Archive for December, 2010
National Park Service Artist-in-Residence Program
As part of the National Park Service’s Artist-in-Residence Program, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, located in Northern California, is seeking professional artists working in photography, sculpture and painting to participate in the 2011 Residency Program. Artists lucky enough to be selected will have the opportunity to live in an artists’ cabin in Whiskeytown for three weeks, with the goal of producing new works inspired by the park. The park features the Shasta Bally Mountain, oak woodlands, waterfalls, and Whiskeytown Lake. In exchange for the residency, the artists will be asked to give a public presentation and donate a piece of art from their time in Whiskeytown.
For an artist who loves landscape art, this sounds like a wonderful opportunity to create and commune with nature. To apply, artists are asked to submit a resume and exhibition record, statement of intent, sample of artistic works (5-8 images on a CD), and indication of preferred residency dates. Applications are due February 15, 2011 and should be mailed to Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Attn: Artist-in-Residence Program, P.O. Box 188, Whiskeytown, CA 96095.
Last Day in Solvang
Tomorrow I leave for Florida, but today I still have time to see more of Solvang. Son, Mark, and I drove the few blocks to downtown then walked. We saw a replica of The Little Mermaid and visited the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, which turned out to be a bookstore. We stopped at Del Sol and Mark picked up a bag, courtesy of our timeshare, which changes color in the sun. I found sunglasses whose frames change in the sun and can be replaced forever for $10 each. We visited the Z Folio Gallery which really was a jewelry store with stunning jewelry.
This afternoon we found a bust of H.C. Andersen and a row of those odd trees which will make a wonderful abstract painting someday. We also went to the town of Los Olivos, had wine by the fire at the Fess Parker Hotel and visited 2 more galleries. Tonight we had dinner at the Hitching Post, made famous by the movie Sidewise. The barbecued ribs were not sticky – no tomato sauce, just a rub - and were they ever tasty! It was a busy day, but I had a wonderful day and stay in Solvang, CA – the “Danish Capital of America”.
Exploring Solvang
Solvang’s rich heritage dates back to 1911 when adventurous Danish-Americans from Iowa and Minnesota traversed the plains to establish a settlement in California. They purchased 9,000 acres of the former Rancho San Carlos de Jonata adjacent to the historic 1804 Old Mission Santa Ines for $75,000 – a considerable sum in those days.
Today, I set off on foot down Alisal Road toward the center of town. All the buildings reflect the Danish farm-style architecture with their cross-beamed timbers framing either brick or stucco in rich reds, browns and greens; handsomely carved eaves and doorways; and roofing made of wood shingles cut jagged at the edges. Windmills of all sizes catch the light, a wooden stork on the top of the world famous Olsen Bakery, known for its Danish pastries, wards off lightening and brings good luck according to Danish tradition. Shops of all types and sizes line the streets.
Later in the afternoon, I visited the Old Mission and was able to do an oil painting in the courtyard. For dinner we ate steak at A.J Spur’s, modeled in the tradition of the Old West with huge beams supporting the walls and roof and stuffed animals of the plains here and there. The portions were huge and the steak and seafood were done to perfection!
Santa Barbara
My daughter, Mary, is to be married in the summer and today, my son and his family and I drove to Santa Barbara to meet her future parents-in-law. Driving south on Hwy 101, we traveled through beautiful hills and past the most interesting trees – always with one limb growing parallel to the ground before heading skyward – somewhat like the handle of a cup that never joins the cup again at the lip. I’ll have to learn the name of these trees that would make wonderful abstract paintings.
The parents were charming as was their youngest son. Mary and Samer were very happy to have the families together and looking forward to their impending marriage. Samer’s father was happy that his eldest son had found a wife. We ate at a restaurant on the water near the airport and all had a wonderful lunch and a great time together.
Solvang
My son and his family have a time share and this year invited me to join them in Solvang, CA, for Christmas. They picked me up in Santa Clara around noon and we drove south on Highway 101 for four hours through a wide valley. It’s a beautiful drive with hills on both sides of the valley and a wide variety of trees, subjects for many oil paintings. Eventually we came down a very long grade and reached the edge of the Pacific for a while, finally arriving in the quaint town of Solvang. It was as if we had suddenly arrived in Denmark.
The name Solvang means “sunny field” and was first settled in 1911 by Danish settlers from the midwest. It is a delightful town, full of gift shops, restaurants and bakeries. My son and his family like Japanese food, so we ate at their favorite restaurant – Kabuki – where we had a wide variety of foods and tastes. What a wonderful day!
