"Anything else?"

This morning at the coffee shop.

I voted!

44 days ago I became an American citizen and today I voted for the first time! I am thrilled to participate in this historic vote!

Early voting (thank you Kevin Freitas!)
Registrar of Voters
5201 Ruffin Rd., Suite I
San Diego, CA 92123

RoV is open for voting 8 am to 5 pm Monday thru Friday.
November 1-2, 2008 - Weekend
RoV office open 8am thru 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Laurie Anderson at The Loft - UCSD

one of the decorated wall in the room

October 21, in the morning, I went to The Loft, a beautiful new space for the performing arts at UCSD, on the second floor of the Price Center East . Laurie Anderson was talking. It was a public round table with UCSD faculty from the Departments of Anthropology, Communication, Critical Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, Theatre & Dance, and Visual Arts. The night before she performed "Homeland", which unfortunately I missed. The event was organized by Art Power! and I found it in Art as Authority's blog.


after the talk



Laurie Anderson with UCSD faculty members

The Loft
UC San Diego
Price Center east - second floor
directions

Dada Dinner

Our Dada Dinner is coming up and our "Dada team" is actively preparing everything we need for that very special night, with our 6 special guests. The Dada Dinner / Exquisite Corpse is part of a series of dinners: "Eat you Art Out", organized by the SDVAN, as a fundraiser for the organization. I will tell more about our Dada dinner and how it went in a few days! Dave Ghilarducci came up with the Dada theme and then Kevin Freitas and myself joined him. And our spouses did too! So now we have a pretty amazing team of 6 people. We imagined it like a very surrealistic play. I think the dinner will be something to remember.
Here are the tools I am using to "paint" some fabric for the dinner. I bought the whole set of used kitchen tools for a few dollars at the thrift store and I am having a lot of fun using them!

Nomination for the San Diego Art Prize 2009

in the studio (aka my garage)

I am very glad to be nominated for the San Diego Art Prize 2009 with 12 other artists:
David Adey (his show just opened at Seminal Projects, see the post below), Tania Alcala, Keikichi Honna, Omar Pimienta, Daniel Ruanova, Marisol Rendon, Tara Smith, Matt Stallings, K.V. Tomney, Jen Trute, Gustabo Velasquez, Yuransky.

What a nice surprise! We will all participate in a group show at Noel-Baza Fine Art in February. Two or three artists will be selected in the end. But being nominated is already great! It means some interesting opportunities in the San Diego art community could come along with this nomination.

During the past two years (I believe the prize was created two years ago) I went to see several exhibitions organized by the San Diego Art Prize, specially at L Street Fine Art and The California Center for the Arts. I was very often interested by what I was seeing. I discovered artists like like Iana Quesnell, Yvonne Venegas and Lael Corbin (who were all selected in the end).

So now I am even more excited and motivated to work on the new series of paintings I started - although I can feel some pressure!

For this new series, I spent a lot of time mixing images on the computer, trying different combinations of layers and looking for texts on the internet and in the newspapers. The photos I take every day are the base of my work.

I work mostly when the children are not home. Usually, I can dedicate around 6 hours per day to my work. It is an amazing luxury and I take advantage of it the best I can. I also try to go see exhibitions in the evening when I can. I think this is an important aspect of the art community's life. And sometimes, yes, it requires an effort. But it is almost always worth it. I appreciate that a lot of the people I know came to my show at the SDAI, I am thankful for that and I want to do the same for the artists I know - and also for the artists I don't -, as much as possible.

Since my children are not babies anymore, I work a lot. And I still spend a lot of time with them. Years before I had my children I did not want to have some because I thought I would never have enough time to do my work. But I work even more today. And my children are part of my inspiration. The energy they give to me is amazing: the way they do things, the things I see when I watch them, what they say.

Although the San Diego Art Prize is a competition - and I do not like competitions too much -, I think the experience will be very positive and I am looking forward to participate in the group show with some of the new pieces I am working on.

The Tower

At the New Children's Museum.

David Adey and Graham Caldwell at Seminal Projects

David Adey / I've got a river of life flowing out of me








(detail)

Graham Caldwell / Inside Out







Seminal Projects
2040 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101

Craig Kane at Keller Gallery

Craig Kane / Recollection
October 13 - November 5 Keller Gallery
Point Loma Nazarene University
3900 Lomaland Drive
San Diego, CA 92106

Monday- Friday: 9:00 to 4:00

Check Mat

That's what I hear a lot while playing chess against an unbeatable teacher! I never thought I would learn to play chess one day, but now I find it very interesting.

Superhero

The house which becomes a purse

At the New Children's Museum in San Diego Saturday afternoon.
Materials available: cardboard, tape, wooden sticks, scissors liquid glue and glue sticks. Straws, pipe cleaners and tape coming in different colors.

Red light photo

I love to take pictures, and one thing I do is taking pictures when I am in my car waiting at a red light. I may have a long series of "red light photos" by now!

The Sunflower

Next to the coffee shop where I go get a coffee sometimes, grew one giant sunflower. It is not part of the landscaping of the small shopping center and I wonder how the seed got there. I guess someone planted it, I find it funny.

Spacecraft Gallery: Cara Heslip / I've FELT better

A very participative show!


Some pictures taken during the opening reception.

