flourless chocolate cake and gardenias...a perfect day

happy day to you too...

anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain...

the amazing, inspiring pina bausch has passed away at age 68.
i've posted about pina bausch before, and had the good fortune to see tanz wuppertal numerous times. wiim wenders, who was to begin a film collaboration with her in the fall, paid tribute in a poem here.
her work, whether on a stage carpeted with chrysanthemums or filled with 77 year old dancers, always asked you to imagine a much more extraordinary world, and suggested that creating to that world was both possibility and necessity.
above: inspired by a dancer from nelken, 2005.

what lies in wait...

morning walk.
as usual, the faeries were out in full force. i'm still wondering where "george" is off
to...







this flower (above) appeared in the garden yesterday...
last night at royce hall: goran bregovic and the wedding and funeral orchestra. out of this world fantastic!

F%#K Cancer! We Love Justin Benefit Friday, June 5th at poketo

poketo studio is holding a silent art auction titled: F%#K Cancer! We Love Justin to raise funds for the medical treatment of artist justin van hoy. the auction is at poketo studio at 510 s. hewitt st number 506, 5th floor, and will be held this friday june 5 from 7 to 10 pm.

justin has been the art director for SWINDLE Magazine, and contributor of works for artists and brands such as OBEY, Roger Gastman, Cobra Snake,

Contributing artists include: Shepard Fairey, Saelee Oh, Jeana Sohn, Travis Millard, Mel Kadel, Marco Zamora, Ye Rin Mok, Studio Number One, Sumi Ink Club, Chris Bettig, Sarajo Frieden, Kim Buzzelli, Sheli Ben Ner, Casey Ryder, Saejeen Oh, Skyrocket Studios, Ashkahn, Leah Chun, Bill McRight, Josh Hart, Derek Albeck, Ernesto Yerena, Jesselisa Moretti, Kristian Henson, Zach Gibson, Jeremy Baker, Phillip Lumbang, Matt Goldman, Florencio Zavala, Marissa Textor, Jordan Isip, Damion Silver, Josh Cochran, Caroline Hwang, Amanda Visell, David Weidman, Katsuo Design, Jared Purrington, Blake E. Marquis, Michael Coleman, Ryan Callis, Jason Filipow, Tim Biskup, Ramis Kim, Melissa Contreras… ALSO, goods from Poketo, Obey Clothing, and prints from Mike Giant, Dalek, Saber, Jim Houser, and more.

this is a great thing that a few people: chris bettig, poketo, will hays (and more) have put together to help out a fellow artist in need and i love them all for it! stop by the auction, or if you can't, you can donate online here.

colors, crazy tomatoes, and more...

i love the pink and coppery red which showed up in the garden completely by accident (top photo). might use that...

seems like yesterday when these tomatoes were planted and they are growing like beanstalks! ( i've thought of videotaping them on the sly at night to record their growth...) i think it's the soil which is made from our composted kitchen scraps. regularly neglected compost at that. i recently read that kitchen waste left to decompose in covered landfills (which is no doubt most of it) creates the evil methane of g.w. fame! even more reasons to save those scraps...

new community garden hatching in highland park (l.a.), nice!
following links and learning about foodforward.org, volunteer group of angelenos who (by invitation) pick excess fruit from private properties and donate to food pantries: very nice...

i am not sure how...

an entire website devoted to funny answers on exams. an email of the same inspired the above. drawing by me, quote by (still) anonymous middle schooler.

surtex o nine oh my...

this sunday may 17 through tuesday may 19, my agents will be wowing the crowds at surtex 09 in nyc at the jacob javits center. they are sure to have the most amazing collection of work. each of the artists created our own self-published books as portfolios ( here's mine ), designed banners and button sets. art directors can make appointments by emailing: info@lillarogers.com. i surely wish i could be there to take it all in! (but i won't be there...)

my great pal susy p has a new blog and website. also a trunk show this weekend at turtle in boston. i wear susy's great graphic tee's almost constantly. in fact, i'm in need of another...

also, i want to welcome and congratulate the wonderful lisa congdon who is now represented by lilla rogers studio. lisa and her super smart canine adventurer wilfredo have a new blog chronicling their adventures. it's certain to be a great one!
above images: cover and index page from my blurb book.

it's morning where i live...

