Notes from Baja

In Tijuana, on the road to Ensenada: the old fence and behind it, the new one.


The new fence


On the road to Ensenada




In Ensenada










"El Alcobar"


"El Hombre Ballena" (The Whale Man)
by Alfonso Arambula


"El Hombre Ballena" (detail)


Quinceañera




Taqueria "El trailero" in El Sauzal








Evening in San Miguel


In the morning


On the road back to Tijuana


In Tijuana




Waiting at the border

Opening "Trade Show / California - Turkey" @ the Garage

Anna Stump who curated and organized the show,
and Larry Caveney (The Garage)










With Guy Lombardo, who will have a show at the garage in August.
Opening night: Saturday, August 8, 2009





The opening was Friday, July 3. The show runs until July 31.

To see all the pieces included in the show, go to:
Trade Show "California - Turkey"

The Garage
4141 Alabama Street #4
San Diego, CA Email: deepseal2@aol.com

"Trade Show / California - Turkey" @ the Garage, opening this Friday

Marcela Villasenor


Maura Vazakas


Hasip Pektas


L. Odom


Anna Stump


Michele Guieu

(above are some of the artworks included in the show).
To see more of them please check out this link.

After "Voices: Mapping the Hood / A Multi-media Interactive Collaborative Installation @ Art Produce Gallery", and "Give Some, Take Some @ The Garage", here is "Trade Show, California – Turkey", a swap of artworks between 100 Californian artists (a lot of them from San Diego) and 100 Turkish artists. The artists used a two-dimensional, 6” x 6” format. The show is organized and curated by Anna Stump.

Trading is a concept I am very interested in. The three shows/events are not related to each other but they are based on the same principle. I participated in the three events, each of them being a very good and positive experience!

I am looking forward to go to the opening of the show tomorrow at the Garage.

The opening reception: July 3, From 7:00 to 9:00pm.
The show runs from July 1 to July 30, 2009

The Garage
4141 Alabama Street #4
San Diego CA 92104
contact: deepseal2@aol.com
or: amstump@gmail.com

Notes About These Days

Spending a lot of time with the kids. No summer camp until next week and that's OK.
Going to the beach in the morning.
Overcast skies.
Tiny flies on the piles of seaweeds.
They fly away each time someone walks by.

The kids laughing in the waves.
White Zinc on the Face.
Me, a little bit worried about the waves! Shiny wetsuits.
Together, standing in the middle of a sea of white foam.
The sound of the waves, non stop.



Pelicans fishing.
Seagulls stealing food in people's bags.

Looking at the people walking on the beach, one of my favorite subjects. People walking in an almost empty space. No artifice.

Just watching. I do not take my nice camera every day.

Crunchy peanut butter bars.
Sand on my cell phone.

Sand in the house.
Seeing friends.
Taking my time sometimes.
Breathing.

Went with Kyle to the annual dinner given by the San Diego Museum of Art Contemporary Art Committee, hosted by Michele and Rick, contemporary art lovers. Sunny house - lot of cacti.
I was invited because I participated in the talk at Noel-Baza Fine Art, on the occasion of New Contemporaries II. We Had a great time.

Sketching and sketching for my upcoming solo exhibition at Art Produce in December. Wishing to do something low key but surprising and inviting. Thinking about something to give vs something to sell. Thinking about the scale of the work. should I use the second room? I still did not decide. There are so many things I can do. In fact I can do pretty much what I want. This is the nice thing about Art Produce.

Making some connections. Next week I'll meet with some people at the SDAI where I have my show. I am thrilled about that.

Taking one day after another.

A friend of mine, artist, just told me she has cancer. And money problems.

Watching the clouds, in an otherwise sparkling blue sky.

Another friend just went back to France. Hopefully she will recover quickly from the surgery she had here in San Diego. A surgery she cannot get in France. She suffered for 11 years, walking off and on, mostly with a cane, after an injury to her ankle when she was 15.
Great lunch together in Pacific Beach, close to the beach. She was telling me about her work in France. She has a show about History on TV: she invites politicians, writers, to talk about their books. I like her laugh!



Michael Jackson in pain. Dead.
Farrah in pain too. Dead too.
Long gone her beautiful smile and her unbelievable hair.

Seeing some shows.
Always concentrating on what I feel connected to.
Not the rest.

Tired of the endless wars: the big ones, far from here and the little ones, right here. Isn't it possible to be forgiven and compassionate to each other? Why the wars far from here and the people dying do not give us the desire to love more, to listen more?