Spacecraft Studio
2865 North Park Way
San Diego California, 92104

David White: Monument to Humility

Saturday night during North Park Nights, David White, director of Agitprop Gallery, installed his portable studio in the street and made miniature sculptures, "Monument to Humility", and give them away to the people passing by.



North Park Nights

North Park Nights opens this Saturday!

In North Park

University Av. and Utah St.

Art Class for Children with Lynn Susholtz

I took the children to an art class, at the North Park Recreation Center. My friend Christine told me about it, she came with her children too. They took the class last school year and they really enjoyed it. Lynn Susholtz, the art teacher, is the dedicated director of Art Produce Gallery in North Park. When we arrived four tables were ready for the class: one with small cups filled with paint, Q-tips (the brushes) and paper. One with a still life composition (pumpkins in a basket), oil pastels and paper. One with materials to build things. One with clay, paper plates and instruments to work the clay. The children choose at which table they want to seat and can change anytime. Lynn spoke at the beginning to explain with humor different useful things to know before to start. She asked some questions and also showed to the children some examples of still life paintings in a book about Impressionism. Then the children started working on their "project".
It was interesting to see that some children really enjoyed experimenting without apparently looking for a result.
It was the first class of the season. The kids had a great time. I think we will be there next week!















North Park Recreation Center
Art Class for Children - Free
Teacher: Lynn Susholtz
Every Thursday from 4:00 to 5:00pm
4044 Idaho Street
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 235-1152

Anza Borrego

"Territories Series: Anza Borrego", 2008, 12x12",
acrylic on wood panel

Walking on the sky

Thursday afternoon, Pacific Beach

"Left, Right and Center"at OT Gallery in Tustin

Old Town Gallery: "Left, Right and Center"
"Left, Right and Center is a project in collaboration with the national Art of Democracy exhibition coalition. The Art of Democracy seeks to attract individuals and artist organizations from around the nation to help amplify their message of civil activism, reform, dissent and protest. They aspire to bring together artists' energies on a national scale. This is not a single show but an affiliation of shows."

Artists: Diane Abt, Jared Millar, Kathi Flood, Christie Reynolds, Nick Gerhard, Kimberly Rose, Steve Greenberg, Brigitte Schobert, Michele Guieu, leslie Sokolow, Dirk Hagner, Tom Stubbs, Lanyi Janos, Zan Trout, Joel Joseph, Elisabeth Wallace, Philip Laber, Chelsea Weiss, Carolyn Liesy, Joyce Weiss, Jennifer Magsino, Ashlee Weitlauf, Emet Martinez, Etram Wolff, Ryan McJunkin.

The curator is Patrick Merrill. Two of my digital prints are selected.


There's Plenty of Time for Politics #1, 2008,
digital print on paper, 30"x60"


There's Plenty of Time for Politics #5, 2008,
digital print on paper, 30"x60"

The Show runs from October 8 to November 8, 2008 Artist Reception: Sunday, November 2, from 2:00 to 5:00pm.
Gallery Hours: Thursday - Saturday 12:00 - 5:00pm.

OT Gallery
150 East Main Street
Tustin, California 92780
(714) 734 9088

Six Feet Under

We enjoy the series "Six Feet Under". We just watched the episode where Nate Fisher dies. It is just a movie, but I cannot help being very moved. The loss of a child is for me an information impossible to process. Even though I know life is about changes and that anything can happen anytime. I do not live my life thinking about what could happen, I try to enjoy every day and I spend a lot of good time with my children. But still.

In North Park today, coming back from Artifact Studio

The Great Spider Hunt

Jim Berrian, one of San Diego's top spider experts
and an associate in Entomology
at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Last Saturday we took a nice walk through Rose Canyon in San Diego, with entomologist Jim Berrian, who can identify any spider in about 3 seconds and tell interesting stories about each species. He handed out bug boxes to the children and we examined plenty of different spiders and insects along the way. It is amazing to see what one can find when one is closely paying attention!

Friends of Rose Canyon
City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department
rosecanyon@san.rr.com

Call for Participation

Women Artists on Immigration: Crossing Borders, Confronting Barriers, Bridging Identities.Organized and presented by Women's Caucus for Art with the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles.

Exhibition Dates: February 20 - March 6, 2009
Opening Reception: February 27, 2009
Deadline for Receipt of Entries: November 14, 2008
Juror: Alma Ruiz, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA),
Los Angeles.
Download the prospectus at http://www.scwca.org
Questions: Contact Ann Isolde
E-mail,annisolde@scwca.org

Please direct e-mail inquiries to Ann Isolde's address (above); DO NOT use "Reply" button, it will send to ArtScene. To view formatted version online: http://artscenecal.com/0908/SCWCA0908.html


Juror Alma Ruiz

In this election year, we're seizing the moment to engage all women artists in California on the important topic of immigration. Each subtopic - Crossing Borders, Confronting Barriers, Bridging Identities - offers useful starting points for selecting or creating work for this show. Like the many current and prior related exhibitions on this subject, this show seeks to inspire an ongoing conversation and examination of the formation of our cultural, personal and political identities.

We encourage California-based women artists at all career levels whose work addresses the topic of immigration to submit work. Submissions will be selected by Alma Ruiz, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, and exhibited in the contemporary art gallery of the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles from February 20 - March 6, 2009. The work of accepted artists will be featured in a color catalog to support the inclusion of this show in the cultural record.

The opening reception on February 27, 2009 will take place during the annual conferences of the Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) and the College Art Association (February 25 - March 1, 2009).