California Cows Coming and Going

California Cows Coming and Going
Oil on Canvas
18"X18"
I am so filled with ideas and inspiration I don't know if I'm coming or going. Yesterday I went to see the Christopher Brown Show at John Berggruen's Gallery. I had the place all to myself. So luxurious. I studied Brown's big paintings for a long time hoping I could learn a thing or two. When I got home I found a great video online in which Brown describes his approach in perpetual pursuit of attaining the "exhilaration of discovery". I came away with the usual refrain: "Do what you want. No fear."
In the evening my great friend, Joanne, and I went to hear Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) at City Arts and Lectures. The place was packed and everyone was laughing from the get go. Kalman and Handler are both irreverent and inventive, and full of fun.
They were promoting their book, "13 Words" which will be out Oct. 5. But mostly they were spreading the gospel:
"Live it up. Do what you want. No rules. No fear."
So here I am. Loving my cows and California's parched landscape. Having the time of my life. Doing, learning, and doing some more. Off to see the Post Impressionist's Show this evening.

September in Sonoma - New Season

September in Sonoma
Oil on Canvas
18"X24"
It's not that I haven't been painting. Just before leaving Maine I took a workshop with
Henry Isaacs. Now I am trying to integrate lessons learned with whatever it is I do. Which is what, exactly? Disintegrating in the process. All to the good in the end no doubt. We will see what comes of this not so comfortable exercise.
I almost gave up on the above after seeing Maira Kalman's marvelous show at the Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco. She is what she is and does what she does. No excuses. With humor and joy and beauty mixed in. She says, "There is a strong personal narrative aspect to what I do. What happens in my life is interpreted in my work. There is very little separation. My work is my journal of my life." Her objective is to figure out "how to live and how to die." That's what she does all day long, stopping to have a few snacks along the way. She walks the streets, photographs what she sees, and makes sense of the chaos with words and pictures. So? Isn't that what I do? Is that not a lofty goal? Or at least enough? Banishing Insecurity and self-doubt from the kingdom.
See Kalman tell it like it is on Ted.com.

California Cows 2

California Cows 2
Oil on Wood
6"X6"
Like the squirrels gathering nuts, when Fall comes, I want to store up ideas. Searching for inspiration anywhere I can find it. Last night I went to hear Jonathan Safran Foer at City Arts and Lectures. Not only did I love his first two books, but he's married to Nicole Krauss who wrote my all time favorite, "The History of Love." Read it. And then read it again.
He said he writes to "create an emotional/aesthetic atmosphere." He's interested in "what's visible, what's invisable, what's lost." That struck a chord. To keep in mind while painting. My next assignment.
Then he quoted someone who commented upon the birth of his baby, "Everything is possible again." Oh my. Does that ever touch my heart.

California Cows

California Cows
Oil on Wood Panel
6"X6"
California here I am. Right back where I started from. It's good to be home.

Em and Ben

Em and Ben
Oil on Wood
14"X11"
I love the light in their apartment building hallways. And I love them.

Portrait of Ben

Portrait of Ben
Oil on Wood
8"X6"
Often when I am in the car I hear a snippet of something on the radio that hits home so hard I can't quite believe it was a purely random act. Today I encountered the last minute of a Karen Armstrong lecture. (Click the link, scroll down to hear the whole lecture.) All I heard was the word "compassion" and something about being awake. It turned my whole day around. It stopped the free flow of negative thoughts. It made it possible to paint. That in turn put me back in touch with what I do. As Oliver Stone said in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine interview, "I might as well be myself. Everyone else is taken." Words to live by.

Wedding Day

Wedding Day
Oil on Wood
8"X6"
For Chris and Zhao Ya.