The Dreamroads Studio

New Work Today!

2012-01-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

Today is the big show at Lahaina Galleries and I am excited to see everyone. If you are here on Maui, come down to Front Street in Lahaina between 1pm and 4pm and join the party! Here are some of the paintings I will be showing along with a number of works on paper. If you cannot get to the gallery, call Lahaina Galleries at (800) 228-2006 for more information on any of these paintings. Or go here to all available oil paintings.

The Visitor

Provenance

The Dream

The Discord of Paris

The Clearing

The Vision

The Snowy Owl

2012-01-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

Detail from The Dream by Robert Bissell, 2011, oil on canvas

I am reading this morning of the unusually large numbers of Snowy Owls that have been appearing in the United States as part of the normal irruption that takes place every few years. These most beautiful owls are rarely seen in warm climates but this year one was spotted at the Honolulu airport and promptly shot for being a hazard to planes. I am flying to Hawaii in a couple of days and was thinking of having a talking to the airport authorities there about their seemingly hasty action. On second thoughts however, I realized that if one of these unfortunate birds ended up in my planes intake I would be relieved that the marksman for the FAA had done his job!

The Dream

2012-01-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Dream, 2012 30" x 56" oil on canvas

Recently I have embarked ona series of paintings that explore ideas of scale and gigantism. I find thequestions that arise in creating the images to be interesting and more complexthan might be imagined. Giants have shown up in mythology, folklore andmodern literature as either quite bad beings or as "gentle giants".Same goes for small beings, although to a lesser extent. Either way they aregenerally depicted as being different. We also use the term giant torefer to creatures that excel in some way. Issac Newton stated that he"....stood on the shoulders of giants" as he developed histheories. Pictorially I realized that when combining different sizedbears I was not always sure whether I was depicting normal sized bears withdwarf sized bears or normal sized bears with giant bears. This aspect I havedecided to exploit so that we, as viewers are also unsure. The painting above depicts a bear apparently waking up but I leave it to the viewer to decide whois having the dream.

I am curious what you might think of this painting as I am considering making this one available as a print? Please let me know your thoughts.

December Newsletter

2011-12-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

My latest Studio News has just been published. You can read it here. You can sign up for future editions here also. Happy Holidays to all!

Drawing from the hand.

2011-11-25T08:01:00.001-08:00

Recently I have been taking a break from painting and doing some sketching. Here are some detail shots of some of them. I always like to look at the detail of a pencil line or pastel mark in any artist's work as it seems to me that that is the closest point to where the creativity or energetic flow from the hand meets the paper. If you can get close enough and remove the element of time, the mark on the paper and the action created in the hand become one and you can actually see the hand moving across the paper. Looking at any of Leonardo's sketches (the last one shown below), 500 years seems to disappear in an instant and I can feel like I am looking over his shoulder. Which is what makes his genius become timeless to me.

My new video!

2011-10-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

We just finished a new video showing me painting and talking about my work. You can see it here on Vimeo or if you prefer YouTube. I would love to hear your comments!

This video was produced and directed by Barry Robinson Photography. If any artists/entrepreneurs out there are interested in having a video profile done, I can highly recommend Barry. You can connect with him at barryrobinsonphoto.com

The Dancers!

2011-10-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Dancers, Limited Edition Fine Art Print

I am releasing a new Limited Edition print next week called The Dancers. This is how this image came about:

"Joy often reveals itself to us spontaneously. It was at such a time that I felt the desire to jump up and dance for joy. No particular reason, just that joy was there and it wanted expression. This is the inspiration for this painting.

I first saw dancing bears at a circus in Odessa, Georgia, (that time part of the USSR) . Although they had obviously been trained, the sense I got from them was that even though they may be not in a place they felt at home, they were for a period of time, at least, able to allow the energy of the fun and dance to come through them. We all joined in and laughed like crazy, at first at the sight of them but then just because we wanted to!

It reminds me that even in difficult times there can be room to jump, skip and dance down our own path."

The print will be available from your art consultant or local gallery in the next few days. For a complete list of outlets, please go here. Enjoy!

Provenance

2011-09-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite paintings that I have created recently. I'll let the dictionary definition of the title tell the story:

provenance |ˈprävənəns|

• the place of origin or earliest known history of something...
• the beginning of something's existence; something's origin: they try to understand the whole universe, its provenance and fate.
• a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique

This painting is currently on view at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco.

Newport Beach this Saturday!

2011-08-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hope to see you there!

Fashion Island

1173 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Driving Directions

Phone: 800~788~5008/949~721~9117

New Music

2011-07-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

As a painter who spends a lot of time alone in the studio, part of my work day is to gain inspiration and mood while working and I do this, in part, by listening to music. To those of you still mourning the passing of Mark Linkous and who may listen to music by such bands as The National, Fleet Foxes, Danger Mouse, DeVotchKa, Grizzly Bear and such, you may be inspired by listening to music by Luke Buda and The Phoenix Foundation, who I just discovered. They have been around for a while but in New Zealand (one of my favorite landscapes) and are now touring in England, from where I got the tip.

Here is a video of a recent single, but there are even better tunes to be found on what is available here (not all their material is available in the US yet, as far as I can tell)

I like taxes.

2011-07-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Fareed Zakaria W. W. Norton & Co.

I like taxes. I like what they can do. I like my government and I want it to provide education and help for those who need it. I want my government to spend that tax money wisely for the benefit of everyone.

Listening to the President this morning reminds me of an interview I heard recently with Fareed Zakaria. He (Zakaria) seemed to have a good, balanced view of this country's place in the world and the economy. The most important thing I heard him saying was how the people of this country have been led to believe that we should despise the government and not pay more taxes. This has resulted in the United States now having one of the lowest tax rates of all developed countries in the world. I don't think this is a good thing and, as Fareed Zakaria points out, it is putting us further behind in education , economic growth and our future well-being.

Here is a sample from the interview and a link to listen to the interview online:

On the U.S. economy

"We have the leading companies and the leading sectors in the advanced industrial world, we have an incredibly dynamic society, and we have high levels of entrepreneurship. And we have the best universities in the world. ... We also have impeccable credit. What we don't have is a political system that can take the simple measures to deal with our short-term deficit."

On what might happen if the U.S. defaults on debt

"I tend to think it will be catastrophic. I think, more importantly, there is a high enough risk here that this is surely a game we don't want to play. ... There are events that economics call low-probability, high-impact events that you don't want to test. You don't want to see if this is one of those things that is an unlikely situation but once it happens could have a huge seismic global effect, because then the cost of dealing with the after-effects is just cataclysmic."

On the government's role in innovation

"We have this debate in America that is almost a theoretical debate about the role of government in the economy and whether government should be involved, and I worry that while we're having this theoretical debate, on the other side of the world, the Chinese government is vigorously promoting industry after industry, the German government is vigorously promoting its manufacturing center, the South Korean government is vigorously promoting its manufacturing sector — and by the time we've resolved our debate, there won't be any industries left to compete in. It is absolutely clear that government plays a key role, as a catalyst, in promoting long-run growth."

On Germany

"Germany is a fascinating role model. The Germans have maintained their manufacturing edge despite being a high-tax, high-regulation economy. Why? Because the government really set about ensuring that it maintained funding for technical training, technical advancements and programs. It made a concerted effort to retain high-end, complex manufacturing — the kind of BMW model, if you will. And they've done that so successfully that Germany, which has a quarter of America's population, exports more than America does."

Luscious, wet and wild.

2011-07-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Just returning from a very wet and foggy trip to the Garcia River in Mendocino County. I consider the trail I walk on to be one of the truly wild places I visit. Although the Stornettas Lands' 500 acres are surrounded by farmland this area has been left untouched for many years and is free of visual, noise and odorous pollution. This time of year the flora is very lush and very overgrown, with huge fennel and other wetland plants. The profusion of wildflowers is overpowering and a vast statement on how trimmed and manicured many of our parks have become. I like places (and animals) that are just left alone to be themselves.

New Hero Paintings Preview!

2011-06-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

I recently completed the following paintings and they are on display at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco.

The Hero series of paintings I am embarking on represents quite a departure for me, as I am eliminating the natural landscape background in favor of a much more austere look. They are all quite large paintings, with the Bonobo at about life-size! I am about to post these to my website. I wonder what you think of them?

Hero #4 Lepus 2011 42" X 60" Oil on Canvas

Hero #6 Ursus 2011 72" X 48" Oil on Canvas

Hero #5 Pan 2011 72" X 48" Oil on Canvas

The Enchantment in Maui!

2011-05-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Enchantment, 2011 Oil on canvas 58" X 40"

I shall be appearing on Maui next week at Lahaina Galleries in downtown Lahaina and in Wailea. We will be presenting a brand new original painting and previewing the upcoming publication of a new limited edition print of the same piece, The Enchantment (see above). Here are the details for the shows:

May 25th, Wednesday in Wailea

6:30 - 9:30 PM - (808) 874-8583

and

May 27th, Friday in Lahaina

6:30 - 9:30 PM - (808) 661-6284

If you are "on island" I would love to see you at one of these events. This is one of the best paintings I have ever done and I cannot wait to show it!

Website Update!

2011-05-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

I really want to share my updated website with you!

We have expanded the Image Galleries to include most of the paintings I have ever done, so you can now see a complete catalog of the work. Other parts of the site have been updated too, including the Available Originals page where you can view paintings that are currently available for sale. Also, the limited editions have been updated in the Fine Art Prints section, together with the stories behind the images, which will provide special insight into my work process.
This is a good place to start: http://www.robertbissell.com/robert-bissell-galleries/index.html

A New Fine Art Print

2011-05-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Decision by Robert Bissell, 18" X 30" Limited Edition of 75

Today, I am releasing a new Limited Edition print called The Decision. This is a new print featuring rabbits and represents a follow-up to a very successful image called The Dilemma, which has been sold out for some time. All the prints in this Limited Edition Fine Print have been personally embellished by me to give the print brighter highlights and enhanced brushwork that make it indistinguishable from the original. This print is available in one size only, 18" x 30" and the edition is strictly limited to only 75. Here is my description of how this image came about:

As a youngster I was always concerned that decisions were being made for me without my involvement. Any sensitive, yet proud rabbit knows these decisions could mean the difference between darkness and light. Either way, until the decision was made there was trepidation about what was going on amongst the elders. In this painting the youngster might be headed for the storm, but we're not certain that he hasn't been called back to go in the opposite direction and off to that clear blue and beautiful horizon.