it's morning here where i live and the tree outside my window is filtering the sunlight and telling me to get up while it's still cool enough for a walk. work is pulling at me and the deadlines are calling and sounding rather urgent. the paintings i'm working on are hovering just above the tables where i left them last night. i think for the time being the tree will win.

in other news, did you know the "typical person’s brain can process 173 billion bits of information over the course of a lifetime" ? I wonder how many i have left...

new violin tree tote!

just released by poketo: the violin tree tote bag!
this sturdy canvas bag contains a zippered inside pocket for transporters (for those "beam me up moments) or tiny klingons. purchase yours here.

thanks to boom for their post about my work this morning. go visit the visual goodies here.
also,
studio violet has new porcelain, and oh, i'd like one of everything!
karen barbour has beautiful work up on her new website.

tuesday inspiration...

on a more art inspiring note:
always chock full of interestingness: territoiredessens.
the talented nate williams has been knocking out cool art right and left. see his great new pattern work here.
jess gonacha: check out her beautiful work here and inspiring blog here (again, thanks jess!).
just loving the work of betsy walton who has a new third drawer down tea towel.
in sf: meighan o'toole has curated a show opening may 2 at needles and pins. hats off to meighan for her inspiring art blog and now, curator.
thanks to creature comforts, a delightful blog for the mention. warning: lots of photos of cupcakes, may make you hungry!

the above piece will be auctioned off at a benefit for stoked sessions la. stoked mentoring works to reach at risk youth through action sports.

found at sea...

captain charles moore of the algalita institute, spoke about the great pacific garbage patch, as part of the hyperbolic crochet reef project a few weeks ago. this pacific gyre is a perfect storm of plastic detritus coming from asia and north america combined. it is twice the size of texas and 30 feet deep. on hand were samples collected from shore and sea: umbrella handles, bottle caps, toothbrushes, even plastic blobs which had fused on contact with lava. clearly, this is a huge problem. it's also on the radar. last night, via inhabitat i received this: using 2.4 million pieces of colored plastic (approx number of pounds of plastic entering the oceans per hour) photographer chris jordan is trying to visualize the enormity of the problem.

poketo interview!

thanks, poketo!
opening april 24 at poketo is "bang! bang! draw!" with artist PCP.

an artful gorge...

above: "the forest" by christy mcCaffrey and sara newey at machine project.
also on view: mark allen's carnivorous plants which live in the basement of machine project for the time being.


above: the beautiful "illuminated forest" by charlotte mcgowan-griffin part of the exhibition "under the knife" at armory center for arts in pasadena, which explores the art of cutting.




above: loved this layered room environment of cut paper and pvc, shadow sound and video projections created by chris natrop, part of "under the knife".






images from "under the knife".





at bergamot station in santa monica:
steven hull's wacked-out colorful world at rosamund felson.



"blackfield": fantastic installation by zadok ben david. painted stainless steel and sand. at shoshana wayne.

home for 60,000 hives...

via worldchanging: a six acre rooftop garden and habitat for native plants, grasses, birds and bugs (and hives for 60,000 bees). it's the newly opened vancouver convention centre. way to go, humans. (photo via worldchanging)

moving your nest...

back from a little trip:

big sur vistas and favorite beaches

a visit to big sur spirit garden, which is where jayson fann constructs his wonderful nests. i imagine this is not how birds do it. still, i would love one in my backyard.
order something next door at big sur bakery and have a sit inside one of the nests.

william kentridge at SFMOMA is not to be missed. his work continues to inspire me. the day my son and i visited, one of the magic flute pieces was not working, but the stage set/projection piece that we watched was amazing.

poketo and violin tree tee!

this is my first collaboration with poketo and i am super excited to wear my first t-shirt! you can buy violin tree t (pictured above in charcoal) here. see the new set of 11 t's or more photos here. (photo above from poketo)

katy elliot has a wonderful blog full of inspiration. I love the way it is organized so you can search under for ex, textiles, and see lots of beautiful and inspired things. thanks for the post ms. e!
simon peplow and analogue books have posted pics of the joyful bewilderment opening in edinburgh, scotland (my pieceis on the lower left).

i am doing fine...

a dear friend emailed me this morning. she's going through a rough time and somehow her comment, "i'm doing fine so far, with only the occasional freak out," struck me as both funny and applicable to many of us. really, i want the t-shirt.

