Sausalito Artists: The Art of Perseverance

Monday, February 18, 2013

Mondays used to be days I dreaded; back to work, transitioning from fun things we like to do to tasks at hand that need to get done, pleasing a boss or coworkers or getting family obligations taken care of... All those mid-week "to dos" vanished for me on Mondays when I started working in the non-profit arts sector.  The art non-profits with galleries that I have worked for the past 3 years have been open Tuesdays through Saturdays, allowing me to either work at home on Mondays, volunteer at my kids school, or simply, take a day trip.  This past Monday, I visited the artists of Sausalito, back to where my life started with a new job as a web graphics designer over 12 years ago.  I worked in Sausalito in the building immediately next to what is affectionately know as home to many artists in Marin County, "The ICB" (building).  It was not until last Monday that I finally visited the ICB, after knowing about it and all its residents for so many years.  I used to know it solely as the place where West Marine is; where you can get a wetsuit, lifejacket, or fishing supplies before going out on the Bay, however, this very same building houses over 100 artists from all over Marin County, and has held open studios there for 45 years.

"Adrift 1"  ©Kay Carlson

One artist, Kay Carlson, was there in her studio, surrounded by her large paintings of boats on water, assisting another painter from across the hall with the finishing touches on her self-portrait.  Kay Carlson, a plein air and studio painter in the colorist tradition, founded Marin Open Studios 20 years ago and she is currently busy with her team preparing for the 20th celebration of MOS in May.


Another plein air painter, Chris Adessa, was also in her studio, and I stumbled upon her space as I noticed a painting of a barn that was so unique to me-- the entire front side of the barn was covered with the purple shadows of a tree so that it made a pattern that looked more like a web, than a building surface.  This was lovely and different; it caught me off guard and I wanted to go in and see it.  The door was open, and Chris was there, having just arrived to spend the afternoon painting.  I was happy to share how much I loved her new painting.

"Afternoon Light"  ©Chris Adessa

The ICB is a very large building, and on a Monday, I saw about four artists between the three floors.  It was quiet, but had a sense of energy of artists who have persevered for years: hundreds of well-designed and colorful show postcards splashed a huge cork board wall in between floors, showing the depth and multitude of the artists in this building.  Happy that I'd been able to see Kay and Chris, and knowing I didn't have two days to visit, I quickly headed to the building just North of the ICB, which is the Heath Ceramics main building and showroom.  Heath has existed at this location for 60 years, since Edith Heath began her own career as a talented young ceramicist in the Bay Area.  Single kiln firing used by Heath was a method that developed to save energy during the depression.  This style of ceramics continued at Heath today has continued to produce "long-lasting products with integrity, in a responsible manner", which works well with our modern day needs for sustainable solutions that are environmentally friendly.  Inside Heath is a bright, colorful, neatly organized and busy store, with individual ceramicists works displayed and information about the artists.  There is a history of Heath Ceramics timeline, and you can sign up to take a factory tour.  Ceramic seconds of all the work are available for discounted prices, there are items for children and lots of books.  There were plenty of staff willing to help me make a purchase and discuss the items.

"Moment" by Creekwalker

The ICB and Heath Ceramics have been in Marin for more than half a century, and their perseverance has maintained the integrity and quality that we all want in products created by hand and with a creative edge.  There is a sense of pride when you visit these places in Marin, and can take a visitor or friend here who has never been.  It's special and a fun day by the water.  The Bay Model, which also has art exhibit and interactive activities related to the SF Bay is also in this neighborhood, but they are not open on Mondays.  I did however get a peek into a current exhibit of photography by Creekwalker of San Rafael; an exhibit to benefit the Las Galinas Watershed.  Creekwalker's works are detailed, close-ups of water and wild-life in the local creeks.  Well worth a visit if you have the time.

