Category: Art Trips

Bush Center in Dallas

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I’d heard so much about the new George W library in Dallas I knew I needed to go.  I was there on two missions… to see Daniel Blagg’s paintings and to have my photo taken in the mock Oval Office.  NOT.  I wasn’t successful with either, but oh my gosh, the Oscar de la Renta gown exhibit was wonderful.  (I forgot to retrieve my Oval Office photo and Daniel Blagg’s paintings are in Laura’s private office.)

The Bush Library is actually called the Bush Center.  Maybe because there’s no books there.

IMG_0537 on the Southern Methodist University campus

I had forgotten everything that occurred during his presidency – of course 9/11, Hurricane Katrina.  The museum reminds me of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame setup with it’s Disney like lighting and exhibits.

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But then there was Oscar…  IMG_0540 IMG_0541 IMG_0542IMG_0546 IMG_0547 IMG_0552 IMG_0553

Cowgirl Hall of Fame – Fort Worth

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CowgirlHallofFame_2014-06-01Can’t resist visiting the Cowgirl Hall of Fame whenever I’m in Fort Worth.  It’s the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the American West.  The current exhibit was Barbara Van Cleve’s photography of working cowgirls all over the Rocky Mountain West.  Barbara is a Hall of Famer.  The exhibit had over 60 black and white photographs depicting the tough side of ranch women.

Barbara grew up on her family’s ranch, the Lazy K Bar in the Crazy Mountains of Montana.  She taught English Literature and Photography at DePaul University in Chicago.  She became the youngest Dean of Women in the United States at the time.  She retired in 1980 to pursue photography full time.  She’s internationally known for her work.


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I had an opportunity to meet Barbara Van Cleve while attending one of the museum’s Cowgirl University events in the hill country of San Antonio in 2006 and again in Greenough, Montana in 2007.  A group of us accompanied Barbara on a photo expeditions in jeeps and on horseback.  Here is Barbara teaching us in San Antonio.

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Chihuly in Phoenix

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Traveled to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens to see Dale Chihuly’s exhibit this year.  It’s Chihuly’s 3rd showing at the botanical gardens.  It’s a good exhibit.  Besides the beautiful glass and amazing designs, I’m fascinated by the installation itself.

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Pasadena & Los Angeles

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On my arrival Friday night, we visited a little of the Pasadena art scene first at the Armory Center for the Arts and then the wonderful Norton Simon Museum.  Loved seeing all collection of Norton Simon, especially my little Degas dancer.

On Saturday, I took a class at the Inner-City Arts center in Los Angeles.  The class is designed for Art Teachers to learn better ways to teach children art.  My long time old friend, Susie Goliti is Operations Manager at the center. 

What an awesome program, completely dedicated to youth in LA.  Jan Kirsch and Bob Bates taught the class called Creativity in the Classroom.

Art Trip

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Started my trip from Alameda to Los Angeles along the Camino Real.

My first stop was in Los Osos to visit John Ramos Gallery. 

I’ve followed John for years.  His Mexican beach scenes with taco stands, airstream trailers, Volkswagen buses and road trip scenes along familiar highways from inside woody station wagons have always been a favorite of mine.  I’ve purchased at least eight of his limited edition prints, always from his old gallery in San Luis Obispo.

When I learned John had returned to the area after some five years in Loreto Mexico, I couldn’t wait to make this stop on my trip…. to see his new work and my old favorites and just get my trip started right.  His new gallery is by appointment only now.

I walked up to the gallery and John came walking down the outside stairs.  “Hi.  I’m John.”  I couldn’t believe it.  I’d never actually seen him in person and fully expected to see other gallery staff that would just let me in to browse.  I was flabbergasted.  He’s somewhat of a celebrity given his long-time success, especially on the California coast.  I’m shy anyway in galleries and like to keep a low profile.

John is soft-spoken and very endearing.  He’s comfortable and open, proud of his work and his family.  His granddaughter and dog came in…running around underfoot while his son-in-law’s music was playing in the background (Donavan Frankenreiter).  John was very gracious about opening drawers and showing whatever I wanted to see, but I had no idea what to tell him I wanted… “I WANT TO SEE EVERYTHING, BUT I DON”T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!”  was running through my head.

John asked me if I’d like to see his studio.  I nearly vomited.  (Inviting someone to see your studio is typically a very personal thing to do.  Many artists have open studios, yes, but they prepare for them, establish boundaries around what they’ll show and what they’re ok with people possibly touching or commenting on.  Studios can be messy and sometimes dangerous zones with paint and chemicals flying out onto your clothes.)  John’s studio is this large, 2nd story, glassed-in domain with a small open kitchen.  He had a lime green retro stove, with his grand-children’s paintings tacked on the side.  He was working on an oil of a beach town sunset scene with a Harley Davidson of his old friend who owned Uptown Cafe in San Luis Obispo.

