The Colors of the Dahlia Dell

 

All summer long I keeping stopping by the Dahlia Dell.  It is right next to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.  Each week the flowers are bigger and bigger and exploding with more and more colors.   They have inspired my art before, and this year I wanted to use the palette for this latest piece in my ongoing Lines and Color Series. 

Dahlia Time

In a world gone mad, one of the ways I cope is nice long walks to Golden Gate Park.  This time of the year the dahlias are in bloom. Beautiful and inspirational.  This weekend was spent carving rubber stamps for a series of dahlia-themed postcards.

Western Landscapes

Tenderloin Spring

mixed media photo collage on board, 14”x11”

As I conceived this piece I was imagining Turk Street in the Tenderloin a long time ago – when it would have been an open hillside covered in spring wildflowers.  Sometimes, as I am working on a piece, unexpected and unplanned things happen.  This time travel photo began to remind me of the photos I have taken up in Bodie, California.  Bodie is a remote ghost town in the Eastern Sierra where a few rows of buildings remain surrounded by open fields.  At first glance, Tenderloin Spring might be a photo from Bodie, but the more recent facades bring the viewer back to San Francisco. 

The latest in the series of Time Travel Photos will be presented in a new show at San Francisco’s Glama-Rama Salon and Gallery.  The show will be up from October 11 to November 27, 2016.  Mark your calendar for the opening reception on the evening of Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm.

Beavertail Prickly Pear Blossoms

Beavertail Prickly Pear, mixed media, collagescape on board, 8”x8”

If there is enough rain this winter, it will be a good spring to make the trip down to Joshua Tree when the desert is in bloom.  When the desert blooms, it can be garish. I had to buy some magenta paint just to make this collagescape, it’s not a color I often use.

This is one of a series of four pieces that will be in the upcoming 22nd Annual Pink Week Exhibit at Warehouse Artists Lofts in Sacramento.  The show will be up from November 13 to December 10, 2015.  At the same location and dates, I am the curator for a Pink Mail Art show with mail art from over 100 artists around the world.

Magnolias

Magnolias, mixed media, collagescape on board, 8”x8”

I don’t paint a lot of flowers, but I love magnolias and this is not the first time they have been the subject of one of my pieces.  They are the reason I visit the arboretum in Golden Gate Park every February.  A reminder that in San Francisco our “winter” should always be written with quotes around it. 

This is one of a series of four pieces that will be in the upcoming 22nd Annual Pink Week Exhibit at Warehouse Artists Lofts in Sacramento.  The show will be up from November 13 to December 10, 2015.  At the same location and dates, I am the curator for a Pink Mail Art show with mail art from over 100 artists around the world.

Naked Ladies

Naked Ladies, mixed media, collagescape on board, 8”x8”

Every time I post Naked Ladies themed art, I see a surge in visitors to my blog.  I think some folks might be searching on something other than the pink summer flowers in California.   These ones were inspired by one of many hikes down the Bear Valley Trail at the Point Reyes National Seashore.

This is one of a series of four pieces that will be in the upcoming 22nd Annual Pink Week Exhibit at Warehouse Artists Lofts in Sacramento.  The show will be up from November 13 to December 10, 2015.  At the same location and dates, I am the curator for a Pink Mail Art show with mail art from over 100 artists around the world.