BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON & A HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS 2015!



Francis the Potter & Lulu the Painter
Photo Collage, 2014

 

 

peace cheers best wishes kind thoughts

affection compassion divine blessings

heartfelt gratitude regards hugs kisses
laughter joy handshakes high fives see you soon

sincerely warmly unconditionally love your family

your friends your buddies your chums your pals

your pets your mentors your gurus your teachers

 your guardian spirits your soul mates yourself

 

 

 

 

 

In Memory of My Mother

Alice Irving

1920 - 2003

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



Street Photography





There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.- Henri Cartier-Bresson



Celebrating my birthday and Giant's shutout win.

AT&T Park, San Francisco 2011

              August 13, 2014

           Walking from Pacific Heights through the Tendernob to the FiDi I took my camera along as usual in case any good pictures presented themselves. I visited the Ferry Building then stopped at the long pier just south of there for a little picnic. I had my Swiss Army knife, the same one used on my first European adventure, and took it from my backpack to slice a piece of cheese to go with some crusty bread. Bright sunlight reflected off the bay as seagulls swooped over boats crisscrossing in all directions. The day was Mediterranean-like with gleaming white buildings looming majestically along the Embarcadero's west side. Despite all the changes, this City will always be the Land of Oz to me. I was headed to AT&T Park to watch the Giants and Chicago White Sox. Jake Peavy (See him on YouTube playing 'Pancho and Lefty' with Tim Flannery in hotel stairwell) was on the mound and fans were hoping they'd avoid a 7 game losing streak. I'd gotten a late start and stopped a guy walking towards me to check if the score was still 1-0 White Sox. He confirmed it was and asked if I was going to the game. I'm watching it from ‘the cage’ (aka PortWalk) I told him and he handed me a $102.00 ticket. Go play, he said. Stunned, I stood there for a moment staring at the ticket in disbelief then gave him a big thank you. I’d never been inside AT&T Park by myself but happily maneuvered past the kale garden and orange and black hyperactivity of it all. My seat was down in front behind the batter’s box and I'd barely sat down before the Giants scored 7 runs in the 7th inning! There was a lot of jumping up and down and high-fiving with  neighbors. Finally, the guy next to me turned and said I was good luck. Later, it occurred to me that if I’d been plugged into some kind of device I would have already known the score and not had to ask the nice guy with the ticket. In short, I never would have had this amazing experience. There's a lot of magic in this world if we just take the time to slow down and notice it.                                         

            P.S. AND THEN THERE WAS GAME 7... CONGRATULATIONS WORLD CHAMPION SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS FOR ANOTHER SEASON FILLED WITH AN AVALANCHE OF PARTICLES AND GOOD DOSE OF TORTURE!!! LET IT REIGN! YES! YES! YES! 10/31/14



 

San Francisco Giant's Opening Day, McCovey Cove
AT&T Park, San Francisco 2014
 



Un Baiser Apres Boules

Loire Valley, France 1997

 

 

Bumper Cars

Northern California Fairgrounds, 1979

 

 

Young Girl in Union Square

San Francisco, CA  1979

Revelers on Market Street
Gay Pride Parade

San Francisco, CA 2011

 

Woman Waiting for Muni, Civic Center
St. Patrick's Day Parade
San Francisco, CA 2014
 

Man Under Umbrella, Civic Center
St. Patrick's Day Parade
San Francisco, CA 2014

Intersection, Civic Center
St. Patrick's Day Parade
San Francisco, CA  2014

 

 

Man Waiting for Ambulance

St. Patrick's Day Parade
 San Francisco, CA 2012
 



 

Hopewell - Aim, Birthplace of Dashiell Hammet

Lexington Park, Maryland 2005

 

I walked past this sign every day on the way to visit my father in the nursing home. I hadn't seen him for 28 years and had never been to  Southern Maryland. I was staying in a cheap motel surrounded by strip malls, liquor stores, auto dealerships, and other kinds of dealers. I had never rented a car before so I'd stuff my hair up into a baseball cap and listen to music while walking on a narrow path 45 minutes or so along a dangerous stretch of highway to the nursing home. The irony of this heating and air conditioning sign located next to a marker for Dashiell Hammett's birthplace never failed to lift my spirits.

 

 

 

Sutter Street Art

San Francisco, CA 2008

San Francisco Giant's particle energy at AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA  2012

 

I took this photo from China Basin Park as I was about to cross the Lefty O'Doul Bridge

before dawn on October 24th - Game 1 of the World Series. The rest is history.

