openings

going to openings is not easy. I often spend more time looking for a place to park than I do at the opening. and you gotta get out of your paint stained work clothes. but it's always worth it. the art is always interesting and stimulating of your own creativity. because i'm shy, if it's not my opening I usually split after congratulating the artist and checking out all the art. tonight I got to two openings. the first was in San Francisco at 111 Minna, a hopping bar. my pal Mike Kimball had a new series which invokes the romanticism of my youth. fast cars and rain. remember necking in cars in the rain? remember gas at 35 cents a gallon? I didn't meet the other artists in the show but I did have a conversation with a stabbed about the art. amazing! on of the reasons openings are hard for me is because I want to talk about the art and people just wanna talk. so I really enjoyed that encounter. the second opening was RAW in Berkeley. it definitely lives up to it's name. several pieces we propped agains the wall, on the floor or tables, and tall thin pieces hung much high than standard. it was not in the lobby of the Hotel Shattuck, nor in the popping bar, but down a long hallway, passed the restrooms, thru the courtyard into a room you might rent for a book club luncheon. there was more than wall art. there was some jewelry, greeting cards and phone books with art on the covers, a DJ and a fellow using a projector to demonstrate drawing in Photoshop. or so it appeared. but he was projecting it on a wall where someone else's art was hung. I really liked the gal who was promoting it but I was kinda disappointed.
here's some art of mine,




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

getting my work out there!

it's been such a busy time! i'm really getting my work out there and feeling good about the positive feedback i'm receiving. this month my work will be in three galleries and a coffee shop. two shows have been juried by real artists! one by the guy who owns the coffee shop. so i have some smaller works at the intimate Cafe Musica in the Mission at 564 South Van Ness Ave., San Francisco CA. 94110 415-834-5804 - artist's reception to be announced.

the theme this month at Frank Bette Community Art Center. 1601 Paru Street, Alameda, CA 94501 is "What if ..." and the opening is the Second Friday of July, July 10th 7-9 pm - i have a dreamy beach piece in that show.

i'm also very proud to have one of my newest pieces "flying leaf" accepted in the 2009 National Juried Exhibition at ACCI Gallery 1652 Shattuck Ave Berkeley, CA, 94709 Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 11- 6; Saturday, 10 - 6; Sunday, 12 - 5. re-read that slowly. not only is it Juried, it's National. that means my work was among a small group chosen among a national wide applicant pool! in fact they told me there were over 900 entries! and a mere 76 pieces chosen! So please come to that opening Also on July 10th - 6-9 pm.

And finally my most exciting news is that i've juiried into the artists' coop at City Art which is also in the Mission at 828 Valencia Street near 20th Street. i will take part in the next show with several brand new pieces. the opening is July 3rd 7 -10 pm be there!

I will post some examples of my new work very soon!

Open Studio 2008

Everyone is invited to come to my Open Studio for 2008! Organized by ArtSpan

San Francisco Open Studios occur throughout October, with different neighborhoods open each weekend. my studio is in The Sunset and we are open Oct 11th and 12th 11 am to 6 pm.

daydreaming arts studio is located at 2169 20th Avenue Just off of Route 1.

I have so much new work this year it's very exciting getting ready. I will have 13 brand new oversized abstract photos framed and hung for presentation and a mountain of new prints that have not yet been framed.
You can see these at my new website, daydreamingarts.net

I also have mixed media work including several new silk works such as hand printed scarves, wall hangings and a new "found art" window with a silk montage and beach elements.

for my photographic prints i always use the original capture, but for the mixed media and silk i enjoy creating montages with those images so this work has a surreal impression. The picture on the right is one such montage that i used one my latest window.

Kayla's Open Studio Oct 13 & 14

To all my Art Lovers and Friends:
Yes it's been a whole year since the last Open Studios here in San Francisco.

Next weekend The Sunset and surrounding neighborhoods will be having Open Studios. Come see my most recent fine art photography, which focuses on the spiritual in the material world. I also have some handmade books, and wall & window hangings that utilize my photography.