August, Carved Acrylic  ©Sophia Collier

Finally, I had a chance to meet an emerging to mid-career artist who is simply the epitomy of fortitude and perseverance; she made me think of how Sigourney Weaver would take on the art world with a fork lift and big attitude in "Aliens".   Not too far off from this thought, Sophia Collier of Sausalito, has a studio in a converted bus barn where she has worked with 3d imaging, machine carving and her own forklift, to create awe inspiring planks of carved acrylic that literally look like moving water.  Leaned against a wall, they act as a lens for light and cast beautiful, abstract light and shadows onto the wall behind them.  Inspired by the themes of the Light and Space Movement that came out of LA in the 1960's, Sophia is expanding on the tradition and bringing something new to this group of works.  Light and Space artists used new materials that came out of the aerospace industry in the 60s.  Now, Sophia and light and space inspired artists today are using computers, 3d modeling and animation to create works and environments that are pleasing to the eye and immerse the viewer in a special interaction with the art.  I enjoyed visiting the Sophia Collier Gallery and I am truly impressed with the vast knowledge of math, software design and technical abilities Collier has acquired from her business and financial work that she now has at her fingertips for creating art.  She also trained with Pixar animators and precision milling experts in Detroit.  Watch the galleries for Collier in the future.  She is definitely riding a big wave.

Walking along Pier E and F in Sausalito and having a quick coffee and panini at a table in the sun at Taste of Rome, watching cyclists go by, I thought about how lucky we are to live in a place that is filled with a solid history of artists, that also attracts new artists to live here and continue to do what they love.  After all, isn't this the big picture?

At the Ballet: Painter and Color Theorist, Josef Albers depicted in Modern Dance

Set design for Wayne McGregor's Borderlands (© Erik Tomasson)
from Peter Denny's post on Borderlands for SFMOMA

"Borderlands", is a dance choreographed by Wayne McGregor based on the art theories of painter, Josef Albers, who's "op art" of the 1950-60's brought a sense of optical illusion to painting.  Where solid squares met other colors, there was a sense of illusion where the colors either blended or ended abruptly.  Albers wrote, "By giving up preference for harmony, we accept dissonance to be as desirable as consonance"*.  He continued, "Color is never seen as it really is; it deceives continually. It evokes innumerable readings.  Even its opposite.  It can work with any other.  The more it manifests itself, the more intimate it is."  He also believed that as it is with people in our daily lives, so it is with color. *references from Alber's book, "Interaction of Color"

Going into this performance today with my ten year old son(a ballet student of four years now), I was excited for him to see something different today; I hoped he would see colors and unique movements and a type of dance he had not seen before.  I had years of exposure to experimental film and animation, as well as new music during Master's degree studies at California Institute of the Arts in the 1990's.  I have seen and heard all kinds of non-linear stories, abstract performance art and atonal music that would drive many before my time to ask what they were experiencing and why did they pay to get in the doors.  As a student of art history and a painter too, I am more conditioned to accept the work of McGregor, just as the young dancers of the SF Ballet willingly and dutifully performed this new work this month in San Francisco.  We have come to a place in time that new works are important to share, whether the older generations will accept them or not.

This is reiterated in Peter Denny's recent post for SFMOMA about Borderlands.  Denny is a Public Relations Associate at SFMOMA, where he has studied modern art.  He talks about how he too has learned to accept modern art for what it is; by being willing to let the art affect him and experience the art with an open mind.  With an open mind, he is more able to learn something from each new piece of art.  This is the precursor for most modern art and dance; one must go into it willing to let the art be just what it is.  There should not be any preconceived notion of what you will experience or a need to "get it".  It can just be enjoyed and explored in the now; what you feel at that one moment "is" the right answer.  The only wrong way to experience new works would be to go into them expecting something else.  Expecting McGregor's work to be narrative or flowing like the two previous performances would be a mistake, for then you might feel like there was something wrong with this exciting and unique new piece.  Remember, Albers said, "Giving up preference for harmony, we accept that dissonance is just as desirable as consonance".

