Art Walk Saturday 8/27 7-10PM

I'll be there with this new image all framed and ready to go. It is a hand colored black and white negative that is scanned and printed with the help of a PC on archival quality matte paper. The shadow detail is stunning if I say so myself...this is a big part of the reason why I am doing my own B&W work rather than simply converting a digital image to monochromatic.

Silver based materials really do have a depth of gray that you can't match by simply removing color or desaturating a digital image. For the few extra steps needed to bring an image about and get it ready for show the image quality is in another world. Definitely worth the effort.

Enjoy "Wet Lily" and see it in person this weekend at the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts last Summer Art Walk to be held in Old Town Monrovia. I will be near the Paint n Play Art Studio and Gallery and will be available to talk to you about what I do as well as show you what I have both at the Art Walk and in the Paint n Play Art Studio and Gallery. Look for me on the 400 Block of South Myrtle in Monrovia.

Open invitation to my Artists Reception 10/14/2010

Mark your calenders, October 14, 2010, 7PM to 9:30PM for my artists reception at Bolt Barbers in Los Angeles. The addy...460 S Spring Street (corner of 5th and Spring) Los Angeles CA. The reception will include a hosted "Candy bar"...perfect to kick off Halloween. There is no need to RSVP as this is open to the public.

It will be held in conjunction with the Downtown LA Art Walk that runs 5-10PM on that day. Be prepared for tight parking. The Hotel Alexandria at 501 S Spring Street has underground valet parking and you can buy discounted parking from the Bolt good at the hotel. Worth every penny to avoid the other more known public lots in the area.

As soon as Bolt has their artists page updated.

The curator of the exhibit, Betsy Matz designed the post cards and chose one of my favorite images to use on the card. "Abandoned Church, Paris" is one of my favorites for many reasons. Chief of which is that its proof that the greatest rewards are when we stray from the beaten path.

We were on a walking tour of the old Jewish quarter when the guide had us change directions and pointed out there was "nothing to see" down this one small street as the church there was being gutted to turn into retail shops etc.,. Fine I kept walking. We rounded a couple more corners and he pointed out again "nothing to see...." and gave the same reason pointing down the general direction we had been. I broke ranks and jogged down the half block and look what I found, this terrific old church, built in the 1500's being gutted. What a wonderful patina to the walls, the rough hewn beams and on the other side of the wall, the church's old courtyard in full spring bloom with Victorian era apartments on the other side.

I had the camera set in seconds for bracketed exposures and shot it with HDR post processing in mind. I used Photomatix for the post processing in to the HDR file and kept it adjusted for photo-realism with maximum detail in the shadows to highlights. Had I not used HDR file generation I would have had either a beautifully exposed courtyard with a blacked out church, or church detail with blown out highlights for the courtyard. Classic win/win that you can get with HDR and keeping it real instead of surreal.

See you at the reception!

New image for 7/31 MAFA Art Walk

This is among several new images printed just for the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts Summer Art Walk being held in Old Town Monrovia this weekend. The image is one of several I shot at Missouri's Elephant Rock State Park earlier this month.

To see me and my other images you're welcome to attend the Free Art Walk dedicated to photographic arts July 31, 7PM-10Pm. I will be in the Paint n Play 2 Art Gallery and Studio located at 418 S Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia (91016 if you need a zip for google maps).

I'm just a little jazzed....I got front window

I'm jazzed, it wasn't by some grand design I got front window...but I did and I'm not complaining. The location is totally accidental and placement was alphabetical order. Pays to be a "Z" sometimes doesn't it? (Thats me on the far right, 2nd from the top - an abandoned rail car).

The show I'm in is the take all comers, worldwide pool of contributors for the "Snap to Grid" show at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art in the DTLA Arts District. Tonight was the opening reception for the show that will run through the end of the month. I put up a short post this morning on LA Metblogs. Cool show if you want to see the many directions people are exploring with digital art I highly recommend stopping in. Its free and there is cheap parking right around the corner so you don't have to tip-toe through bums to get to the show.

Snap to Grid runs now through November 1, 2008

Just a little reminder the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts is holding its 45th Annual Celebrate the Arts event in the Monrovia Community Center. It is located just off Myrtle at 118 W Palm Avenue in Monrovia's historic Old Town section.

Also, Saturday night is a new facet to the Celebrate the Arts. We are having a Reception and handing out out some awards to some great people in town who contribute to the arts here. First is the "Renaissance Award" going to Kathie Reece who owns the Aztec Hotel and has supported MAFA over the years including donating her lobby and two street front stores in the hotel for Gallery space featuring MAFA artists. Also James Farmer a MHS is getting an award for his 38 years of teach art and inspiring artists.

The reception has a donation of $25 per person, which is tax deductible as MAFA is a 501(c) non-profit. With that you get to see the art while nibbling away at goodies and sipping wine (do tip the wine-tenders as they are donating their services and wares). You'll get some music, meet some artists and a chance to bid on some reserved pieces of art in a silent auction donated by artists for this event.

Oh yeah, come see me too - I'm the feature artist at this years event. Not sure what it gets me other than some publicity, but free is still better than a kick in the pants. Hope to see you!

Art in Old Town Monrovia 12/1/07

I almost forgot to add it here! In my haste to blog it everywhere else and getting ready for the show itself I forgot all about updating this blog. Busy week is an understatement. 3 surprise brand spanking new pieces will be unveiled today.

Paint n Play Art Studio & Gallery, Segil Fine Art and Oh My Godard's is all doing something today. The receptions are all FREE and should be fun. I'll be at Paint N Play until 4 then it's off to my other appointed rounds for today. The details:

All are open to the public and are FREE:
- Oh My Godard Gallery
618 S Myrtle AvenueMonrovia CA 91016
Hosted Art Reception from 1 PM - 3 PM, unveiling of Michael Godard's newest piece "Money Roll".
- Segil Fine Art Gallery
100 W Lime AvenueMonrovia, CA 91016
Artist Reception 5PM - 8PM featuring the recent works of local art
- Paint N Play Art Studio & Gallery
418 S Myrtle AvenueMonrovia CA 91016
Artist Show and Sale starting at 12 Noon running until 10 PM
7:30PM the Monrovia Art Festival Association's 44th Annual Holiday Party will start in the Paint N Play Art Studio and Gallery and run concurrent to their Art Show and Sale.

See me in a few locations this weekend:

My run at the California Wine and Cheese has been extended for another couple of weeks as the artist who was scheduled to install after me has run into difficulties. Good for me as I get to have my stuff hanging and being viewed instead of packed up and warehoused until the next big show I do in October.

Added bonus and a complete surprise is that I have been sponsored sight-unseen by a merchant in nearby Claremont to show at tonight's Art Walk. My sponsor information:
Tattle Tales, 309 Yale Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, 909/621-4192.

Tattle Tales is a kids clothing store but my stuff is pretty inoffensive. It's a nice start as I have heard good things about the Claremont Art Walk. Their Art Walk is different in that you don't have to be a member of an artists association, jurying is pretty liberal and there is no fee for the artist. Yes, no fee. Turns out their Art Walk is driven by the merchants association and they see it as a way to attract traffic into their downtown. This should be interesting. I may toss something up on Blogging.la after I tonight if it turns out to be something that could interest the whole Metro area.