Sunday, December 20, 2009

Review of Celebration of Craftswomen 2009


This is a wonderful artist from Texas named Heather Harris and I at the Celebration of Craftswomen.   I am so glad I did both weekends this year and will definitely be back next year!  What a great event - Teevan Productions and The Women's Building put on a super festival.  And it was one of my favorite shows for meeting awesome and interesting people and sharing my work with them.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Celebration of Craftswomen: San Francisco, Fort Mason: Nov 28-29 & Dec 5-6


I'm in Booth #422


This art festival is not one to miss!  Please come and see me and hundreds of other wonderful women artists.  

Plus, shop for one-of-a-kind gifts for the holiday season!  Prices range to fit everyone's budget!!



www.celebrationofcraftswomen.org

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Chinese Butterflies at the JMSG Silent Auction



Auction night at Julia Morgan School for Girls - 11/07/09
Where last September I taught Chinese Brush Painting to a wonderful class of 6th Graders!
Those paintings hanging above us are the amazing results from that workshop!
The event was organized by my Mills College friend, Melody Ferris.


After the girls, and their advising teacher Jason, painted their gorgeous butterfly paintings, Melody and I matted and framed them.  We just had to get a picture of the lovely paintings arranged on my couch that day!  We were so happy at how nice they turned out.  Each girl also chose their own Chinese name to sign their paintings.  


Friday, November 6, 2009

Fun Fotos just for fun!

Happy Family!

Christine and Me at the San Carlos Art Fair.
Christine was the best hooker ever!


It's Cousin Brenda and Me on the Sausalito Ferry - 
absolutely gorgeous day out on the bay!



Holloween at the Hampel House!
Meow, Woof woof, and Like, Oh my god!


I have a month off from art shows and some time to enjoy myself!  Yay!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Kids, Dogs, Art & Wine in San Carlos



This young man really got into the spirit of fall at the San Carlos Art & Wine Festival last weekend!  He was not only feeling the spirit of fall, but also the powerful spirit of the Fire Dragon, which he brought home with him that day!  I was especially lucky when he sang a song he knew in Mandoran which totally blew me away!  My desire to learn Chinese is increasing all the time.  Now I just have to decide if I should take a course or take a trip to China - probably both!

The streets were filled with the most stylish dogfriends I ever saw at an art show!  It was definitely entertaining watching the dog parade.  I painted a Tibetan Spaniel after seeing one at the Solano Stroll.  The funny thing is it actually looks a lot like our family's puggle, Brandy.  Subliminal appearance of my sweet old dog!



I am so happy when people enjoy the characters that come to life in my paintings.  I had several exciting conversations with children's book authors and enthusiasts and am imagining how fun it would be to illustrate childrens books.  

Well, it's a nice thought knowing that after this coming weekend's show in Menlo Park, I'll have about a month to develop more ideas and paintings.

Menlo Park 

Menlo Park, CA 
13th Annual Sidewalk Arts & Crafts Fall Fest

October 16·17·18 
Location: 
Santa Cruz Avenue at El Camino Real 
Menlo Park, CA 
Admission: FREE 
10am-5pm 
http://www.pacificfinearts.com/schedule.htm


Come see me!!!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Tales from the Sacramento Arts Festival 2009




Sacramento Arts Festival




Monday morning following a great art show is always a mixture of satisfaction and exhaustion!  

Warren Cook organized an excellent festival at the Sacramento Convention Center last weekend and I am so happy to have been a part of it!  The attendance was up from last year (actually the highest attendance in 8 years!) and the people were lots of fun to talk with and share my work with.  Since I am new to the Sacramento Area, I now have a very good feeling about that part of Northern California and definitely plan on going back.  Good thing is it only took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get home last night!

The people of Sacramento are very diverse - I met people from all over the world - China, Krygyzstan, England, Australia, Oakland (ha ha ha)... And had fun figuring out everyones' Chinese Zodiac Animals and Elements.  Plus, my very first FU DOG went home with a lovely couple who had recently visited China.

I am very inspired to continue creating my 5 Elements Chinese Zodiac Series!  All 12 Animals with their 5 Elements.

