it must be monday...

rolina nell is a dutch artist who has been traveling and participating in artist residencies in india, china, and latvia, to name a few. I had the pleasure of meeting rolina during her residency in LA and her show at littlebird gallery. A catalogue of the work 'been everywhere, seen everything', is available here. See more work here. (image: painting by rolina nell)

my multi-talented friend ric heitzman has some amazing work in a group show "drawing LA" at center for the arts eagle rock.

Always inspiring...the work of artist karen barbour.

via my nephew j for all you tom waits fans... you always wanted to know what pehdtsckjmba meant...

how to help...

the terrible tragedy in Burma is beyond comprehension...possibly 100,000 people dead from the cyclone, many missing, a million left homeless...one way to help is through avaaz.org.

avaaz.org is "...a new global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want." avaaz has organized a donation response to the tragedy in Burma.
from the site: "The cyclone that ripped through Burma left tens of thousands dead and a million homeless--a natural disaster made much worse by the failure of the military junta to warn or evacuate its people. Now, the government has slowed the urgent process of providing humanitarian relief--so avaaz.org is raising funds for the International Burmese Monks Organization, which will transmit funds directly to monasteries in affected areas. In many of the worst-hit areas, the monasteries are the only source of shelter and food for Burma's poorest people. They have been on the front lines of the aid effort since the storm struck. Other forms of aid could be delayed, diverted or manipulated by the Burmese government--but the monks are the most trusted and reliable institution in the country. "

inspired by...

on this cool grey may morning, inspired by: john luther adams' sound and light installation "the place where you go to listen" at the university of alaska...sara fanelli's fantastic book, "sometimes i think, sometimes i am"... roger housden's "ten poems to change your life"... the quiet exploration of nature in mary oliver's poetry and "dream work" in particular.
(above: view from my kitchen window. taken one early school morning when i'm not really awake, but need to make lunch for my son and get him off to school. i was captivated by this intensely magenta bougainvillea.)

18 minutes with an agile mind...

dark hand and lamplight performed last night at cinefamily/silent movie theater. wonderful, enigmatic visuals by toronto based visual artist shary boyle choreographed to songs performed by musician doug paisley. Shary creates "live drawings and animates pre-drawn images on an overhead projector." She "projects her artwork onto a screen, the wall, Lamplight, and other available surfaces." It was magical indeed. See shary's art here.

"eighteen minutes with an agile mind", is astronomer clifford stoll's mind-blowing talk at the TED conference.
many thanks to dearada for her post about my work this week!
(above image: work in progress)

change not just light bulbs but laws

watch Al Gore's talk at the TED (technology, environment, design) conference. A call to activism to solve the climate crisis by solving the democracy crisis. via worldchanging.

not drowning, waving

enough said.

the importance of upsidedownness

Defying the laws of gravity and turning the familiar on its head, aurelia's oratorio is performed by aurelia thierrée, charlie chaplin's grand-daughter and directed and created by her mother, victoria thierrée chaplin. (I had the pleasure of seeing it a week ago.) The opening moments begin with a chest of drawers, out of which pop legs, hands, feet and red high heels. It's a world that turns the familiar upside-down. I have a fascination with this kind of theater which has no words, and no narration. Also with chests of drawers, perhaps because they are seemingly mundane everyday objects, yet enticingly mysterious at the same time. (images are pieces from another green world with wonderful embroidery by marci boudreau.)

LCS plagiarized in book form

I received an email from Darren Di Lieto, Little Chimp Society Senior Editor, with news that illustrations and interviews from the LCS website were stolen and used without authorization (or compensation) in the book "Colorful Illustrations 93°C". A number of people have weighed in on this and you can follow the ongoing discussion and controversy here. I hope he is able to sort this out through legal means. In the meantime, I suggest you DO NOT buy this book! Many of us post images on our blogs and websites and this has fostered a wonderful dialogue between people across the globe. That someone would misuse/abuse this and additionally profit from it is a serious issue.

water is life

a moody sea, peninsula de marau

a silvery sea, peninsula de marau

a shimmering sea, salvador, bahia

...we are made of stardust to be sure, but we come from the sea, and the sea figures in to so much of what i love, what i do, and of course in my paintings. We can't exist without the sea, that place of great expanse, where color changes in a constant dance with the sky.

i'm not there

just returned from a fantastic voyage to brasil and still adjusting to the fact that i'm not there though i'm not quite here either. we (my son and i) met up with my nephew who has been living in salvador, bahia. We had such an amazing time: meeting wonderful new friends, seeing great street art such as the tile work of bel borba, eating fruits such as umbu, pina, mamao, abacaxi (the list goes on) listening and trying to understand portuguese, body surfing off the peninsula de marau. i will post some photos soon. (above images from another green world show)

thank you...

exhibitions are great for so many reasons... seeing family and friends that you haven't seen in awhile... airing out your work and and giving people the opportunity to see what you've been up to... it's a lovely bit of appreciation, and I learn so much each time. from visiting the space, working with the gallerists, choosing the work, figuring out the installation, all of it is such a rich experience...thanks so much to mylissa and thomas at little bird for the opportunity and for all their help, to marci for her great eye and mad embroidery skills, to meighan for the nice post about my work and to yuko at lost at e minor for the same. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and to all the wonderful, talented bloggers who inspire me and to those who share their comments as well.

another green world is here...

many thanks for all your comments and support! opening is tonight at little bird gallery 7pm to 10pm::everyone welcome:: will post more pics soon...

another green world is coming...

landscape...