 

 

 

World Series Celebration for the San Francisco Giants

McCovey Cove, AT&T Park

San Francisco, CA 2012

 

 

 

Occupy San Francisco Encampment and Demonstration:
http://labellelettre.blogspot.com/2012/09/first-anniversary-of-occupy-movement.html

Oblivious

 

Morning Glory in Bay Window

Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something.

You are not here long.- Walker Evans

 

This girl, oblivious, all wired up
hair flying out
like a raven's wing
arms tattooed in black roses
stem & thorn
bent at the elbow
was hurrying past cars
blasting horns
then just missed
getting hit
by a skateboarder
rounding the corner
like he was rolling on ice
but this oblivious girl
just kept winging it fast
praying to her phone
& didn't see
this morning glory
the shocking blue
its fragile vine twisting
through a sidewalk crack
as her boot crashed down
pounding it back
in the ground & then
she almost stepped on
just didn't see
this woman
sitting at the corner of
Van Ness & California Street
opening up a plastic bag
of cigarette butts
very slow & carefully.

Cultivating the Lifetime Habit of Art





Time changed. It disappeared. Time went away. There isn't as much time as there used to be. I don't know, its magical, and kind of mystical. What happened to time? Everybody's always looking at a watch and saying, 'I gotta go! Gotta go!' It's all those time saving devices that are using up all the time. Somewhere, a lot of time is being saved and stashed away, for other people.
 -Herb Caen, quoted by Mark Powelson, "Citizen Caen", San Francisco Focus



This photo was taken on a boat ride going down the Mississippi River during Mardis Gras. After enjoying the festivities, I parted with friends then travelled alone up the east coast to reunite with my father. Next, on to New York to rendezvous with another friend who in dim lit fern bars reminded me of Bogie. I bought him a fedora and we took a horse and carriage ride through Central Park with a bottle of champagne. After a few days, I waved goodbye to him in his fedora from aboard the SS Leonardo da Vinci docked in New York harbor. This grand ship would be the last Italian ocean liner to cross the North Atlantic. David Bowie was on board and I met Elizabeth Rightor who encouraged me to apply to the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence http://labellelettre.blogspot.com/2012/01/still-life-of-fruit-bowl.html  Later, I visited Le Mas Theotime, her home in Lourmarin, a provencal village located in the Vaucluse. The voyage on the SS Leonardo da Vinci took seven days from New York City to Naples, Italy. Being served three meals a day by handsome Italian waiters was a great way to begin the next year and a half of my first European adventure!

Finding My Way Back to Painting and Drawing


In 1998, I was visiting mother who had returned to Cathlamet after living an expatriate's life in the Loire Valley for ten years. One day in the mail I received my portfolio from 1976 when I attended the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence. That first body of work of mine had been in storage in a Boston basement for two decades. Looking through this mildewy assortment of oil paintings, charcoal sketches of nude models, and Mont Saint-Victoire watercolor landscapes  was the best gift I could have received at the time. It re-ignited my passion for painting and drawing that had been dormant for twenty years as I supported myself with a myriad of jobs while working on writing/photography projects whenever possible.

 

Life as Art

 

Following are jobs I had (not in order); writer, editor, art gallery sales and exhibitor, video production assistant, corporate website content manager and technical product developer, interviewer, sales clerk, commercial real estate loan processor, volunteer (Streetside Stories, Room to Read, Missoula Children's Theatre, BayKids MovieMakers Program, ArtSpan, Eldergivers: Art with Elders, International Rescue Committee, American Red Cross, Project Homeless Connect, SFMOMA Development, Steppingstone Adult Day Health, Arthritis Foundation, American Cancer Society Reach to Recovery, SF Village), pet sitter, client services representative, volunteer coordinator, file clerk, supervisor, event ambassador, xylophone player, flea market vendor, sandwich maker, barista, babysitter, hostess, waitress, dishwasher/buser/grape leaf stuffer (In 1972, I lived in Manhattan Beach,CA for a year in between WSU and CAL Berkeley. I remember dropping a tray full of cups and saucers at this intimate, outdoor cafe in Beverly Glen Canyon. The manager, my boyfriend, had gotten me the job washing dishes, busing tables, and stuffing grape leaves to make ends meet.  Then, I caused a loud, crashing mess of an accident and as a few croissant chomping customers applauded I quickly retreated to the kitchen to stuff more grape leaves), executive assistant to ceo's, presidents, vp's, litigation/corporate attorneys, commodities brokers, directors of finance, health care, marketing, advertising, communications, and humanities. I was also a curator, executor, caregiver, property manager, biographer, medical  transcriptionist, office manager, receptionist, hospital media coordinator, event planner, photojournalist, development associate, social justice advocate, lingerie model, and librarian.

