In search of mermaids…..

O.K. So it is “First Friday” in Honolulu. The first Friday of the month where the Galleries and restaurants, shops, etc stay open down in Chinatown. Suppose to, well, being billed as the best art night in Hawaii! I’m excited now.

I need a diversion. I take the bus from Waikiki about 7pm…..it’s raining, kind of a dreary night, but I’m hopeful. I meet Will and Rachel on the bus going to the “First Friday” also. They’re adorable Korean tourists with leis on, obviously just arrived, and about 28/30 yrs. old. She confesses she wants to be an artist, and Will says he wants to make music, although he’s not too good at playing the guitar. They both now work in an office to make make daily living costs in Korea…..their dream is to create freely some day. I wonder how many people are stuck in office jobs their whole life wanting to break free and “create”….probably a hell of a lot .

So, at this point we are off the bus and I have taken them under my momma bird wing to walk them thru the dark bum pee streets of back alley Chinatown. There are a lot of homeless people on the back streets of Chinatown, and even with all of the rain in Hawaii, it still reeks of bum pee…..my kids named the smell years ago. I’m sad when Rachel says there are a lot of homeless people in the US…..yes, I admit it is not nice, I feel so bad for them laying on the streets in nooks and crannies and in the rain. Every shred of human dignity dissolved in the muddy streets of Chinatown. I’m seeing this thru the young eyes of a Korean tourist who just 4 hours ago arrived in Hawaii for the first time……..it is rather shocking in an affluent society.

So we are on the look out for art. I really feel like some great art tonight.

Sclock.

That’s all we get.

Are you kidding?  THIS is the gallery scene I’ve been hearing about? The first store is a soap and fu-fu trendy little something on the corner. The only thing good about it is the smell.

Then we come across the bubbling mermaid. She is in a kiddy pool, shooting a corner full spectators with soapy water that sprays in fine lines from her fingertips. The people are so starved for art she is making quite a hit on the street corner.

We then found a small gallery with a “reduce, reuse” kind of theme going on. The only thing there that was interesting was a grouping of crayons remelted into beautiful colorful orbs tossed around all of the crayon wrappers in the center, standing upright, but empty in their sleeves…..I guess you had to be there for that one.

THEN……we found the PHOTO BOOTH! It was in a gallery…gallery, is that what I call it? ugh.

There were photos hung way too close to each other….actually stretched, very poorly I might add, saggy, giclees of some Lomo shot photos. I was embarrassed for the artist, and the so called gallery.

The only thing good about it was the PHOTO BOOTH! I will post these pics as soon as Rachel sends them to  me. We had a really fun time in the photo booth, I’m no small chicken but we scrunched in there and suddenly became 8 years old when the camera started to flash…….so funny we laughed and laughed…..it was one of those moments, since my brain aneurysm, that I sit back and view my life….I call them my golden life moments………

I am in a photo booth with 2 complete strangers having an amazing life experience, and laughing so hard. Life I am reminded now is precious, every stupid damn moment of it, even amidst the bum pee.

Thanks Will and Rachel I hope your life is filled with golden moments in time.

My painting in an Oscar winner!

I am pleased to announce that my painting “Tattoo You” is in the now Academy Award winning film…..The Muppet Movie! That’s pretty exciting for me, and is a good credit for the notch in my belt. Hey, us artists have to take everything we can get. I’ll be working this one for awhile….haaaaa

What’s really funny is I think back and there are actually 2 paintings on this canvas. There was one, and I probably was recycling, had no money that week, or was just sick of it and I painted over it to get this current canvas. People cannot believe when I paint over things, but artists must keep moving, we realize that not everything we do will go down in history as a fine piece of work. So we re-use, reduce, and recycle. I just remember painting this and thinking wow, I really like the direction this is going…..I guess someone else did also. That is nice to know. Thanks Kermie!

Artists for change…STOKED project funded!

