Illustration Friday's theme "Balloon"

11x14, pencil sketch on canvas

Title: More Than One Way to Fly

This faerie is a little chagrined that she missed her flight, but her little fox-squirrel friend is happy just to be with her.

I started this piece for Illustration Friday's theme "Balloon." It was my intent to have this be a full fledged painting, but I need more time to make it so. When I complete the painting, I will post an update.

Obon Festival

This weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple's Obon Festival. I loved that image they had hanging down in front of the temple. That's me by it. The festival was to honor the ancestors of members and friends of the temple. I had the opportunity to see taiko drumming, the Manto-e Service (gathering of 10,000 lanterns), and the Bon Odori dance. It was all very beautiful and moving. I have a number of photographs that may be reference materials for future paintings. Currently I'm working on a painting very loosely inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's Leda and the Swan. I did the drawing for it a while back and then set it aside, I'm not sure what motivated me to put it on the easel, but on the easel it is!

Friday Treats

This Friday I finished this small 5x7 pink and yellow rose acrylic painting that I have yet to title. Later as a treat I went out to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. To my surprise, they were having an evening of music with the Harmonia Baroque Players. This ensemble is a group of four musicians who perform music written for small groups in the 17th and early 18th centuries playing on period instruments. It was truly a delight to hear them play. I think their music would be excellent to paint to. It was mentioned that their work was available in the gift shop and I intend to look for it the next time that I visit. For this visit, the museum was closing very shortly after their show and I wanted to spend some time engulfed in their fabulous Impressionist section before it was time to go. I am so in love with Degas' dancers! Time and again I am moved by them, yesterday was no exception. The Norton Simon titled their musical evening "Baroque Treats for the Eyes, Ears and Soul" and it truly was a wonderful combination of art and music.

The LACMA today

Today I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and saw two exhibits. One was a grouping of Chicano art mainly from the collection of Cheech Marin and the other was Japanese art ranging primarily from 1615-1868 from the Price collection titled The Age of Imagination.

I was very impressed with how vibrant the Chicano art was, although the themes were very versatile, some of the art felt very much like Impressionism. I have the book Chicano Visions, American Painters on the Verge by Cheech Marin and many of the paintings selected for the show were in the book. It's always wonderful to see in person works only seen before in print.

The Age of Imagination was beautiful, seeing what could be accomplished with a single brushstroke moved me. There was so much delicacy paired with a strength of confidence. The art was masterful. To quote Joe D. Price on a painting from the Kyoto school, "You will not find a single overpowering brushstroke. That is not empty space that you are seeing. What appears empty is a series of gradual shadings, carrying your eyes around the painting."

I came home and painted for a little bit, but my mind is a little dizzy from all the art I have seen. I don't think the painting I'm working on right now is interesting enough yet to post a picture of, but hopefully it will get there.

Happy New Year!

Hmm, so maybe I'm a little bit behind the times but today is also the start of Chinese New Years, so gung hay fat choy!

I have two new florals, the dark anthuriums measuring 18"x24" is yet to be titled and the pink rose measuring 5"x7" is titled Essential Calm and destined to be given as a gift:

I also have some new listings on eBay, three fantasy paintings and one bug, if you'd like to take a look:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZstudiolr

A film and a painting

On Wednesday I went to the Laemmle Theater in Pasadena and saw "The Rape of Europa," a documentary about the battle to save some of the greatest artistic and cultural masterpieces during World War II based on the book by Lynn Nicholas. I found the film to be extremely moving on a human level and visually stunning on an artistic level. I think I may see this one again in the theater if I manage to get there in time before it closes, I do not know if that will be the case with this film, but I know that with some art films they have a very limited release. There's also a companion book to the film titled "Rescuing Da Vinci" that I'd like to take a look at. I was fortunate enough to see the Klimpt show at LACMA a while back that related very strongly to the film. While no film or book can ever outdo the experience of seeing any of these masterpieces in person, these works are so amazing that even when seeing them on film it feels like time stops.


Yesterday I worked on one of my florals. I'm not that very far into it, but this is where it is right now:

Nearly a year has passed since my first post...

I really did not mean to let so much time pass between my first post and my second... Here is a link to the lovely qAe youtube project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMfgX8mM-G0

Here is an in progress view of a painting I finished today, each session represents an average of one to four hours at a time. I think she has kind of an Egyptian feel:

Anyway, I hope to post next sooner then I did last.

The qAe youtube project...

These are the three images I chose for the qAe youtube project. I'm looking forward to seeing what the other artists have selected for the project.