June 25th, 2018.

cmsa; a series of three llittle oil sketches i did as "sustained gesture" direct painting demos for my students, sia and rowan, here they are with their brand new cmsa diplomas; presented on the back of a hand mirror (a necessary and useful item for their studio kit), because normally (and in my opinion) art degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on, atleast where future earnings are concerned....

June 25th, 2018.

cmsa; todays post courtesy of a painter whose work about movement blows me away...so inspired! That being the case, when he recommended a certain music as "good for the studio", i was at first dubious, until i ran into Alice Bag....thank you Mark Gilmorem do you mean like this?
dear brother in art, wanted to let you know how you "played it forward" with your "musicc to paint by" selection...but i decided to give it a chance and i ran into Alice Bag....thank you!

June 24th, 2018.

CMSA; NOTES FROM LOS ANGELES; necessary equipment set up for oil painting; 
painting, check. maul stick, check. palette, check. digital reference, check. studio pal , double check!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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June 21st, 2018.

cmsa, check out  Pamela Rae Baker, one of my favorite painters when she's not mountain bike riding and or skiing and or teaching and or swimming and or being a grandma....somehow she fits it all in. brava!

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June 21st, 2018.

cmsa; here's vandals worst damage and my painted repairs, then on to austin, where they have a press that gets rid of the wrinkles..

June 18th, 2018.

cmsa; "portrait of mary winchester, our lady of lone pine". c valle. So this is what happened: when i began this painting i just had time to paint the head before i got busy full time with art chores getting ready for back to back shows. I kept the incomplete head painting right by my bed so it was both the first and the last thing i saw every day.
I have been troubled now and again as i've grown older, with the idea that old age is a time with little hope of growth or future promise, as it is the end rather than the beginning or even the prime of one's life. 
What amazed me about the eyes in the well wrinkled face of the portrait, was that every time i looked, the eyes looked back at me with an expression so full of hope and promise, that i was able to understand that it was this youthful perspective that turned her meagre existence into something she actually seemed to delight in. Lesson learned too; there's a child's soul looking out of every pair of "old" eyes.

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June 17th, 2018.

cmsa; about a month ago, i happened to be in Lone Pine , ca. visiting friends. It's right on the edge of death valley , between the desert and these amazing snowy mountains(in perfect contrast!). I stayed at the "motel Dow villa " this cool old school travel lodge type motel in lone pine. One of my friends i rendezvoused with there introduced me to permanent guest, Mary Winchester. She lives in a spare 400sq ft room in the back of the motel (toilet down the hall). She has pared her possessions down to almost nothing , as everything has to fit within her room. High point of her day is sneaking a joint in the alley and watching the people check in and out of the Dow Villa. She told me she was 78. The way she made up her face, especially these strangely emphatic drawn in eyebrows , (her natural ones being for some reason missing). reminded of Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and i'll admit my first attraction was based on a kind of Diane Arbus fascination with her bizarre look. I asked her if she would pose for a photo i would then make a painting of, and she agreed. What happened then, put my morbid fascination to shame. As often happens i had something to learn myself from meeting her and painting her. I'll finish the painting and post it tomorrow. Here's a detail of a wip, "Portrait of Mary Winchester, Our Lady of Lone Pine.

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June 17th, 2018.

cmsa; the view from chez' cynda has been exceptional these last few evenings, add a little moisture (or june gloom) to the desert and it comes alive; all the foliage you see out the window here are volunteers growing out of cracks in the asphalt from dead sticks last winter....

June 14th, 2018.

Anthony Bourdain wrote:

"Americans love Mexican food. We consume nachos, tacos, burritos, tortas, enchiladas, tamales and anything resembling Mexican in enormous quantities. We love Mexican beverages, happily knocking back huge amounts of tequila, mezcal, and Mexican beer every year. We love Mexican people—we sure employ a lot of them. Despite our ridiculously hypocritical attitudes towards immig... See More

— withSarah Iman RobinsonandElvia Rodriguez.

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June 1st, 2018.

cmsa; starting today; public painting socal style, come and join me with you current art project, in the atrium...1pm to ?;

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May 30th, 2018.

CMSA; NOTES FROM LOS ANGELES; my best advice to young painters;"fail often, succeed sooner" It seems those who do not have alot of experience with failure are quite afraid of it; to the point where they won't attempt something if they don't know ahead of time if they will succeed. Those that have failed often realize it is survivable, and are more likely to attempt something risky and new, in spite of the possibility of failure. Rollo May said; "creative courage is continuing despite your doubts, not quitting because of them"

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