In the Studio Today: Spring, New Classes + Groups

Welcome, May!  April came and went at light speed.  Wow.   I am excited to be starting a new class in User Experience Design tomorrow in San Francisco, but I wanted to share my April highlights here.  April was a busy month for my work in art coordination, as well as a producing a few new things.  Because I am on Twitter and Facebook most days, I am finding less time to blog.  This is good and bad.  On the upside, my friends know what I am doing all the time and see my posts regularly.  On the downside, I am not sharing my business of art or my daily adventures here with a larger audience. I also don't have a written journal of my activities that the blog format offers us for posterity and the future.  It is easier to trace and look back for a blog post, where a Tweet or FB post is just a passsing moment that is harder to search and share at a later date.

April's Successes...

1.  Art on the Farm

Beautiful day @TaraFirmaFarms today with 20+ artists! Photo: Marin artist, Donna Solin and her tree painting. pic.twitter.com/Kbdhxtr8NZ
— Art on the Farm (@ArtontheFarm) April 28, 2014

I have worked with the group, Art on the Farm, for almost 7 years now.  I started their Meetup.com group this year, and we have a growing population of new artists from San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay.  It's great to see how Meetup.com allows us to gather new members so quickly.  We visited Green Gulch Farm and Tara Firma Farm in April. To learn more about this group at artonthefarm.org

2.  iPad Paintings

iPad Painting done with Brushes App-- Note: this app no longer supports playback to high res!

I have done a couple iPad paintings this month, but learned that the Brushes app no longer supports ability to play back at high resolutions.  I am going to switch to a different app for my digital paintings.
 

3.  Stemple Creek Ranch Plein Air

My easel out at Stemple Creek Ranch in Tomales, CA on May 1, 2014

I made it out to Stemple Creek yesterday to paint.  Love it there so much.

Stemple Creek Ranch, Tomales

Ran into the California Mille and enjoyed talking to a couple from New York.  They have enjoyed their 4 day tour of California during our heat wave, especially since the winter on the East Coast has been very harsh (they shared).

In the Studio Today... Art on Gospel Flat Farm

Wednesday August 28, 2013

My tiny 6" painting on hood of my car where I painted with Art on the Farm

I just updated the blog for the Art on the Farm group, and thought I would share a little more about my most recent paint out.  We had a terrific day out at the Murch Family farm in Bolinas, "Gospel Flat Farm".  This is the iconic, Marin Farm Stand that you see on the entrance to Bolinas, which is open 24 hours and sometimes sells fresh bread.  What an amazing part of Marin, and how lucky we are to have young, dedicated family farmers.

If you haven't been to Bolinas or met Mickey Murch and his family, you need to get out there and share the joy that this family farm provides so many locals and tourists.  At the end of our biggest painting day all season, I went to purchase my produce from the farm stand and Mickey was just placing jars with bouquets of giant zucchini blossoms out on the table.  Mickey told me that he loved getting to take the kids from a local camp out to gather eggs from his farm, and then pick the squash blossoms and return to their mobile kitchen right behind the farm stand, and cook the blossoms and eggs with the kids.  Mickey told the story with such joy and you could sense the pride of ownership and love of teaching kids about his job.

I bought two jars of blossoms and brought them home to stuff with ricotta cheese, fresh basil and bread in egg, flour and fry in olive oil and garlic.  A family recipe from my Italian heritage and grandparents in Connecticut, my meal was memory-laden, gathered locally, connected to art, education and joy, absolutely delicious, and.... priceless.

Click here to view more photos of the paint out and read the blog at Art on the Farm

In the Studio Today...Farmstand Bike; Day 3

Thursday, July 23, 2009

"Gospel Flat Farm, Farmstand and Produce Bike" 18" x 24".

In the Studio Today...Bolinas Farm Bike; Day 2

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Work in progress... Produce stand owned by Gospel Flat Farm, as you enter the town of Bolinas, CA. Details of Bike and close up of stand, image 1 and 2 above... image 3 is the full sized canvas, 18" x 24".