 

 

Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world.
                                                                                                                     - Leonardo da Vinci







A SELECTION OF ABSTRACT PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS 

FROM THE LAST DECADE

 

 

Succession of the Elements
Mixed Media on Canvas, 2014

 

Biospheric Rumble
Watercolor and Graphite on Paper, 2014


  

Mischievous Interludes
Acrylic on Canvas, 2013
 

Complicated Relations
Graphite and Crayon on Paper, 2013
 

Spontaneous Cacti Couplings
Graphite and Crayon on Paper, 2013

 

Camouflaged Intentions
Graphite and Crayon on Paper, 2013
 



 

The Man in the Yellow Boat

Acrylic on Canvas, 2013 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm of the Universe Series: Invisible Helpers
Fluid Acrylic on Paper, 2010

 

Rhythm of the Universe Series: Jazz Session in Outer Space
Mixed Media on Paper, 2010

 

Calm Before the Storm
Mixed Media on Canvas, 2013
 

Pier off Emerald Cove
Graphite and Crayon on Paper, 2012

 

Celebration of Life
Graphite and Crayon on Paper, 2012

 

Rhythm of the Universe Series: Night Swimmer
Fluid Acrylic and Pen on Paper, 2010
 

Rhythm of the Universe Series: Broken Links
Mixed Media on Paper, 2010

Rhythm of the Universe Series:Web of Desire
Mixed Media on Paper, 2010

 

Rhythm of the Universe Series:Gravity Tango
Fluid Acrylic and Pen on Paper, 2010

 

Abstract Paintings and Drawings 2006-2010: Red Triangle Breaking Away
Mixed Media on Paper, 2010
 

Abstract Paintings and Drawings 2006-2010: Falling Kite
Watercolor and Pen on Paper, 2010
 

Abstract Paintings and Drawings 2006-2010: Celestial Harmony
Fluid Acrylic on Canvas, 2008 

 

Rhythm of the Universe Series:Hurricane
Mixed Media on Paper, 2010
 

Abstract Paintings and Drawings 2006-2010: Cacophony
Mixed Media on Canvas, 2007
 

Abstract Paintings and Drawings 2006-2010: Seven Moons over the Leonardo
Watercolor and Graphite on Paper, 2010 

 

Mystic Gardens, Ciphers, and Shapeshifters Series (www.artslant.com)
 Chain Reaction
Graphite and Crayon on Paper, 2012

I grew up in Cathlamet, Washington on the Columbia River where there were no strip malls, condos, movie theatres, art museums or galleries. It was in this rural enviroment of natural beauty and wide open spaces that I began to develop my artistic skills.
 

In 2001, while working in the corporate world as a web content manager and technical product developer, I started painting and drawing again. In 2002, I was accepted into the MFA Painting Program at the San Francisco Art Institute.http://labellelettre.blogspot.com/2011/10/augury.html I was fortunate to have a Directed Study with Christopher Brown who emphasized the importance of developing good drawing skills.

Other artists who have inspired me are Wassily Kandinsky, Arshile Gorky, Alexander Calder, Joan Miro, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Brown, Paul Klee, Alice Neel, Cy Twombly, R.B. Kitaj and Terry Winters.

Figurative Paintings and Drawings 2011-2012

http://labellelettre.blogspot.com/2012/05/figurative-paintings-and-drawings-2011.html

Figurative Paintings and Drawings 2009

http://labellelettre.blogspot.com/2011/09/figurative-paintings-and-drawings-2009.html

 














Champion

 Antique Bowl of Ripe Pears
Watercolor & Graphite on Paper, 2014

The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. -Friedrich Nietzsche


 

It's happened before...

 

you charge into a room like a Roman soldier hell-bent on a mission
 

So then why are you standing in the middle of the kitchen looking like an idiot

staring at the sink full of dirty dishes you planned to put off until tomorrow?
 

Surely, this can't be the reason that propelled you like a battering ram

up and out of that warm, comfortable place on the sofa
 

Defeated, once again, you return to Charlie Rose interviewing Paul Rudd

against a black back drop and it is then, at that precise moment,

that you remember 

 

And, you can see it right there on the top shelf of the refrigerator, that half-eaten

turkey sandwich with spicy mustard, red onion, and no pickles
 

You can even see the condensation forming on the plastic your lover's hands

so carefully wrapped around it
 

So, you get up again and this time you saunter slow back to the kitchen
with all the cocky self-assurance and ultra hip attitude of a backward baseball

cap gansta rap'in teen because, this time, you are damn sure why you're

approaching that scene as you reach like a champion for the prize like

its your very first time.