paints and pix

2012-02-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the reception for the "13 Exciting Photographers" at the new 608 North Gallery in Redondo Beach. I have 7 of my Liverpool photographs on display. They are still as strong as the day I shot 'em on film. I think they'll enjoy a fresh airing.

( This photo was made on the rear deck of a tugboat on the River Mersey. That's Birkenhead on the other side of the river. )

The gallery is open all week including Sundays.

2011-09-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

The VIP reception went very well. Ryan Noble gave a performance with a sculpture that was very intriguing.

FLAG STOP opens!

2011-09-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Have been working on this FLAG STOP event since February, and tonight's VIP reception will kick-off the 3 day Event. Some truly superb work on show. Valerie Wilcox, shown above, is one of our group, putting up her installation in the LEXUS lobby. Lots of free professional help to install other works came from Erik Johns seen here affixing another piece, by hiroko, on to a wall built in the lobby.

The Best Art in Marina del Rey

2011-08-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Best Art in Marina Del Rey? Yes it is still that way since the Rembrandt drawing was stolen last Saturday, two hours after the close of the Marchese Gallery Opening Reception. The events are not related of course, but it does posit the idea that the best art has to be somewhere in the Marina.

The good news is that the Rembrandt was found today in the Valley. So, until it is replaced at the Ritz-Carlton, please continue to beat a path to the Marchese Fine Art gallery on Fiji Way.

Hey -- enjoy some cake!

Marchese Fine Art Gallery Opening Reception

2011-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great opening reception for the 11 artists in Howard Marchese's Fine Art Gallery in Marina Del Rey on Saturday. Nine of the artists were present: Nancy Carroll, Karl Dempwolf, Bernard Fallon, Howard Marchese, Vic Riesau, Junn Roca, Julie Snyder, Natasha Temares and Jacques Valin. So many people! I got out of there at 8.30 pm.

Two hours later at the nearby Ritz-Carlton, a Rembrandt drawing valued at $250,000 was stolen from their lobby.

Now the only decent art in Marina Del Rey is at the Marchese Fine Art Gallery.

Until, of course, the Rembrandt is found and returned to the Ritz-Carlton, which we hope is very soon.

2011-08-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well, hot on the heels of riots in Brixton, South London, I see that our Los Angeles expert former Police Chief Bratton is offering some free advice to the Brits. If this music club's signage on Redondo Pier, that I saw yesterday, is anything to go by, here might be a couple of solutions coming soon - - - - -

2011-08-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

I was sorry to see this little 6 x 6 " oil "Two Fruit" go under my hammer at the Zask Gallery Fundraising Auction, but it did go to a good home, AND it raised some nice change for our FLAG STOP Art Event coming up in September.

However, moving onto more art happenings, tomorrow is the opening reception for the Marchese Fine Art Gallery.

I'm showing there alongside Nancy Carroll, Karl Dempwolf, Ignat Ignatov, Howard Marchese, Steve Mirich, Vic Reisau, Junn Roca, Julie Snyder, Natasha Temares and Jacques Valin.

Not a bad bunch of artists - - - - -

2011-07-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

A great evening at the Peggy Zask Gallery with a silent auction. Then we had a live auction of 20 works of art. A good crowd; and we raised plenty for FLAG STOP and the Surfrider Foundation, two good and worthy causes.

2011-07-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Get to the auction Friday evening 6-9 to benefit the SurfRider Foundation and the FLAG STOP event.

I am the auctioneer.

You will bid on the original art to start your art collections.

YES I say to you!

The Muse Exhibition

2011-06-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

This is a great exhibition at the Manhattan Beach Creative Arts Center. Over 30 photographers have photographed the same girl as the artist's muse - yours truly included. The show runs until late June. Well worth a trip to see it.

2011-04-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Funny how this week, in London, the Royals have a wedding, and persist in promoting the lineage of the Prince, while acknowledging the bride's background, while the US president has to show his birth certificate to prove his legitimacy.

Hanging the Pastel Show

2011-03-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hanging the Pastel Society of Southern California's 2nd Annual Show this morning with Dave Wolfram at the Creative Arts Center in Manhattan Beach. Fifty members work is represented. I have a couple of pieces in, too. The reception is tomorrow evening. Here we go--------

2011-02-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

Being an auctioneer at an art event is a blast! My first time (and maybe only time) doing this improv theater, while raising money and playing the gentleman in the green hat against the lady in blue.

However, today is another day and I'm focussing on creating a pastel for the Pastel Society of Southern California's annual show in Manhattan Beach. Deadline is tomorrow. What will I create?

