Bike!

This is my latest joy.

Nearly almost there.

The carpet is gone and the hardwoods have been refinished to perfection. Next up, a fresh coat of paint and new baseboards. And then...

then

ThEn

tHen 

Then, we move in to our new home in San Deigo.

It's been 5 months of temporary living with nearly all of our belongings in storage, including sleeping on an air mattress. We are so close. Not long now.

One of my favorite things....by komé

 

Oh! Oh! Oh! I feel terrible but I nearly forgot to mention one of my favorite things in Austin.

That little window in the top right corner of the bill holder at the restaurant, komé in Austin Texas. With the little wooden spoon and the tiny pieces of rice and the little background, filled with resin. That is one of my other VERY MOST favorite things.

Saturday and Sunday

Kubrick, 2001 prop

Netsuke at the Pavilion for Japanese Art

Saturday we made our first drive up to Los Angeles, since moving to the west coast in December. We spent the day at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, checking out the Stanley Kubrick retrospective as well as the permanent collection. I'm not a film nut.... I have only seen a couple of Kubrick's films but there's no argument that he was wildly creative and diverse in his film-making.

Sunday we stopped by the bonsai show at Balboa park. Bonsai is always a treat to see, wrinkled backdrops and all!

Tijuana

Mural detail

Mural detail - part II

Covered indoor/outdoor alley of  stores and other.

Cutest coffee shop - reminds me of Japan - check out the flooring.

Lunch at El Taller - great lighting.

We took a field trip Saturday with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego to Tijuana! There was a group of about 45 of us and we loaded up in a bus and drove across the border for lots of art looking and a grand lunch.

Here's some of the places we hit, if they mean anything to you:

• CECUT El Cubo tour of the current exhibition Retrocrónica.
• Pasajes Gomez y Rodríguez, to visit 206 Arte Contemporáneo, Galeria Nodo among others.
• Studio visit to Jamie Ruiz Otiz

This was my first tour trip in many years and I felt overall it was a positive experience. Especially so in this case, when you're traveling with a special group of people who all love art. I will never forget the cute elderly lady who made a joke about the restroom trashcan looking like an Anish Kapoor (which it totally did!!). That's not something you would say in passing to any other group of people.

An American local tour guide (owner of Turista Libre) joined up with us also. So glad to have met Derrick. What a great guy and we look forward to doing one of his Tijuana tours soon though unfortunately we aren't going to make the rollerskating trip.........which is killing me but maybe the next one.

Before I wrap this up I will say that Tijuana is really a different country in all senses of the word. And I think you feel that transition especially so when you are only driving down the road 30 miles to get there. Typically, when traveling to another country, you just get off an airplane and you're there. But to experience the border crossing there and back firmly cements the profound contrast without question. 

All that to say... traveling is fun and you should do it as often as you can.

Buying paper for your design project.

No painting happening here lately, as we finalize the purchase of our next home. However, I am busy packaging new prints.

Which brings me right to the next topic... Paper!

If you're looking for paper for a project like a wedding invitation or business cards (or giclee print labels) and you want more than like 30 sheets, you only have so many options. Some of those options can be limiting and frustrating and expensive. Some of them, can be perfect and affordable!

Basically, your choices are as follows:
A---Go to your local craft store and buy what they sell for scrapbooking. This is a fine option if they have exactly what you want. I tried to make that work but... in the end, the craft colored paper they carried was just too dark to print on. I bought it and tried to go the easy route but it was not working and I knew that ultimately I had to find something better. I don't recall the price.
B---Cute online places like Paper Source. I looked up what I wanted on Paper Source (a fine place indeed...) but not fine for buying more than like 20 sheets. I added up the price of 250 sheets and it was $75, not including shipping.
C---Paper manufacturing companies. There's a bunch of places like Neenah or French Paper Co. where you can buy paper online. But a little hard to buy something specific if you can't see it for yourself. This can be an okay option... totally depends on your project.
D---Pssst......THIS is the correct answer! You look for a local paper reseller. Every town has one. They are there to sell large quantities of paper to anyone doing a large print job. But, they are more than happy to sell paper to little ol' you! You can march right in, look through the paper sample books and either buy something they may have in stock or they can order it. I am usually looking for something simple that they usually have in stock. The above paper is by Neenah and was about $32. "Environment cover - Desert Storm - 250 sheets" And, it's perfect!

I hope this information has been helpful because I know you want special paper for your special project and you want it at a reasonable price.

Featured: dpi magazine, Taiwan, Meticulous Art II

I have a 6-page spread with dpi magazine, of Taiwan, which finally arrived last week. The theme of this issue is Meticulous Art II and my work fits right in with a lot of really stunning work. I'm so so pleased with the whole publication - starting with the beautiful cover. Super great and wanted to share!