Open Studio Season

Yes, for many, it's Open Studio Season again, and here chez nous, Tony will be participating in Art at the Source the first two weekends in June (the 2nd & 3rd, 9th & 10th). I'm sitting this one out (lots of my work will be on display through June & July down at Crome Architecture in San Rafael)  and will be back on the roster in October when ArTrails rolls around. Come this weekend, I'll be in the wings, playing hostess and identifying plants, so stop on by if you're in the neighborhood. As always, my studio can be visited by appointment. At left,  older & newer paintings as I try to sort out what'll fit in the show at Crome.

Click to link over to the Art at the Source online catalog for more info.

'Underlying Nature'-- coming to San Rafael

I'm finishing up a batch of paintings to be hung soon at Crome Architecture in San Rafael. There'll be a reception during San Rafael's Second Friday Art Walk: June 8th, 5:30-8:30.
The location is 905 Fourth Street. Come on by if you can!

SRJC Faculty Show -- & more!

I have a couple of large canvases up in a  faculty show at the Santa Rosa Junior College, where I teach.  It is a really beautiful space, and it is exciting to see the work displayed there, together with work by my many gifted colleagues.

left: 'Wonder', with Deborah Kirklin's paintings to the right

left: 'Twist', with Michael Loffredo constructions in the middle, and Connie Goldman on the right

 If you're in the area, the gallery is open Monday through Thursday, 10-4pm, and Saturdays, noon-4pm.
The gallery is on the ground floor of the Doyle Library. Parking & directions, here. Show continues through March 15.

AND-- this morning I dropped off the two paintings below at Qucksilver Mine Co., a lovely gallery in nearby Forestville. They will be up on the walls during the upcoming opening reception for Chris Beards' show, and through the next month & a half or so.
The reception is on Saturday,  March 3,  4—6pm, and the regular gallery hours are Thursday—Monday 11-6 (Closed Tuesday/Wednesday). Quicksilver is located at 6671 Front St. (Hwy. 116) in Forestville.

New Year, New Work

Yup, been quite a while since we've had fresh images on here. Yet I have been painting up a storm (well, considering the holidays, and all). I began this batch of paintings just before Thanksgiving. All seen in progress, but some are in the home stretch. Still have a couple more canvases to begin, and then it'll be back to the store for more. Hope you all are rolling into a very fine new year as well.

Bee (paintings) for sale! & studio updates

Just before Thanksgiving I went down & bought myself seven big shiny new canvases, and started working on them, yes, the day before the holiday. I've been on a creative roll ever since, in and amongst lovely family & social & work activities. I have a show scheduled for June in San Rafael, and there are some good-sized wall spaces to fill, so I'm using that as a bit of a focus for this new batch of paintings. So, the one thing that's fallen by the wayside is my momentum towards whipping up smaller products for the previously mentioned holiday open studio. I'm thinking BIG, baby!

Anyone interested in revisiting something seen at October's Open Studio, or arranging to visit the studio, is most welcome to contact me (lisabee@sonic.net) but for the time being the extent of my holiday sale effort has consisted of putting up paypal buttons (at open studio prices) for all the small bee paintings I still have available over at my Bee Blog.  (tax & shipping via US mail has been included in the price, and if you're local & want to come and look in person-- that works, too)

I hope you'll forgive the false starts & indecision, but painting beckons, and I'm heeding the call!
If you're a user of the facebook, I'm beginning a 'fan' page there. It's still new, but hop on over & 'like' it if you like, & perhaps you'll receive more frequent updates on my art activities! Click
here to be transported.

Thank you!!!

Thank you! to those of you who made it out to the studio during the past two glorious Fall weekends. And especially to anyone who is new to knowing my work-- and my new collectors! thanks for supporting the arts in my neighborhood : ) Also thanks to any longtime followers of this space. I know you can't all make it out to Sonoma County, though we'd love to see you here. Click here to be whisked over to an online gallery from Open Studios.

Come Visit! during ArTrails in October

I'm going with a card design this year that reflects the multiple streams of activity that have been going on in the studio this year (well, as always, really).
The studio will be open for your viewing pleasure during two ArTrails weekends in October:

October 15, 16, & 22, 23,
10-5pm each day
at Atelier One # 18
2860 Bowen Street in Graton

Keeping it Local

As we sometimes do, we're hanging paintings down at our favorite local place-- the WillowWood Cafe. Two blocks away, it doesn't get much more local than that! It's me in the front, and 8 of the BLT collaborations in the back room. Next up: ArTrails-- mark your calendars for October 15, 16, & 22, 23.

