale

Saturday, December 2 from 12:00 - 6:00 PM &
Sunday, December 3 from 12:00 - 4:00 PM
$5 Suggested Admission

Over 1,500 original postcard-sized works of art."
including one from this artist
"ONLY $75 EACH. Buy four cards and get one free.

Postcards From the Edge is a show and sale of original, postcard-sized works on paper by established and emerging artists. Famous in the art world as the most exciting and affordable way to build a collection of work by internationally renowned artists, as well as young and emerging artists, all works are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The works are signed on the back and exhibited so the artists' signatures cannot be seen. While buyers have a list of participating artists, they don't know who created which piece until purchased. A collector might end up with a work by a famous artist or someone they don't know yet. Either way, they walk away with a great piece of art while supporting the important work of Visual AIDS."

ho ho ho happy december!

i unearthed all the christmas decorations today from the farthest reaches of the closet under the stairs, where everything gets stashed. it is like excavating a tomb with all the archeological layers accumulating in there.

i made this stocking about six years ago after making personalized stockings for everyone else around here. my daughter's features a kitty ballerina with jewelled tiara, pearl necklace and tule tutu. my son's took the longest to make...all cross-stitch. and my husband's is a felt applique snow scene with sequins + beads. i think he would rather have a plainer one. i will have to make him a new one that he will like better someday.