Wexford Girl

Hunters Point Shipyards

This weekend is the last weekend of Open Studios. Eric and I decided to visit the Hunters Point Shipyards, a cluster of old buildings on the Bay in Hunter's Point that are now hundreds of artists' studios. We started out around noon in the first building, popping into each studio, chatting with the artists, seeing some great work (and some not-so-great of course). Usually the artist had laid out snacks so I was loving that part: first a miniature scone, then a cracker with cheese, perhaps a homemade cookie. Eric saw a beautiful red and orange mosaic of a man's face in tiny pieces of glass and marble that was stunning, a tad rich at $900 though. We bumped into Mark and Robin from work (such art lovers; they were the first to arrive at our open studios a few weeks ago). Mark was raving about an encaustic painting he had seen, which he later bought, and Robin was looking sassy and weekend-y.

After another couple of buildings, we ended up at the largest one: Building 101. Endless corridors, two floors of studios, a warren of art. It was overwhelming; after half the first floor we hit a wall and got museum fatigue. Plus the crowd had grown since noon (it was now about 2:00) to street-fair proportions. I hate street fairs. The stand out in that building, and indeed the whole show, was an artist called Miguel Torres. He had a large clean studio, with beautiful arrangements of natural objects - leaves, berries, roots, pinned to the walls or cascading from the ceiling. He said by Monday they would be gone; the leaves would no longer be that vibrant red, the berries would be shriveled. Such an lot of work for just a couple a days of beauty. Nothing was for sale, which made his art seem purer in a way than the others. I asked if I could take photos, so here's a peek.

Alisha is visiting

My friend Alisha is visiting from where she lives - nine blocks away in our old apartment building. We're having fun eating sushi and watching Lost. Alisha's a makeup artist, and a wonderful jewelry designer.  She's one of my exceptionally creative friends whom I love talking with about how we can be more creative while making money. She's certainly doing it; her jewelry business has flourished so much that she's in some of the top boutiques in San Francisco and Berkeley. People crave her stuff.

She's also very funny and has a mouth like a sailor.

I am surrounded by such talented friends: writers, artists, designers, filmmakers, dreamers. That's one thing that's amazing about San Francisco; either you do something creative for a living, or you have something you do on the side. For me right now, it's something on the side, although I am writing in my day job, so that's fairly creative; at least I'm not a project manager or accountant. 

scalloped cards

I got these great cards at Paper Source and had fun with some collage. I was probably overly inspired by Rex Ray; I even cut the shapes out of magazines. Is it bad that I'll fall in love with an artist or designer and find myself copying them? I always say I'm going to come out with a line of designs copying Lotta Jansdotter, another of my favorites. I'll call my line "Lotta Nerve."

Lucadore

Today it's rainy and cold in San Francisco. I plan on getting home from work and doing some painting. I need to do more Mexican wrestlers (Lucadore). At our open studio they sold like hot cakes! I couldn't believe it. I actually sold out on Saturday, then Sunday morning I was cracking out a few more and they literally sold before they were dry. Two different people came in, pointed to the painting I was working on and said, "I want that one." (That reminds me, I need to catch up on Little Britain on Tivo.)

Here's the original one. Eric loved it so much that he won't let me sell it. He also said, "People are going to love those; do more."

Creative cubes

We have a very crafty row of cubicles here at work. I brought in a lot of my paintings over the last Christmas season and sold dozens. Margaret, who sits opposite me is currently into knitting and takes beautiful photographs, and Pamela and Margaret recently got into needle felting. Melanie, a little further away, creates collages. I think Chuck does painting and drawing as well. It's great.

We were talking about doing a little Christmas Bazaar and donating 10% to charity. I don't know if this big corporation would go for that. It's probably against the rules of business. It would be cool though.

Eric went to Sequoia National Park and King's Canyon last weekend. Look at these giants:

Look at that. I have a blog!

Hello. I am starting a blog for all my various crafty and art projects, and other things that strike my fancy living and working in San Francisco. I regularly read and enjoy many blogs. I love the community that has blossomed between people who may never meet  each other face to face. Because I always have something crafty going on, this will be a way for me to post pictures of projects and get feedback too. Mmm, I just tried to post a picture and it didn't work. I'll try again later.