Spring and Summer Shows

Hello Art Appreciators,

I have two shows lined up this summer so far, one at the beginning and one at the end.
First and soon!!
Ive got 5 "Animeople" paintings (animal headed miniatures) in a sci-fi and fantasy themed art show in Emeryville opening April 28th (yes- that's a Wednesday).
(see info below)
And Saturday September 26th I'll have over 20 pieces up at Daredevils and Queens on 4th street in Santa Rosa. The opening will be during the Handcar Regatta. Super fun steam-punk event!:
http://handcar-regatta.com/

Here's the info for the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show:

> Come one! Come all! It'll be both Scientific and> Fantastic!

Event: The 2nd Annual Science Fiction & Fantasy Art Exhibit
Wednesday, April 28 at 6:00pm-9:00PM

> Where: Periscope Cellars
http://periscopecellars.com/gallery12/
> To see more details and RSVP, write me or follow the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=105896249452786&mid=231fd94G23566f7bG46a32a6G7&n_m=shermworm1%40yahoo.com

Thanks!!

Summer Fairy House Workshop!

I can't wait to see what the next batch of builders construct! Call or email me now to reserve your place or if you have any questions.
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Fairy House Plus Box Art Equals...Sculptural Painting?

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Five Cherries
varnished manzanita branches, oil on wood.
About uh...18" high? The boxes are 4 or 5" square (I'm too lazy to go to the studio the measure the darn thang right now. Ive been moving concrete blocks all morning in an attempt to create a patio out of recycled materials.... not to mention scouring the neighborhood for our lost chicken, who I found and lured home with bits of Challah bread.)
Definitely spring inspired. Its so colorful and happy I might shock people. After Beware of God I was feeling the need for more obvious color.

I need to reshoot this side view- funny angles- they hang straight of course and the painting can hang on the wall or sit with a weight in it.


close up of one side. How the heck do I photograph this painting? Its 19plus sided!! Video perhaps. I envy the days before tech took over the business of art, when Gallery curators and buyers had to come and see ones work. The audience was smaller, I suppose, but the artists didn't have to spend hours of good painting time taking digital images and uploading them and photo-shopping this and that and web site maintenance. What a headache!

At any rate the piece is based on a poem I wrote when preggers. I wrote the three stanzas on the bottom of each box and the extra bit of the last part on the side of the box (you can kinda see it in the side view). I feel rather self-conscious about displaying a poem publicly. I'm still torn as to whether I shouldn't paint it out, but I bravely record it here.




And he'll chase the fat yellow finches from the cherry tree
catch them by their golden wings
as they fall into winter.


and next...once again which direction to go in? 3D rep of 4D with painted parts...or reg. ole paintings geared for the steampunk show based on epiphanies and children in trees? Or more branches shooting out and around? I try to limit myself and look what happens!! Too many ideas! tell me what to do kind reader, do tell? And what do you think of this latest 'branching out'?

September Show During the Hand Car Regatta, or One Bird In the Coop, and One Flew Away

What a strange conflicting day. On the one hand I found a locale to show my work during the Santa Rosa Hand Car Regatta. Burned out on the gallery beat I choose an 'alternative' spot- a hip hair cutting spot called Devils and Queens, with good white walls- right on 4th street in Railroad Square (the regatta will go down forth this year so- yay!). So starting Sept 9th Ill have over 20 pieces up there to peruse, and Ill come up with a sorta opening invite and hang about with friends and fans there during the Hand Car Regatta, Sept. 26th. But the gallery quest goes on- another rejection that started as a "yes- we want a studio visit to pick out pieces for a summer show" and then, weirdly, faded into a "we already have an artist somewhat like you, sorry, maybe in a year, you have great potential but not there yet". She thought I was 25, and new from art school. yeash. I guess I need to swap out my google photo for something more um...aged? Or switch to my FizzGigg profile. yeash again. Am I burning bridges by being honest in this blog? Make myself seem unsuccessful and thus create my lack of success? perhaps. This one curator said she doesn't ever read blogs. Perhaps that is fairly true to gallery directors across the board. I am almost able to get my newer work onto my website. soon soon soon.