I hear big words and big thoughts about what is going on in Iran.
But what do we do here, where we live?
Are we capable of real attention?
Could we be less judgmental?
More compassionate?

Talking to my neighbor. He gave me some beautiful lemons from his tree. I made some lemonade for all the kids. Sometimes the house is full, they all play Hide and go seek.
Lots of screaming!

Looking for the best series of paintings to show at Project X Art in Solana Beach for their first show which will be a group show at the end of August. Exciting.

Updating my website as often as possible with Dreamweaver, I still have to write some code some time to time!

Listening to my Pandora station.
Snow Patrol.

In the end we all die. No surprise here. But for now we are alive and it is quite amazing.



Years ago I lost a friend, she was 34. She had cancer. I remember going to the hospital every night. We talked, we laughed. We had a very good time. We were there, together, knowing that the end was close. And we just took a day after another. She was so alive and so close to die at the same time. I remember coming back to my studio each night, not sad. Light somehow. We shared something precious that I never forgot.
I still see her smile.

"Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life"
Snow Patrol / Chasing Cars

May-Ling Martinez: Measured Resistance @ Luis de Jesus Seminal Projects

May-Ling Martinez: Measured Resistance
June 27 - August 1, 2009

Luis de Jesus Seminal Projects
2040 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 696 9699

Pina Bausch

Lots of good memories about my years spent in Paris came back to me today... I was lucky enough to see Pina Bausch's work several times in the Theatre de la Ville before I moved to the U.S.

Artists' call announcement / "Capitalism in Question (because it is)" / Pitzed Art Galleries, Pitzer College

Deadline: July 20, 2009

Pitzer Art Galleries
1050 North Mills Ave., Claremont, CA 91711
Director, Ciara Ennis
Email, CapinQuestArt@Pitzer.Edu
Website, http://www.pitzer.edu/artgalleries
Tues.-Fri., 12-5pm

The Center for Social Inquiry at Pitzer College and the Pitzer Art Galleries are pleased to announce an open call for art works addressing the broad theme of "CAPITALISM IN QUESTION (because it is)."

The rampant capitalism of the last decade, and its recent catastrophic crisis, has left us in a peculiar and unfamiliar space. Capitalist economic ideology and practices are suddenly under renewed scrutiny. "CAPITALISM IN QUESTION (because it is)" invites artists to explore our current economic predicament and to consider a range of alternatives to it. Visual artwork in all media-painting, installation, sculpture and photography-is encouraged.
.......................................................................
about the juror, Daniel Joseph Martinez

C'est La Vie: Territories Series / Connections

"C'est La Vie", (detail)


Territories Series / Connections (#1)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#2)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#3)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#5)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#6)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#7)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#8)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 4"x4"


Territories Series / Connections (#9)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 6"x6"


Territories Series / Connections (#10)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 6"x6"


Territories Series / Connections (#11)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 6"x6"


Territories Series / Connections (#12)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 8"x8"


Territories Series / Connections (#16)
2009, acrylic on wood panel, 8"x8"

C'est La Vie
San Diego Art Institute / Museum of the Living Artist
June 5 - July 12, 2009
Monday - Saturday from 10 to 4.
Sunday from noon to 4.
1439 El Prado
San Diego CA 92101
(619) 236-0011
contact Debbie Wells: dwells@mola-sdai.org

C'est La Vie - Watching Series

"C'est La Vie", detail


"C'est La Vie", detail

In "C'est La Vie", I worked on four different series of images: "Watching Series", "Territories Series / troops", "Territories Series / Connections" and "Territories Series / Landscapes". Here are the paintings from the Watching Series.


Watching Series (#4)
acrylic on canvas, 12"x12", 2009


Watching Series (#10)
acrylic on canvas, 10"x10", 2009


Watching Series (#8)
acrylic on canvas, 8"x8", 2009


Watching Series (#3)
acrylic on canvas, 6"x6", 2009

C'est La Vie
San Diego Art Institute / Museum of the Living Artist
June 5 - July 12, 2009
Monday - Saturday from 10 to 4.
Sunday from noon to 4.
1439 El Prado
San Diego CA 92101
(619) 236-0011
contact Debbie Wells: dwells@mola-sdai.org

Collective Mail Art

Eric Meyer worked first and sent his envelope to Ivan Sigg.


Ivan Sigg worked on the envelope and he sent it to me.


I intervened last and I sent the envelope back to Eric Meyer.