— Robert Bissell, May 2011

San Diego this weekend!

2011-03-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

The Rapprochement, 2011 36" X 48" oil on canvas

I will be appearing at The Exclusive Collections Gallery in San Diego's Historic Gaslamp District this Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th, both days from 6pm to 9pm. The gallery is located at 568 5th Avenue and parking is available nearby with passes available at the gallery. Go here for more details. The new painting shown above and several other new pieces will be exhibited at the show. Hope to see you there!

Lake Tahoe this weekend!

2011-03-02T14:30:00.000-08:00

The Gate, Oil on canvas

To all those who will be in South Lake Tahoe this weekend, I will be appearing at The Marcus Ashley Gallery in South Lake Tahoe, Saturday 1pm to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 2pm. Come on by and say hello! Details here.

New Print Release

2011-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

Today, I am releasing a new Limited Edition print called Metamorphosis. This is the first time I have released an elephant image and except for the small works size all the prints have been hand-enhanced by me before leaving the studio. You can view and purchase this print at any of our participating galleries.

Metamorphosis, 2011

Nowhere is the mother and child bond so evident as it is with elephant society. From the time they are born, young elephants are nurtured and cared for by the mother, aunts and grandmothers until they are several years old. The idea of a young elephant maturing into an adult and separating from his family is behind this painting. I wanted him moving towards the bright eastern sun at mid-morning, a time when things become clear and present in the world.

—Robert Bissell

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Guardian, 1998 52" X 52" Oil on canvas

I was just looking at some photos of the winter weather back in England and thinking about how many people are getting ready for the holidays and the New Year. Shown above is one of the first paintings I completed in 1998. I don't know where this painting is now but I hope whoever has it is enjoying the idea that ice bears are looking after our mountains and all the inclement weather during wintertime!

Happy Holidays

to everyone,

Old and New

2010-12-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

Young Bull 60" X 80" Pastel and chalk on paper

This piece was completed a few years ago and hangs in the home of some good friends of mine. I was recently visiting and was pleasantly surprised by the affinity I had for the work. The work is done in pastel on a very large piece of paper, about 60" X 80" in size— so no small undertaking. Pastel or chalk is a wonderful medium to work in as it can be manipulated in countless ways and the color mixing can occur right on the paper which can produce spontaneous results and (usually) good surprises. So I am now inspired to do another piece in this medium and also try this piece in oil. I will keep you updated on the progress.

This Saturday

2010-12-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

If you are in the Bay Area...come and see my newest painting, together with a lot of great artists at:

Chloe Fine Arts Gallery 1st Anniversary Gala Celebration

Preview is this Saturday, December 4th from 6pm to 9pm at 645 Beach Street, San Francisco (I will be there). Validated parking underneath the gallery. Call 415-749-1000 for more information.

Go here to register/RSVP for this event.

The End of Night

2010-11-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

The following painting is now available through Lahaina Galleries. Titled The End of Night, it features two bears as they come out of a dark woodland and face the dawn of a new day. If you are interested in this piece, please contact the gallery at 800-228-2006 or via their website here.

The End of Night, 2001, 46" X 36" Oil on canvas

Back to work

2010-11-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

I am very happy to say that I am now back in the work flow after taking some time off and moving the studio to Berkeley. We are in a beautiful, new space in West Berkeley, close to the Bay and the freeway. A converted food factory, the building houses a number of artists and the new studio space is big enough to allow me to work on multiple pieces at once, with plenty of room for display space. If you would like to visit the studio, please send a note via the website or to info@robertbissell.com.

Here is the first painting to come out of the new studio. Hero #2 is going to Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco for the:

Chloe Fine Arts Gallery 1st Anniversary Gala Celebration

Preview is this Saturday, December 4th from 6pm to 9pm at 645 Beach Street, San Francisco (I will be there). Validated parking underneath the gallery. Call 415-749-1000 for more information.

Go here to register/RSVP for this event.

Hero #2 , 2010 Oil on canvas 60" X 72"

Our Fall Newsletter

2010-10-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

What follows is an abbreviated version of the Fall copy of our quarterly Studio Newsletter. If you would like to sign up to receive the full version automatically via e-mail, you can go here to subscribe.

Time for Rest and Change
Busy Summer Ends, New Work, New Studio

After an extremely busy summer in the studio, I've been taking some time on the Mendocino coast, planning new projects and looking for a larger studio space, in addition to finishing up The Kingdom. I'll be moving to the new studio in Berkeley, CA this month and visitors are encouraged.

A big thank you to all who came out for the events and shows this summer, and to the many of you who saw my work at Lahaina Galleries in Hawaii. I am particularly excited about the direction the work seems to be going - Hero, shown below is a good example. As promised, all of my recently finished paintings are on the website on our new Available Originals page. Check it out, you can click on them for a beautiful enlargement that shows lots of detail.

The Kingdom
Epic Painting Two Years in the Making

To see the whole work, click here. Below you can read the story and see details of the image.

A panoramic piece in the style of The Perfect World, it incorporates a series of vignettes of bear paintings I've done over the years including favorites like The Embrace, The Learner, The Exchange and The Aviators, among others.

The original is 24"x120" and is available through Lahaina Galleries. A limited edition print will be available on November 8, 2010. It is sized at 14.5"x72".

The work was in development for nearly two years. After numerous sketches and many changes it was painted over a two month period in late summer 2010. The intention was to create a heroic painting that presented many narratives within a larger context.

The intention was to create a heroic painting that presented many narratives within a larger context. As in The Lord of The Rings we see our heroes embarking on a series of journeys by individuals and groups that all essentially advance a much larger endeavor. This epic structure, along with the symbols and motifs in Tolkein's story were much of the inspiration in developing The Kingdom.

A great river of life extends across the painting, uniting the participants as it flows toward the setting sun. Majestic trees such as Giant Sequoia, Redwood and Bristlecone Pine provide anchor points along the many paths where the story unfolds. The title describes not so much a physical place but a realm where we all, as Kings and Queens reside and in which our adventures are part of the great journey called life.

To see the whole work, click here.

Other Things to Share
New Galleries in Tahoe and Aspen & News from Pomegranate

I am so pleased to announce two new members of our family of fine art galleries. My work is now available in Aspen, CO through Royal Street Fine Art ; and in South Lake Tahoe through Marcus Ashley Gallery. I'll be at Marcus Ashley March 5th and 6th for an event and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Holiday gift giving is just around the corner. Pomegranate Communications Bissell collection has a number of affordable gift options including The Embrace Jigsaw, and The Kiss Kids

Jigsaw Puzzle. You can find them here.

The 2010 Bears By Bissell Calendar has sold out. Sadly, there will not be a 2011 Bear calendar. But for those of you rabbit fans who've been asking - there will be a 2012 Rabbits By Bissell Calendar available from Pomegranate. We'll make sure to let you know when it's available.

And the always popular Bissell Notecard collection now has two new cards - Overlook and Observers - from the 2010 calendar.

If you haven't already, don't forget to sign up on the Facebook Fan Page. News will be posted there regularly, so become a fan and stay up to date between newsletters.

As always, take care and please drop us a note through the Connect page on robertbissell.com.

My very best regards,

Robert

Michelle Obama and the Arts

2010-10-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

I celebrate the fact that Michelle Obama is taking a stand for the arts recently (Harpers Interview), together with the President's declaration earlier this month. You can show your support for their position by sending a message here. Some excerpts from recent press reports:

Michelle Obama recently said, "The arts aren't somehow an 'extra' part of a community's life but instead, they are the heart of a community's life. It is through music, literature, art, drama and dance that we tell the story of the past and we express hopes for the future."

She wants to bring that same consciousness to American youth. "We want to lift young people up," she said. "The country needs to be mindful that we have all these diamonds out there, and it would be a shame not to invest in those talents."

The first lady is also aware of the international reach of the arts. "That's the beauty of arts and culture, music and dance," she said. "It's a universal voice.

Shine on, you crazy diamond....

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

— Pink Floyd

Do Pelicans Dream?

2010-10-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Judy Irving, the director and producer of the film The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (based on the book by Mark Bittner) wrote to me the other day. She is half way through her next film project, Pelican Dreams. I find Pelicans to be really majestic, old souls. We have many of them on the coast where my second home is and to sit on the cliff-tops there and just watch them flying and go about their own lives is one of my greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, this was one bird that suffered greatly and many were lost during the gulf oil spill.

Here is a quote from Judy as she was remarking on Werner Herzog's view of nature and reflects something I think we all feel deep down:

“Nature is implacable. Nature is going to do what it will do. If we’re going to spill millions of gallons in the gulf, it will have an effect. I get the feeling from Herzog that he sort of hates nature. I want to go there. I want to experience the wild. Not something like a wild party where you drink a lot, or a road you drive down real fast, but I want to experience something that’s naturally wild, that’s wild out there on the planet.”

I encourage you to visit her website and if you can, help her by donating some funds towards the cost of producing this movie.

Here is her synopsis of Pelican Dreams (in progress):

One August afternoon, a young, confused, hungry, and very tired brown pelican created a spectacular traffic jam on the Golden Gate Bridge by landing on the roadway. Later named “Gigi” (for Golden Gate), she was “arrested,” put in a police car, and taken to a seabird rescue center. Pelican Dreams follows Gigi’s time in human hands and her release back to the wild, using her story to paint a broader picture of these ancient, mysterious birds.

