Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the Missoula Art Museum, in Missoula, Montana (http://www.missoulaartmuseum.org/.) They currently have a fine exhibition of contemporary ceramic art from that lovely state, in a show called "Home, Home on the Range. "  Featured are 19 artists who collectively exemplify "the essential cultural fiber of Montana."


Two artists in particular have pieces that I found of interest.  Stephen Braun has a piece called "Guardian Angel for Oil," made with Rakued Clay, showing a diving angel who is  apparently about to save a barrel of oil. I enjoyed the metaphor, especially given our oil dependence and the current price of gas. I was most impressed, however, with his technical skill and the way he handled his materials, specifically the way he used the Raku texture to enliven the angel. Here is a YouTube video that features him at a raku clay workshop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU6ST-YQC_8 .


The second artist whose work I enjoyed is Adrian Arleo. Her piece is a life- sized female figure called "Eve Honeycomb", and is made with clay, glaze and wax encaustic.  I felt moved by her concern for the natural world and the primal part that bees play in our environment. I also felt kinship with her work, since my Bee series addresses the same essential ideas, and also uses hexagonal marks to illustrate honeycombs in beehives. Here is link to a workshop that she will offer in October at the Archie Bray Foundation: http://www.archiebray.org/workshops_classes/workshops_2011/workshop_arleo_2011.html

As is the case with my paintings, these pieces invoke the sense of touch as well as the sense of sight. I have never done ceramics, but its tactile qualities are seductive, and I admire the beautiful effects.

Yesterday I hung a show at Scheidenhelm Architecture at 732 Chenery Street #A in SF (http://sf-arc.com/page.php?id=10). Carl Scheidenhelm is the owner, and he is friends with Tachina Rudman, who is my friend from her work with the Open Studios organization ArtSpan and their Art for City Youth program. (http://www.artspan.org/). Tachina is the mastermind behind the art shows at Carl's, and does a great job featuring exciting work there by local artists such as myself.
The show took about 3 hours to hang, which might seem long for a show that has 15 paintings. Because this is a working architect's office, however, it is necessary to work around existing furniture and office equipment. In the short run, this can seem like a hindrance. However, under Tachina's direction, and with my wife Kate's help, we were able to  display the work seamlessly in the space. The office is enlivened,  the work is showcased, and it looks great.
For this exhibit, I am showing work that has a strong  design emphasis. I use strong primary colors, and much of the work is very linear and geometric. Because of this, it fits very nicely in an architectural office, where it has qualities that it shares with architecture. We are now planning to have an opening on Wednesday, September 7th, at 6pm. I will post specific details later, but feel free to stop by the office storefront, gaze at the art in the windows, and perhaps knock on the door to see if you can take a quick tour. The exhibit will be up about 7 weeks, and will come down after the second week of September.