It has been years since I've posted her on my blog! So much has happened but I am just going to focus on a couple of things right now.

First, I am working on a new website that I am hoping to publish in a month. It will be on a different platform and have a totally new look and feel.

Second thing and the main reason for this post is that I am exhibiting 17 in the new Serenity Show, "I am Calm" at UCSF Women's Health Center in San Francisco. The show runs from September 19, 2022 through January 13, 2023. My work is on the 6th floor and there are 17 pieces. I am featuring some of my landscapes as well as my new series, "Kaleidoscope". Let me give you some background on Serenity.

Now in its 15^th year, “Serenity” continues to provide opportunities to local artists working in all mediums – with a focus on positive, healing, and uplifting artwork. Since 2007 more than 180 Bay Area artists have participated in this show.

The exhibit changes three times a year and is displayed on the five floors of the Women’s Health Center: 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Each of the selected artists show a body of work related to the exhibition themes on their respective floors.  

As of 2022, the San Francisco Women Artists Gallery (SFWA) has become the Art Coordinator for the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.  They are managing and curating the “Serenity” series of exhibitions, selecting works by SFWA Member Artists throughout the Bay Area. SFWA’s artists are creating and exhibiting work that will enhance the healing environment of the Women’s Health Center, engaging and uplifting visitors and staff.

With the understanding that wellness is a holistic ideal, we embrace the transformative power of art as a core belief of SFWA. Art inspires, produces profound insights, and can serve as a healing force.

Below are some images from the installation yesterday. I would love to hear what you think so please feel free to leave comments.

Gold was discovered at Bodie in 1859, and by the 1870s it boasted three breweries and dozens of saloons and dance halls. There was more gambling, drinking, and shooting than any other mining camp. Those lawless days come alive as you wander through Bodie's deserted buildings. Bodie is considered to be the best, and most well-preserved, historic ghost town in the country so if you ever get the chance to see it, do! You won't be disappointed.

To see more images from Bodie, check out my Bodie and Mono Lake gallery.

Mindscape - Reflections of the Past

This past Thursday was the opening of the Small Presence Show at San Francisco Women's Artist Gallery. The theme of this show was artwork under 14" inches long. It was nice to see only small pieces fill the gallery. I had two pieces that were juried into this show. They were both Polaroid Emulsion Transfers. If you are not familiar with this process, it is taking a polaroid image and heating it up to a certain time and temperature. This causes the top emulsion layer to separate from the paper part of the photo and turn gel-like. Then you are able to removed the emulsion layer and place it on another surface, such as watercolor paper, like I have done on the images below. It is really a fun process.

Small Presence show at SFWA runs through January 6th. Stop by if you are in SF and check it out. The address is 647 Irving St.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my artwork. Have a great holiday season!

Reflections are my favorite thing to photograph so choosing only a few images to enter was difficult. But two of my favorites made it in and one is even receiving a Juror's Choice Award!  "Sunlight Lilies No. 1" which was actually taken in a cemetery in Brooklyn NY on a hot July day. Probably not where you would expect this image to come from. 

And then "Spiritual Reflection" which is a digital montage of my image "Concrete Dream" that was taken in Kauai. I just duplicated the image, did a little flipping around and then I saw the most amazing thing in the middle of my image....and voila! Spiritual Reflection was born. I hope you like them!

Sunlight Lilies No. 1 Spiritual ReflectionThis is a limited edition print

But I promise to update my blog with each show that I am in moving forward. With that being said, tomorrow, October 5th, is the opening reception for SFWA's Loving Golden Gate Park Show. The reception is from 530 to 8pm at 647 Irving St., San Francisco. There will be many fabulous art pieces on Golden Gate Park. My image, Golden Gate Zen that you see below was chosen for this show's postcard. I will be at the reception and would love to see you there! If you can't make it tomorrow though, the show runs through November 4th.

The first one is "Got Cancer" which I took at the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade back in the late 90's. I feel that is a very powerful photo of a brave woman.

Got Cancer?

The second photo that was juried in is called "Moroccan Women". I shot this in 2002, while I was on a day trip in Morocco. I was vacationing in Spain at the time. The Moroccan people were not very open to having their photograph taken, as you can probably tell from the one women's facial expression.

Moroccan WomenAlso available in 5x7 matted 8x10 for $35.

The reception will be held on Wednesday, March 9th from 5:30 to 8:00 pm at the SFWA Gallery at 647 Irving St and 8th Ave.

This is called "The Giant."  This was taken at a Legong Barong dance performance in Ubud.

The Giant

This is "Boat Ride in Bedugul." This was part of a ceremony ritual that was taking place when I was there.

Boat Ride in Bedugul

I also did a quick trip out to Bodie and Mono Lake in early fall.

For those of you who aren't familiar, Bodie is an old California ghost town located in the Bodie Hills, east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California. Bodie began as a mining camp following the discovery of gold in 1859 and today is an authentic wild west ghost town! It became Bodie State Historical Park in 1962. There are a total of 170 buildings and most of them are filled with objects from that time period. If you ever get the chance to see it, it is definitely worth checking out. Here are a few shots and I just posted a handful in my Bodie / Mono Lake gallery as well.