Do pelicans dream? If so, what do they dream about? Who knows pelicans best? Fishermen compete with them, surfers share the waves with them, wildlife rehabilitators take care of them, and field biologists study their populations. These are the human characters in Pelican Dreams, and the various ways in which they know these birds will help us build up a picture of their personalities, habitat, population, and survival challenges. From the Channel Islands in southern California where Gigi was probably born, up the Pacific Coast to Sand Island in the Columbia River, the film creates a portrait of these elegant yet comical birds. As viewers fall in love with pelicans, they will be more motivated to protect the marine environment we all depend on.

Pelicans illustrate, metaphorically, the checkered history of our relationship with the natural world. Flourishing for 40 million years, they’ve barely survived the last 100. Plume hunting in the 19^th century and nest robbing during World War I reduced their populations, but after World War II, DDT nearly drove them to extinction. Ingested with fish, DDT caused pelicans’ eggshells to become so thin that they cracked during incubation. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the Environmental Defense Fund’s DDT lawsuit launched the environmental movement and led to the eventual ban on DDT. Despite being taken off the Endangered Species List in late 2009, brown pelicans face daunting 21^st century challenges such as domoic acid poisoning caused by ocean algal blooms, and oil-spill disasters such as in the Gulf of Mexico. Pelicans are avian ambassadors, mirroring our stewardship of the coastal environment and helping audiences relate to it in a personal way.

The film is produced and directed by Judy Irving, a Sundance-and-Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker who produced and directed Pelican Media’s 2005 film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, the third highest-grossing animal documentary ever released to theatres. The budget for Pelican Dreams, another feature-length film with wide distribution potential, is $470,000, of which $82,500 has been raised to date from individuals, foundations (Dean Witter, Wheeler, and Gerbode Foundations), CA Audubon, and in-kind contributions. Partnerships with the National Park Service—Channel Islands—and California Audubon provide production support: transport, lodging, and logistics. So far we’ve shot about 28 hours of film and video footage, have begun logging, and have edited a 16-minute DVD rough-cut of the first few scenes from the movie. We are actively seeking tax-deductible donations for this timely, in-progress, 501(c)(3) nonprofit film.

The Vision

2010-10-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

The Vision, 2010 Oil on Canvas, 28" X 24"

Here is a newly completed painting titled The Vision. Actually this is similar to a painting that I did several years ago but I was never able to get a good photograph of it and I rather want to include the image in my new book (yes....we are working on one, but don't ask me when it will be coming out as I think it is a ways off). This painting is smaller than the first and will be available soon, somewhere ...probably Lahaina Galleries.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2010-10-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

A PROCLAMATION

Throughout history, the arts and humanities have helped men and women around the globe grapple with the most challenging questions and come to know the most basic truths. In our increasingly interconnected world, the arts play an important role in both shaping the character that defines us and reminding us of our shared humanity. This month, we celebrate our Nation's arts and humanities, and we recommit to ensuring all Americans can access and experience them.

Our strength as a Nation has always come from our ability to recognize ourselves in each other, and American artists, historians, and philosophers have helped enable us to find our common humanity. Through powerful scenes on pages, canvases, and stages, the arts have spurred our imaginations, lifted
our hearts, and united us all without regard to belief or background.

The arts and humanities have also helped fuel our economy as well as our souls. Across our country, men and women in the non-profit and for-profit arts industries bring arts and cultural activities to our communities, contributing tens of billions of dollars to our economy each year. Today, arts workers are revitalizing neighborhoods, attracting new visitors, and fostering growth in places that have gone too long without it.

As we work to bring the power of the arts and humanities to all Americans, my Administration remains committed to providing our children with an education that inspires as it informs. Exposing our students to disciplines in music, dance, drama, design, writing, and fine art is an important part of that mission. To promote arts education and pay tribute to America's vibrant culture, First Lady Michelle Obama and I have been proud to host a White House Music Series, Dance Series, and Poetry Jam. We have been honored to bring students, workshops, and performers to "the People's House;" to highlight jazz, country, Latin, and classical music; and to invite Americans to listen to the music of the civil rights movement, hip-hop, and Broadway.

By supporting the fields that feed our imagination, strengthen our children's education, and contribute to our economy, our country will remain a center of creativity and innovation, and our society will stand as one where dreams can be realized. As we reflect on the contributions of America's artists, we look forward to hearing their tales still untold, their perspectives still unexplored, and their songs still unwritten. May they continue to shed light on trials and triumphs of the human spirit, and may their work help ensure that our children's horizons are ever brighter.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2010 as National Arts and Humanities Month. I call upon the people of the United States to join together in observing this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs to celebrate the arts and the humanities in America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

Would you give me your opinion please?

2010-09-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

I recently sold this painting titled Hero at a private gallery function. It went very quickly (within 30 mins) to a wonderful couple from Texas. There is an idea to make a limited edition print of it. I am not so sure as it is quite different than anything we have done previously, with its abstracted background. The painting was very large, 48" X 72" and if we do a print it also would have to be fairly large in order to show the scale of the elephant. So do you think this would be a good print or would you prefer a print of Metamorphosis, shown below?

The Kingdom-complete

2010-09-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the painting, The Kingdom, complete. I know some of you were able to piece the previous images together, so you will have a bigger image. Unfortunately, because the painting is such a long panoramic, it is hard to show much detail here. If anyone wants a good, detailed, image file go to my image gallery here and you can view it and download the bigger image. (You can also access some images of older work from some of the albums posted at this site)

The Kingdom— Part 4

2010-09-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here is the final image in the long painting, The Kingdom, which I am releasing this week. If you are interested in purchasing this piece, it is available through Lahaina Galleries at 800.228.2006 or through your art consultant.

The Kingdom— Part 3

2010-09-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the third part of The Kingdom, featuring Giant Sequoia and some more bears. Tomorrow I will post the final part of this new painting.

The Kingdom— Part 2

2010-09-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

There will actually be only four images of the whole painting. Here is today's, the second, which attaches to yesterday's image. Perhaps by now you have recognized some of the vignettes as being taken from previous paintings. Here you see The Bathers and The Exchange featured.

The Kingdom — Part 1

2010-09-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

I am now finishing The Kingdom, a 2ft X 10ft painting, depicting bears in a landscape. As this is a long, narrow painting, it is often observed by "reading" it, like a Chinese scroll painting. In this case walking from left to right. Over the next four days I will publish a new section each day until it is complete. If you want to print it out each day, by day five you will be able to put the entire painting together. It has five parts total. Here is the first part, which starts at the left-hand side:

Bear basics

2010-09-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Woman scares off charging bear – with a courgette.

...a what? That is one of these in the US and at this time of year they can get really hard and heavy!

Cucurbita pepo ovifera (Zucchini)

Here is the story from the Guardian (UK):

A woman fended off a bear attack on her back porch today by using the first weapon she could reach – a courgette. The woman was stirred by midnight noises in her garden near Frenchtown, Montana. She went to investigate and found a 90kg (14st) black bear attacking her 12-year-old collie. She screamed to divert the bear's attention but it charged her.
"The bear growled and was very aggressive, and tried to come inside her back door," said Sheriff Lieutenant Rich Maricelli of Missoula County. "She was able to stop the pursuing bear by improvising."
The bear took a swipe at her with its paw and tore her jeans. The woman jumped back and grasped the nearest object on her kitchen counter inside the doorway – a 30cm long courgette. She threw the courgette at the bear from a distance she estimated to be about a metre, The vegetable hit the bear on the top of its head and the animal fled, Maricelli said. State wildlife officials started a search for the bear.

(Exactly why the 12 year old Collie was in the garden at midnight in bear country is not made clear but now the police are hunting down the bear?)

On a related note(kind of) here is a photo from Joe Wilson:

Now I dont have to worry if I leave my claw clippers at home.

Arts Funding Today

2010-09-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Arts impact all aspects of our lives. Art can change attitudes and open eyes. Without art, nations become myopic and insular. According to my recent issue of Modern Painters, the British government allocates $12.38 per person for arts funding. Germany, France and Finland are even higher.

In the United States we allocate 54¢ per person.

Here is a fun video , titled An Important Message as artists all over Britain fight for not cutting spending on the arts, which the current government is trying to do. Anglophiles can go here to sign a petition in support of my home country's UK arts funding.

Peace and Chalk

2010-09-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

CHALK4PEACE is one great organization! John Aaron is a artist dedicated to raising consciousness around the planet and getting all of us involved in expressing ourselves through art. John began CHALK4PEACE in 2003 as a sidewalk event chalk project for children and has grown the movement to encompass four continents. Anybody can put on an event with some spare sidewalk and some chalk. All it involves is getting kids and adults together to make art, have fun expressing themselves, and focus on peace in our world. I like the fact that young minds can make art with one of the oldest drawing mediums—pure, simple fun! This in a time when arts programs are being cut in many of our schools. I encourage you to visit his website and donate something if you can. Also, there are many CHALK4PEACE events going on in September, so there may be one near you that you can visit.

There is a blog here and you can also visit them on Facebook.

"Swimming" in Montara

2010-08-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who came out to my show at The Borsini-Burr Gallery in Montara, CA. We had so many people and I apologize if I missed you or was not able to speak to you for longer. I was honored that many people felt moved by the paintings as I feel they represent some of my best work to date. There are still some originals left and they have a full selection of my prints including The Swimmer, which is just being released today!

The Swimmer, 2010 Giclee on canvas.

Sizes available are 34" X 25" and 18" X 13.5" Also, I enhanced some of the prints, so there are some unique prints available.

Create a poem based on The Observation.

2010-08-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Observation (detail), 2010, oil on canvas 36" X 30"

Here is one more painting headed to The Borsini-Burr Gallery for the big show this Saturday. I'll be there from 5pm to 8pm and will be happy to give you my thoughts on this painting and many others.

I look forward to seeing you in Montara-by-the-Sea. (call Dianne for more information at (877) 712-2111)

Poetry Contest

There is a poetry contest going on which asks for poems based on Robert Bissell paintings here! It is a lot of fun for me to see what others come up with and I would like to express my thanks to Marlene for creating this contest at All Poetry.