Lychee Tea
It was more shopping today for Mary and me, but first we had to become beautiful! We stopped at the beautician’s shop for a manicure and pedicure, and then we were off. At the end of the day, we had completed our lists, including stops for lunch and tea. By the way, if you have the chance to try lychee green tea, hot or iced, give it a go! It’s a real treat! A lychee is a Chinese fruit, a small round fruit, much like a large grape, with a reddish skin, sweet whitish translucent pulp eaten fresh or dried, and a smooth hard seed. When I found one, peeled and seeded at the bottom of my cup, it was wonderful – a perfect ending to a great cup of tea!
No oil painting today for me, but I continue to admire all these beautiful trees. They are so different from my usual variety. By the way, did you know that the redwoods are cypress trees?
Stanford University
My daughter, Mary, and I went shopping today. She had a list of several family members for whom to shop and I had a few, and we visited several stores in search of just the right gift.
On the way home, we passed Stanford University in Palo Alto and decided to take a short drive through the University. We passed the Cantor Art Museum, Rodin Gardens with a multitude of statues (I really wished we had time to stop and visit), the beautiful sandstone buildings with the Florentine red roofs, some of the medical buildings, the Student Union and beautiful palm and eucalyptus trees.
The palms were different from the ones grown in Florida with bigger and more textured trunks. The eucalyptus trees were tall trees with yellow bark, different from anything I had ever seen. I could have spent at least a month doing oil paintings of these beautiful trees.
The Cringe Factor
Recently a reader wrote to Robert Genn, Canadian artist, “Recently I went to an opening of one of my favorite artists. Three or four of the oil paintings were top notch. Most of the rest didn’t rise to the same level. How do you manage the challenges of supplying paintings to all your dealers while keeping your work at a high level? Do you sometimes cringe when you see them in galleries?”
Gennn’s reply was: Catch losers early. Particularly at the beginning of a work, try to do a quick look-through as to where the work will likely take you. Thinking ahead warns of pictorial traps, creative boondoggles, substandard work and terminal cringes. Take time to look and see. You need to systematically set them on another easel and look at them morning and night, tired and fresh, under several moods and several lights. Over a period of time, the bad stuff miraculously appears and you can fix it. Get them back. From time to time cruise the dealers’ galleries. If need be, ask the dealer to have the work returned. Perhaps just a few strokes can fix the problem. The golden rule is not to send out substandard work in the first place. Be ever vigilant. Your destiny depends on it.
The Rockettes
The Rockettes were great! The Rockettes are a group of high-stepping dancers that make Radio City Music Hall their home for most of the year, but this year they happened to be in San Jose, CA, for a show today. Their most famous show each year is their Christmas show, and the people of San Jose and environs came out en masse enjoy it.
We first saw the Rockettes in New York City with Santa coming out to tell them they were to go to San Jose, and with the magic of background graphics, they rose up, flew through the sky and landed in CA. They did excerpts from The Nutcracker with Clara and friends. Another time, Santa said his favorite song was about toy soldiers, so the soldiers did a variety of drills. Another was about two brothers. The younger believed in Santa, but not the older one, so Santa had to take them to the North Pole where all the toys were made. The set was magnificent, and the toys were so animated that everyone would have to believe – including the older brother. We saw a city tour of New York. Again the landscape painting of the background was fantastic as we saw Times Square, St. John’s Cathedral, Central Park and more. What amazed me was that the wheels of the bus gave the appearance that the bus was moving, but only the background moved! The traditional Christmas story was reenacted, complete with gorgeous costumes and carols. The singing and dancing were absolutely wonderful and seeing this was a great way to celebrate the Christmas season.
Abstract art in America
The Nazi rise to power in the 1930s was a boon to the abstract art movement in the United States. Artists fleeing Nazi suppression, made New York their home. All the major modern art forms from expressionism to cubism to dada to abstraction found a spotlight in New York. Artists Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Leger, Piet Mondrian, and Andre Breton were among the great 20th century artists who found refuge in New York.
The cultural influences of the Europeans were melded with the aspirations of eager, young American artists. Galleries which had previously only showed abstract art from Europe began to take note of the American artists as they matured. Eventually, two well known groups formed. They were known as the Abstract expressionists and the New York School. From this explosion on the New York art scene the world gained such artists as Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, and Franz Kline.