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square, 1950

Oil on masonite. JAF: 1313. 40.6 x 40.6 cm(16" x 16')

©2003 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Having said this, I believe I did expect more visual connection to Albers series of square paintings. After I realized there would be no more blatant 2d reference to the work after the opening scene, I began to just enjoy the dancing and changing background colors.  The opening scene was monochromatic: greys and whites only, and it seemed very structured and rigid.  Dancers were performing at the corners of the space, just as there are four corners of a square in Albers works.  The costumes were minimalistic; grey t-shirts and briefs that would be seen waking up in the morning at home, both simple and human.  Raw and not fancy, no costumed dancers, fancy makeup or hair.  As the piece progressed, the background colors changed as the dancers weaved into the full spaces of the stage.  Couples and groups merged in and out of the foreground.  The movements of the dancers were abrupt, then flowing; tight, then loose.  They had emotional stresses and responded in the moment, letting us know of their energy or exhaustion, excitement, pain, difficulty or loss.  The more controlled movements at the beginning, in the gray and white boxed in space, eventually reached a purple background, where a pinnacle of erratic and flowing movement took place.  All the dancers moved more freely in the purple light, and many bodies in white and grey were like brushstrokes on a canvas that had all kinds of thickness, line weight, dots, dashes and long swaying strokes.  It felt like when I paint and get deeply involved in a moment of a painting that the brush and paint and textures take over-- I am no longer focused on the image of what I am painting, but the flow of the brush and being painterly-- just enjoying the paint itself and the process.

Borderlands was for me this triumph experienced when we,  as artists/writers/dancers, begin a painting or story on a controlled, white canvas or page that is often square or rectangular, and eventually get to a place where we let go and the flow takes over.  The mind is so into the actual act of painting or writing that it almost forgets what it is painting.  This is an amazing feeling and Borderlands gave me this very feeling in the purple scene.  I wanted to run home and paint!  I hope the dancers in this performance were able to feel a sense of freedom in the unique movements they were able to achieve.  So different from much of traditional ballet, I bet it felt both invigorating and challenging to do something so modern.  However, they all performed with amazing grace even in these most abstract dance shapes and forms.  It was remarkable to watch.

I appreciated this work very much.  My son's reaction was that it was very different (His favorite program was "In the Night" with the Chopin nocturnes and the stars in the background).  My friends reaction was that she really didn't like it, nor did a man in front of me that was actually "Booing" when it was over.  This was frustrating to me, and I did not feel that was polite at all.  I hope others can experience new ballet works with an open mind, and enjoy the new and special movements of the dancers.  There were so many combinations that I never have seen a dancer do before.  I loved the newness of it, and the feeling that the dancers were "unmasked" in their plain clothing.  The costumes were gone and the simplicity of their outfits grounded them and put them on earth with us.  It was very emotional because of this feeling of closeness to the dancers.  I felt more connected with the artists/dancers in this piece than in the other more traditional works.

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Other comments about SF Ballet experience in general:  Please take a look at your "Ballet Shop" and consider a complete make over.  The shop is dark and full of scarves and bobbles for older women, with very little sense of creative merchandising.  A single, round rack of SF Ballet clothing, mostly for women, was present, but there was nothing for young boys.  A few, black baseball caps were over on a table with some cds.  There was no merchandising towards the current show: A nice display could have included white clothing and scarves for "Suite en Blanc", a section of "Night" items, and a colorful section of clothing and art books of Josef Albers.  I wonder if SF Ballet shop works with the Board of the SF Ballet to plan their merchandising, or if it is not something they have time for.  Food for thought.

In the Studio Today... Art on the Farm

Saturday, September 22, 2012

C.Proppé @Cow Track Ranch photo: ©Ann Brooks 2012

For five years, I have been volunteering for the Marin artists group, "Art on the Farm".  It was with great pleasure that I spent my award money, earned from the Wendy Gruber award in 2008, on my first, plein air backpacker's easel at Rileystreet in San Rafael, California. (This year marks the 5th anniversary of Rileystreet in San Rafael, by the way!)  Thank you to photographer, Ann Brooks, for taking this photo of me at Cow Track Ranch this summer.  Visit Ann Brook's website >