Metamorphosis

2010-08-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Metamorphosis, 2010 oil on canvas 40" X 56"

Nowhere is the mother and child bond so evident as it is with Elephant society. From the time they are born, young elephants are nurtured and cared for by the mother, aunts and grandmothers until they are several years old. The idea of a young elephant maturing into an adult and separating from his family is the idea behind this painting. I wanted him moving towards the bright eastern sun at mid-morning, a time when things become clear and present in the world.

This new painting will be exhibited at The Borsini-Burr Gallery on Saturday, August 7th, 2010, preview from 5pm to 8pm.

Please call Dianne at 650-712-2111 or email dborsini@borsini-burr.com to RSVP for the show, or get more information on any artwork by Robert Bissell.

The Prayer

2010-08-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Prayer, 2010, oil on canvas 36" X 30"

This painting is available at Borsini-Burr Gallery

In a short video clip I thought I had seen a Japanese Macaque monkey praying. It was, in fact, a mother holding an infant but the image of praying stayed for me. The Macaque or Japanese Snow Monkey is one of the more intelligent primates and live mostly in the mountainous areas in northern Japan. They are known for washing their food before eating it and for occasionally having snowball fights! Unfortunately, they are also favored for testing by neuro-scientists and drug companies. I wanted this individual to reflect grace and vulnerability, so I closed his eyes.

The Dancing Wolves

2010-08-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Dancing Wolves, 2010 Oil on Canvas 24" X 30"

On it's way to the Borsini-Burr Gallery is the recently completed painting titled The Dancing Wolves. Don't forget to come to my one man show at the gallery, previewing this Saturday, August 7th in beautiful Montara by the Sea. I think it will be one of the best shows of my work I have had in a long time. Borsini-Burr Gallery does an excellent job in everything they do with a professionalism and class that is unrivaled. Here is my inspiration for the painting:

Some years ago I spent 10 days in Northern Minnesota dog-sledding across frozen lakes and camping in -30 degree weather . Although we never saw any wolves, we would hear them at night and find traces of them every morning. They remained a mystery to us humans. I always wondered what these wolves would get up to and it occurred to me that like our domestic dogs they might at times like to play and dance and that they would howl in excitement to create the music to dance to.

The Gate

2010-07-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Gate, 2010 30" X 36" Oil on canvas

This new painting will be exhibited at The Borsini-Burr Gallery on Saturday, August 7th, 2010, preview from 5pm to 8pm.
Please call Dianne at 650-712-2111 or email dborsini@borsini-burr.com to RSVP for the show, or get more information on any artwork by Robert Bissell.

I have had the idea of showing this family of bears crossing a chasm for some time. It wasn't until I found a painting by Caspar David Friedrich that I was able to resolve the set-up and composition. I hope this piece conveys the idea of these bears overcoming a vast and rough landscape as they head towards the high path and the light in the distance.

The Decision

2010-07-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Decision, 2010 Oil on Canvas 26" X 40"

Here is a new painting I just completed, now available at Borsini-Burr Gallery in Montara, CA. Call Diane toll-free at (877) 712-2111 for more information.

I grew up with rabbits in front of my bedroom window and they played a large part in my early childhood as they do for many of us. Peter Rabbit by Beatrice Potter and Watership Down by Richard Adams are still favorite books of mine. Adams once said that he wanted to create something ".....that was real yet unreal at the same time". What follows is what I was thinking as I conceived this painting and I think Peter Rabbit must have had a similar experience.

As a youngster I was always concerned that decisions were being made for me without my involvement. Any sensitive, yet proud, rabbit knows these decisions could mean the difference between darkness and light. Either way, until the decision was made there was a trepidation about what was going on amongst the elders. In this painting the youngster is perhaps headed for the storm but we are not certain that he hasn't been called back to go in the opposite direction.

The Swimmer

2010-07-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

The Swimmer Oil on Canvas 48" X 36"

This painting of The Swimmer will be shown at The Borsini-Burr Gallery in Montara, CA, where I will be appearing on Saturday, August 7th from 5pm to 8pm. I really hope those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area can make it as I would like to show you my new work in which a number of new animals will be featured. (Montara is 20 miles south of San Francisco, just north of Half Moon Bay— it's a nice drive at the end of the day and you can always stay at the nearby Ritz Carlton Resort!)

These were my thoughts as this painting was being executed:

Bear and salmon feature prominently in many Northwestern Native American legends as powerful beings that provide life force to all people. This is well illustrated every spring when bears fish for salmon by standing in the rivers and near waterfalls to catch them as they jump upstream. Less well known is that they occasionally go underwater to find weak or dead salmon (the healthy fish can swim away faster than the bear). It occurred to me that the bear might find herself in a world of mystery and wonder immersed in the water on a sunny spring day, much as we are when we go diving into this different world.

(By the way, I have decided to publish The Swimmer as a print and these will be available very soon throughout our gallery network.)

Come meet Bubo tomorrow.

2010-07-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

Bubo, 2009 oil on canvas 40" x 30"

This is Bubo, or more accurately Bubo Virginianus, my painting of a great horned owl. You can meet him at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco tomorrow, Saturday, at the Imaginary Realism Preview show they will be having from 5:30 to 8:30pm and I will be there too, as well as many other fine and wise beings!

"Like" my art.

2010-07-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Visit Robert Bissell Fine Art —my new Facebook page. By visiting this page and selecting the "Like" button you can see all the new paintings and prints as they become available and I will list the gallery where you can find them. Also, I will be announcing new shows and exhibits on this page— like this:

This Saturday, Daniel Merriam and myself will be hosting a preview of the show, IMAGINARY REALISM at Chloe Fine Arts In San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. It's at 645 Beach Street, Saturday, July 17 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm and you don't have to worry about parking as the gallery will validate at the parking garage underneath.

Hope to see you soon!

Oh my! Stephen Fry and Steven Jobs

2010-07-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

I recently signed on to receive a feed of Stephen Fry's blog and website, The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry. He's the guy who some people think of as being the classic English twit. He is actually a great wit, talented writer and actor (as Oscar Wilde in Wilde and as The Cheshire Cat in Alice). He is also a stand up guy for artists of all kinds.

Recently, he gave a speech for the Dinner event at The Royal Academy Summer exhibition in London. He spends most of his speech talking about how embarrassing it is for viewers to look at art because it can lead to so much self-consciousness. Here are some excerpts:

".... the power to rise above self-consciousness is almost a defining quality of artists. Artists are superb at switching off awareness of self. As you can tell if you watch one eat."

and as he quotes Oscar Wilde:

"...“All art is at once surface and symbol,” Oscar Wilde wrote. “Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.” "

If you like looking at art or making it, the speech is a fun read.

He has also become a sort of spokesman or commentator for Apple and most recently the new iPhone. I find this a dubious role for him and although I am sure he loves getting all the free stuff from Steve Jobs, I hope he doesn't end up regretting this role. On the other hand I think he sees what we all know is coming— the fall of Apple's star. As he writes:

"Why should these iPads and iPhones be front page news when, the frothers froth, there are plenty of other manufacturers out there making products that are as good, if not better, for less money? And isn’t there something creepy about Apple’s cultiness and the closed ecosystem of their apps and stores? The anti-Applers see pretension and folly everywhere and they want the world to know it. The enthusiastic frothers don’t really mind, they just want to get their hands on what they perceive as hugely desirable objects that make them happy. The two sides will never agree, the whole thing has become an ideological stand-off: the anti-Apple side has too much pride invested in their point of view to be able to unbend, while Apple lovers have too much money invested in their toys to back down. It is an absorbing phenomenon and one which seems to get hotter every week."

Me? I'm off to look at a Droid 'cos when the head of one of my favorite companies tells me a real problem is a "non-problem" with a product I am about to invest in— that's a problem.

New paintings, new show

2010-07-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Guardians, 2010 Oil on Canvas 36' X 48"

This new painting will part of an upcoming show at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco I will be attending together with Dan Merriam on Saturday, July 17th from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. The show, titled Imaginary Realism which also features work by Gil Bruvel and Adam Rote runs until August 5th, 2010.

Guardians (shown above) continues my fascination with bears who hide behind trees and keep an eye out for us, as the path before us unfolds..........

Wolves!

2010-07-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hunters of the Woods, 2010 Oil on canvas, 44" X 36"

This is another new painting headed to Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco. Some years ago I spent 10 days in Northern Minnesota dog-sledding and camping in -30 degree weather. Although we never saw any wolves, we would hear them at night and find traces of them every morning. They remained a mystery to us humans. The sled dogs paid little attention to the wolves' calls and scent. We were definitely the outsiders.

New painting now available at Chloe Fine Arts

2010-07-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

The Blessing, 2010, oil on canvas 24" X 20"

On its way to Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco is this painting called The Blessing. Please contact Chris or Greg at 415-749-1000 for more information.

Are we on our way somewhere?

2010-06-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the last book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy. I am not giving anything away in describing Lisbeth Salander's state of mind at the end of the book, when she finally reunites, in person, with the journalist Mikael Blomkvist. She reflects on the fact that she hadn't had to deal with her feelings about him for many months as she had only experienced him on the 'net in pixels and electrons. We are left wondering if she will finally merge into the real world around her and be able to thrive in a life that for her had been so brutally abused for many years.

Checking the news after finishing the book made me wonder if perhaps we are all headed toward an as yet, unknown virtual life to avoid the real one we are faced with. I noted the fact that the oil leak in the Gulf disappeared from the front page on the very same day that Apple's introduction of its new phone grabbed the headlines. It is a smart, sexy gadget and tool and I will probably be buying one soon. I just hope that in our enthusiasm to engage in new technologies, fun communications devices and a virtual world, there are some people out there who are willing to question the road we are marching down. Increasingly disturbing, is that this rush to embrace an electronic world is now being driven by giant technology corporations who proclaim that this technology can create new freedoms for us. The best result will be that technology can can help us thrive in our real world to know and understand it better, rather than hide from it.