Kayla's Open Studio
Oct 13 & 14, 2007 at
2169 20th Ave., San Francisco, Ca, 94116

Part of the fun of open studios is seeing works in progress. I have been experiment with many forms of mixed media and going through and exploratory and playful period with working with encaustics, polymer clays, incorporating real objects of nature into these works. Feedback on these experiments is very valuable to me so come see the process and give your opinions.

Because i have been diagnosis with a second serious bone marrow cancer and will have to go through a bone marrow transplant soon, i feel a strong urge to share my work this last time before i undergo this procedure which will likely keep me busy for the next year. I feel that the work that I've done will be complete when it hangs in homes and spreads the joy! I will continue making art - it brings me so much satisfaction - but i will not have the energy to have open studios or continue to submit to galleries for quite some time.

So please come by. Prices are deeply discounted to facilitate spreading the deep connection with nature that i hope my work creates. 10% of sales will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/ who do so much to support research and public understanding of bone marrow diseases, while providing practical assistance to patients and family. I love this organization!

Go here if you want information on my disease (MDS):
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=55442

My Heath Story and more information on MDS and Bone Marrow transplants:
http://daydreamer.pnn.com/2713-health-and-wellness
See some of My Art: http://daydreamer.pnn.com/2103-the-art-page (explains spiritual connections and http://daydreamingarts.blogspot.com/ discusses process

October 13 - 14th 2169 20th Ave., San Francisco, Ca. 94116
use google maps to get directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&time=&date=&ttype=&q=2169+20th+Ave,+San+Francisco,+San+Francisco,+California+94116,+United+States&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=71.064097,111.972656&ie=UTF8&lr=lang_en&cd=1&geocode=0,37.747299,-122.477098&ll=37.747355,-122.476251&spn=0.008908,0.013669&z=16&om=1

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.

"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.

"Peaches and Cream" at FBCA

So the latest show at Frank Bette center for the arts is Peaches and Cream." I submitted a classic of mine (read not made in the year since i moved tothe sunset district). I call it bite because it integrates the natural "imperfection" which is nature getting along fine, bugs gotta eat!

time flies when you are busy!

this is an image i love from that raining sunday morning in Alameda.

I have been so busy i haven't even had time to post to say how busy i am!
my work is hanging again in the Aurora Gallery in Petaluma, this time in a show called May Day All Things Bright and Beautiful, again in Alameda at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in their Earth, Sky and Between exhibition, and i continue at the San Francisco Hall of Juvenile Justice in the school lobby. Plus i have two found art pieces in Brooks College in Sunnyvale. my windows and my cabinets with the silk inserts. frank Beete and brooks College opened this Friday and Aurora Colors the Sat. night before that.
wow!

alameda on camera opens tonight

the Gala Opening for Alameda on Camera is tonight at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts for 7 -9 PM. i'm so excited to see the exihibit. whe i dropped off sxome of m work I was so impressed withthe quality of everyone's work. thisis going to be an incredable show! the link above will take you to they website where there are good directions. it's at the corner of Lincoln and Paru which is a major intereection. http://www.frankbettecenter.org/

spring at last or Seeing Grean

i've been so incredibly busy lately and the weather has been so fine, i haven't sat still long enough to write a blog in quite some time! this flower petal isn't even a spring flower! it's from the dead of winter -- which around here is not so dead!

the TV of Tomorrow show last week was FANTASTIC! what fun we had! mostly the techies kept to themselves and the artists kept together, even though we'd never met before. the show was a conference for folks who work in the development end of interactive tv. the idea was to explore the possibilities. in keeping with that theme our art all had something to say about tv and many of us imagined where it might go.

one piece was a robot that was peopled remotely. there was a tv screen with the person's face broadcast live and you could talk to her and she'd talk back. the robot could move around the room because it was wireless. this was created collaboratively by some art students. it became the intersection for the artists and the techies. being so overtly techie as a piece it was easier for the techies to approach.