Loan in Pakistan has been 100% fundedThis is an update on your loan to Shazia’s Group in Pakistan. Thanks to you and 39 other Kiva Lenders, the $1,175.00 loan request in Pakistan has been 100% funded. This loan will be used for the purpose of: To buy embroidery material Over the 13 months of this loan, Kiva’s Field Partner in Pakistan, Asasah, a partner of Save the Children, will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website: http://www.kiva.org/lend/347035 Thanks for lending to the world’s working poor on Kiva! Best Wishes, Kiva Staff

Hans Burkhardt…walk thru-L.A.-a must!

Saturday, October 22 at 3:00 p.m.A Guided Exhibition Walk-Thru with Jack Rutbergof the Major Exhibition HANS BURKHARDT: Within & Beyond The Mainstream at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts 357 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Tel. 323-938-5222  |  E.mail irutberg@jackrutbergfinearts.com www.jackrutbergfinearts.com Presented as a Participating Gallery in the Getty Initiative Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980
This expansive exhibition reveals Burkhardt’s compelling body of work created in Los Angeles over a period of more than 6 decades. The guided exhibition walk-thru will key upon a history that places Burkhardt in context and discusses his profound impact on the Los Angeles art scene.

She used my art to create fashion!…..

Chic Inspiration: Rich, Artsy Fall Hues…

August 10, 2011  By JourneyChic 7 Comments

Nightfall arrives earlier and earlier each day, and although I’m holding tight to the last vestiges of summer I can’t ignore the fact that cool fall air will soon be here. The good news? New clothes for the new season!

The perfect fall outfit inspiration came from the recent Deb Haugen art sale at One King’s Lane. Her canvas art, called “Release” is a beautiful medley of turquoise, mossy green, golden yellow, and wine.

Deb Haugen, “Release” on canvas (image from One Kings Lane)

Just for fun, I tried the color palette tool from Big Huge Labs to see all of the different hues that make up this pretty painting. This was my first experience with this tool, and the way it broke down all the shades is so helpful for understand how the colors go together.

created using bighugelabs.com

For an early fall look, I opted for a the darkest teal represented in the painting, and the detail at the top of this Anthropologie sleeveless blouse picks up most of the other colors. What a find! Although the leather jacket (which ships from the UK) and bag are on the pricier side, you would get a lot of use out of them. The burgundy heels actually have a subtle pattern to them that adds a unique touch.

Rich Fall Hues by journeychic featuring stone bracelets

Printed tank top
$68 – anthropologie.com

Monsoon leather jacket
£160 – monsoon.co.uk

J. Crew skinny corduroys
$80 – jcrew.com

Forever21 stone bracelet
$6.80 – forever21.com

Forever21 earrings
$4.80 – forever21.com

Lucky Brand Sunset Junction Leather Convertible Tote
$199 – ebags.com

Seychelles Burgundy Print Pumps
$77 – shoes.comI found this on line, and thought it was pretty cool that Laura went to the trouble of creating a color chart and fashion associated with my art..

My Oct. portrait…..tan and rested

Artists for Change!

http://www.kiva.org/

Please join Kiva, and Artists for Change. I ran into this organization, and am blown away by the concept and what they have accomplished. Please join us in supporting artists around the world!

Press release for my art publishing!

 PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 One Kings Lane Hosts Art Work of Organic Artist Deb Haugen

Malibu’s own organic artist Deb Haugen is due to publish her artwork on One Kings Lane. The artist’s work which has only been seen in TV and film productions is made available to the public for the first time

[Malibu Aug.1, 2011]- Malibu, California’s very own organic artist Deb Haugen is proud to announce the publishing her art work for the very first time, on the One Kings Lane website. The artist whose work was until now, limited to TV and film productions like The Green Hornet, The New Muppet Movie 2011, Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, etc. shall now be available to the public in a limited print and giclee collection of organic abstracts.. The art work shall be released on August 5^th at 8.00 am on the One Kings Lane website.

Deb’s fondest memories of childhood are of growing up the hill from a marshy swamp; understanding the texture of lush green moss and listening to the chorus of frogs every evening. That rich environment had a tremendous impact on her and is reflected deeply in her organic abstract paintings.