(The photo above is of a recent painting called The March, which will be available for sale soon. )

Art as music and Laurie Anderson

2010-06-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to the new and innovative Laurie Anderson CD/Album/Digital Download (what are we supposed to call these now?) titled Homeland. It is a fascinating collection of songs— inventive, witty and intelligent music and lyrics that deal with many aspects of the current state of our nation. I find it one of the most interesting albums to come out since Radiohead's In Rainbows and Portishead's 3. It's her first studio album in 10 years and I hope Homeland gets the acclaim those albums did. There is an NPR interview here and a way to listen to the album for free.
I also like that she once did a concert for several thousand dogs.

Lisbeth, Walter and the Ape

2010-06-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

I have been rapidly reading (there is no other way) the misdeeds of Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larssen's brilliant novels and I have been interspersing that with a commitment to see every Fringe episode on Blu-Ray (currently it looks like Walter is going over to the other side). Overwhelmed in a torrent of mystery and sci-fi suspense I decided to take a break and started watching the recently purchased Life series from the makers of BBC's Planet Earth— WOW! I had an idea for a painting in the first five minutes and the stories and photography are so fascinating— I highly recommend it. The photography, editing and narrations are even better than Planet Earth. If you who have cable TV, I believe it is showing on the Discovery Channel.

New painting now available at Chloe Fine Arts

2010-06-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

AM #2, 2010 Oil on canvas 40" X 53"

Earlier this year, I decided to do a different version of a painting I had completed some years earlier. This version has more of a springtime feel to it and the mountains in the background have been brought forward to create a more intimate landscape. The painting is currently on view at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco. You can telephone them at (415) 749-1000 for further information

The Tree of Life

2010-06-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Terence Malick

The Tree of Life will be Terence Malick's fifth feature film in four decades of film-making. He's been making it for several years now and it will feature Sean Penn and Brad Pitt with a story set in the 1950's, although we know very little about the plot. Due later this year.

I like writers and directors who spend a lot of time making their films and for Malick that time is spent in meticulous story crafting and attention to every detail. He makes beautiful, meditative films about our lives, our distortions and the natural world around us. I especially like that he weaves images of animals, birds and insects into his narratives as metaphors for the things we experience in our human lives. This is a kind of re-enchantment that is missing in our modern culture and of which I intend to write a lot more about in the future. He always uses a narrator who is one of his characters in his films which give them another perspective and eliminates the need for dialogue that would take away from the photography. I watched Days of Heaven again last night with Sam Shepard, Richard Gere and Brooke Adams set at the start of the century, before the Great War. I found myself wishing for a simpler life without complications, as do those portrayed in the film. The characters find the best they can hope for is to continue the life they have and accept the way things are.

The other feature films Malick has crafted are Badlands, The Thin Red Line and The New World.

I caused the oil spill.

2010-06-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

I can't post another picture of a dead pelican— we have all seen too many. But this is something close to the color of the oil that washes up on beaches all over the world, most especially on the southern United States coast at the present time.

I remember camping along the Mediterranean many years ago and hitch-hiking back to England with oil sludge still sticking to me and my camping gear— it probably came from a ship discharging or leaking. It is truly horrible, nasty, life-suffocating stuff. It makes me self conscious and remorseful for the how and why I caused this to happen. I understand the argument that there are a number of companies who may have cut some corners in the interests of themselves or their shareholders, and that needs to be addressed. But I also understand the actual, long-term problem to be me— the one who wants cheap gas and all these other things that derive and are manufactured from crude oil. We are the motivators for the oil companies' activities. I am going to resolve to try and use less of these things and I am prepared to pay a lot more for them so the oil can be extracted safely and that we look after the planet and our animals and birds first. (Wouldn't we all want to pay more?)

I wish the government would help. Here's a partial list of those items that we need the oil for:

plastic gadgets, tools, bags, toys
candles
clothing (polyester, nylon)
hand lotions
petroleum jelly
perfume
dishwashing liquids
ink
bubble gums
car tires
ammonia
heart valves
Ethane and other short-chain alkanes which are used as fuel
Diesel
Fuel oils
Petrol
Jet fuel
Kerosene
Liquid petroleum gas (LPG)
Natural gas
Alkenes (olefins) which can be manufactured into plastics or other compounds
Lubricants (produces light machine oils, motor oils, and greases, adding viscosity stabilizers as required).
Wax, used in the packaging of frozen foods, among others.
Sulfur or Sulfuric acid. These are a useful industrial materials. Sulfuric acid is usually prepared as the acid precursor oleum, a byproduct of sulfur removal from fuels.
Bulk tar.
Asphalt
Petroleum coke, used in speciality carbon products or as solid fuel.
Paraffin wax
Aromatic petrochemicals to be used as precursors in other chemical production.

The Edge of Tech

2010-06-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Music at the WWDC

I happened to be in downtown San Francisco last night and bumped into about 10,000 people, mostly male, mostly wearing black and everybody looking at little devices in their hands. Yes you got it. It's the Apple World Wide Developers Conference and those are iPhones that everybody was looking at. These young people are on the cutting edge of cool tech and boy were they an excited bunch as they lined up around 4 blocks to get to the Thursday night party!

It all made me think that it is really difficult these days to understand what "connected" means. These guys are very connected to their friends and industry colleagues and they use technology to keep those connections alive with Tweets and IM and texts. All the conference go-ers in San Francisco are figuring out more and more ways to keep us online, connected to friends and marketers. Above all there seems to be an increasing thirst for this way of communicating with each other among humans. What on earth is it that we are doing to ourselves, I wonder? Are we happier to live and spend all this time online? Do we avoid what is real? Perhaps it's no different that watching a movie or a sunset, but we do seem to be captivated (and we are being cashed-in on it in a huge way).

I think our notions about reality are going to be really challenged in the not too distant future and, as a person who likes little gadgets and reality, I am looking forward to that discussion.

Marina Abramović follow-up

2010-06-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Paco, a participant in Marina Abramović's performance

This is a follow-up to my recent blog titled, The Artist is Present. Marina Abramović answers some questions about her experience at MoMA, which explains why this event was so extraordinary and how Paco ended up getting a special tattoo!

The Artist is Present

2010-05-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

Fittingly, this memorial day is also the last day of Marina Abramovic's 3 month performance titled The Artist is Present, at MOMA in New York City. This artist sits in an exhibition hall all day and invites other individuals to sit with her in silence and stillness for a period of time. As far as the logistics of her performance, that is all there is to it. Today you can watch it live here at the MOMA website. (it just began 10 minutes ago as I write this.) The concept of sitting in a room in silence and being present is perhaps one of the most profound and creative acts we all can do.

New Painting Available

2010-05-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Plunge, 2010 36" X 36" Oil on canvas

I am off to the East Coast tomorrow, and after a brief stop in Washington DC, headed to The Dzian Gallery in Worcester, MA, just west of Boston, for a weekend event that will also benefit the Worcester Animal Rescue League. This organization was started by a group of women in 1912 (yes that is a long time ago— before the nineteenth amendment!) to save abused farm horses. Today they care for over 3,500 animals every year. I will be at the gallery from 4 - 9pm on Friday, May 21 and again on Saturday afternoon from 12 - 4pm. Dzian will be showing a variety of my work, including a new painting titled The Plunge, shown above. The gallery is located at 65 Water Street in Worcester and you can contact the gallery for more information at 508-831-1106. If you are in the neighborhood we would love to see you there!

Decentralizing the web with Diaspora

2010-05-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

Many people are becoming concerned about a lack of privacy as they use the internet to communicate directly with others or pass information to the general public. The model that has emerged to provide these services consists of a central distribution "hub" or disseminating station that processes information before it reaches its selected receiver. That way the company providing the service is able to use or skim off that information to resell to their advertisers. As users, we agree to these conditions because we want or need the service to interact with others. The only alternative for many is to not engage in social interaction on the net and return or limit ourselves to more traditional ways of communicating.

Now, a group of students in New York are developing a way to decentralize the way knowledge and information is passed between us. This summer they will be writing the code and building up a launch for Diaspora. They are developing a way where we all can have our own servers and control how the information we wish to provide to others is distributed and seen, without a centralized hub. I am not a techie but what they explain about their work is really cool and interesting stuff! Read the April 21st bog entry here. Another site that helps fund projects such as these and explains more about Diaspora is at Kickstarter. And, by the way, if you are wondering if these guys are on to something good, consider this. They have asked for donations of $10,000 by June 1st—so far they have $134,000!

To me, this seems to bring the internet back to where many of it's initial developers intended— a free and unencumbered flow of information between all the peoples of the world. Congratulations and thank you Maxwell, Daniel, Raphael and Ilya!

Wild in the city

2010-05-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Coming back from walking Roy this morning another deer was roaming the city streets of Berkeley. This one was naturally confused and looking for a way out but she didn't seem particularly concerned. Personally I would be happy to see a lot more wildlife on city streets and except for the danger to them, it would make a nice addition to the city and give us all pause to think and consider our place in this world. Maybe we would all just slow down and care about what is going on around us a little more.
Last week we had an incident when police shot and killed a cornered deer in an Oakland backyard— an unnecessary act from someone who was obviously too frightened of the animal for his or others safety.

There are a few individuals and some organizations now that are promoting re-naturalizing our towns and cities. This make sense to me in so many ways. The alternative of continuing to sterilize our cities and isolating ourselves from nature doesn't really marginalize the animals (there will always figure out a way to be in their natural surroundings or they die) but more importantly it does marginalize us and makes city living humans insignificant to the natural world we plan to not be a part of.

Art Murmur

2010-05-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Spent last evening at Art Murmur in Oakland last night. This (held on the first Friday) monthly event has really grown since I last attended. There were some monster, crazy bikes there, one shaped like a snail which was a lot of fun and some very interesting street vendors with things like ice-cream sandwiches and gothic patches for your jackets. There were a few new galleries showing some good, solid, new art that I found interesting, but there are so many people in and around the 23rd St galleries that it was not easy to really look at anything much. Most people seemed to be looking at each other, drinking beer and having a good time. Art Murmur attracts a lot of hipsters, other artists and and many from the fast growing biking community of the east bay. But if art is the reason that everyone can get together and have fun— why not? I certainly enjoyed myself. Here is an article about how the arts movement in Oakland has grown.