I wasn't convinced about indoor shows until now.  The controlled environment was a relief after getting heatstroke in Walnut Creek two weekends ago!  Plus, our neighbors are now great friends who I'm sure we will cross paths with again.  Candace and TJ Ashment from Idaho kept the days from feeling too long with their great humor and storytelling!  They are the same age as Tyler and I and we had so much in common!  As the artists, Candace and I joked about the guys being the muscle behind the operation.   Here's Candace at work putting some color into her beautiful block prints.














Meanwhile... at home Wiki was playing with her girlfriends, lucky dog!



Thursday, September 24, 2009

Surfer Dog

Happy Autumn Equinox!  
It's true, Fall has arrived, although it honestly feels like Summer here
in Oakland.  I am not complaining about that, and neither is my Surfer Dog, Wiki!  
She's been riding some big waves (for a dog) with that tennis ball in her mouth the whole time!
Wiki is taking after her Daddy, the kiteboarding maniac.





So, as you can see, Summer never ends for the three of us, as long as we can play in the water!


Friday, September 18, 2009

The Solano Stroll



I was looking forward to the Solano Stroll all week because I knew I would see lots of friends, old and new!  I was not mistaken!  This street festival is such a huge community gathering for Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, even Oakland and the street was absolutely flooded with people.  I got to see my old Mills College friend - Anna Ishida, my Early Music friends - David and Hanneke, my piano student - Aidan and his mom Kimberly, my Operadance CO dancer - Juliet and her family, my musical director friend - Shanti and her husband Lachu, and the list goes on.  On top of running into old dear friends, I met so many new people and shared lots of stories and great conversations!

As you can see by how Tyler enthusiastically grabbed a front row seat for the parade, that part of the festival was awesome.  The parade was filled with performers that truly represented the rich culture of the East Bay.  



My original Swirly Water Dragon that I painted special for the Millbrae Art & Wine Festival now has a new home with another Kimberly, who is the mom of one of my past piano students.  Yay!!!

I am so excited about how my art shows are going that I am adding several more to my 2009 schedule.  The next show, newly added, is:

WALNUT CREEK : 63rd Semi-Annual Arts and Crafts Fall Sidewalk Fair 
North Main, Cypress, and Locust Streets    (map)
10am-6pm Fri/Sat · 10am-5pm Sun
September 25·26·27




Sunday, September 13, 2009

Millbrae Art & Wine Festival Labor Day Weekend 2009


The Millbrae Art & Wine Festival folks do an amazing job of promoting this show!  They were so awesome in advertising and it surely paid off because there must've been atleast 50,000 people there.  I felt like I talked to every single one of them!  I was so wiped out by Sunday night!  It was a blast.  They not only mentioned me in their program's article about fine art, but ALSO featured me on their LIVE cable television show that broadcasted throughout the show.  That show is now being played on their website (mctv.tv).  But just to warn you, at this point it is a continuous stream of footage from that show.  As soon as I get the DVD, I want to share it with all of you!

The above painting is my original "Swirly Water Dragon" that I painted especially for the Millbrae Fest.  Another super fun water dragon playing in the waves and lovin' life!!!

My wonderful family friends, Cyril and Ymen, came to pick up their "Swirly Water Dragon"  (below) that I personalized for them.  That's a great way to make my dragon series come alive and become one of a kind - enhanced giclees.

6th Graders Chinese Brush Painting!!! Impressive!!!



I had the extreme honor to teach a workshop at the Julia Morgan School for Girls on Friday, Sep 4th.  These girls were so much fun!!!  Chinese Brush Painting for the very first time is not really that easy, and I was super impressed with them for just going for it.  All 11 girls, along with their very cool teacher, ended the day with a completed painting.  These paintings will be offered for a special fund raiser auction at the school later this Fall.  Very Awesome!!!  

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Kings Beach Art Festival and Kimbirdlee's Birthday



The ultimate location for an art festival~ Kings Beach, North Lake Tahoe ~Aug 28-30th
I will definitely be returning to Kings Beach next year.  After hearing from all the other veteran artists who told me this weekend was the slowest ever, I am certainly looking forward to a busy weekend.  Considering the mellowness of the weekend, there were still a good number of dragons, frogs and flowers going home with wonderful people from all over the country.  

I love the diversity from all the Tahoe visitors!  The joy of doing outdoor festivals is meeting so many amazing people of all ages and hearing their stories.  The people that actually live in Lake Tahoe really got me thinking - should I relocate?  I am such a lake person!!!