2011-02-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today we had our 3rd meeting to create an art walk event in Torrance. Our first meeting had almost 30 people at the Torrance Art Museum. Today we had 9. We are expanding our location search from old town Torrance into bigger industrial spaces, partly to include shipping containers to display contemporary art.

Tonight is the closing of the last show at the Zask Gallery in Palos Verdes at its Golden Cove location. There's a wine tasting event, and then a live auction of donated works of art to raise funds for the move into the Peninsular Center. I have donated "A Touch of Fruit".

I am the auctioneer, too.

Mmmmm - should be interesting......

Tribute to Chuck Chambers, Sean Kelly and Russ Urban

2010-11-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

Attended a Memorial Service for Chuck Chambers on Torrance Beach yesterday. He, along with two passengers, Russ Urban and Sean Kelly, died last week, when his plane developed engine trouble, and they crash landed near Newport Harbor. There was a huge turnout with much music and many colorful tributes to a remarkable man. A fly-by tribute by the Tiger Squadron flew over in a missing man formation. Russ Urban was a great teacher and taught my son Patrick from an early age. One of Chuck's mottos: "Life is a journey ---- not a destination"

The Mammoth Trip

2010-11-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

Back from a great painting trip to Mammoth in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Lots of photos and painting. Steve Mirich did all the driving -- and the cooking, An amazing feat. What a guy!

My Nikon SLR D100 shutter went out on the journey up. Pulled into Vons in Bishop and bought a Nikon point&shoot COOLPIX L22. I knew I was going to need it.

I also had my Leica M4 (a lovely film dinosaur I bought in the 70's) and my last 2 rolls of Kodachrome, a classic film invented for the intrepid National Geographic photographers to bring back the best photos from the frozen and the fiery ends of nowhere. This film's production has ceased. And December is the last month for developing this great film. I'll post results when I get them back.

Meantime, here's one of the D100 photos, just before it conked out.

2010-11-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

I have been working on some small square paintings. Here is one of a Japanese cake - they come in packs of five at my local Japanese market. Very attractive! I have some other paintings to do from here, but right now I am off to the mountains of Mammoth to do some good old plein air stuff. My local plein air classes are finished, but I am still doing some demonstrations for local art clubs.

2010-10-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

After the rain in LA is a most wondrous time. So clear. Been down on Redondo Beach quite a bit. Here's "After the Storm."

Tomato Grapes and a new vintage is born.

2010-10-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

At last! My experiments have paid off after years of grafting. I have created a Chardonnay flavoured tomato that grows on a merlot grape vine. This now gives a multi harvest abundant crop ready to ferment. And the natural yeast is outstanding. I now have 72 acres of Los Angeles freeway embankments (all south and west facing) ready for cultivation next Spring.

I'd like to call it Chardomato, but I'm open to suggestion for other names for this latest appellation. Please feel free to give me your thoughts.

Crabs - ugh

2010-10-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

Came across some crabs on Redondo Pier last week. The effect on me is almost the same as spiders, except crabs hold more fascination

2010-10-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

Back from a 5-day painting trip a few weeks ago. It was organized by Dave Gallup and a bunch of us got to see an extraordinary aspect of California. Here's a couple of oils that I completed. A freshly caught Whitefish and a dramatic aspect of East Anacapa Island at the sea lion colony. We were anchored and painting the views while others were diving, snorkeling or kayaking, when the sea mist enveloped everything. Quite eery. The photos show our boat the "Conception" at anchor with a diver and kayak; and the sea lions lazing about.

Plein Air pastels

2010-10-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working with pastels over the Summer. I like to start with medium ones to start with, to establish the big shapes. Get the drawing and basic design done first. Then it's time to apply the thicker , more painterly layers to establish what is important for the viewer to absorb. attached are a couple from Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. The other is a wine country barn near Paso Robles that fills the heart with warmth.

Power of Art

2010-07-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the Redondo Beach Art Group's big show in August. Originally it was held in October in the local power station on the upper turbine floor. Last year we converted a disused restaurant for the 3-day event. A lot of work! Here's some pictures being considered for the show.

Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve

2010-04-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

Went for a drive to the Poppy Preserve off Hwy 14. The flowers were in full bloom after the recent rains. I had never seen them before and they were great - just rolling away in different directions. Weather was overcast which didn't spoil the experience, it made it look flatter from a painting and photography point of view.

2010-04-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hosted a great workshop on Saturday 12th April with the Mid Valley Art League in Temple City. The theme was "Using Photography to Make Better Paintings."

I discussed some of the technical aspects of lenses and distortion, working without flash, ISO, shutter speeds and printing out b+w plus color prints to start the painting. Do a freehand thumbnail to get the hang of the image to edit and make your own.

Try drawing on the final paper or canvas with a paintbrush, and not a pencil!