Also the Oakland Museum of California (one of my favorite museums) is re-opening this weekend after having extensive renovations. (Unfortunately, unlike Art Murmur, which is free, tickets to the opening at the museum tonight start at $500)

So if you are in the Bay Area, I recommend Art Murmur and checking out the Oakland Museum at a time and budget of your choosing.

31 Days

2010-05-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

On April 6th, 2010 the Prime Minister of Britain dissolved the governing parliament and the British people began the process of electing a new government. Today, 31 days later, it will be over. People there vote for a representative, in their district, of a party which represents a platform and manifesto. Provided there is a majority winning party, they elect the leader (the prime minister), and they will begin governing the following day. Some people there believe this all happens just a little too fast and they would prefer something like 45 days. But from where I now live in California, and I believe for most Americans this rather neat and quick process must seem like a dream come true.

(A footnote: It is quite possible that it wont be quite this simple this time and it is possible that no party (there are three main ones) will have a clear majority, meaning a coalition will have to be made or do the whole thing over.)

Zoofest Gala!

2010-05-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw the main event for San Francisco's Zoofest 2010. I was lucky enough to attend the big Gala event and auction, to raise funds for repairs and renovations to the Tropical Aviary. The event was covered by 7X7 and you can read about all the people and see photos of many animal patterned clothing (all artificial— we trust) worn by the guests. For our part, we donated a print of The Embrace and the lucky bidder and friends gets to spend the afternoon we me and the Grizzly Bears making art and keeping our distance!

The Seed Cathedral shines!

2010-04-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to see the fruition of the United Kingdom's efforts at Shanghai— a precursor to the work that is going into the Olympic Games for 2012. This is going to be a powerful reminder of the importance we can attach to bringing nature back into our cities. The Seed Cathedral, shown above, is an significant symbol and aesthetic masterpiece! Read about it here. Wish I could be there.

Burden of Dreams

2010-04-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

For the fourth or fifth time last night I watched Les Blank's documentary, Burden of Dreams about Werner Herzog and the filming of Fitzcarraldo in the amazon jungle. Fitzcarraldo portrays a would-be rubber baron who pulls a steamship over a steep hill to access a rich rubber territory. This in order to obtain enough money to bring opera, specifically the singer Caruso, to a small town in the Amazon jungle.

The documentary about Herzog's seemingly impossible task to film the entire movie on location in the depths of the jungle is a fascinating study of one man's obsession with realizing a vision and mirrors the story of the movie. Herzog was up against overwhelming odds only made harder by his insistence to do everything realistically, without special effects. Whether it was having to cut down massive trees, enlist the support of tribal people who are fighting between themselves, flying in massive amounts of equipment and supplies, creating very dangerous situations, or taming the wildness of the jungle.

Herzog believes we all have dreams but that only a few of us can realize them or "attribute" them and that it is by approaching the impossible and overcoming overwhelming odds that we are able to see and appreciate a new vision. He also makes some questionable remarks about the wildness of nature, that it is a miserable and wretched, rampant, irrational and random. He bemoans the fact that in the jungle there is no order to anything and that it is a godless place where everything is fighting for survival and things are constantly being killed and suffocated. This view, which has seemed to persist for him, as in the more recent documentary of his called Grizzly Man, (which describes how Timothy Treadwell attempts to live with grizzly bears who end up eating him) belies the fact that he makes films that often express the beauty of nature. It is his characters and himself that are at odds with the natural world. I think this is his message in many of his movies. He explains to me that if we are obsessed in a humanistic way with "conquering" or overcoming nature our rewards can only be small and marginal.

The Baseline Scenario

2010-04-27T03:21:00.000-07:00

Following up on my blog regarding Bill Moyers yesterday. One of his most recent interviews was with James Kwak and Simon Johnson from The Baseline Scenario these are 2 economists who are not afraid to tell us exactly what is going on in the world of finance, which, whether we like it or not, affects us all on a daily basis. I have been following their writing for 2 years now and have found that they can explain things in a way that is plain, understandable and transparent. If you follow them you will understand the import of a headline such as appeared in the USA Today yesterday:

Senate blocks financial regulation bill

Bill Moyers

2010-04-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Stay In Touch

Bill Moyers ends his regular PBS show, this week, so I thought this would be a good time for someone to remind others that he will still be active and his website at PBS is a great resource to find out what he is up to, listen/watch previous shows, subscribe to his blog and keep up with his great journalism. In my opinion he is and always has been one of the good guys of journalism in his relentless pursuit of transparency by United States government, corporations, religious institutions and others that often want to shield the truth from us all. He is a democrat in the true sense of the word.

Best thing/Worst thing

2010-04-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

The best thing that happened yesterday was this guy, an Aegolius acadicus or Saw-whet owl, a very inquistive little fellow about the size of a child's hand, we saw at the Arader Galleries in San Francisco last night.

This was the start off party for Zoofest. The main gala event for The San Francisco Zoo is on April 30th (I think tickets are still available here) which will be all about parrots and support for the tropical aviary renovation. Also present last night was Mark Bittner and his wife Judy, who wrote and produced the book and movie, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill . It was a pleasure to meet this charming couple and hear about all their good work with birds.

The worst thing was this news:

The Supreme Court struck down on free-speech grounds Tuesday a federal law that makes it a crime to sell videos or photos of animals being illegally killed ...

The law and the way we decide to interpret our constitution can be a real ass sometimes.......

Peek-a-boo!

2010-03-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

This fun photo turned up at the studio yesterday that made us all fall out of our chairs because it confirmed my deep suspicion that bears really do like looking around trees! The photo was from an info sheet from The Black Bear Conservation Coalition who we hope to be working with to help the black bear in Louisiana.

Here is my new Rangers sculpture and a painting of the same title from some years ago:

The Morning Benders

2010-03-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

I'd like to give my thumbs up to this local, Berkeley music group who have just released their new album Big Echo. These guys have a great big wall of sound that I like to play loud in the car with the all the windows open as I drive around San Francisco. It's like Phil Spector meets Indie Pop. Check it out.

The Lonely Dog

2010-03-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

I spent a nice afternoon and evening with Mark and Dianne at the Borsini Burr gallery in Montara, just south of San Francisco. The artist Ivan Clarke was visiting from New Zealand and presented his series of paintings, drawings and sculpture from his series and concept of The Lonely Dog. I have known Ivan for a few years and followed his work through his website after being introduced to his art through Lahaina Galleries. Also on display yesterday was a copy of his very limited edition collectors book of the story of The Lonely Dog. A massive book full of trivia, images— beautifully created and crafted.

"Rolph Flannegan" a character from The Lonely Dog story by Ivan Clarke.

The Lonely Dog is a gripping story of a young dog’s journey through life and Ivan says that Port Alveridge where the story unfolds, is itself a real world in another time and another place. “Anyone can go there and your ticket is your imagination.” The story has gained interest from Hollywood and plans are underway to create a movie around Ivan's concept and paintings. The bronze sculptures are fantastic to see in person. They were created by Ivan and Richard Taylor of the Weta workshop, who created characters for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The important thing for me was to see another artist presenting a world that allows us to see ourselves through the eyes of other animals that have traits and motivations that we see in humans also. The interplay he creates with the dogs (mostly masculine) and cats (mostly feminine) within the story can be hilarious and poignant at the same time. His art has a presence and intensity that is a pleasure to be around.

New work!

2010-03-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some new paintings recently completed and available through Lahaina Galleries:

The Investigation

Along our path we are constantly surprised by the tricks and turns life can take as we head toward our own everlasting light. Sometimes, things occur that are difficult to explain or accept. We end up interrupting our journey to stop and try to find out what has occurred. The clues we find are seldom clear and we are often left with more questions than answers. This painting was inspired from my reading of Watership Down by Richard Adams, which is essentially a mythic tale of a rabbit's heroic attempt to save his community. His journey is fraught with danger as his adventures unfold. Adams said of his writing that he wanted to create something that was both real and unreal at the same time. In this painting we are asked to make our own investigation as to what is going on in this scene around the oak tree. Some clues are provided, but perhaps the ultimate answer is closer to Adams' intentions. — Robert Bissell

The Divers

This setting is taken from a painting by Howard Terpning, who depicted American Indians, often in the landscape of the south-western United States. I like to think that bears really like waterfalls and I have always imagined them having a load of fun jumping off the tops of the cliffs into the deep water when we aren't looking. Since we don't really know this for sure, I have attempted to show this by implication and I hope viewers have fun pondering this.

—Robert Bissell

Maya

Maya here refers to the term used in Hindu philosophy to describe the limited physical and mental reality in which we become entangled. This is often described as an illusion that is neither real or unreal, true or untrue. The water drops or bubbles are but a transitory part of a greater whole (ocean) that we need to see through in order to gain enlightenment . Of course, as we see through the illusions that are before us, the one thing we can be sure of is that there always will be more challenges to our own perception of reality. — Robert Bissell

The heart of the United States

2010-03-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend we will see the outcome of the health care reform debate.

Some friends and family in England have told me they do not understand why it is so difficult for the United States to enact a national health care program that covers everybody— they simply don't get it. To them and others in Europe, the premise that a nation of people would not want to provide care for all their fellow country women and men that are unable to help themselves, is inconceivable.

Whatever is decided and whatever form the result takes, this is a debate for the heart of the United States. The choice is whether we will continue to endorse individual responsibility or will we start to move in the direction of collective responsibility for each other. Most developed countries have already chosen. The choice hasn't been easy.

This painting was done a couple of years ago.

It is called The Learner.

The Source

2010-03-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

I am so happy that Spring is here and we get to put the hour forward! Now, I can take Roy walking after work and get some daylight on my face! This painting, I completed late last year, was how I conceived of this new season:

The Source 36" X 48" Oil on canvas

The Source
This painting began as I was looking at a piece by Howard Terpning, who has painted many historical images of native americans in the Southwest. I recomposed the painting and replaced his Apache warriors with bears as the central figures who have come across this force of nature in the wilderness. Bluebirds have a mythology that goes back thousands of years and they represent happiness, prosperity, good health and above all confidence. I imagined the powerful waterfall setting as a source of strength and renewal for these beings.