My show, "another green world" opens saturday march 15 from 7 to 10 pm at little bird gallery. Everyone welcome! Little bird gallery is located in atwater village at 3195 Glendale Blvd. LA, CA 90039. For questions about the artwork contact mylissa@littlebirdgallery.com
show runs march 16 to april 6

From the press release: "Little Bird Gallery in Los Angeles is pleased to present a new series of works by Sarajo Frieden, Another Green World, that showcases her talents as a scavenger of resonant cultural images. Combining elements of fine, folk and decorative arts, Frieden uses a variety of mixed media to layer and juxtapose imagery that invites us into unfamiliar folktales, untold histories and enticing internal worlds.
Collaborating with Frieden on several pieces is artist and embroiderer Marci Boudreau. Frieden and Boudreau engage in a back and forth dialogue of thread, color and collage that allows room for surprise and the cultivation of delight."

I will be uploading more images and pictures of installation in the next few weeks, so check back!
above image: untitled (pink landscape).
gouache on two sheets of paper, 30" w x 45" h.

girl with pocket park

so much goodness: i just love the work of douglas florian who has an upcoming show at bravinlee.
Via dearada found the stunning work of bibbi forsmann. Via her blog I found mizue ogiso. I loved that papermag teamed up with the artists at creative growth to do windows at barneys with great results!

many thanks to irene at bloesem for her post! see irene's great kid blog here. image: girl w/pocket park (and mechanical arm) with embroidery by marci boudreau

"time flies" at tinlark...

Images from the opening of "time flies" at tinlark gallery this past saturday, including a sampling of the work. Thanks to everyone who stopped by! It was a pleasure to meet some of the other artists: Ya Ya Chou who was represented by simon, a fetching (and hungry) gummy bear rug, Gavin Bunner who was showing funny, iconic gouache paintings, and Brooks Shane Salzwedel, whose show in the project room held amazingly detailed pieces.

coming apart...

I've picked up the pieces from the framer and am heading over to drop off the work at Tinlark gallery (opening is this saturday from 5 to 9pm). Leaf lady (above) almost didn't make it, but when I finally finished it and showed it to my framer (who conveniently lives up my street), she looked at it and said, "this could be me". It's not just the wild winds blowing through LA. I think we've all felt like we're coming apart at one time or another. This was a very fun collaboration with marci, and now I'm glad to have this behind me so I can concentrate on my show at Little Bird gallery in March. (image: leaflady)

at long last...

Finally, a new place to while away those leisure hours: my new website has finally launched! After 3+ years "under construction", it is finally up and that is due to aaron feaver. Many, many thanks to aaron for making this possible! (and to lisa, another wonderful artist, who introduced me to aaron: thanks lisa!) If you'd like to receive emails about upcoming shows, be sure to go to the contact page to subscribe to the email list.

a new day...

Hello 2008, you are going to be an interesting year!

To start things rolling...I am in the first anniversary group show "Time Flies" at Tinlark Gallery. The opening is January 19 from 5 to 8pm. Tinlark is located at Crossroads of the World in Hollywood. Please drop by if you're in the area.
I am showing pieces from the embroidered bird series and a painting/embroidery collaboration with Marci Boudreau. This (our third) collaboration has been great fun. Marci's embroidery has added not only wonderful texture and dimension to the pieces, but a great shot of energy, which is one of the best things a good collaboration offers.
Other participating artists are Ryan Berkley, Kellie Bowman, Maria Britton, Gavin Bunner, Diem Chau, Yaya Chou, Takashi Iwasaki (I'm a big fan of his work), and Maggy R. Hiltner. There will also be a solo show of the work of Brooks Shane Salzwedel. (above:woman leaving chair and woman carrying flowerpot)

tangled up in blue

Last week I caught Todd Haynes's intriguing film, "I'm not there" about the life of Dylan. As portrayed by six actors, the film attempts to show how Dylan morphed and often obliterated his way through the changes and development of his music and persona. I'd like to celebrate obliteration and morphing by offering "tangled up in blue" ( also the title of a Dylan song), a limited edition print for sale at thumbtack press . Thumbtack does a beautiful job with their prints. This edition is signed and numbered (50 only!)
and priced at US$60.
Many thanks to the supertalented (how does she do it all?) artist that is
lisa congdon, for her nice mention of my work on her guest blog spot
at design*sponge, where she did a whole riff on colors. (image: tangled up in blue)

collageflowers

Friday eve I was settling in to catch up on my favorite blogs, when I spotted a mention of my work on bloesem (thanks irene!). Bloesem is the wonderfully inspiring blog of irene hoofs, a dutch designer/stylist living in Kuala Lumpur. She has a great eye, and I always find something inspiring when i visit her blog. (image: collageflowers)

