the past three mornings when I have watered my chinese lantern plant a little bird flies out. So this morning I took a look inside.

thrills! A nest! They are about the size of jelly beans.

Yesterday I made visit to a couple of open studios in Ojai. One of which was Dianne Bennett.

Dianne’s colorful paintings and assemblages are pure eye candy.

“In 2008 I began a series of retablos dedicated to species of birds, trees and plants
whose existence is threatened by loss of habitat and climate change.

The retablos are painted on salvaged metal, old advertising and traffic signs. Many of the series are on portions
of an old metal sign that had been used to advertise a housing development (on what had once been a meadow)
in Ojai of the 1960’s.”

Serious whimsey on various surfaces, made for a striking display in her meandering back yard. Paintings interact with plants, cacti and Ojai cobble. Chartreuse, fusia, cobalt blue, lavendar, canary yellow, and OOOrange, be still my eyes!

I’m liking the work by Jeff Gillete on view at Copro Nason

I’m completely enchanted by the work of laguna

The back yard is looking green, with near 80 degree weather and intermittent showers everything is growing.

this is what the yard looked liked before we moved in last year:
And then we graded it:

I think the grading somehow stimulated the weeds since its knee deep towards the back fence and sides. Ferocious weeds.

there is still much to do to get the property in shape but it will take time. I did get some peppers and tomatoes planted and want to get some artichoke plants.

I also took last years Halloween pumpkin and cut off the top, and put soil inside and watered leaving the seeds intact. Then later dh cut a circle from the bottom and planted the whole thing. I’m thinking the shell will naturally compost itself.

I’m excited about it as I would love to grow a whole bunch of pumpkins and the vines are especially pretty and the blossoms edible.

I felt oddly impacted by the death of Roger Ebert for whom I have been a long time fan. I follow him on twitter and his keen mind has illuminated many a different topic for me. But, mostly, I remember him from back in the days of “Siskel and Ebert” a show I watched every week. Roger was such a commanding wit. Today, most often, if I want to read a movie review I first go to Ebert’s website. I will miss his reviews of current movies and saddened by his loss.

Sometimes I feel such angst and jealousy by the accomplishments of other artists that I want to dive my head into the ground and stay there. Still, while I can understand angst, I despise jealousy/envy and mostly keep the green monsters beneath the bed where they belong. At the same time, I am so grateful for the brilliance and success of the truly talented. How banal life would be without those to admire and aspire to. Before the internet, one had to buy books or go to galleries and museums to see the work of others and now the myriad of images and artists at one’s fingertips is overwhelming and maybe that is where some of the angst comes from, there are so many accomplished artists to be jealous of, I mean admire.

Some art is on such a high plain I can not even be jealous of it. I can only internalize the impact so as to take the miracle of it with me. The work of Francis Bacon does this to me. Apparently he was quite a scoundrel and despicable as a human being but I don’t care and I don’t need to know it and knowing it does not change my opinion of the work. The work stands on it its own like disembodied legs. How grand it would be to stand in the studio where he worked and marvel at the complete irreverence for the environment while the man vehicle was sprouting master pieces from amidst the chaos. Here is a great little video:

I’m inspired by the method of using damaged photographs and images as source material for portraits and ideas. I can see myself doing the same kind of thing using damaged printed material (because I have a hard time damaging an actual photograph even if its not a friend or family member). Of course, even if I were to employ the exact same methods used by Bacon or any other artist, the work would still turn out like my own, there is no getting away from one’s self. So, using a method developed by another artist is copying but its not copying the art itself. Its a learning device.

I’ll be leaving for my parents house in the morning so I must get some painting time in. NOw.

I’ve sketched so many tree fems that I just about have a forest!

I have had this root sitting on my dresser since last summer. I was going to turn it into a found object bird, but I noticed today its growing.

and these are acorn heads

Happy Easter

I forgot to mention that I have been interviewed on Ben Hodson’s site, Reflections on the New Paradigm. There are several other interviews and some great art to look at, including work by Ben himself.

Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012 from The University of the Arts (Phl) on Vimeo.

“There is luck and it helps, pretend to be wise, make glorious mistakes!”

Here