As I look back on the past five years with this group, I realize that it has provided a way for me to leave my busy family life and venture out into West Marin, and put brush to canvas, with no one but the cows and grasses to tell me what to do or how to live my life.  This group has provided me with solace and encouragement over the years.  Over the past 2 years, I have worked with the Marin Arts Council and Art Works Downtown; two non-profits in Marin County, California.  At Marin Arts, I was responsible for bringing the Art on the Farm group to the Marin County Civic Center for an exhibit, which sold ten paintings and raised funds for Marin Organic's Interest free loan fund for farmers.  This year, we will have an exhibit in the winter at Art Works Downtown, where I work as the Communications Coordinator for web, print and "pr"(social media, e-news, press releases, etc).

Bringing any exhibit to a non-profit is a lot of work.  Behind the scenes, I have had to write a proposal to AWD and submit 40 jpg images.  The proposal had to be approved by a show committee and considered amongst other requests to exhibit.  I have had to listen to the needs of the non-profit, and come to terms with losing a staff member, and gaining a pile of new work and new fundraising challenges.  I hear about "Art on the Farm" versus more contemporary art, and even erotic art shows, street art and more.  There are so many people that all have a different idea of what art means to them.  I have had less time to paint, and more politics and emotions to deal with.

To me, "Art on the Farm" is far more than just a place to create art.  It is about people who have a passion for Marin, it's lands, and the people that work here.  As artists who enjoy painting, or photo-journaling, we can visit and connect with producers that sell their goods to our local restaurants, stores and at the Farmer's Markets.  We are in touch with our food source, and we are giving back to the producers and Marin Organic with our own passion.  We can educate the community with our work.  We share our art with the public, from kids to adults.  To me, this group has been the perfect place for me to share my skills and passion for 5 years as a volunteer, and as an artist.  Although I don't only paint landscapes and farm animals, it is still a place to connect with my community and be something larger than just an artist, trying to make a few bucks or a name for myself.  It is the most real connection to my community that I have found for an artist.  When we give back, we are forever changed.  We are now a part of the whole puzzle.

Welcome me in promoting "Art on the Farm" at Art Works Downtown, this November 30 - January 17.  This exhibit will raise funds for Marin Organic's Farm Field Studies Program.  Art Works Downtown, a 40,000 square ft. art center in downtown San Rafael, seeks to create a fun and educational exhibit that will give back to the community.  It will allow for kids, families and schools to visit the Art Center, and for collectors to make a contribution to the fundraiser.  Many well known, Marin landscape artists will participate in the fundraiser.  Two receptions in December 2012 and January 2013 will coincide with 2nd Fridays Art Walk.  For more information, please visit the website for Art Works Downtown, or Art on the Farm.

In San Francisco Today...STUDIO Gallery SF

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Yesterday, I had an opening reception to attend where my first "City Bike" painting(see my previous post) was a part of the exhibit "City Streets".  I wanted to get the family out to see the exhibit, but with three wild boys, it is almost impossible to convince them that leaving the house on the weekend, or going to anything moderately cultured is a good idea.  Boy, did the complaints fly free all of Saturday night and into the morning.

However, my plan involved all of us riding bikes in Golden Gate Park before the reception, which I thought would be fun and tire everyone out, so that by the end of the day, we could pop into the reception with little fuss.

Riding bikes in Golden Gate Park on Sunday: Conservatory of Flowers in Bkg.

It worked!  We started out parking on 25th and Fulton, and riding into the thick of the SF AIDS Walk 2012.  That was super fun to ride alongside thousands of people, dressed in matching t-shirts, cheering and happy.  We stopped at the Conservatory of Flowers (above photo) where the marigolds and lawn were orange and bright, SF Giants colors, blazing a fun path for us to visit.  We used the restrooms there and decided we would come back to see the dinosaurs and prehistoric plants another day.