Bodie No. 1 Bodie Shop No. 1 Bodie No 2 Mindscape - Reflections of the Past

Mono Lake was amazing! It's a large, shallow saline soda lake that formed at least 760,000 years ago. Since there is no outlet for it, large levels of salt accumulated in it making the lake water alkaline. Back in 1941, the Los Angeles Department of water extended the aqueduct system farther upriver into the Mono Basin. So much water was diverted that evaporation soon exceeded inflow and the surface level of the lake fell rapidly. This resulted in alkaline sands and formerly submerged tufas towers became exposed. These tufas make you feel like you are on another planet, they are so wild! Here are a couple pics and of course I will put more up at a later date.

Dreamscape Mono Lake No. 1

So that about wraps up 2015. And now we are already in February of 2016. In January, I was in the San Francisco Women Artists show "Colors." My image, "Old Chevy" actually sold last weekend so that made me happy. I'm looking forward to many more shows at SFWA as well as the Art Guild of Pacifica this year. Check my facebook page for the latest show updates and I will try to update my blog here as well. I hope your year is off to a fabulous start!

Old Chevy

Wow, it has been a while since I've updated my blog. This year has been flying by! I've been in a few shows since my last update but I wanted to tell you about my solo show happening now at Pacifica Performances. It's called Journeys in Black and White. It includes 20 of my favorite nature and travel images from Spain, Morocco, New Zealand, Mexico and Kauai. All of these images were shot on film and processed by me in the darkroom. (Putting the show together reminds me how much I love and miss printing. I need to take out my "new" Leica M3 I got a while ago and finish that roll of film so I can print some new images!)

A reception was held last Friday, October 17th from 7 to 9pm. There was a great turnout and I was really excited about it! A lot of friends came out to support me and I met many new people as well. It helped that the Art Guild of Pacifica was also holding their reception for their annual Members Show. Since Pacifica Performances and Art Guild are both at the Sanchez Art Center, people just flowed over into my reception after seeing the Members show. I also had one piece in that show as well.

Here are a couple images of me with my artwork before the show, as well as the art alone. The show will be up through December but you can only see the artwork if you are attending one of the weekend concerts at the performance hall. Check out their website - pacificaperformances.org and see what's coming up. They host a variety of musical talent, as well as comedy shows once in a while.

The Art Guild of Pacifica is having a "Portraits" show until March 30th. "Rah!" is currently showing there. I took this in the very late 90's at San Francisco's Day of the Dead Parade. This is one of their infamous Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who came up to me and said, as you can probably guess, Rah!

March is National Women's Month and the SFWA always has a "Woman" show in support of it. "Got Cancer" was juried into this show. I think this is a very powerful woman portrait. It was also taken in the late 90's during a San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. The show runs through April 5th so stop by if you can. It is a really great show!

Federal officials announced that many California farmers caught in the state's drought can expect to receive NO irrigation water this year from a vast system of rivers, canals and reservoirs in California.

 Central Valley farmers received only 20 percent of their normal water allotment last year. Some communities and endangered wildlife that rely on the federal water source will also suffer deep cuts. A third of the countries fruits and vegetables are produced in the Central Valley.

California officials who manage the State Water Project, the state's other major water system, have already said they won't be releasing any water for farmers, marking a first in its 54-year history. 

Farmers are leaving half a million acres unplanted.

So let’s do a rain dance people. Rain every day for a solid month would be a nice start.

Last Saturday, Feb. 15^th, I went out to Lexington Reservoir and Guadalupe Reservoir in the South Bay. Here are a few pictures of what those reservoirs look like. And this is after we received about 5 days of rain. Mind you, I am photographing the driest parts of the reservoirs. There was still some water left in them, but not much.

2013 was California's driest year in recorded history and now,  it has been estimated that more than a dozen towns can run out of drinking water in the next 2 months.

Friday brought the announcement that water supplies will be cut off to agencies that supply millions of residences. 25 million Californians will have a significant part of their water supply cut. There will still be drinking water but it will be coming from a different source.

Most of California is in what is considered an "extreme drought" while some parts of central and southern California are in an "exceptional drought" which is the highest designated ranking.

 I went out to the Stevens Creek Reservoir in Cupertino today to see how much water was there.....there was basically none. It was crazy. I've never seen anything like it.  Below are the some of the photos I came away with. 

I will be going out to other reservoirs and documenting the drought as it continues. Please do all you can to conserve water. It is so important now.

Next, The Art Guild of Pacifica's show "Wishes are Dreams" is running on weekends from January 10 through February 9, 2014. The show is at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica. This reception will be on Friday, January 10th from 7 to 9pm. The Sanchez Art Center is at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica.

I will be at both receptions and would love to see you there!

"Spiritual Reflection"

Spiritual ReflectionThis is a limited edition print

"Flight at Rockaway Beach"

Flight at Rockaway Beach

"Contemplation"

ContemplationThis is a limited edition print.

There will be a reception Friday, December 6th, 7 to 9pm. Then Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. I will be there this weekend only with many photos to choose from. Digital as well as traditional images will be for sale. Some matted and some print only.  So stop by the Sanchez art center and check it out. There will be a ton of great art to view and purchase!