Studio Garden

I've been spending a lot of time painting on my projects on long tables in the garden off my studio. Until the extreme heat of yesterday, it's been such a treat. I planted veggies early and the eggplant, tomatoes, squash and strawberries are beginning to flourish. Every year my lotus gives 2 flowers, but this year, with fertilizer, there are 3 so far.

This is the life cycle of the first.

The seed pod will dry out, with the seeds contained in holes. I'm going to try planting them this year.

Scott's on the River

What may have been the largest water color landscape painting at 700 sq. feet is now a mural on an event structure at Scott's. It was a really wonderful process. The size of the structure section exceeded the size of my entire studio so I painted on a substrate (see prior post). Then, with my trusty installation crew, we adhered the painting to the section.

Starting with the section laid as flat as possible on the floor, we laid out all mural sections to make sure it fit and that I had actually painted everything as planned.

And then we started the adhesion application, carefully positioning each section.

Finally, the last piece was in place, and ready for touch-ups, a 2 day cure and installation by the structure crew.

Pulling the painting onto the structure and securing it to the frame.

Come to Scott's to have drinks and dinner on the patio to see the final painting. Tell your server that I sent you.

Valley-Hi: site visit

A 4th site visit revealed a lot of progress on the facility. Signage is up, walls are painted. It's a really beautiful structure. 

Into the children's space, I was surprised at the colorful text.

The walls are sweeping, covered partially by sound insulation.

The natural light floods the room though no sun will penetrate directly into the room.

These are the ventilation blowers which will pull recirculated air from the building into this space, and up and out above. The ambient air will move the suspended butterfly elements.

The ceiling surface with my installed eye hooks look OK and will probably "disappear" once the installation is complete. I'll be able to start installing in about 2 weeks.

Public art tours on Second Saturdays

In Sunday's Bee, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission is showcasing a selection of public art projects. Bravo.

Weekend observations

My friend, Elaine Corn, has been creating a stunning series on the restaurants on Broadway. Her most recent piece is on the special characteristics of the Pancake Circus . We met there for lunch one day recently. It was a time warp for me, right back to a restaurant my dad used to run every year at the CA State Fair. It was called The Circus Cafe and it was the only full service, sit-down option at the old Fair Grounds on Broadway. I worked there every year, starting at age 8 to 18. So when I walked in the Pancake Circus, with decor from the 60's, I was transported. This place is not retro. It's real. NOTHING had changed.

More on Elaine's Broadway series.

This last Friday, Elaine and I went to see "Paris 36" at the Tower. It's a remarkable film and a true joy to experience. The intention was to follow a fish that Elaine had "interviewed" earlier that day. This was a Blue Fin tuna that she thought was on its way to Kru on J Street. I took my paints so I could make a painting of how the fish became a meal. Sadly, it had ended up at some other restaurant. But on the way in, I saw this pair of red suede shoes in a very odd place. I'm curious as to how these shoes ended up in this particular place. This would be a great story prompt.

Continuing with the red theme, the roses in my garden are crazy this year. Everyone's roses are crazy.

And yesterday I saw a strange, pendulous shape in the small tree at the end of my porch. At first I thought it was an owl. Then it began to quiver. Soon, a tine head popped out, followed by a flying body. It's a stunning bird's nest. I'm so excited. I've never seen this kind of nest before. Now I can watch the family grow.

This is the most delicate "found object" that I've ever seen.

River mural at Scott's

I think I may be creating the largest watercolor painting in California.   

The area is approximately 700 square feet . The mural will be adhered to the top panel of an event structure on an area that is too large to transport to my studio so I had to figure out a method of production in my studio. I'm creating it on the same substrate that I used on the Jack London mural at Beer's Books. The material is 46" wide cut to 10' with a grid drawn on the sketch. The image above shows the drawing up on the studio wall with some panels painted and rolled up in the studio.

Once the drawing was complete I rolled each out onto two lengths of 4x8' plywood in my garden and started painting wet into wet, letting the paint flow where it will.

A new morning, hot sun, another panel and lots of water and paint.

And shade in the afternoon. A perfect day in the garden.

    

Butterfly on cover of New Yorker

This week's New Yorker shows a butterfly visiting a construction worker on a high rise. Nice.

We're going to Boston and NYC on the 20th. My son Greg, and his Harvard architecture team is participating in an exhibition and tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright at the Guggenheim. The team has a blog- link to the right. More info here.

