Sacred Mountain: a Juried Exhibition at Saint Mary's Hearst Gallery

Mount Diablo Summer Sunset, 14 x 14 watercolor

Here is the information on the opening events this weekend:

Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga
SACRED MOUNTAIN: IMAGES OF MT. DIABLO AND MT. FUJI

May 2 - July 3, 2009
Featuring nearly 100 works of art, including paintings, woodblock prints, photographs, works on paper,textiles, and decorative objects, circa 1650 to 2009.

Opening Events -Sunday, May 3 ,2 – 3 pm Lectures

Preserving and Protecting Diablo: Ron Brown

Fuji and the Japanese People: Naoko Uehara

Soda Activity CenterEvent

Reception following -3:15 – 4:30 pm

Hearst Gallery & patio

It will be interesting to see this exhibit. I think of Japanese Art as being more on paper, such as woodcuts and watercolor ( or actually traditionally ink) paintings vs as using oil paints. When I delivered my painting, I was the only watercolor in the Diablo portion of the exhibit at the time. It will be interesting to see the different interpretations: we all have our own views of Diablo as our population is scattered around the entire base. I am somewhat focused on painting mountains and ridges and am interested in how Mt Fuji has inspired artists on the other side of the world. My painting Mt Diablo Summer Sunset was painted from the West Side of Danville.

Pacific Swirls

Pacific Swirls 14 x 11 watercolor

If you are familiar with my work you know I gravitate towards painting panoramas , particularly mountains and canyons. I started this work last summer and probably should have documented it's tortured evolution. For a long time it just looked too blue. I finally got the color green of the water and I like the patterns in the water, but I need to do many more rock paintings before I feel good about them. They are tricky, they need to be solid, but simplified. I think simplifying foregrounds is one of the most difficult things for me to pull off as a painter.

142nd AWS Annual International and 40th CWA National Exhibition

A Tangled Place 14 x 14 the 142nd American Watercolor Society International Exhibition

Valley Vertigo 21 x 14 40th California Watercolor Association National Exhibition

The 142nd American Watercolor Society Annual International Exhibtion opens in four days at the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan. Across the country, here in San Francisco at the Presidio, the California Watercolor Association 40th National Exhibition is installed now. I am thrilled to be an exhibitor in both. Why go to all the expense of entering and shipping these paintings?

I was listening to Chuck Close on NPR the other night and he articulated it very well. Art that has lasting value is usually that which is well-regarded by other professional artists. My goal is to create something original of lasting importance, that shows I have something unique to say about my subjects. The jurors in the exhibits are professionals and their acceptance of works gives me some validation and important motivation to get out there and paint .

The AWS exhibit is a first acceptance. The California Watercolor Association makes the fourth acceptance out of the last five. So I am trying to develope a track record of national recognition that hopefully collectors and galleries will notice (I also have one NWS National under my belt, so that makes a grand total of six national acceptances )

Two New Mount Diablo Paintings

Twisted Mountain(Mt Diablo) 14 x 21 watercolor Mount Diablo from Lafayette

Magee Ranch Tapestry(Mt Diablo) 14 x 21 watercolor Mount Diablo from the Magee Ranch Subdivision

This winter's drought yielded some paintings that look more like summer! These were painted in January before the rains. The cold air was clear, so the shapes on the mountain have a certain crispness I enjoy. Both were started outside and finished in the studio where I saturate the colors.

Twisted Mountain: SOLD Fairmont Gallery , Sonoma. Magee Ranch Tapestry:SOLD Portnoy Galleries, Carmel

Exhibit at Thomas Moser Cabinetmakers until May 12

September in Sunol, watercolor 14 x 21

I just returned from installing a two person exhibit"Two Plein Air Colorists" at the gorgeous Thomas Moser showroom in San Francisco. The furniture has a wonderful aesthetic. Beautiful to look at and wonderful to feel. Thomas Moser has a tradition and commitment to showing the work of local plein air painters.

My partner in this exhibit is Mary Lou Correia. A versatile artist who works well in both oil and pastel. She and I have painted together several times and it is always interesting to see her vision. Our work complements each other's very well since I paint watercolors that can look more like oils than watercolors.

The showroom is located at 3395 Sacramento Street in the Laurel Heights district of San Francisco. (At the corner of Sacramento and Walnut) Open Mon thru Sat 10 to 6 and Sun 11 to 4.

California Art Club: Celebrating the Golden State Juried Exhibition

Five O' Clock Shadow, 14 x 14 watercolor, lower right

The opening for this exhibit was last night and fellow CAC Artist member Larry Cannon was there and kind enough to send me these photos of the exhibit.( thanks Larry) The exhibit runs through June ( at the Old Mill, SanMarino) so I hope to get to see it sometime before it is over. It is an intimate space and the works are medium to small. I think the photo Larry sent shows an excellent job of installation.

Some artists don't like to be hung on the bottom of a double hanging, but I take it as a compliment! Having installed a fair number of shows myself, it is usually the strong paintings that can have enough presence to be below.

I was going for a bold approach with strong lighting. My piece is "5 O'Clock Shadow"(Lower right) and it was painted between 4:45 and 5:30 in beautiful Carmel Valley.