Interpreting the shadows used to make the photo is especially important as the print is made with 3 color inks and black.

I am doing a demonstration in pastel tonight for the Corona Art Association. Again the subject will be the interpretation of color from a photo.

Chicago Night

2010-04-09T23:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great inaugural reception for the first exhibition of the Pastel Society of Southern California in Manhattan Beach today. Pictured from l-r: Sally Strand, Ron Libbrecht and me. Also here is a second painting I have in the show made from a visit to Chicago at Thanksgiving in 2009.

Lifeguard Tower, Redondo Beach

2010-04-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent pastel painting, part of a series on Redondo Beach, which is in the inaugural exhibition of the Pastel Society of Southern California. A dozen of us formed the group last August and now we have many members. Our exhibition is at the Creative Arts center in Manhattan beach until 16th April 2010.

Irish Fiddler

2009-03-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is the hand of Junior Crehan, an Irish farmer and a wonderful fiddler, known as the father of County Clare traditional music. I photographed him many moons ago while travelling through the West of Ireland.

Starting the Year

2009-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

I painted with Jacques Valin last week near Steve Shriver's place. Various people stopped by and looked at the works in progress. A woman on horseback stopped and made various maneuvers to get a better look at what we were doing. Difficult on a horse. Then Steve Mirich and Margaret appeared. Having seen the William Wendt exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum with Robert Elliott the previous week, a discussion broke out about Wendt's use of sky tones over his landscapes, and how he incorporated upward or downward viewpoints into a painting. At this point, I could see the shadows were changing my composition. Then Dan Pinkham drove up and stopped. Well, a great chatter started.

Jacques was already finished and packed up. I was done for the day, and headed out to Utrecht Art Supply in Santa Monica.

Wednesday, 14th of Jan, I started teaching a new class at the Palos Verdes Art Center - beginning painting. I gave a talk and then we started some simple painting exercises in thinning out paint, and using color to create form. I'll photograph some of the work this week and we'll see how they progress over the next few months. Should be interesting!

Friday 16th, I went with my son Patrick to the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. They were hosting the World Press Photo 2008 exhibition and seminar. Tim Hetherington, also from Liverpool, who won the World Press Photo in 2007, gave a most dynamic presentation of his photos from West Africa and Afghanistan. He and other presenters later gave a guided tour of all the exhibited photos.

I have been asked by the British Film Institute to write a short essay to accompany their DVD release of the 2008 film documentary "Of Time and The City", which is director Terence Davies autobiographical love song to his home town of Liverpool. The film uses 3 of my photographs, and they're also used in the publicity.

2009-01-07T23:12:00.000-08:00

I've been out painting in the snow, and on the beaches south of LA airport. I'm going to post 2 paintings soon. Next week I start teaching at the Palos Verdes Art Center on Tuesday night. It's a beginning painting class. All media. And I'll bring acrylics, oils, watercolor and pastels if you are not sure which to pick.

Currently I've also been very involved with the Redondo HS Auditorium. We have had non-stop shows in since early December, and the new stage manager, Monty, is just getting acclimatized.

MVAL Pastel Painting Demonstration

2008-12-22T23:17:00.000-08:00

Saralyn Lowenstein invited me to give a pastel painting demo to the Mid-Valley Art League in Arcadia, (in the Los Angeles area.) It was a simple Christmas theme still life. I started out will a basic charcoal drawing and gradually added in colour, emphasizing tonal value, relative warm and cool colours, then stressed highlights. It was a wickedly wet evening and I appreciated the very warm reception from the members. Mark Wood took the photographs and we raffled off the painting at the end of the demo.

Nutcracker/Degas

2008-12-22T00:06:00.000-08:00

I've been interim stage manager for 3 weeks at Redondo Union High School. One of the performances was the "Nutcracker" ballet. Backstage is always interesting. We had dozens of ballerinas waiting, performing, then racing offstage. You can't help but tune into the Degas imagery when they wear traditional white dresses.

2008-12-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

"Grain Barge" Liverpool Docks, 1971

"Sou'Westers" 2004

Welcome.

This is my first posting and I'll be concentrating on paintings and photographs.

I've made them both for most of my life. These two subjects are of great interest to all, of course. At Liverpool Art School my final history paper was "The Influence of Photography on Painting in the 19th Century". Plenty of fascinating material lies there in the wake of photography's invention, and the later reversal of painting's influence on photography.

The photograph was taken of a bargeman having a mug of tea, while the rare Liverpool sunlight danced through the grain dust behind him.

The painting is a plein air oil of fishing boats in San Pedro Harbour, south of los Angeles.

I try to wear different hats when creating my imagery, and not to wear them back to front, or at the same time, which is pretty common.