It's true, it was my birthday on Sunday!  
Some of the highlights were:
Visiting with my friends, Bridget, Dave & their 2 boys







My awesome gift (a french press) from Tyler - 
gotta have fresh brewed coffee when 
living the life of luxury out of our plush home on wheels!









Hiking through the breathtaking beauty of Lake Tahoe.













And simply being there!


Monday, August 24, 2009

Swirly Sunflowers and Guan Yin and the Earth Dragon

I've made a habit of painting out in the backyard during the best hours of sunlight.  Once the shade takes over, it's time to stop.  My backyard is such a sanctuary for me, right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle - I love it!  It is protected by two fabulous cedar trees that are the tallest trees on the block (great feng shui!) and a walnut tree that is squirrel territory.  

The flowers in my neighborhood are breathtaking!  Part of the blessing of having such a high-energy dog is that I get to take long walks with her every day and check out all the stunning flower gardens around here.  I swear that I did not steal these fiery sunflowers from someone's yard, though.  These were inspired by Trader Joe!  Now I am painting... 

Swirly Flowers!!!   Swirly Sunflowers!!!  They will make their first appearance at this weekend's festival in one of the most beautiful places on earth - LAKE TAHOE!!!

I promise to have a new featured original at every art festival that I show at this year.  In fact, these weekend I will have my Swirly Sunflowers and Guan Yin and the Earth Dragon.  

Guan  Yin is calming down the Earth Dragon from charging ahead too fast.  She brings peace and protection to the feisty forward progression of the Earth Dragon.  Earth Dragon is the dragon to turn to now, as so many people are ready to transition into a new time of nurturing the earth.  We are all aware of how awesome the powers of advancement in every field are, and how they can sometimes be too powerful or even get out of control.  So, this is the message from Guan Yin to the Earth Dragon, to slow down and be one with the Earth, nurture the Earth.  She is protecting the Earth Dragon now, after he has protected her for so long.  
This painting is already finished - come see it at my upcoming art shows!  Or check back here in a couple days to see if the goddess and dragon have appeared in blogland...
 

Thursday, August 20, 2009

August is the month of firsts

I had my first TV interview today!  A crew from MCTV, the local station for the Millbrae community, came over this afternoon.  They are doing a piece for the upcoming Millbrae Art & Wine Festival (Sep 5 & 6, 2009) and asked if they could show me in my "natural environment"(my backyard) doing what I do - painting dragons!  This time I was actually painting a phoenix, too.  ;)  
Stay tuned to find out when the premier broadcasting will take place!

I am really looking forward to the Millbrae A & W Fest because I've heard they have a huge asian community there and I hear there is going to be a dragon dance!  How perfect!  

Meanwhile, I'm off to Wine Country and Kayaking in Marin with Tyler and our homeboy Sergio for the next couple days.  I've been painting every day this week and I think I deserve some outdoor fun time now!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Season kicks off with San Rafael Wine and Food Festival


Welcome to my brand new blog!
Follow along my journey of art, music and life...

I am starting this blog just as my West Coast Art Shows kick off with the San Rafael Wine & Food Festival last Saturday (8/15/09).  The show was awesome - everything went so smoothly!                                                 new beginnings


The set-up, tear-down, and the whole day in general was so easy and fun, much thanks to Tyler.  We are proving to be a good team!  Phew! Good thing, cuz there's no turning back now!  :)  We are already talking about adding more shows to our schedule, 
so check my website calender occassionally.
                                                                                        
The festival was at the beautiful site of the Falkirk Mansion and we were surrounded by the best wine and food around.  I was especially happy to see FREY, my all time favorite winery, there.  Thanks guys for the Chardonney!
It was so fun to meet and talk with the festival goers as well as the vendors. Everyone is in a very good mood since they start sipping wine before noon!  
I am so so grateful for all the wonderful comments from those of you who appreciated my work.  Thank you so much to those who brought paintings home - the Water Dragon, the Wood Dragon, Gene the friendly business man, the Monkey friends, the Yacht Chef, and more!!!
And to the 3 party guys who postponed our take-down by like an hour because they were way too much fun!  :P

Monday, August 17, 2009