Southern Cali Art Trip

Hi friends.   I reckon you guys didn't know I was going to California for 2 1/2 weeks.  That's because it was hush hush.  We secretly plotted and planned, foiled and schemed, contrived and charted for one of my dearest friends 30th birthday.  I wanted to show up and surprise him unannounced.  Knowing that he's familiar with my blog, I thought it best to leave my prospective vacation out of it.

Here we are, little lovebirds.  We spent the weekend outside of Santa Barbara at Lake Cachuma.  We went wine tasting, we ate copious amounts of delicious food, I saw old friends and made new ones. It was camping perfection, otherwise known as Glamping.

Once we anchored ourselves back inside Los Angeles city limits, I met up with my very talented artist friend Michael Hsiung.  We became fast internet friends when we long ago discovered an appreciation for each other's drawing techniques.   Here's a fine example of what he does:

Isn't it fantastic?  I love the themes in his artwork.  I always enjoy a good sense of humor.  Another superb quality of Michael's?  He's an absolutely dedicated promoter of the arts.  He introduced me to a whole new world of possibility for my paintings.  Because of him, I was directed to the Society6 website.  You can find my personal page here.  This is a no hassle website that showcases artist's work.   You can choose to position your art to sell in various forms, or opt to merely post it so your followers can keep abreast to what you're doing.  So if you've ever thought of buying some of my prints, you can do it there!  It's simple enough for me because I don't have to do any of the legwork.  This means, of course, that I make a smaller profit, but it's a great way to potentially get my stuff out into the world.  And, even better, they partner with Urban Outfitters and sell prints through this sight.  It's a pretty neat idea and I'm pleased as punch to be partaking in it.

Here's Michael and I at his sister, Pearl Hsiung's studio.  She was working on a collection of paintings for an upcoming show at the Steve Turner Contemporary Gallery in downtown Los Angeles.  She graciously gave us a tour of her latest work.  If you haven't been exposed to her creativity, check out her website, but know this, the images are much more powerful in person.  If you live in LA or it's surrounding cities, please seek out her exhibition, up through November 13th.

I had such a long stay in LA, and I couldn't have done it without the love and help of my darlings.  I stayed with my long time friends that make up the band Oh Darling.  Wonderful people, gifted musicians, and a beautiful house overlooking downtown (even a pool!).  I was just finishing up the artwork for their next album, which is going to be fantastic and will be out soon!

I also drew out the header on their website and their last EP cover.  I hope you give their music a listen, it will cheer you up on a dreary day, I promise.  

Meanwhile, as I was down there shmoozing it up with the locals, Michael interviewed me for this brilliant online artist collective called Human Pyramids, and the interview finally went up today!  You can read it here.  It's a pretty silly little account, especially at the very end regarding Milo the cat.  But I'm really excited that I was asked to participate, it feels great to be a part of a community that's internationally widespread. 

The rest of the trip was chocked full of great moments.  We spent a couple of days in San Francisco

and then made our way back home through the looming pines of the Redwood Forest.

I'm so happy to be back home in Portland, even though currently it means rain, wind and falling leaves.  I'm geared up to take everything on, including mobs of projects and the holidays knocking at my door.  Thank heavens for Halloween.  I don't know if I'll ever beat last year's costume, but I'm going to give it a shot.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures from our outings next week, including a skillfully carved pumpkin (not likely).

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