Also Showing at...

Along with 55 other Northern California artists, I have a small piece included in the exhibition "Boxed In: Working Small" opening at the Quicksilver Mine Co. Gallery in Forestville this Saturday. The Opening Reception will be July 9th, from 4-6pm. Gallery is located at 6671 Front St. (Hwy. 116)

B.L.T. Brings it to Berkeley

Followers of this blog will likely recall the collaborative painting group I'm a part of-- called B.L.T. for Bob, Lisa, Tony. This week, if you're in the East Bay, you'll have a chance to see several of B.L.T.'s paintings (six to be exact!) on display in a group exhibition with 'Sonoma Blight', a group that Tony's been meeting with for a bit. This is their inaugural exhibition together.

Other 'Blighters' included in the show include: Todd Baricklow, Art Moura, William Smith, Judson King Smith. "We are a Sonoma County art group that is distinguished from the typical pleasant art of Sonoma County wine art. There is a natural attraction to each other's work which drew us together to form The Blight. The work is concerned with dark humor and is often political. It can be raw or dexterous but either way we try for the gut."

There will be an Opening Reception held Friday, July 9th, from 7-10pm. Firehouse North Gallery is located at 1790 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. The show remains up through July 30th. Please check their website for info on visiting the gallery-- I believe there are limited hours.

Something I've been up to...

I mentioned a few posts back that I was working on Bee Paintings. Well, I've continued to do so--and I've written about it over here. It feels like a convergence of my gardening and painting activities, and its a project that will continue throughout the year as bees move on to new plants for nectar & pollen as they come into bloom. If you'd care to follow along, and learn about the little critters along the way, join me at my new BeeBlog.

Of course I'll be doing other work too, and will continue to blog about it all here, sporadically, as is my way. Hope you all are well.

Studio Visits

If you're a follower of the Open Studios events in Sonoma County, you may have noticed I'm not listed in the June Catalog-- have no fear-- I'll be back on the roster in October for ArTrails!
In the meantime you have one more weekend to visit over a hundred fabulous participants in Art at the Source (I'm going to get out there some myself).

AND-- you can always come to visit me by appointment (write lisabee(at)sonic.net-- spell out the b-e-e but use the @ symbol) and Tony will be kicking off a summer-long print sale, starting this weekend (call 824-1587 if you need instructions).

Happy summer-- I think it's here now!

'The Abstract'-- show at Sandra Lee Gallery

I dropped off this painting today in San Francisco, as it was selected by the juror of the upcoming exhibition 'The Abstract' at Sandra Lee Gallery in SF. Looks like it'll be a fine show, juried by Phil Linhares of the Oakland Museum.

bees reprise

About this time last year I painted my first round of bees. Now I'm at it again!

Whilst in L.A.: Fresh Paint

Last month, during my Spring Break from teaching, Tony & I set off for L.A.-- a trip we had long spoken of, but somehow had a hard time getting around to.

It was short, but great in many ways. We went to lots of galleries-- in Culver City, Bergamot Station, & Beverly Hills, along with visiting the Getty Center.

I was particularly happy to get to visit Fresh Paint, a gallery in Culver City I had sent some work down to in the Fall as part of a group show. Here's some of what was on the walls the day we visited (all photos taken at Fresh Paint). Tony had a good time connecting with the gallery dogs, as well!

(click to enlarge any image)

six feet wide, with six feet tall

made with the Mandala HD app for iphone, see below.

more fun with apps...kaleidoscope version

I've been enjoying endless fascination & color palette analysis with my latest iphone app: Mandala HD, which spins out variations from any photo you take. I've been shooting areas from my paintings, and then watching what happens. What a great tool for a fabric designer, eh?

Now, Back to This...

As so often happens, this painting, which I was working on in the Fall, was never finished. But life moved on & I moved on, & tonight, suddenly its time had again come. I definitely pushed it further towards completion tonight. (terrible light & color-- I do apologize!)

Angie Lewin, printmaker

I just discovered this artist-- Angie Lewin, predominantly a printmaker, who lives in the U.K.-- when I picked up her (beautifully designed) new book in a bookstore yesterday.
Don't know why I haven't known of her work sooner. She loves seed-pods & umbel flower forms... well, even more than I do.
Much info on her exists on the web, including her website.

Makes me think about exploring woodcuts for the first time in many a moon.
And maybe visiting England.

Click over here for photos of Queen Anne's Lace (a classic umbel) from the summer.

Their Own Page

Yup, now the portfolio of B.L.T.'s collaborative paintings can be seen over on their own blog.