the was also a student journalist there so i had my first newspaper interview. i wonder if her published anything!

on Sunday i drove up to Petaluma to pick up my art from the Aurora Colors Gallery and had a nice chat with the owner. in the car i switched out frames cuz i hated that Plexiglas and took that piece and two others down to Ben Lomond for the "Seeing Green" show at the Santa Cruz Mountains art center http://www.mountainartcenter.org/

so i will have three rather green pieces there- the show opens friday night with a party and goes for a month. i still have work up at the Frank Bette Center in Alameda. for now it's in their "Green" show and that will be follow by our Alameda on Camera work. all 40 photographer's and our vision of the city!

i'm printing out - for the fourth time - the piece for that show as i write this. it has a great story behind it which i will share when i post the image here. i'm reprinting it to get the sharpening just right. it's very textured and it looked to grainy, then too blurry, and then grainy again.

i ended up sharpening different parts of the image differently. over all used "High Pass", for which you have to make a copy of your background layer because it is a destructive filter and when you are done you blend it with the original layer. I have some of my own tricks that i've added to this hidden gem. i like making the hi pass layer black and white to avoid adding a color cast and playing with the blending modes and opacity.

i made a separate layer for sections of the picture that had unique issues. one part for example, was so deeply orange / red that it was loosing detail when it printed. rather than desaturate (which i'll try if this doesn't work) i put this part on it's own layer and sharpened it in such a way as to emphasize the hidden yellows. this created a more textured look and lessened the orange / red blow out.

it's coming out of the printer now. well i won't decide til tomorrow whether i need to keep working on this image. often the print changed a bit as it dries over night.

i will be in Abstractions show in Aurora Colors Gallery

I'm so excited! i'm going to be in yet another Juried Show and this one is in a Gallery!
kayla garelick will be in an upcoming exhibit at Aurora Colors Gallery
"Abstractions, Color & Texture"
Feb. 24, 2007- March 24, 2007
Opening Reception Saturday Feb. 24, 2007 6:30pm-8:30pm
Free with Refreshments!!!

Aurora Colors Gallery
145-A Kentucky Street, Petaluma, CA94952 
707-762-0131
http://www.auroracolors.com/AC/

Local San Francisco artist from the Sunset District kayla garelick, of daydreaming arts, will be participating in the "Abstractions, Color & Texture" art exhibition at Aurora Colors Gallery. kayla's piece "one leaf" is an example of her ability to use the camera lens to create abstract re-interpretations of the world around us. kayla's work, inspired by her fight with leukemia, creates a sense of awe for the details she sees. Her subjects are the from nearby Ocean Beach and Fort Funston, where Kayla transforms the ordinary to the extraordinary. Don't miss this show!

show at Adath Israel was a great success

i was so busy getting ready for the show at Adath Israel, my local synagogue.
it was a great success!
i donated my latest mixed media project (pictured here) to the raffle. we raised over a hundred dollars through the raffle and more through sales. i donated 10% of the proceeds to the shul.
this was such an exciting event for everyone involved. the new Rabbi, Joshua Strulowitz, is revitalizing the community by starting educational opportunities, bringing in families with young children through a play group, and creating more opportunities for socializing - this show being the first of many events to come.
i was thrilled with the feedback about my work and having a chance to sell a few things - to know my work is out there. the toughest part was the artist's talk. I spoke directly about the spiritual connection i feel in my work and that's hard to talk about. i don't have words for that. everyone listened and i got through it.

the wall hanging is made with a lovely gold material i got in and India Saree shop in Berkeley (but it is much heavier than a saree). the image of a flower was printed on silk - a luxurious silk with some texture -and the hebrew words were printed on silk as well. the Hebrew says "east" in English because it is to be hung on an eastern wall so you know which way to face when you pray at home. The silk is from colortextiles and it's called silk lines.