Golden Gate Park: Pedal boats on Stow Lake

We heard the band playing near the DeYoung, stopped for hot dogs in front of the Japanese Tea Garden, and then rode to Stow Lake.  None of us had ever been out in the pedal boats before.  Brian and I were both surprised that in our almost 20 years here, neither of us had ever rode the pedal boats in Golden Gate Park.  We were even more surprised that the concession stand carries "Three Twins" ice cream in tons of flavors!  It was a match made in heaven.  We saw ducks, geese and turtles in the lake.  We saw the waterfalls, went through tunnels and did "donuts" in our boat for fun.  The boys were so happy to pedal some more, from bike to boat, we all pedaled until our legs were sore and we all were quite tuckered out.

Bikes on car: Polk St. near STUDIO Gallery SF

This is when we put the bikes back on our car, and headed for Polk Street, where we went to see the exhibit of city paintings at STUDIO Gallery SF, owned by Jennifer Farris and Rab Terry.  Blake and I got out while Brian drove around looking for parking.  We went through the entire gallery and did not see my painting.  There were some really great works.  Colorful scenes from all over the city, including the Golden Gate Bridge, were exciting to see up close.  There were puppets and a video that Blake really liked.  As we approached the front of the gallery, we ran into Jennifer, that said, "Did you see your painting?"... I responded, "No".  She turned us around to the window, and showed us the "sold" sticker.  She was delighted to share that a couple married in San Francisco who are cyclists had been looking for a bike painting, and had come back and purchased it before the reception.

What great news.  It was the cherry on top of a perfect day, biking in the city with my family.

Now, inspired by this progress, I will head off to paint at least four new/unique city bike paintings by September for the show at Café Ross.  Until then.... Keep pedaling!

In the Studio Today... City Bike: Day 4

Saturday, June 23, 2012

City Bike I:  The Crepe House on Polk and Washington © C.Proppé

the painting, drying outside on this gorgeous day!

Hooray!  What a beautiful day outside, and I have finished this painting to the point that I am happy with it.  It's outside in the sun, drying so I can take it to San Francisco to share with STUDIO gallery on Polk Street for their "City Streets" exhibit.  There will be a reception on July 15th.  Please come visit me in the city!


I will have a solo show of city-themed cycling paintings in September, 2012 at Café Ross in Ross, CA.  The new shop is owned by an old friend, Ross Barclay.  He is doing great things with the shop, including showing local art.  I am delighted to be on his list of upcoming artists!

In the Studio Today... City Bike: Day 3

Sunday, June 17, 2012

"City Bike: The Crepe House on Polk and Washington"(in progress) 18" x 24", oil on linen

Spent part of today adding details to the street signs, the awning and the bike rack.  Added the details on the people inside the shop.  Touched up a few windows.  Is it done?  Close, but not quite yet.

In the Studio Today... City Bike: Day 2

Tuesday pm:

"Nob Hill Bikes: The Crepe House"   Day 2/work in progress by C.Proppé

I took another couple hours to add details in front of the shop, including a bike rack with 7 "loops", and more reflections on the windows.  There is an ornate, metal gate in front of one of the businesses, which I tried to suggest as well.  Still lots more to come...

In the Studio Today... City Bike: Day 1

June 11, 2012

"Nob Hill Bikes at The Crepe House" work in progress 2012  C.Proppé©

Monday...

Made a new goal to paint every Monday.  The start of this is a new bike painting, and I hope to continue with a Summer Series of "Bikes in the City".  This one is definitely in progress, with lots of details still to come.  The image is "The Crepe House" on Polk and Washington in San Francisco's Nob Hill area of the city.  The shop has bike racks outside, and they will be painted into the painting soon.  Here are a couple snapshots of the start of this one:
 This is an 18" x 24", oil on linen.


The linen is what I chose because I like to have a nice edge when I do not frame the canvas.  I have more recently been using gesso board, which has a wooden edge, but they were out of the size I wanted for this painting, so I selected the linen and gessoed it myself yesterday in preparation for painting today.

I like the way it is coming out so far, but there is a lot more detail to go.  Stay tuned!