Valley-Hi: site visit

Last Thursday I made a visit to the site to spend some time contemplating the space. I talked to the architect for awhile, and then the project manager showed up with information that was a total surprise to me, and not a happy one. It seems that the surface of the suspended ceiling is to be exposed sound insulation material, not clean drywall with ply reinforcement.  This is the kind of surprise that often happens on projects. This is an example from a ceiling in another part of the Library. 

Nevertheless, the building is stunning. The entrance is on the East side, so to get to the Children's Tower you pass through the entire length of the building, past soaring north windows, exposed construction and natural materials. A lower portion of the hallway hides the ventilation system that feeds into the Tower. 

My installation will start on that ceiling, about 6' from the open entrance.

Once inside, the installation will be suspended from steel cable and tensioning elements.

West light floods the room with the curves extending past the window, sheltering the room from the setting sun. The light will change dramatically as the day passes, and then again at night under artificial lighting. There is no way I can visualize how to respond to this before all fixtures are installed, as well as the ceiling skin.

New mural for Scott's on the River

 I'm creating a 700 square foot mural on the top area of an event tent. I'm painting it on a substrate in my studio that I'll adhere to the tent on site. The painting is loose and fun, portraying the marina on the opposite shore.

Projecting the image in the studio. The area is 50' wide at the bottom x 28' high. 

Small things eaten

Small things in groups

My neighbor raises quails, and offered these eggs. They're too beautiful to eat, but I'll force myself.

The piece for the Crocker Art Museum auction.

"Migration #1," ceramic, 16x16x4"

A day at the Mondavi

I love my job. I often get to do unusual things like:

• climb up 10 stories on an exterior staircase on the side of a cruise ship in San Diego harbor, thankful for my hardhat
  
• discover a whole hanger full of WWII Corsairs and sit in one
• visit high rise buildings under construction
• fly over LA in a Baby Bell chopper with the door off
• interview Amelia Earhart's last official photographer
• rescue a "great white hunter" from Alaska and his hooker in an elevator at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, guiding them safely to the concierge level

and last week, for my Davis project, I got to climb up to the roof of the Mondavi Center in Davis to see the view and take pictures. An endless metal circular staircase felt like many more stories than it was, culminating in a vertical ladder to the roof and stunning views which only served to reinforce my perception that this Valley is reallllly flat.

Mt. Diablo to the South

  Sacramento

Down the Valley

The Mondavi  is an amazing structure, made more so by it's total absence of people.  Looking down on the floor seating to an empty facility, the flash only goes so far.

Climbing up into the structure on the way to the roof.

Acousitics

Curtains

In the middle of the stage, I faced the empty seats and sang, briefly and as loudly as possible, my favorite song when faced with this opportunity, "move over world, and give me some room."  Without embarrassment. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Valley-Hi: making butterflies

Back to the studio, testing flutterbutts on the wall.

The contractor has installed the reinforcement, and the drywall starts today.

Valley-Hi: site visit

Yesterday, I made my second site visit to the Library project.  It's wrapped now, so the spaces are more easily comprehended. This image is the approach into the Children's Room. 

I brought a test sample of butterflies to hang in the space which has a large window looking West. The exterior wall wraps around just far enough to shelter the room from the summer setting sun. The is a LEED building, with many impressive green features.

We discussed issues such as sheet metal reinforcement between the metal studs, lighting height and specs, and the date that the contractor expects to turn the building over to the client, the City of Sacramento.

This sketch is a process by which I'll decide where to install the hardware on the walls and on the soffit above. I'll be adding measurements for the contractor to show him where I want the sheet metal to be installed. Drywall curves over the metal, and then the very elegant museum quality tensioning devices will be installed. From each of these, placed all around the walls and on the soffit, 17'4" from the floor, steel cable will be tensioned diagonally from one side to the other, like a cocoon. The ceramic butterflies and elements will attach to the cables and to the wall surfaces.

My mother, Theo Samuels, reminded me that she's always called these "flutterbutts." 

Downtown history tour

An architectural selection from I to K Streets showcased

by a history guide from the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. 

Our pace was too fast to sketch, so I'll have to return.

If you take the time to look, often up, there are an impressive number of gems, both old and new.

At the infamous property at 8th & K, we can see the tunnels that run under

many sidewalks, secretly connecting many downtown streets and

most often used to get from one speakeasy to another during prohibition.

The Cathedral adds to the skyline from many vantage points.

This is one of my favorite downtown views.

As we walked the streets, our guide, who designed the program and started it

seven years ago, talked about all the businesses that no longer exist.

In these tough economic times, it was a reminder that transition

is inevitable. And that was before technology.

This is the smallest per square foot business  in the world.

Some things don't change, and that's comforting though our guide

said that this space is now occupied by an oral historian.

Deco touches with Gladding McBean cladding.

