open studios

It's that time again! I'm showing lots of prints, both old and brand new, in my San Francisco Dogpatch workshop. Please come and visit us and buy art direct from the artists.Here's a sneak peak of some of my framed prints up on the wall...

friends that never met

Michael McConnell, at Fayes Bench Gallery in San Francisco, created an art project 'Friends That Never Met' where instagram friends would pair up and create a piece of collaborative art embracing their online friendship; a chance to work on something tangible in the real world together. So I had a good think and asked Melodie Stacey, an artist I follow on instagram and whose work I love, but who I've never met in person, if she'd like to work with me on some artwork. She said yes!

We each started a piece with a character, and posted them to the other to finish. Here is 'How do you do?' featuring my Mr Lizard. I noticed that Melodie often paints in blue, so I decided to do blue too. It's a mokuhanga print with watercolour, while Melodie painted in gouache. The artworks are all small-ish, and look wonderful on the wall in the gallery.

Melodie sent me several blue ladies to work with, so I chose one and decided to add an elaborate hat and avian friend. Here is 'Feather Lady'.I studied Edwardian headwear to get inspiration and added my hat as a collage in blues onto Melodie's painting.Social media is a great platform for artists to interact and inspire each other from all over the globe, and I really enjoyed taking this concept and adding a physical element to it. Melodie is in the UK, I was working in Japan, and the show is in California. I love it!

The show is up for the whole month, with an artists reception this thursday evening, on September 21st. Please do pop in if you're around! All the artwork is for sale.

hot air balloon

This weekend we went to Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, to go up in a hot air balloon. We waited in the pre-dawn for the balloons to be lit and the baskets prepared, and nervously readied for the ride. We watched the sun come up and it was magical... I managed to bring one brush, a little sketchbook and travel paints in my pockets and did several watercolour paintings. It was a surreal sketching experience unlike anything I've had before: painting while over 1000ft up in the air, feeling the sun and breeze ruffling the pages.Napa Valley in all its glory glided past slowly, with San Francisco in the far distance.Here's a little sketch I did of the vineyards below us as we floated gently past...If you ever get the chance to go up in a balloon, I recommend it! Thank you Napa Valley Balloons

happy new year!

We took a few days off during the holidays to have a little road trip down the coast to Capitola by the sea......and then on to Pinnacles National Park. I spent time sketching, walking and thinking about my goals for 2017.I tried to paint pinnacles in the red of the rocks, but then realised that I more interested in the shapes than the colour, and did a wider panorama in just blue and green.We also visited the Lick Observatory outside San Jose, which was fascinating.Hope this year will be full of wonderful views, and incredible possibilities!

Caution May Be Hot

I made two pieces for this show of paper cup art in San Francisco. The brief was to turn this ordinary object into a work of art, and artists from all over the US were invited to participate.I tried to create the effect of blue and white china, and used my collection of Chinese ceramics as reference for the design. I made a cup with separate decorated panels first, and then did another based on the famous willow pattern design. It was interesting to work in the round, after working flat for such a long time. https://vimeo.com/192408212

The show was on simultaneously at Long Weekend store in Oakland... and Fayes in the Mission...Today was the last day to see the show at Long Weekend, but Fayes will still be open to visit this week. Hope you can make it!

open studios this weekend

My prints are all framed and up on the wall, and waiting for you to pop by!Several new prints are available, including this mokuhanga print of clouds and rain.and this etching of sewing tools...Here are all the details. Hope to see you today or tomorrow!

exchange show

My printmaking workshop GAW has done a print exchange with a small gallery in Yokohama, Japan. It's very exciting! The exhibition of both our work and their work will be on show at the GAW gallery from next week 9 September to 1 October on fridays and saturdays, 12-5pm. I'm showing two of my San Francisco snowdome prints. The lighter one will be on show in Yokohama, the darker one in SF. There will be a reception at GAW on saturday 10 September 3-5pm. Hope to see you there!

There will be a reception at Launchpad Gallery, Yokohama, on saturday 17 September 7-10pm, with the show running from 16 - 26 September. Hope you can make it one or the other of the shows.

San Francisco snowdome

I've been working on a new etching this week for an exchange project between my print workshop and a gallery in Japan. The theme is 'my San Francisco' and I decided to go for the ultimate kitschy object, the snowdome. I still feel like a tourist here and I looked for all the things that really appealled to me when I first arrived. I feel like the Bay is San Francisco's heart, so I featured watery icons like the seal, the bridge, and the ferry building. And of course I couldn't leave out the fog, and the sutro tower, that you can see from everywhere...I did several different versions of the print, some with colour/gold/stars and am still deciding which to show. We'll have the exhibition in our gallery in September and also in Japan around the same time. More details to follow!

print exchange

I took part in a print exchange between my own print studio the Graphic Arts Workshop and the Print Club of Rochester which is now on show in the GAW gallery. There was no specific theme, so I decided to do a new playing card in my ongoing series.I sketched all sorts of wading birds and chose sandpipers doing a spot of fishing. The opening reception is this afternoon 3-5pm, please do pop in if you can!

