week in LA

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visiting jen

spent a week in LA visiting a few friends and doing art research. the Korean exhibits at the LACMA helped improve my understanding for Korean culture, which i really need for an upcoming project with the SF Asian Art Museum. tried my hand at life drawing again but felt more creative than disciplined and drew cartoon versions of the model instead, drawing her with clothes on rather than naked....

model

lacma

seeing paintings up close was a good kick in the pants. i dug the dutch still lifes and hunted down a georges de la tour (found it down a long corridor in the very last wing). also seeing some popular pieces by klee, kandinsky, twombly up close really made a difference in my perception of painting. went to studio today feeling confident again - something that had been absent all winter long.

enjoyed the spontaneity of joseph beuys - wish i knew this guy when he was alive. in contrast also loved the work of ernst barlach which was grounded in traditional illustration and narrative media. saw some pretty bad art as well, but woke up each morning with a slew of ideas.


learned how to play bananagrams and set (awesome game, why was it not invented sooner?), made jen do online crossword puzzles with me. read anais nin, henry miller, indy japanese comics, Ice Haven by clowes. met a lot of animals and babies, never concurrently, however.

girlfriends and dogs

back at home, a nice email from my publisher* was waiting for me, and a few neat packages too. now time to catch up with, well... everything! a lot on my plate and looking to stack on even more.

*Long Tail Kitty wins first place!

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