66, and still asking questions

A few weeks ago, I spent a lovely unrushed Saturday in downtown LA seeing two wonderful installations at MOCA: the work of Cosima Von Bonin and Gordon Matta-Clark . I especially loved the textile "paintings" of Von Bonin: large scale works involving multiple fabrics stretched on a frame, with cut outs and hand stitching; and the large room installation with open roof, accessible to the viewer only by climbing a ladder or tilting a large mirror for those adverse to heights.
On display in the retrospective of Gordon Matta-Clark (son of surrealist painter Roberto Matta) are documentations of his building cuts, where he literally cut a building (usually something about to be demolished) in half, or cut away a part of the interior structure. During his short lifetime (he died at age 35 in 1978), Matta-Clark created a highly influential body of work. His grand-scale architectural interactions challenge our everyday perceptions about space.
I also saw the Murakami exhibition, which was packed. Next door at the Japanese American National Museum , the Giant Robot Biennale was just opening, and I had time to see lovely work by Saelee Oh and Souther Salazar , as well as APAK (I was in a show with them earlier this year at Junc Gallery ). But I couldn't stay to say hello because my sister was coming to town and we had tickets to see Tinariwen , a band from northeastern Mali, whose music I absolutely love (and loved seeing live).
To top it all off, I saw Pina Bausch's Tanztheather Wuppertal perform Ten Chi, which is based on a trip to Japan and the intensive research and distillation of impressions she and the company came away with. One of Bausch's intentions is not to tell the audience what they are seeing, but rather let them formulate impressions themselves. "I don't want to push anybody," she explained (in an LA Times article). "I don't want to say something about this work because I don't want people to look at it and think they have to see it the way I said. For me, it is very important that people in the audience trust their feelings and let happen what can happen to them."
Indeed, there is something powerful in the very nature of inviting people to engage with their own thoughts and feelings to come away with interpretations of a piece. Pina B is 66 and still creating, still asking questions (of herself and her dancers). Inspiring. (Image: yellowflowers)

weekendbird

(Completed this weekend while camping north of santa barbara with friends; she is already spoken for)

a stitched fortune...

Last night I saw Erik Sanko's production of "The Fortune Teller". It's a twisted, handcrafted puppet tale about seven odd characters assembled to hear the reading of a late industrialist's will, and the fate that lies in store for them as predicted by the fortune teller. It was a delightfully constructed tableau to watch and hear (danny elfman did the score, and gavin friday the voice over). Tagging along back stage to talk with the marionettes and see the puppeteers (or vice versa), revealed sets and puppets that are actually quite small, but appear to be at least four feet tall as you sit in the darkened theater. In fact, towards the end, when Erik comes onstage in a papier mache head, he appears to be a giant, so accustomed have you become to the scale. Additionally, one of the characters loses his head and there is a dancing chicken. I wish the narrative had worked as well as all the parts. The scenarios that reveal the demise of each character seem inevitable: you knew what was going to happen, just not how. (images: some new stitched pieces)

keep talking america/dissent is patriotic

This piece was done awhile ago for a show entitled, "America". It seems ever as relevant and worth being reminded of today. (You can purchase a print at thumbtack press.)

life in trees

It rained friday evening in los angeles. Today's timely green life tip is about building a rain barrel. I'm definitely going to try that. More green weekend reading: Dwell has a fascinating article on possible futures by bruce sterling, a story on a greywater filtration wall in Sydney (we need those in LA too) and an article on Office of Mobile Design. Finding fascinating: Biomimicry, with articles on The Land Institute; and the writing of Julia Whitty on the fate of the oceans. Good reading all!

roadside attractions

Thought: as our planet shrinks and (for many of us) the unsustainable nature of how we live becomes more evident, has the idea that we are all connected become more of a daily, tangible reality? Sometimes I think the internet and its connectivity make this seem so.
This was a really nice mention about my work (thanks gigi). Postsecret is funny, poignant and so very human and connecting.

inspired cuts

I love the intricate paper cuts of Rob Ryan. He has a new book out (cover above) and a show opening October 10 at Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London. Wish I could be there!

take a line for a walk

"Drawing is like taking a line for a walk" This well-known quote is by Paul Klee, who remains one of my favorite artists. I have many books about his work, and whenever I feel I am getting lost, I often go back to him. He manages to convey much about life in his use of simple symbols and signs-- abstracted, yet recognizable imagery often with a playful twist. The facts of his life, the hardships he lived through, add to my deep and abiding respect for this artist. (The above image is a recent work.)

nice mention

Hopefully, you are familiar with dearada which is a wonderful blog full of inspiring images of artist's work. It's an eclectic array-you never know what you're going to find there, which is part of the fun. So, it was with delight that I spotted a mention of my own work today! Thanks dearada! (The image is a compilation of the drawing and embroidery collaboration I did with marci boudreau for the monster drawing rally.