Noe Valley Show at Gallery Sanchez Opens

The opening at the Gallery Sanchez in the Noe valley Ministry yesterday was a very nice event. I really enjoy working with this group of artists from the Sunset, we are an interesting mix of ages and life experience. The space is really lovely, hi ceilings and loft feeling with out being overly religious. Although The Noe Valley Ministry is a church with crosses etc here and there, it's also an active community center where various groups meet including a Jewish Group and the have regular musical performances. I also really enjoyed having time to talk in depth with the other artists about our plans and dreams.
This piece, One Leaf, is part of the show at Gallery Sanchez. It was taken on a drizzly / foggy day at Fort Funston. It's special to me because of the subtleties in it. The smooth shading indicating the shape of the leaf in the softened background and the intense yellows and oranges on the leaf edge as the plant reacted to the pressures of the weather on the bluff. The part that clinches the deal for me is the curve of the edge and how seductive it's path through the image is.

hanging the show in Noe Valley

today we are hanging the show in Noe Valley Ministry, Gallery Sanchez. hanging shows can be a long, complicated process and it'd be great if i could do all this faster. i will be helping to hang the Altered barbie show and i can't be this methodical, i will have to think on my feet as artist bring in last minute changes.
my current belabored process started over a month ago when i got the dimensions for my share of the space in the gallery. At that point i was submitting my work to a couple of shows and planning on submitting to a few more so i made a master plan of what was going to be where. i had to settle all this in my mind before sending out my image to be included in the publicity for Noe Valley.
so i thought about the themes for the other shows and then thought about coherence for this show. i decided that certain pieces were definitely going to other shows and could not be included in this mix. decided the Yosemite image was the anchor for the Noe Valley show. I thought it made a good publicity photo because it's hi contrast, recognizable even shrunk down, and people had responded so well to it at the Art on the Avenues show.
next i did the math to figure how many framed images could fit in my Noe Valley space allotment. I had not yet unpacked everything from the Art on the Avenues show, so i started pulling out pieces and sorting them. propping them up around the house (my studio was too small for all this visual thinking). finally the idea of green/blue tan and blue came together and i started selecting sand, ocean, and greenish blue plant images, mixing vertical and horizontal work.
next i began to draw layouts of the famed pieces on my section of wall. my first layout was just six pictures, but it looked sparse when i used my graph paper to put things in scale. so i tried other combinations. i stopped when i had a fairly settled idea.
yesterday i took up Debra's suggestion and measured out the 5x7 space on my floor and laid out the actual framed images on the floor. good thing too because some of my frames are a tiny but bigger than others and that made a big difference in my little plan! i tried moving them about but eventually found it too physically demanding to avoid stepping on them and bending over so much (i've been a bit under the weather). so i went back to drawing on my graph paper. I should have used a pencil because i changes my mind so many times and made a bit of a mess with my pen. this morning before i pack them up to take over to the gallery i will clean them and lay them out on last time.
so i could improve by:
being organized through keeping a folder or searchable database of images of what's in frames now so i can sort thru the images on the computer to help me choose rather than moving them about the house;
deciding faster through confidence in my decisions;
being more accurate, through knowing the actual dement-ions of my work and using a calculator;
being sensible by using a pencil and good eraser when drawing plans;
learning to use the computer for layouts (so that it's faster than drawing on paper which it's not now cuz i fumble through it) because designing on the computer will be more accurate and give me more visual feedback than my sketches on graph paper and be physically less demanding than laying the framed art out on the floor!
the reason for exploring process is to see where you can make changes and help others think about there own process.

"Patterns, Portions, and Pieces"

Patterns potions and pieces opens tonight at the Frank Bette Center for the arts in Alameda. I'm not even sure if i'm in it because ii was bad and forgot to call in yesterday. I hope folks can come to the First Friday Opening Gala July 6, 7-9 PM tonight at 1601 Paru Street Alameda, CA.

I have to explain the process of submittal and acceptance at FBCA so you can understand the previous statement. FBCA, like alot of community art centers, has many open calls. Every month they have a Theme which artists use to guide them in selecting what to bring in for the show. There is a drop ff day when we all bring in our work. there is no jury for these open shows (unlike Alameda on Camera), rather the pieces are selected as how well they all fit together to make a show. the process of the gallery is to go through all the pieces and begin to plan the hanging and as they do that the way the whole show will look gels in their minds. Then they hang the show. The artists call toward the end of the week and determine if they have something to pick up. Because we often drop off multiple pieces, we usually have to pick something up even if we are in the show. this process tends to keep these shows local, but it helps me to make it to the opening because i make one trip to pick up art and go to the opening.

Altered Barbie getting ready

Photo depicts "Barbie's Hood Ornament" by Leigh Radtke.
Well the Altered Barbie show is coming closer. I'm running like mad to get organized. the press release went out, the post card is at the printers I actually had some input, but mostly i fixed the issues with the logos for the sponsors in the press release.
this is just the sort of thing i'm good at. problem solving on the fly.
the first acceptances went out. there are actually some artists who don't have email and that makes it hard to contact them, snail mail is well, ... slow! so i won't publish all the names yet.
I actually made a spreadsheet - yeah i know!! this is tough for me of course with the dyslexia and all but i have to get some skills in this area. i need them for Frank Bette Center for the Arts too.

I went out and purchased the domain name for altered barbie and set it up with a real life server. there were lots of little bugs at first, several caused by my inexperience! but i worked it through with tech support.

So now i really have to update the Altered Barbie site and blog and our pnn.com interactive news site cuz so many details have firmed up. I also have to start adding artists pages and gather artists info for the book and website. Oh and the sponsers! (of which daydreaming arts is one!)

