Last Friday, I attended the opening reception for “Are We There Yet?” at Artist Within—A Cedars Gallery in downtown San Anselmo. I’m delighted to have three small collages in the show, which brings Cedars and Ross Valley artists together to celebrate summer vacation:
Cedars and community artists have vacation on their minds! This show is all about the journey as well as the destination. Think cars, trains, road signs, back seat snacks, staycations, postcards, gas stations, beaches, monuments and landmarks! We are happy to be joined by select artists from the [local] community in this celebration of hitting the road and seeing the world.
Cedars offers residential services and day programs for adults with developmental disabilities; they’ve been in the Ross Valley for more than one hundred years! Cedars artists create, exhibit, and sell their work at Artist Within. When I mention the gallery to anyone local, the response is usually “Oh, wow, I love that place!”
If you’re local, I hope you can swing by and enjoy the show, which extends beyond the gallery into businesses on San Anselmo Avenue. Two of my collages are in the gallery; the other one is down the street in the enchanting world of Madge & Me Hats. All three are for sale, with 50% of proceeds benefiting Cedars. The show will be up until August 22.
If you’re outside the neighborhood, you’ll soon be able to see and shop the exhibit on the Artist Within website. (It’s not available as I publish this, but I know they’re working on it.)
The Scribbling Continues
I’m still scribbling quick portraits in my journal, though they’re becoming more complex. I scribble, do some value study with a few colors, then scribble again. I’ve been pushing and pulling at likeness more than when I began, but I’m still not letting myself go on and on about it.
Here’s the author May Sarton from a photo taken around 1934 when she was about 22 years old. I used my pen and three colors of house paint.
My art coach wondered what would happen if the scribble portraits got bigger. What if I tried to scribble 16″ x 20″? So far I’ve tried it once, and I ended up not scribbling much at all. But I did end up with this self-portrait of myself at five that I liked well-enough to give to my mom for her birthday this week.
Charcoal is perhaps not the best scribbling tool, but I’m happy with this work. I do want to take another run at big scribbling. I’ll do that next, along with starting a new scrap board pigeon, based on this irresistible photo of Palomacy foster pigeon Rumble. Lots to work on this summer!
Giveaway Coming Soon!
The bird block giveaway is coming up in just a couple of weeks. Below is a photo of the blocks I currently have; the winner gets to choose one from those available in the bird block gallery at the time of the drawing. Here’s how to enter, if you haven’t already:
- If you’re getting this post in your email inbox, reply to it and tell me you want to be included.
- If you’re reading this post on my website, subscribe to the blog and reply to your confirmation email.
I’ll pick a winner on July 31.