Before attending  both the Art Center College of Design and  Otis Art Institute, Deb was initiated into art by her mother at a very young age. Although she was often dragged out of the pool to galleries and museums, she was in perfect harmony with the myriad colors and shapes that surrounded her at these galleries. Being a product of the hippy movement of the 60’s, gave her a different perspective and sharpened her strong feelings for the environment and life.

It is nature that is her inspiration. “My works are reflections of the often strikingly familiar abstractions we see in nature and their relationship with time and layering,” says Deb, who is well known for her organic art.

“Nature provides a visual history with sensuous forms, decay and birth in a constant evolution of imagery entangled with time. Organic art is rudimentary, it is essential, it’s primordial, supportive and vital” adds Deb. After various jobs in the art sector she is completely at home exploring in the creek bed and horse trails behind her Malibu home.

About Deb Haugen: A graduate of the Art Center College of Design and Otis Art Institute, Deb Haugen is an organic artist that lives and breathes the California organic lifestyle. When not holding a paint brush she has a shovel in her hands and is in the middle of a large organic vegetable garden, at peace and right at home.

To know more, visit, https://www.onekingslane.com

 

L.A. Art Association

On May 7, 2011, Los Angeles Art Association will present four solo exhibitions by Anne Hieronymus, Keiko Inoh, Katrina McElroy, and Marjan K. Vayghan at Gallery 825. The drawings and sculpture in Anne Hieronymus’ Bloom and Blight are inspired by both the idea of the cycle of formation, continuance, decline and disintegration, and the use of that cycle as a process to create the work. This ancient cosmology used across cultures to explain everything from biological lifecycles to software releases, gives form to what the viewer already knows and experiences. The full presentation consists of found and collected objects, party decorations, used wood, wire and drawings using broken down and rearranged text . Katrina McElroy’s 360 degree installation, Exophoric, continues her metaphoric exploration and examination of visceral emotion. In linguistics, an exophoric reference alludes to something outside the text or dialogue, which is understood based on context or mutual knowledge. In this photo-based installation, McElroy plays with this concept visually by manipulating and rearranging hundreds of video stills thus denying the viewer a linear narrative and instead presenting them with an abstracted pattern. The individual micro-expressions as well as the overall composition are clues, however it is shared human experience that becomes the basis for further interpretation and meaning. Keiko Inoh’s installation Shadow is the artist’s compelling expression of ideas through seemingly simple projections of cut-paper constructions. This cut-paper-projection becomes like a negative of a photograph and the shadow projected on the wall becomes a picture. The audience can witness a “camera- less” photograph of uncanny sophistication. Marjan Vayghan’s multi-media, cross cultural installation falling up, with the cage potently represents the women of Iran, who have been slowly and silently fighting and protesting for their rights. A powerful visualization of Vayghan’s arrest in Tehran, Iran, during the political uprising in the Summer of 2009. Vayghan’s work converges on personal memory, familial intimacy and transnational political consciousness. In particular Vayghan addresses politics & processes of “misinformation,” & draws diverse communities together to consider these misidentifications collectively within the various settings she stages. She employs the arena of “community” in her art to create solidarity and cross cultural understanding. Vayghan’s art challenges oppression, considers interconnectivity & envisions beyond borders. Reception: Friday, May 7, 2011 from 6-9pm Admission: Free Where: Gallery 825 – 825 N. La Cienega Boulevard, LA 90069 Exhibitions continue at Gallery 825 through June 3, 2011.

Airbrush photo realism

People always ask me can you paint realistically????. Can I? Yes, …….example above…. but at the moment I choose to work abstractly. There are a myriad of reasons. One being I taught how to use an airbrush for years, and after you’ve used a very technical tool for so long it’s just really great to loosen up and paint with a brush, fingers, whatever gets it done. A more hands on approach was what I really needed at this moment. I will return to the airbrush again some day. There is NO way you can get the fine gradient painting you have with an airbrush. The above painting was a remembrance I had of my grandmothers house. She had these old rose stickers that were wonderful. I like the way this one shows the evolution of the rose.

Above is ROSE…..48 x 60 acrylic on canvas done in 2004