I love working on this show but i've been doing it pretty much non stop for two weeks now with just a short break to help with intake at Frank Bette last Sunday. Boy was that demanding!!! Also I did my shots but have yet to print them cuz my printer still hasn't arrived (another crazy story) and i've been working hard on helping Sarah with her dioramas. getting Barbie to stand up is really hard!!! Oh and Sarah and i were at the mall yesterday and we started planning what we will wear to the Barbie Ball, it's getting so exciting!!!!!
so i'm heading over to the blog right now.

Sunset Artists Noe Valley Show July 10th to August 18th

I'm excited to announce that I will be part of a group show of local San Francisco artists in the Gallery Sanchez of the Noe Valley Ministry 1021 Sanchez Street, near 24th St. San francisco Ca. Our artists reception will be Saturday July 14th from 2 to 4 pm. The other artists whose work will be hanging in the show include: Roger Thoms, Ann Eby, Kelsie Tinker, (who will also be in the Altered Barbie Show the end of this month) David Grote, Susan Grote, Voula Sideris, Kate Salenfriend, Kyla Johnk, Steve Dehlinger and Kate Dopheide two more Altered Barbie artists!!! small world huh?

The artists in this show are all part of the Sunset Artists Society which puts on the annual Art in the Avenues show at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park.

I'm looking forward to this show because I will have a large space to fill. Instead of just one or two pieces in a group show of many artists, we will each hang several pieces in a show with a small group of artists. I will have a section that is 7 feet wide, so the show will be more focused than the Art on the Avenues show where i hung over 30 pieces from the last year.
I'm also looking forward to the process of us hanging the show on Monday. I've planned the pieces I want to bring and I know I'll get lots of help from this great group of artists. Planning and hanging shows is an important thing to learn. Each time I feel more in control. Debra at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda taught me to do my layout on the floor in the studio first!

Please come to the reception Sat July 14th 2-4 in the afternoon! I want to have a good turn out of friends and admirers to help fill the huge gallery space.

Capturing Light

i keep promising myself that i will post more often and get back to the real use of this blog which is to talk about my artistic process and teaching.
but first this commercial break. I have several shows coming up. in Petaluma at the Aurora Colors Gallery i will have my piece "Hooks" (from the Alameda on Camera collection) in their show: Capturing Light - Photography. it runs July 21st to August 18, 2007. the opening is Saturday July 21 6:30 -8:30 PM at Aurora Colors Gallery, 145 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, CA 94952. PLEASE COME! To contact the Gallery, call Vangie Pullins at (707)762-0131 or email events@auroracolors.com

"Hooks" is not the piece's real name, but the name is a joke and i didn't think it would be appreciated outside of the context of the Alameda on Camera show. the real name is "disappearing hooks" because of the crazy story that goes with the taking of the picture and it's aftermath. this is a story of process so i will share it here.

the Alameda on Camera event, you may remember, was a challenge to photographers to reflect their vision of their little corner of the City of Alameda. 40 photographers reached into a hat and grabbed 1/40th of the map of Alameda. they then spread out across the city to grab their visual impressions of that little corner of the map. we had but 48 hours in one weekend to capture the essence of our piece of Alameda.

i was lucky enough to draw a map piece that represented a part of Alameda that was mostly off limits! the Coast Guard, the Navy and a private community all posted signs making it clear i could be arrested for being there. So i was lucky to be forced to mostly focus on the few public areas available.

one public place was a short path by the canal where huge container ships come and go. at the end of the path was a dry dock where much smaller ships and boats we being worked on. between me and the work was a high chain link fence. so i began shooting all the junk that was hanging on the fence - you know i love junk. there was all sorts of stuff, paint roller minus the covering, parts and piece of things - - and then there were these fantastic hooks. i was drawn to them like love at first sight. but the footing was horrible and it took me forever to get into a secure position. the light was low, it was raining and i had a long lens on so i really needed to steady myself against a fairly long exposure.


finally ready to shoot, i'm interrupted by "ma'am can we help you?" from a couple of guys in hard hats and dusty work clothes. i back up from the work and turn on the charm, explaining all about the Alameda on Camera event and the Frank Bette Center for the Arts. i show them my ID around my neck and take out my little piece of map showing where we are and finally seem to make them comfortable. they tell me the hooks are illegal because they are broken and then move on. i return to the hooks, working to get myself positioned securely. the ground is uneven and muddy (it's still winter) and the angle of me, my long lens, the fence and the hooks is difficult.

right as i settle in, it happens again. i went through the whole explanation again. again they tell me how the hooks are illegal and finally moved on. i reposition myself, really getting to it as fast as i can. by now my back is killing me and my legs are quite put out. but when it happens a third time i manage to keep my humor and charm and go through the explanation all over again. this last pair (why are they always in twos?) took particular pains to explain why the hooks were illegal, pointing to the failures of safety features and insisting that they were not used. that's why they are on the fence you see. cuz they're broken and no one uses them. so i explain that i really like the colors and the textures of the peeling paint, and that i like that they are old and broken. they look at me like i'm nuts! finally, when they move off i move really fast (for me) and zero in on the hooks. then i move on to some mushroom growing nearby.

the next day i came back to the same spot before dawn and took some great shots of these folks working in the rain long before you could see well. when it was finally light enough, i left the path and went back to take more of the hooks, hopeful that i will be better able to take my time and make sure i have the shot. but look! they're gone! all the other junk is still hanging on the fence but the illegal hooks have disappeared! despite all my charm they did not believe for a minute that i was an artist, i had to be from the Government catching them with the illegal, disappearing hooks.