— Robert Bissell, March 2010

The Golden Bear

2010-03-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a new painting that will be exhibited by Lahaina Galleries in Maui later this month. It is titled The Golden Bear and was conceived many years ago, before I painted The Embrace, a painting that depicted butterflies surrounding and spiraling around a bear. It is always wonderful to see butterflies in a woodland setting darting in and out of the light. More often than not I have encountered these yellow/golden butterflies, rather than other colors. I had imagined the bear as a wanderer in this dark and decaying setting and upon coming across the butterflies being uplifted and reminded of the light he would experience after coming out from the shade of the wood.

Chloe Fine Arts

2010-02-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

I had a nice evening at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco last night. I was invited to give a lecture about my work and have a question and answer session at the end. A select group of collectors had been invited, most of whom were very familiar with my animal work but had not been exposed to my landscape work. I hadn't done one of these talks for some years and it gave me a pause to reconsider what I was doing with my art and how it might progress over the next few years. The gallery had both my animal and landscape paintings on display, together with the recent bronzes, some sketches and pastels. So they showed a good cross-section of all I am currently doing. Thanks to Greg, Todd, Chris and Amy for putting on a great show! The exhibition of my work goes on until March 4th, so if you want to visit, the gallery it is at 645 Beach St in San Francisco.

Also, the whole thing was shot on HD and the final video will be available soon at The Chloe Fine Arts web site and I will be sure to post a link here.

The Guru is contemplating.

2010-02-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Today, we see that it is now legal to carry concealed guns into National Parks.

The Guru is available as a Giclee print at most of our galleries in a number of sizes.

He does not have a concealed weapon.

Tea Party news

2010-02-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

From The Ladies Home Journal 1907

There is a lot of talk about tea parties these days. I don't really know what they are about or what goes on at them, but I do remember vaguely having a tea party, or at least seeing one, like this shown above when I was young. The teddy bears were the guests. These of course came about because of the popularity of the Teddy Bears Picnic song which I am sure most of you know about and was loved by kids in England:

If you go down in the woods today

You're sure of a big surprise.

If you go down in the woods today

You'd better go in disguise.

For ev'ry bear that ever there was

Will gather there for certain, because

Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

Curiously enough this song as sung by Henry Hall was the test that the BBC used for radio transmitting towers in the UK and was the last transmission played at a tower next to where I was brought up in SW England. This was real news, and I for one would like to see more Teddy Bears at all Tea Parties!

Here is how The Ladies Home Journal described one such party.

Back Pain and other Syndromes

2010-02-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

My blogs here have been few in the last few weeks partly because I have been sufferring from some back and leg pain that has been excruciating at times. I even ended up in the emergency room one night and have tried a number of medications and been to the doctor 3 times. Sciatica has been diagnosed, which is supposedly when a herniated disk or other thing (tumor e.g.) is putting pressure on the sciatic nerve. The doctor has put me on an number of not so great medications and recommended seeing a specialist (which I have not gone to yet) and I am pretty sure that osteopath will suggest an MRI, X-ray and who knows how many other tests, which as an artist with limited insurance, will end up costing me a small fortune. I have been down this road before with a supposedly pinched a neck nerve and knee pain. I have found that when I have been experiencing these kinds of problems that they seem to go away whether I seek traditional medical help as described above or whether I do nothing.

Years ago I became familiar with Dr John Sarno when I had my neck pinched nerve. He now has developed his way of diagnosing these kinds of problems and many others in some new books, which I am now beginning to read. Already I feel better just remembering his system of treatment. His hypothesis is that we suffer from pain and many "diseases" because of various kinds of emotional tension and stress and calls this syndrome TMS. His recommended course of treatment is often very simple and straightforward, although not always easy. I have found that just by reading his books things improve and I am becoming convinced that most of my own current pain is TMS and that there is actually nothing wrong with my bones, cartilage or muscles that would cause the pain but that it actually originates in both my mind and my body. Spending thousands of dollars to have doctors and specialists is often a complete waste of time and money, in my opinion. Thanks to our heavily marketed, fear induced, industrial, enterprising and totally screwed-up health care system, millions of us subscribe to this traditional way of diagnosing and treating these kinds of problems.

I encourage any of you who have experienced these kinds of pains from various so called conditions or diseases to check him out. It costs nothing and only a few dollars for a book. He I think, rightfully calls the high number of people suffering from some form of back pain an epidemic of a mindbody disorder. He has successfully treated many well known people and his success rate is extremely high, even from people who just read his books.

Word of warning: Obviously there are real physical conditions we have that do cause pain, such as sprains, breaks, etc from real accidents, so it is always advisable to make sure there really is not something physical going on, before trying Dr Sarno's methods.

Here is a website with more information. If you are in pain, I suggest you watch the video clips which introduce his methods. http://www.healingbackpain.com/

Caruso

2010-02-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

I am referring to the song, not the singer, as I hear it from Luciano Pavarotti, who I have always considered one of the most realized artists ever. By realized I mean that he had the presence of something other than this world working through him and also that his gift, through him to us, was that of a completion and perfection rarely seen. His dedication to his work and love of life must have worked in such a way that allowed a creative force to come forth so fully. That was his magic and his majesty to me.

The song "Caruso" is beautiful, and I am sure many of you are familiar with it:

Guardó negli occhi la ragazza quegli occhi verdi come il mare
Poi all'improvviso uscí una lacrima e lui credette di affogare
Te voglio bene assai ma tanto tanto bene sai

something like:

He looked into the little girl's eyes -
those eyes as green as the sea,
then suddenly a tear fell
and he thought he was drowning.

I love you very much but know so well.....

You can check out the story behind it here.

And hear and watch Luciano sing it here

Passage

2010-02-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

Passage Oil on Canvas 42" X 44"

Today I have a show opening at Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco. This painting called Passage is part of that show. As I write this I am listening to Arvo Part's Da Pacem which seems appropriate to this piece which I hope imparts a feeling of stillness and grace. This show will feature both my originals landscape work and my animal paintings and prints. You can check their website here, for more information (click on the photo for a preview of the show) and I suggest you call the gallery at 415.749.1000 for opening hours. Also, I will be giving a talk and discussion about the work later in February and we will announce that date in an upcoming newsletter.

New Blogs

2010-01-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

Me, 2010 Ocean Beach, San Francisco

Today I have decided to add some new blogs to my list. The list is on the right some ways towards the bottom of this blog.

For those interested in the UK music scene and are frustrated by the lack of good alternative music stations to listen to and the iTunes genius bar, I suggest following :

Peter Guy, who is very much up on what's happening that is new, especially in Northern England as he is based in Liverpool

and Rough Trade Records, the best music store in London, who are totally on top of everything that is coming out and have great advice. If you go into the store, be prepared to be interviewed in detail about all your habits, not just music and then they have a way of pointing you to things you will like (which could be a model for many retail stores anywhere)

For those who follow a poetic interest in landscape and this earth we live on I suggest Some Landscapes by Andrew Ray, who follows all that is happening in the arts concerned with landscape.

And because many years ago Ken Wilbur started me on a path of spiritual quest, I recommend his writing and philosophy that really brought eastern thought and western ideas about our interiority into a focus that is quite unique and profound.

Finally for all those artists and creators this attorney has the scuttlebutt on patents, copyright and intellectual property issues: Rich Stim at Nolo

My Favorite Place

2010-01-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

This is a painting of river estuary in Northern California I completed a few years ago. I think it measured 40" X 106", painted on two panels.

I was back there this weekend with Roy, who just runs all over looking for gophers and chasing the ravens and hawks that swoop down on the promontory from where this view was taken. (I do not let him get out of control as I want the wildness of the place to remain) This now public open space was owned by a local farming family who donated several hundred acres for public use. The area is full of many different birds and wildlife, a huge variety of vegetation and not many people or regulations fortunately. The river is a famous steelhead fisherman's spot. You'll have to figure out where it is (there is a lighthouse involved)— those who are truly interested can write to me! Here are a couple of photos from a few days ago:

Patti Smith in San Francisco

2010-01-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure, courtesy of some good friends of mine, to see Patti Smith last night in conversation at City Arts and Lectures in San Francisco. She was warm-hearted, happy and loving in her answers and in the way she moves through the world. Although not an ardent follower, I have admired her music, activism and words for years. She talked a lot about Robert Mapplethorpe, her onetime close friend and boyfriend, one of the most influential photographers of recent times. During the evening we were told of the passing that day of Howard Zinn, historian and civil rights leader, someone else that Patti knew well. Anyway, you may like to check out her excellent new book, Just Kids, from which she read many insighful and funny recollections of her stay at the Chelsea hotel and that time in NYC.

The Rabbit at the Woods

2010-01-22T07:36:00.000-08:00

I have now completed a number of drawings, mostly graphite on paper and we have had them nicely framed and they are now sitting in various galleries around the country. This is the first time I have offered my drawings for sale and like any artist, I am nervous about how they will be received. You can see the collection at my publisher's website.

The Rabbit at the Edge of the Woods

I think "sketching" or note taking is an essential for any creative person whether you are a musician, dancer, film maker or digital artist. The important thing I find for me is that my observations, thoughts and ideas move through my hands and result in an expression. And if there is no agenda other than that, then all kinds of stuff comes out, freely and without prejudice. This is therapy for me— a way of allowing, releasing and realizing. And, you can do it anywhere and it is fun!

The Dogs of Moscow

2010-01-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

I came across an interesting animal article today, featured in several papers (this link to the Financial Times seemed the most comprehensive and reliable). Wild and stray, roaming dogs have been a feature in Moscow since the 19th century, however through the generations they have begun to adapt to human's modern way of life. They have pack life and roam the city for food, even using the subway (why walk when you can ride for free?) to find new sources of food. They know which station they are at by smell and appearance. For the most part Moscovites live in acceptance of the dogs who help keep the city clean by catching mice, rats and eating up thrown away food. Is it possible that the symbiotic relationship we once had with animals can work in a modern city?

