I finally made it to two venues for SF’s 3rd weekend of open studios. I saw several artists that I liked, but two in particular illustrate how starkly different artists’ perspectives can be while both remaining exciting and vibrant. Continue reading
I’m getting a late start on the open studios this year (I missed the first two weekends), but I’m jumping in tomorrow and am excited to see what’s out there! Tomorrow and Sunday will feature open studios in the Bayview, Tenderloin, SOMA, Potrero Hill, and Dogpatch neighborhoods of San Francisco. Those neighborhoods cover a lot of area, which is why I will likely stick closer to home with the Tenderloin and SOMA. I’m also hoping to check out the free public reception tomorrow night at SOMArts (934 Brannan between 8th and 9th) from 6-9.
I will let you know what I find! You do the same!
The main strength of the first season of Work of Art – which seems to remain intact for season 2 – was its glimpse inside the artistic process. Even though the process is skewed due to the artifice of the weekly challenge, it is informative to see how different artists approach solving a problem (i.e. to fulfill the dictates of a challenge in a way that meets the judges’ expectations) as filtered through their particular style. Continue reading
I will reluctantly admit that I enjoy certain types of reality television shows. Not the navel-gazing, voyeuristic Real Worlds and Big Brothers, but the ones where those looking for their big break compete pageant-style to be the best at whatever the show’s producers are asking them to do. No network does these types of reality game shows better than Bravo (the first 5 seasons of Project Runway, Top Chef) and Work of Art, – beginning its 2nd season tonight at 9/8C – should be no exception. Continue reading
In terms of public perception, I think art is where wine was about 30 years ago. Thanks to better wine education (including good wine blogs), wine has become largely de-mystified in the same way that I hope art will be. But, currently, too few people are involved in the conversation around art and no one is allowed to ask the most important question of all: what is art? And what makes a work of art “good”? Continue reading
Wine is Essential for Writers, Raoul Dufy, 1936
As I will mention repeatedly, I see a significant similarities between the way people interact with the world of wine and with the art world. And I will be using wine analogies often, hence the title of this blog. Continue reading
Why? Art has been one of the sustaining joys of my life. I did not grow up around art; we had pictures. Art was what rich people bought.
I’m not exactly sure when that view changed for me. I do remember very clearly, however, the first time I saw a painting that moved me. An older friend of mine from our church, Billy Edwards, had been commissioned to do a painting that would be given away as a prize to the pastor of church that raised the most money for one of the annual fundraising drives in our state of North Carolina.
Billy was not a full-time artist, but I know he wanted to be. As so many painters have throughout history, he would do occasional portraits for people to make extra money. So the opportunity to get paid to paint something from his imagination had to be exhilarating.
Due to my reputation for speaking my mind (a distinctly un-Southern trait), Billy asked me to be the first person to see the painting just prior to completion. My mom warned me to be nice as if a bad review would derail Billy’s career. Such power for a 16-year-old!
Mom had nothing to worry about. The second he unveiled the piece I was captivated. It was the most accessible of subjects: a landscape. But what a landscape it was: a field of golden wheat in the foreground against cloud-shrouded mountains in the distance. What I recall now is the vibrancy of the colors, the texture and shape of the wheat, and the feeling of motion as the wheat appeared to sway in the wind; I wanted to cry. And an art lover was born. Wherever you are, Billy, thank you.