The original facade of the Hales Building which had been covered for years.

More Deco on the Kress facade.

The City Library has benches under the trees on I Street, 

a great place to people watch.

Ceramic light posts just outside the entrance above. The rich textures, patterns on patterns, enrich the pedestrian experience at street level.

To really enjoy the beauty that Downtown offers, both in street scape and architecture

visit on an early Sunday morning when the streets are serene. And if you want to

see the facades, go soon, before the trees burst out in full leaf.

K street development

K Street development has been stalled for many years in part because a few property owners have put intense self interest above reasonable response. This might be effective for them, but it has resulted in major delays and consequences for the greater good of other property and business owners and the community at large. I created a mural many years ago for the Downtown Partnership to apply what I call an "urban band-aid" to a burned out shell on K between 8th & 9th. The top photo shows the site before, with the mural below.
The mural was a commentary on the transitory nature of contemporary culture and architecture. A great example in this region is the Arco Arena which appears to be obsolete and useless just twenty years after it was built. Using the timelessness of Michelangelo as a metaphor, I added a contemporary twist, showing the figures with hairdryer, running shoes, and a newspaper.

By 2000 something, the developer had destroyed both the mural and what was left of the building behind. By federal law, he should have notified me, but didn't. I do wonder if he just threw it away, which is really sad as it brought a lot of humor to that part of K.

Yesterday the City Counsel passed new proposals for K Street.
We can only hope that the economy recovers sufficiently to support both
the existing businesses and the new concepts.

A day West of Davis

On Saturday, I packed up my portable paint kit and camera and set off to explore the landscape around Davis. This is really an adorable and charming town, especially now, before both the buds and sun have burst into full bloom. I was particularly interested in the land between Davis and the Coastal Range. Fecund is the most appropriate adjective to describe one of the most fertile valleys in the world.

And it is flat. Really flat.

Well, it's flat until the Coast Range rises abruptly, though not very high, out of the Valley floor, 

West of Winters, a tiny, charming hamlet.

I've always thought the East facing side of the Coast Range was just stunning, with curvaceous undulations, dotted dramatically with puggs of trees, which always seem to cast long shadows, no matter the time of day. Thiebaud captures this the best of all, poor imitators that we are.

There's a linear quality to the landscape.

(turn down the sound on the following video)

This is what's growing between the rows of trees.

This is the real California, an economy based on agriculture. 

 

Myrian Sanchez, packing oranges at the Fruit Tree stand in Winters.

I can only hope that land developers don't have the last laugh.

A walk in the rain

For the second Sunday in a row, I joined the Fleet Feet training crew. This is a real find for me. There are 3 main levels, walkers like myself, walk-joggers, and runners. While I used to jog, all I'd ever "competed" in was a 10K, and heck, that was probably in 1980. I'm happy walking and keeping myself safe, especially as I want to continue making art for at least another 30 years.

    So off we started, in a very steady rain, from Sunrise Blvd. down to the River, heading downstream. I've biked this many times, but I seriously never thought about walking it. I could have just walked home, but didn't, and at the 5 1/2 mile mark, turned and headed back. 

    Last Wednesday night, yes in the dark & out on the trail, I watched tiny headlamps like fireflies and thought to myself that there was absolutely nothing I didn't just love about the experience. I've been working out on the American River Parkway since moving back to Sacramento in 1982, but I've never once been down there in the dark. With the critters. Mountain lions, tigers and bears. 

Water "footprint"_wsj.com

It takes 505 gallons of water to produce 1 pair of Levi's stonewashed jeans.

Reflections of glaciers on Stryn Lake, Norway, Summer 2007

This stat appears in  a really interesting article on water and the cost of production, cost being the impact on natural resources. Attached to the article is a link to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The six week animation is particularly interesting. Both are provided by the National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

And as I write this, "Insight" on capradio.org is interviewing Scott Slater regarding water and drought issues. I'm reminded of the drought of 1975-77 though our population in CA and everywhere else has grown way beyond Malthus' theories.

Making butterflies: Valley-Hi project

I've been making butterflies for awhile now. The activity falls under the heading of obsessive-compulsive behavior, which is fine with me because there's no other way when I have so very many to make. Each basic shape is rolled and cut by hand- what else? Then I have a collection of stamps that I've made from my family's silver. I like the idea of using images from past generations to come into contemporary time. I used the same stamps on the Scott's installation.

Adding subtle color also emphasizes the patterns on the stamps and other spontaneous marks. 

   Loading the kiln, and firing. A few hundred down, a thousand to go.At the end of the day I was rewarded with a stunning rainbow.