Erik Satie

2010-01-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

The rain today here in Oakland has the quality of a steady, gently falling drops. When it is like this, I like to put some Eric Satie on but only loud enough so that you can still hear the rain hitting the pavement. I was told that Satie loved the rain, sitting in his apartment window in Paris contemplating it for hours on end. Listening to his music it is obvious the influence this had on him. Until the time of his death, no one had ever entered his room in Arcueil for 27 years but a great number of umbrellas were discovered amongst various manuscripts, letters and four pianos.

Erik Satie 1866 - 1925

The meditative silence and beautiful sadness I find in Satie's work reminds me of the Japanese concept of Mono No Aware, described in Wikipedia as: ".....as an empathy toward things, or a sensitivity of ephemera— a term used to describe the awareness of the transience of things and a bittersweet sadness at their passing.

Extreme Weather Correction

2010-01-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had published this amazing storm photo (see my blog entry)

At the time, the photo had been passed to be via e-mail and despite some research I was unable to find the source of it. Recently a gallery owner had contacted me and had identified the owner of the photo as Mike Hollingsworth at www.extremeinstability.com. Mike's work and dedication to chasing and documenting these storms is truly amazing and I encourage you to visit his website to find out more. He is also a huge animal lover and his respect for the nature that surrounds us is clearly apparent in all his work.

New Studio/New Year

2009-12-23T11:03:00.000-08:00

I have not written here for some time. I have been busy outside the art world and been moving my painting studio. I am now set up in a new space near my house in Oakland in this nice unassuming building. I can now walk to work easily and have the luxury of a high ceiling for good lighting and to be able to get the canvases up higher. Here's the outside complete with Roy looking out the door!

So I am looking forward to beginning the year in this new space and starting a fresh group of paintings. I also have been doing more work on paper, some drawings and mixed media. You can see some of these at The Borsini-Burr gallery website and I will announce some others that will be available soon.

I hope everyone reading this has a super holiday and a Happy New 2010!

Brrrrr!

2009-12-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

Cold weather hit the Bay Area today. Enough to shake us all out of our routine and to remind me to write to this blog and share some news. This weekend we were at the Borsini-Burr gallery in Montara (just south of San Francisco) for their Open House. I showed some new sketches which were well received and a new painting called The Swimming Hole, which reminded everyone of warmer days

On Saturday evening we attended the opening party for a Chloe Fine Arts in San Francisco. In addition to my animal paintings and prints they are showcasing my landscapes. It was a really well attended event with many of the gallery's artists flying in from all over to be there. Greg Lejnieks, the owner, together with his wife, Amy Nelder (the painter), Chris Lyon, Director and Todd Lejnieks have created a gallery that promises to become an important venue for art connoisseurs. Their vision goes beyond just the showing of art and will create a community of fine artists, collectors and philanthropy in San Francisco. Congratulations to them all!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

In the country I was born the local churches would celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving, usually in late September. I seem to remember this being a pretty large festival and since our family were farmers it had more than a passing significance. People would bring flowers, grain, home made bread, pies, fruits and vegetables to the church and I have this picture in my mind of everything being stacked around the altar and it looking very big! After the Sunday service everyone would go home to a big meal and all the food and bounty left at the church was distributed to the poor or the local hospital. Not unlike the Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States.

This painting I completed recently reminds me of this time of year with the bear in contemplation of some passing time. Perhaps he is giving thanks also.

Caspar's Walk, 2009 18" X 24" (Original still available through Lahaina Galleries)

Made after an oil by Caspar David Friedrich titled A Walk at Dusk. I was able to view this painting at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles some years ago, where it made a great impression on me. It is a small piece but a very profound statement contemplating the end of a day or a life. It was painted shortly before he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1835.

The doings of men

2009-11-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

As someone who does not subscribe to religion , I do find it hard to understand many of the actions that happen because of religious beliefs. I am seeing a lot of news about the animal sacrifice going on in Nepal today and tomorrow. This is a Hindu festival held every five years to honor Gadhimai, a goddess of power. Apparently, about 200,000 animals will contribute themselves to this cause over a two day period. The animals will not be thrown away but will be eaten and their parts used in local industry. Many animal rights groups are protesting this festival. I am not sure where I stand on this but I do think it useful to reflect on the fact that in the U.S., approximately 56,000,000 animals will be slaughtered during the same two days (we kill ten billion animals each year).

The animals were here first.

Maybe we could eat a little less meat.

.

Extreme Nature

2009-11-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

(I attempted to find the source of this photo to give proper credit but the server link was broken, so apologies to the photographer)

In my research, I sometimes come across an image that knocks me sideways. The storm photo shown above was one of those times. As far as I know this was not a "manufactured" image but was of an actual piece of weather.

One of my representing galleries recently sold a painting called Before the Vortex that was partly inspired by the photo above. I had the pleasure of delivering it to a very well informed client who lives locally. This painting has brought up more questions about my intent than other paintings done around the same time. I find this curious and I am of the opinion that the bear here would find it curious too. My point here was that as modern day humans we are fascinated, awed and increasingly trepidatious by extremes of natural elements. All of us reading this blog eat, drive, work, play and sleep in insulated environments. Over the last few centuries we have become distant to the ways of the natural world. In my mind this bear has no such trepidation. He may be wary and even fearful of the tornado but he is not anxious about what may happen, he understands this is happening and he will react accordingly and objectively. My answer to the questions about my intent were that the bear is asking us to question our place in this. Are we to follow his lead or are we just the viewer of this scene? Are we "in the picture" or out of it?

.

Jeanne Claude RIP

2009-11-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

Wrapped Reichstag by Christo and Jeanne Claude

The art world suffered another loss this week when Jeanne Claude, wife, partner and collaborator, died of complications from a brain aneurysm. Many people did not even know this name, preferring always to just say Christo. These amazing artists have labored for decades, working with governments and authorities all over the globe to realize their visions and to help us revision our world. Here's a link to their website, starting with the page about all the errors that have been part of their struggle. The projects are vast and the sketches are phenomenal!

Romanticism and Lou Reed

2009-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

I was in art school in Manchester, England at the beginning of the punk era. As students we were all busy deconstructing everything and embracing the kind of nilihism people of our age believed put us in the forefront of whatever we thought avant-guarde meant. I spent a lot of energy and much of my student grant following Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground and while I have continued to admire his early work, over the years I have gone in different directions with my musical taste. I caught up with him again recently when I heard he had done another book of photographs called Romanticism
that had been inspired by the work of Caspar David Friedrich, someone I study very closely in my own work. Here is one of the photos:

Lou Reed, Untitled (Santa Fe), 2009. Pigment print, Image size: 8 x 12 inches,

(from the reveiw)

This collection of photographs takes its name from the 18th and 19th century art movement that sought a return to the emotion, beauty, and unknowability of the natural as a counterpoint to industrial era's emphasis on technological development and the pursuit of rational knowledge. Reed's images recall this impulse: they focus on the aesthetic and the sublime; the splendor of a single tree against a cloudy Scottish sky, suffused with light. There is, however, also something uncanny and eerie about some of the photographs; the absence of human figures, a road leading over a bridge into a dense, shadowy forest. Reed has recently adapted the poet and writer Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven, the supernatural is a theme that underwrites much of his recent work. Perhaps, like the Romantics, Reed is commenting on another Industrial Revolution - the rapid developments of globalization are once again placing the natural into both literal and metaphoric danger - the beauty of his landscapes takes on a more urgent meaning.

New Music by Lou Reed

In addition, Reed has also recently released a work of music quite unlike anything else he has done before called Hudson River Wind Meditations. If you could merge the sensibilities of Caspar David Friedrich with those of Reed's wife, Laurie Anderson and his own photography then Hudson River Wind Meditations is what you would get. In the same vein as Gavin Bryars' Sinking of the Titantic, Lou Reed has created a vast electronic landscape in this CD that evokes all the sounds of a busy river in a bed of quiet contemplation.

Claude Lévi-Strauss

2009-11-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Claude Lévi-Strauss 1908 - 2009

I received a copy of Robert Glenn's newsletter today (Robert's website is The Painter's Keys ). Robert reminded us of the recent death of Claude Lévi-Strauss, the influential French anthropologist. This scholar traveled widely in South and North America and developed a method of study called structuralism which rejected history and humanism. He refused to see Western civilization as privileged and unique, and his emphasis was on form over content. He believed that the savage mind is equal to the civilized mind.

Over the years, I have often used a quote of Lévi-Strauss to title my shows: "....Animals are good for thinking". His reflections on totemism have inspired me to attempt to join our natural world and our own true nature within modern society. The most rewarding reaction offered by viewers of my own work is that it can stir up some history deep inside us that has been forgotten but not yet completely lost.

Here is some more on Lévi-Strauss from Robert Glenn's newsletter (used with permission);

....Through his study of native peoples, particularly the Amerindians of Brazil and North America, he drew some enlightening conclusions. He determined to his satisfaction that native art and its accompanying myths have no unique authors. According to him, native art just occurs and is transmitted over generations and from tribe to tribe. The individualist artist of today's world, with his claim to uniqueness and penchant for self-obsession, had no place for Lévi-Strauss.

The idea of individuality actually disgusted Lévi-Strauss. "The 'I' is hateful," he wrote. As if attending a great pot of soup, we artists just dip into it but have no real claim to it. We need only be thankful the soup is available.

Lévi-Strauss's work is full of challenging contradictions. He found earlier populations to be ideally isolated from one another and able to develop their art without sullying influences. Today's global village worried him. He felt all myths were now neutralized, and the pot had become the victim of both unbridled commerce and the tyranny of ego.

Lévi-Strauss also named a type of artist he called the "bricoleur." At first a crafty and devious trickster, bricoleur has come to mean one who works with his hands. The bricoleur is adept at many tasks and at putting pre-existing things together in new ways to the benefit of communities. The bricoleur features in Lévi-Strauss's best known book, The Savage Mind. He describes primitive people as being highly evolved and complex. It was his dream that we might someday return to such a desirable state.

For further reading see the Wikipedia entry.