the girl and poster are for an upcoming event, more on this later.

many thanks to:
her library adventures
mady dooijes and her lovely blog abundance
the red thread, water may walk, and illustrationmundo for the nice mentions!
(the im link is to an older post, sorry!). illustrationmundo is an amazing resource for visual artists and illustrators looking for inspiration and a host of posts of great work!
come visit me at flickr! been posting there lately...
listening and working to: juana molina...

happenings in scotland and elsewhere...

the funny and seemingly unstoppable force that is simon peplow, one (along with marcus oakley, another unstoppable--is this a new breed of artist action hero/heroine?) of the organizers of the joyful bewilderment, (the traveling group show i have work in) sent word of a march 28 opening of TJB at analogue books in edinburgh, scotland. analogue is a bookshop and gallery that also produces zines under the moniker "running amok" (which is often what my head feels like it is doing-- much to the dismay of the body it is attached to).

locally (in LA): for starters, i want to see tokyo, nine lives: visionary artists from LA at the hammer, and continental rifts: contemporary time-based works of africa at the fowler. oh, and sleep. oh, and promise not to take out my wallet when i browse the hammer bookstore which is one of the best art bookshops in LA, in my humble opinion.

on the street where you live...

i have been inundated with work and out of town family visiting (farewell my beautiful sister and brother in law who makes such amazing food!)...lots of great meals and hanging out around the fire in the cool evenings. i know i missed lots of art openings that i hope to catch up with later. thanks to clay for sending me these photos he took of my street today! it's in bloom thanks to the tabebuias and some intelligent people, who long ago planted these glorious trees that bloom once a year...

new work...

i've been too busy to post much lately. the image above is a new piece commissioned by louey rubino for andaz hotels.

so much water, but not a drop to drink...

it's a rare treat to have rain in los angeles. arriving with it this time were cold temperatures and snow in the san gabriels that ring the city to the east. l.a. is usually drenched with sun, so it's beautiful to see how the quality of light changes with the rain, the color of plants seems to vibrate to a different frequency. yet despite the recent deluge, los angeles is experiencing a drought.

last week, the mayor announced further water rationing for the city. andy lipkis of treepeople was interviewed on the radio talking about using rainwater as a resource. drought in l.a. has more to do with the snow pack in the sierras, but capturing rain water here and harvesting it would help replenish the groundwater and decrease polluted urban runoff that might otherwise find its way into the ocean. (for more info on rainwater harvesting, get a pdf here.)

in other news: many many happy wishes to lorena of petit collage and esteban on the arrival of their baby daughter...welcome matilda!
(above images: in my garden)

isn't she lovely...

it's raining, not snowing in los angeles (which is a rare and delightful thing), but these pix of snowpeople in london by photographer nick cobbing (found via designarts daily), make me long for snow. see more of nick's amazing work here and read his comments about the day of spontaneous snowmen here.

mysterious landscapes and meals..

these past few days, weeks even, are flying by. i have an aunt who turned eighty nine years (ohMY!), and to celebrate, various cousins, nephews, and family descended over the weekend. fabulous cakes from lark cake shop (divine red velvet!) were consumed and the most silvery butternut squash/sweet potato soup and rosemary biscuits were supped on, accompanied by fresh organic greens from hollywood farmer's market. mmm...

this saturday, feb 9, cris mccall of tinlark gallery is hosting a benefit for fresh stART, whose goal is to "...fund programs that provide arts-related therapies to children designated "at-risk." details here. a great cause to support. i will have some pieces on sale, including the painting above.

many thanks to zoltan at lost at e minor for the nice mention about my work! "lost" is a great blog/zine which you can subscribe to (for free!)
and thanks to whatpossesedme who came up with a most original spelling of "saranjo" for my name (i like how it rhymes with naranjo which is orange in spanish, and one of my favorite colors).

i hope to post about this later. but if you have a chance, go see the work of ethiopian artist elias sime at the santa monica museum of art. it is fantastic work...and be sure to watch the short film about the artist (by talented friends valerie faris and jonathon dayton). until april 18. details here.
(above image: landscape #2, for sale at fresh stART benefit)

anything is possible...new prints!

two new prints, "anything is possible" (above left) and "nesting in trees" (above right), are now available at thumbtack press. you can order "anything" here and "nesting" here.