I decided to buy one of his flower market pieces, specifically the one he did of a shop at the corner of 24th St and Dolores in San Francisco. He had no idea what it cost, so he called his wife, Donna, to do the transaction.  Now, Donna and I have a history….

Several years earlier, @ 2005, I visited the showcase John Ramos Gallery that was originally in San Luis Obispo.  I purchased a couple of prints and was having them shipped to me in Phoenix, where I lived at the time.  I explained to the woman running the gallery that I had followed Mr. Ramos for years, was in love with his work and just wanted to know what he looked like.  This beautiful auburn-haired woman asked the other young woman at the desk if there was a picture somewhere.  They had one of him under the desk’s glass top, posed in sunglasses and straw hat.  I said he was exactly how I expected him to look…. a good-looking, Mexican man.  I proceeded to go on and on about what I loved about his work, that I knew he studied at CSU Long Beach around the same time I was first studying art at Berkeley.  I also knew that he had designed the logo for the Del Taco restaurant chain…years and years ago.  They both kept laughing and finally she said “I should probably tell you now that I’m Donna, John’s wife and this is his daughter.”  His daughter then said “I can’t believe Dad has a groupie!”    I received the Dos Mas, Por Favor print in Phoenix and didn’t notice until a friend of mine pointed it out at least a year later that John had written a personal note on the print “To my Amiga Chris.  Wish you were aqui.”

When Donna came down to the gallery to sell me the Flower Market print, she remembered me.  We had a great laugh.

Here is her picture with John as they looked today.  

My favorite painting “Dos Mas, Por Favor”

The Flower Market

Ariz State Ceramic Research Center

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While in Phoenix the past several days, I decided to visit my old campus at Arizona State.  I attended the Art & Design Institute there for 3 semesters in 2006-2007 and have very fond memories of that stint there.  They have a fabulous art department, offering nearly every media.  I was also able to take courses only offered to the architecture department like Photoshop and Architectural Rendering.

I stopped in at the ASU Art Museum and the Ceramic Research Center there.  (Was not evident what they are researching, but the research room resembled a cross between a children’s activity center to a very clean science classroom largely empty.)  I stopped at the Museum-like desk attended by a young Asian student who greeted me friendly enough, but from that point forward, nothing he said made any sense.   I asked him if I was supposed to register or pay anything.  He said “where did you park?”  I told him I parked on the street, trying to figure out why he asked me.  He said “where at?”  I pointed off into the distance and said at a meter.  While pointing at a set of clipboards, he said “these are only to sign up for the parking lot?”  I said that I wasn’t concerned about parking, but wondered if I had to sign-in or anything to look at the museum.  He said “we’re part of the ASU Art Museum.”  I said that was nice.  He then said something like he didn’t know why I was asking about the parking.  I just walked away from him.  It was obvious at this point that it really didn’t matter what I had asked or if I had to register to look inside, he had no idea why I was there or what I wanted.

I’m always fascinated by ceramics since the semester I took a course at UC Berkeley in the Spring of 2009 from David Linger in Richard Shaw’s department.  I wasn’t good at it, but I loved the process and techniques.  Gave me a greater appreciation for how hard it is to make something beautiful and delicate and realistic.  I fell in love with Robert Arneson, an American sculptor ceramicist (1930-1992) who was an Art professor at UC Davis and had also taught at Fremont High School in Oakland, Santa Rosa Jr. College and Mills College, but he’s known internationally for his whimsical, cartoonish, realistic busts, largely of his own head and body.  Two of his pieces are part of the permanent collection in this ASU Ceramic Research Center gallery.

         

    

Lahaina Art Walk

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While in Maui last week, I did my own little art walk of the local galleries in Lahaina.  I parked off the main drag, had my little tourist map in hand with a plan.  I noticed a small lime-green painted gallery.  The artist was in residence.  Half of the gallery was his showroom and the other his studio.  He is a plein-air watercolorist whose small paintings are whimsical and colorful, geared toward the tourist.  Painting local subjects that just make you want to take one home to remember your experience.  He was a charming man in his mid-50s who must have been a surfer, or still is, with his messed up blonde hair, wire-rims and Hawaiian shirt.  I commented on a wine bottle label he had painted and he mentioned others he’d done.  One being Rosenblum winery in Alameda, California…my home town.  Come to find out, he grew up two doors down from the house I live in now and formerly lived across the street where I formerly lived…in Alameda! We talked for a good half hour, going over everyone we  knew in common.  He had just emailed a good friend of mine the day before!  Learning:  talk more to other artists.  I tend to be very shy and just want to go in and out without a lot of conversation with some pushy gallery owner prying into whether I have any money or walls for the new found art.  Jim was delightful.  Check out his website.

Plein Air Painters | Kingwell Island Art Collection | Maui Art Plein Air.