Here's how they look on the walls...

photography exhibition

One of my photos has been chosen to be in the annual juried plastic camera show at the prestigious rayko photo center in San Francisco. This is a double-exposure medium format shot I took with my trusty Holga when I was travelling in India. I'm not a photographer, but I do love analogue photography so much. The opening reception is this wednesday evening, March 9th, 6-8pm if you're around! Show continues until April 29th.

last weekend of exhibition

Today and tomorrow are the last days to see my show at GAW in San Francisco. Hope you can make it! You can view these two hand-detailed mokuhanga prints of a jug and a mug...It's a series of four, with pen-drawn lines, but these two just seem to go so nicely together.

open studios in a week

Next weekend: 31 Oct and 1 Nov, I'll be showing my work at the annual San Francisco Open Studios event, in my print studio in Dogpatch. You can find all the info you need about the Graphic Art Workshop here. I'll be showing new work, like this hand-detailed mokuhanga print,and some new playing card prints like these.Of course I'll be showing a wide variety of ceramic etchings, like this popular blue peonies print,which you can also see at the preview show in SOMArts gallery in downtown San Francsico right now.I do hope you can make it to the open studios, I'll be there from 11-6 on saturday and sunday. It's always nice to buy art direct from the artists! Please do come and say hello.

botanical garden

I went to the botanical garden inside the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco with my friend Aude Van Ryn when she was visiting, to do a spot of sketching.I have a soft spot for succulents and cactii, so I spent quite a bit of time looking at all the colours and textures...

Golden State Warriors

This weekend we went to watch the Golden State Warriors play the Detroit Pistons in Oakland. I've never been to a basketball game before, but it was amazing fun, and it's possibly the fastest sport I've tried to sketch! Go Warriors!

Mission window display

I've just installed a display in the artspace window next to Alleycat Books in the Mission in San Francisco, on 24th and Treat. I wanted to create the illusion of looking into an interior, playing with various layers and dimensions.I drew an illustrated black and white backdrop of a Victorian parlour, looking through to several more rooms. I hid little details in the drawing to create stories: portraits, a lady by the fire, a statue of a rabbit, a cat’s tail, a stuffed bird under a glass dome. I played with depth within the drawing itself, and then added to it by hanging real framed pictures on the drawn walls.The framed pieces are etchings of ceramics and a portrait, echoing the subject matter within the backdrop. They're full of patterns, creating a layer of patterned artwork on top of patterned wallpaper.One of the difficulties was fighting the un-removable grafitti on the glass. By creating a detailed pattern, I hope I've managed to distract the eye! Please go and take a look if you're around. It should be up for 2 months.

open studio

Today and tomorrow I'll be at my studio in Dogpatch, San Francisco, with lots of prints for sale. I'd love to see you, please pop by! Graphic Arts Workshop, 2565 3rd St. #305 San Francisco, CA 94107.                               11am – 6pm both days.For the first time, I even have a selection of my vintage prints for sale...

It's been fun sorting through my collection, I'm looking forward to sharing!

open studios San Francisco

I'll be taking part in San Francisco's Artspan open studios next weekend: October 25 & 26th, at my print studio in Dogpatch: Graphic Arts Workshop, 2565 3rd St. #305 San Francisco, CA 94107.                               11am - 6pm both days

It's an opportunity to visit the print studio, and buy prints directly from the artists. I'll have a big selection of etchings...some lithographs, and also some Japanese woodblock prints... All available to purchase. Some work is framed, most is unframed. I'll also be selling some limited edition greetings cards. Bring along your wallets for some happy bargains!

Really hope to see you there.

zoo & penguins

This weekend we went to the San Francisco zoo. We were given an adoption of a penguin as a gift, so we popped along to take a look. I love penguins! They were Magellanic penguins, several of them rescued when they swam too far north inland and were starving, and now they look very happy and healthy...We watched them floating, waddling, and swimming and my very favourite pose: just standing and thinking!We saw many  of the other animals, and I loved the golden eagle (a broken wing meant she couldn't fly any more) and the rescued grizzly bears, but my special favourite was the capybara!

exhibition weekend in San Fransciso

Thank you to everyone who made it along to see our printmaking studio exhibition in the Mission this weekend. There was an amazing selection of prints on show, in all sorts of techniques.The opening on saturday evening was super busy and the bookshop/gallery ambience was relaxing and unusual!

Mission Art Walk exhibition

I've recently joined a co-operative print studio in San Francisco, called Graphic Arts Workshop, where I can do etchings and hopefully spend some time making personal work. The studio has a group exhibition in the Alley Cat Gallery as part of the Mission Art Walk in conjunction with the SGC printmaking conference in SF city next weekend (on saturday and sunday only), and I'll have 2 pieces on show there. The gallery details are:

Alley Cat Gallery, 3036 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

and there'll be an opening reception on Saturday March 29th from 6.30pm - 9pm. Please come along!