I stumbled upon this lovely video that was created at the opening reception for the ReTHINK it show at the Vernon Davis Foundation's Gallery 85.

Click Here to Enjoy!

I love it when an email with the subject message "Congratulations!" arrives in my Inbox.  This makes bad days good and good days even better!
Two of my sculptures have been accepted into a show in the South Bay.  The show is called ‘RETHINKIT’ and it is an opportunity to showcase artwork which inspires new ways of thinking about art and the environment.

Since I work with found objects, I use a lot of reused/recycled materials or discarded materials in my work so when I was submitting for this show I felt it was a perfect fit... AND SO DID THEY!

I dropped off my work at the gallery yesterday and the location is very nice and the staff were even nicer! What a nice bunch of people! In any case, if you have the opportunity to join me at the opening... come! I'd love to see you!

The show runs May 22nd - July 31st
The opening is on May 22nd from 6-9pm
Gallery 85
377 Santana Row Suite 1180. San Jose, CA 95128

One of the challenges with having a professional career that isn't your art career is that you can so easily get sucked into that other world. It's definitely an aquatic world as I feels a lot like how I imagine drowning might feel as you bob to the surface grab a mouthful of air and then head back under into the deep abyss. Ok... well maybe that's too dramatic but it's resonating with me! :)

In any case, I have a list of shows that look interesting and I'm submitting... :)  Hopefully I'll be posting about some acceptances in the near future.

Last night was the artist reception for the show "Where to From There?".  It was a very rainy and cold evening but the turnout was incredible. I simply adore standing near my piece and watching people walk up and admire it. Some of my favorite silhouettes of people taking in my work can be seen above.

Kemp says of the work in the show, "The works in this exhibition have social relevance in that they suggest new readings or mis-readings of received ideas and function as signposts of emancipatory thought. As I looked for visual pleasure I also was aware of ethical and social concerns in the works that connect them to contemporary dialogues that are simultaneously aesthetic and political. This is the type of work that can set an agenda for building, through visual conversations, a foundation of examples that could be used by future practitioners of art that calls for non-normative examples of beauty and happiness.”

Featured Artists: Ted Andersen, Tamera Avery, Jamie Banes, Randy Beckelheimer, Timothy Bluitt, Dustin Campbell, Lizzy Cross, Harris David Harris, Ira J. Hawkins, Angela Hennessy, Carol Ladewig, Todd Lavine, Mat O'Hara, Tressa Pack, Anne Pinkowski, Johanna Poethig, Clare Rickman, Rtystk, Laurie Shapiro, Chris Thorson, Pep Ventosa

With the world as my palette, I've been dabbling in Fine Art photography. I've been shooting portraits and have recently dipped my toes into the abstract as well - using LIFE as my medium. This shot is a moment in time. A drive home from Davis became an interesting exploration in painting with lights while driving home. The cars in front of me or the lights/signs to either side.  I took pictures and experimented until my battery ran out of juice. It will be interesting to see how these printed.

This piece was selected for the Pro Arts Juried Annual 2014 show called, "Where to From There?" in Oakland, California.  The juror, Arnold J. Kemp, chose my work and the work of 19 other artists for this show. W00t! :) Here's more about Mr. Kemp from the Pro Arts Call For Entry:

Arnold J. Kemp is an artist, writer and curator. An echo in his work across these disciplines is the presence of empathy and humor in conceptual strategies to address harder personal and collective realities. In considering the world in which we live, he explains, "I leave room for laughter, as, in our current cultural moment, perhaps that is all we have."

Kemp is the Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has deep roots in the Bay Area having worked as a curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts from 1993-2003. Kemp’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Studio Museum in Harlem and Berkeley Art Museum. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2012. He is also the recipient of awards from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

In the late 90's, I made the decision to quit my very good job in the Silicon Valley and move to New York. I think this came as a surprise to my colleagues, my family, and I think I had even I surprised myself with this decision... but I did it anyways.

I never made it to New York... I made it to Philadelphia.  My good friend Patrick told me that he had this friend named Anita and that we were totally going to hit it off because we were both artists working with metal.  Naturally, with all the hype about her to me and me to her, we both were worried that we'd meet and not get along... but that didn't happen.

We went on to get a studio space together and an apartment together and fast forward to 2000 when I relocated back to the Bay Area for a job and while I don't remember the conversation, I somehow managed to convince Anita to move to the Bay Area with me. Driving across country, we played the "name game" using the names of famous artists. With both of us having degrees in Fine Art, the game lasted for hours.

Anita later settled in Santa Rosa and while it's a trek, we see each other from time to time and have even taking a neon class together at The Crucible.

Well... Anita is now married to a great guy named Marc and yesterday I attended her baby shower.  The past few weeks I've been thinking about a gift and looking at her gift registry, but nothing felt right.  While I haven't spent a lot of time with her husband Marc, I know that cycling is a very big part of his life having previously been a professional cyclist. So in thinking about what for the baby for someone creative and someone into cycling, I thought what better way to celebrate this little baby (who already has a name) than a gift that represents both his amazing parents!  It was a hit. Yay!

There is nothing more thrilling than seeing your work installed in a gallery. Well... I suppose seeing your work installed in a museum would be more thrilling but I've yet to experience that joy.   When you make art (and in fair quantities), you are often faced with the logistical challenge of where to store your art as you inevitably run out of space in your home.  This is a challenge and this is my challenge.  I'm lucky to have a good size office at work and the luxury of being able to live with my artwork both at home and at work.  At the present time, an entire wall in my office is blank because these two large paintings are on display. When I look at that blank wall in my office, in my mind I think of these pictures and am reminded that my work is being viewed by new people. Gosh I love this feeling.

I love seeing my art amongst people who enjoy art.  This picture was taken on the opening night of the show "Homage" at Liberty Arts Contemporary Art Gallery. My two paintings, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg can be seen in this photo and this makes me smile. :)

In 2010 I had a solo show at Zocalo Coffee Shop. Owner, Tim Holmes, said to San Leandro Patch reporter, Lani Conway "Most people's work that we display is either dramatically great or dramatically not. Anne's work is great and has a ton of positive feedback. People are even taking pictures with it."  Some people even put two and two together and recognized me from my bio and approached me on those rare mornings when I work remotely from the leather chair in the corner of the coffee shop.

One day a woman approached me and told me how much she loved my work.  We spoke for some time and then she asked if she could bring me some objects that had been gathering dust in her garage and basement. Naturally, I was thrilled!

This butter churn was one of the many objects she gave me. It has been sitting on my fireplace mantel for the past 3 years. I have been contemplating this object for some time and wondering how I might use it in a sculpture. Only weeks ago, I acquired a large box of Playskool figures and the rest is history.  While very "ready made" in execution, this piece called "Corporate America" representing the churn rate of employees in Corporate America.