in the just quit working now department, i learned via flavorpill, that the national film board of canada has put its entire archive online! see it here.

another animation resource: the book "experimental animation: an illustrated anthology", by russett and starr, is a fabulous resource for anyone interested in this subject. i found a used copy online. it has chapters on the amazing lotte reiniger (adventures of prince achmed), oskar fischinger, and other pioneers in this form. it is where i learned about the artist carmen d'avino. fortunately, there are now many online sources where can view the work of some of these animators. see carmen's work here.

and apropos of the inauguration: in case you haven't seen this: the infamous bush street in san francisco becoming obama-ized...only in sf would two distinct teams be doing this...

best of the year...!

Netdiver Best of the Year 2008
my work has made the best of the year 2008 over at netdiver. many thanks to carole guevin, editor and founder of netdiver. there's a fabulous assortment of talent--check it out here.
"Netdiver Best of the Year is always a long awaited release of which projects and whose talents have made a strong and lasting impression in the previous year. We aimed to list 100 and just could not. So how about 110 because we feel they gave their 110% best? Listed alongside Time Magazine Best of the Year (ranking via Google). needless to say that is a mighty achievement.
Now in its 7th edition, the crop of the year is for us, the top of the year. Hope you agree. Refresh your memory and (re)encounter new sources of design inspiration."

glitter spaceships and metro card reefs...

january 10, saturday eve, i managed to get to two openings. the lovely esther pearl watson's show is up at billy shire fine arts. her wonderful paintings chronicle her life growing up in small town texas with a spaceship-building dad. i got there on the late side and the gallery was filled--in fact they had to kind of kick everyone out eventually! (see website for images, better than my photos)

also sat eve: "hyperbolic crochet coral reef" by the institute for figuring and companions, is on view at track 16. called the "aids quilt of global warming" (because of the threat to corals of a rise in ocean temps), the crochet reef project was started by sisters margaret and christine wertheim. this is another show not to be missed! read more about it here.
from the track 16 website: "Vast in scale, collective in construction, exquisitely detailed, the Crochet Reef is an unprecedented, hybridic, handicraft invocation of a natural wonder that has become, in itself, a new kind of wonder spawned from tens of thousands of hours of labor. After major exhibitions in Chicago, New York, and most recently a smash success at The Hayward in London, Track 16 is proud to present the first West Coast showing of this giant, ongoing, evolutionary, fancywork experiment."
in addition to the beautiful materials that make up the reef, there is a display of the "toxic reef" created from plastic and trash with interwoven bits of hair ties, metro cards etc., which highlights the eastern garbage patch, a texas-sized floating garbage patch endlessly swilling around (and breaking down into tiny dangerous bits) in the north pacific gyre.

the institute for figuring, directed by margaret wertheim, is "dedicated to the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts." a look here at their lecture offerings is a fascinating place to begin.

I first learned about the IFF at the business card menger sponge installation they did at machine project several years ago. machine is a place where you can learn how to sew your own cat pants, study arduino, or learn to solder. over the holidays, if you lived within a 2 mile radius of their echo park location, you could have a poem delivered to your residence. it really doesn't get any better than this! i, unfortunately, don't live quite within that radius, but if i ever decide to move, that will be the necessary criteria.
above images: crochet reef project

in with the new...

peace, joy, good coffee, and all the rest! happy new year all!

pillow talk...

my new pillowcases arrived yesterday from thirddrawerdown! i laid my head on them and fell instantly asleep. oh, the dreams i had--if only pillows could talk! get yours here, along with other lovelies. (cat not included--but that delightful envelope is!)

shoehouses...

i might be on a road to nowhere, but hopefully traveling in these shoes.
this is a recent commission for runners world magazine, for their spring shoe guide. The art director specifically asked for embroidery, which was a wonderful thing.

i'm on a road to nowhere...

this is one of the most reflective times of the year. perhaps it is because, after the whirl of holidays and parties, things begin to quiet down. reflecting brings with it joy/sadness/thoughtfulness bundled together, until it is impossible to separate one strand from the other. rather than trying to unravel them, perhaps they are beyond unraveling. maybe all these strands belong together and the best thing to do is go for a walk in the waning sunshine of this crisp clear day to the nearest nature one can find. for me, that is the observatory trail and i am on my way...