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

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.  

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!

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!!!

Tales from the Sacramento Arts Festival 2009

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!

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!

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