In the Studio Today: The Meaning of a Painting

Tuesday, June 5:

With my latest painting, retitled: "Beauty in What's Left Behind"

I entered this painting (see my previous post) into the juried "Still Life" exhibit where I work.  It was not selected from the 200 entries... wow, 200 entries.  They could only pick about 40 pieces for the exhibit, so I don't feel too badly today.  You never know what will inspire each juror or the quality of the works entered.  There is no point in deliberating over a show rejection-- just move on to the next one!

I was thinking more about the meaning of this painting to me today, and how it highlights a place not that many people seem to know about from the Bay Area.  What should be so significant about Salt Point to San Franciscan's is that it is the place where they removed rock to use in the building of the streets of San Francisco in the 1800's.  I was also thinking about "emptiness", "cavities", "convex forms"....  Beauty in the hollowed out spaces that are left behind when something dies?  We love shells, which are shiny, colorful and beautiful remains of what once was.  These hollowed out tafoni rock formations look almost skull-like, mimicking the cavities in the eye-sockets of a skull we might see on Halloween or Day of the Dead.  The only thing here that is alive is the Rhododendron, but it's blossom is ephemeral, and it too will fade, leaving behind only the empty vase.


This piece speaks to the beauty in things that are left behind, empty and now transformed into something completely unique, for us humans to marvel at.  We go to the beach and hunt for treasures left behind by other creatures.  It is a very lovely and thoughtful thing to collect seashells by the seashore.  Imagine if there was nothing left behind for us to collect and marvel at?

In the Studio Today: Salt Point Still Life

May 29 - June 2, 2012

Salt Point Still Life: Tafoni, Red Abalone, and Rhododendrons, originally uploaded by cproppe.

photo of tafoni and muscle shell at Salt Point State Park, CA

This still life painting was inspired by the geology, flora and fauna of Salt Point State Park, North of Jenner and South of Gualala, California. The oil painting is 24" x 24" and includes tafoni sandstone formations, red abalone, rhododendrons, a muscle and a snail.

Salt Point State Park includes the Kruse Rhododrendron Preserve, an underwater park where sea life is protected, Gerstle Cove, where divers and kayakers can be seen, hunting for abalone, and the tafoni rock formations. We had a wonderful camping trip here this Memorial Day weekend. View more photos from our trip here.   One of my sons wrote a 4th grade, "California Report" on the park.  Click here to read his report and learn more about the significant history of Salt Point State Park, and how it relates to the streets of San Francisco.

The painting on a wall(note the 2" thick gessoboard with natural edges):

Theater Art: San Rafael's Alter Theater +Salvador Dali makes me Hot!

Friday, May 11, 2012

 

Today is Salvador Dali's Birthday  (May 11)

Win 2 tickets to Sat 5/12 performance of "Dali" show in San Rafael

Atavistic Vestiges After the Rain

He was born "Salvador Felipe Jacinto Dali I Domenech" at 8:45 on the morning of May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Spain in the foothills of the Pyrenees.  As a teenager and art student, I had the joy of visiting the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.  I was amazed with his dreamy and surreal creations, and the impressive size of many of the pieces.  We had used his iconic, melting clocks painting for our senior high school theme performance, "Time Warp".  I designed a t-shirt and painted a large banner that hung from the ceiling of my high school towards the end of my senior year.  I was definitely a graphic designer + marketing kid from a young age.

So, here were are now in 2012, a terrific independent theater company in San Rafael, "AlterTheater" is performing "References to Salvador Dali make me Hot", by two-time Obie Award winner and Oscar nominee Jose Rivera.  In honor of this great theater group and Dali's Birthday, I am giving away 2 tickets to this Saturday's show in San Rafael.  All you have to do is comment below what your favorite Dali painting is and why, and go ahead and "Like" AltherTheater on Facebook if you wish.  The winner will be selected at the end of the day Fri 5/11.

More info...

Purchase tickets

A San Francisco Chronicle Pick!

San Francisco Examiner raves:
"Very moving....communicated with grace and wit by a sexy, passionate cast of actors." --Read the full review

Four Stars from Marin Independent Journal:
"Steamy 'References' entertains with emotion"--Read the full review