the Profession of Art is Odd Indeed

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Study for 5 Cherries

Being an artist is truly one of the odder professions. Yes, older too, but what I wrote was oDDer. Imagine a librarian saying he/she needed to start meditating in order to draw forth the source of their inspiration. Imagine an accountant contemplating giving up being an accountant because it was too hard to know how good an accountant they are when compared to other accountants or to the history of accounting. Imagine a plumber studying the work of other plumbers and quitting their job because every type of plumbing had already been invented.
Of course all professions might focus on constant improvement, or working as a meditation itself.

My brother is a physicist and he probably falls into most of the artist related rantings and mood swings and soul to universe searching (but then, Physicists are an odd bunch as well).

At any rate I was reading this facebook discussion line asking each artist to describe a moment of 'awe' in which they viewed another artists work and in 'misreading' it or reacting to it (either because it was so spectacular or so horrible) created their own path in response. It was insinuated that this would be somewhat torturous, and that artists in general are on and off again tortured by their carrier choice. Perhaps. Its certainly true for myself. And yet we are driven as artists to continue through these ups and downs, because we must create. imagine our accountant feeling they must add numbers or go insane and they would look a bit daft themselves.

Meanwhile... I am branching out in the studio. Literally!- branches have entered my paintings. Or rather they are shooting forth from the wood surface and other paintings in the form of boxes are hanging from them. The painting/sculpture, called...probably..."Five Cherries", is based on images from a poem I wrote. And just you wait, kind reader- up next- Ill take you to the forth dimension...my noggin is spinning with ideas.

the Shelf of the Forgotten and the Pedestal of My Best Creations

Pull up a chair kind reader! I improved upon the painting that heads this blog. That dates it as well, at least somewhat. I love this chair. I want it for my home. But at least it resides here on Outside Inside House. I painted the sides different as well- with nice furniture and lamps. Still haven't put the glass in- but I shall! Goodness I do like sanding. The most fabulous surfaces, the most remarkable abstract art are these walls in foreign countries- peeling and painted and sanded and chipping and painted again. So lovely.

Its quite possible that my work as an artist has saved me the silent discomfort of preferring or loving one of my sons more than the other. Sometimes when I finish a painting I feel so very fond of it. In fact I feel this way with most of my new born images. But over a few months, or sadly, even a few days, the joy of creating that new picture usually fades to a happy familiarity or possibly a disgruntled disappointment (Do you feel this way when you create? I know many artists who never like their finished art). For myriad reasons a few painting never loose their charm to me- I remain in awe that the emerged from my fingers. In fact these works make me feel more of a portal as though 'I' wasn't part of the equation or even the catalyst- the art came from elsewhere, from the Jungian waters of the group subconsciousness or some force, but definitely not me.

But my sons, though a gift, never end up on the shelf of the familiar and forgotten, nor on the pedestal of my best creations, and so are never one more loved than the other. They will always be my best creations but there is no way I can critique a creation that belongs so entirely to itself.

Is it Done Yet?

.Rower
2'X4' oil on carved wood

Another go at Rower. So much more interesting. Oh how I struggled. But- so often, the struggle adds such fabulous layers and depth to a painting- especially oil. Is it done? Maybe. But I'm setting it aside for a bit. A time out for this one. I do like the flat images mingling with the three dimentional/realistic ones. Been playing with this more and more in the last year.

Meanwhile there is a chicken in my bathtub. It had a bath, yes, and now is staying out of the mud (besides what it self-generates). We are off to Cloverdale early tomorrow. I have some pieces in a juried show there and Benjamin is entering his now clean chicken in the citrus fair. Wish us luck!

a close-up of the carved tree