Yesterday I headed over to my friend William's studio. The cool part of it all was that Open Studios was going on in his building. I was excited because his studio is at a gallery space where there are several artists - all whom I think are not only talented but great people. I got there around two o'clock and had such a good time that I ended up spending the entire afternoon there. I left as the doors closed at 6 pm!
It was a well needed break, a true day off for me and at the same time, it was the inspiration I needed. I found myself wandering from one space to the next, sitting and chatting with artists I had not seen since spring. I was inspired by their ideas. I felt relieved by some of our similar feelings (pressure to do more, feeling unprepared, wanting things the way they appear in our mind...) We talked about a variety of things and it was a good time.
I didn't take any photos but I got some from facebook - photos that other friends have posted so I can share with you images of some of these great people I spent time with yesterday. (Click the links if you want to see more of their work.)
John's paintings are colorful and whimsical scenes around the bay area. He's a nice guy and seems to really enjoy his life with his wife and two daughters. It's always fun to run into him because he's easy going and relaxed, always optimistic and down-to-earth. We joked that his work is always so full of darkness and gloom (not!).
I'd never met
Rachel before but her paintings made me stop and look closer. I ended up in her studio for half an hour and organically engaged in a conversation with her and a guy who was wandering through. The three of us talked about her work and somehow got on the subject of where we live influencing how we feel. She talked about having grown up in Kansas and watching the sky as a child. She paints clouds and puffs of smoke that happen as a result of an explosion or fire or something burning. She got excited when I called her work, "troubled clouds" because the way they were painted, I knew they weren't just ordinary clouds in the sky. Once she begin to talk about the work, I immediately recognized what she was attempting to convey. One huge painting looked like a plume of smoke from a refinery. It was intriguing and I found myself inspired by her.
I saw my friend
Tanya and we talked about the creative process and all of the expectations we put on ourselves. We also talked about some of her work which I had not seen before and caught up on life.
William is a gentle soul, a good listener and someone whom I feel like I have known forever but only known for a little over a year. His work is beautiful and yesterday I got to see not only his paintings and drawings but some of the photos he's been taking lately as he walks around the city.
I met an artist named
April yesterday. I could not figure out why she seemed familiar but later realized I'd seen her work before somewhere else. We unexpectedly ended up having a long conversation in her studio. Turns out she used to have a space at the shipyard so we talked about all of the great things about working there as well as the strange things. She makes art for a living so we talked about the struggle of making ends meet and I realized I am not alone in my feelings of doubt that come up sometimes. In the end, we both agreed that we live beautiful lives and that making art is something we
must do.
My last stop was at
Priscilla's studio. her work is inspired by her Japanese heritage and she has a fun youthful way about her approach to what she creates. Her studio is filled with items from Japan which accent her work perfectly. Yesterday she showed me these dinosaur, kind of reptile-like images she'd painted. The paint was thickly applied to the canvas and she'd incorporated snake skins into the paintings. That was an interesting conversation when I asked her were she managed to find snake skins. She mentioned a place that sells them by the bag here in SF! We chatted as I watched the old original Godzilla movie which she played in her studio, projected on a big wall. The movie played as a backdrop for her new paintings. There I was surrounded by Japan inspired paintings, Japanese toys, a movie in Japanese with English subtitles and Priscilla - my friend with the crazy mobile earrings and whimsical dress. It was good fun.
Priscilla in her big bright earrings along with another artist Judy.
