More of Italy

Here are some more photos from my trip to Florence, Italy.

Back From Florence

Recently back from Florence, Italy, where I studied Renaissance painting techniques. You can see some of my photos by clicking here.

Roma Birthday

Just got back from Roma. It was all it was cracked up to be and there are a lot of cracks. Ha! The age of things is hard to grasp when you’re walking over a bridge that was built in 139 AD or a church in the countryside built in 200 BC.....Celebrated my birthday with my personal tour guide, Susie, her husband and a friend, who is also a TG. Went to a great seafood restaurant where the owner personally waited on us. He brought a tray with sea bass, red snapper and halibut all caught that morning…so we're looking at these whole fish on a tray - how fresh can you get? After a 10-course meal the lights in the restaurant go out - we thought it was a power outage. The owner and the waiters come in with the dessert and a candle singing, "Happy-a-Birth-a-Day-a"…and the lights go back on and everyone in the place is singing and applauding…a real Italian BD.

Tuscany

The art school I’m attending arranged a bus tour of Seina and San Gimignano in the Tuscany region. Siena is a lovely Tuscan city with a huge piazza and an annual horse race around the edge of the enormous plaza. Both cities are very popular tourist destinations, but I'd like to see some of the less-traveled villages and shoot some photos for possible subjects.

No matter where you go, a dive off the street, or an elegant restaurant, the food here is amazing! Eating dinner is common after nine or ten pm.

Florence is definitely a walking town... but you have to be aware of motor scooters and bikes that seem to be out to kill you. The streets are very narrow and bumpy and drivers with cars are like maniacs, although you rarely hear horns tooting.

Nice day!

Bound for Firenze

So I'm leaving for Florence, Italy on Sept.29 to go to the Michelangelo Art School. The school offers apartments and they emailed some photos... all the apartments look tiny, but you know, I'm gonna try to stay mellow about this trip and adopt the Italian attitude, "everything will work out in the end."

The art courses will focus on classical painting technique and the studio will be available after class if I want to continue painting (they also have art history and language course). The school is located in the heart of the city near the Duomo in a 17th century building and the apartments are within walking distance to the school. For those of you who have been to Florence you know that Firenze is a "walking" city. You can get to most anywhere using your feet.

Artworks for the Cure

The T. J. Martel Lukemia Charity by way of the recording industry is having an Art Auction at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica on Sunday Sept. 26th, 1pm to 5pm. The Event is called “Artworks For The Cure” and the address is Writer's Boot Camp at Bergamot Station 2525 Michigan Ave bldg. #1, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Along with many celebrities art work, I submitted a Fine Art Giclee Print on 100% German Rag paper with a “Duganne Ateliers” “Chop Mark” in the lower left hand corner, beautifuly framed and ready to hang ....I'll be there to greet you. For more info go to Artworks for the Cure.

Concours D'Elegance

1933 "Streamline " Peirce - Arrow

The Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance is the most prestigious automobile show in the world and is held at the18th Hole of the lodge on Pebble Beach, one of California's most beautiful pieces of costal real estate.

1936 54k Mercedes-Benz Roadster

I was privileged to be invited by my friend Mickey Kapp and his wife Joyce who live in nearby Pacific Grove, a small lovely Victorian suburb of Monterey.... Mickey also happens to be a judge at the Concours for 12 years now and has a now famous "Car Guys " party on Saturday afternoons. The party's "driveway" show car and featured marquee at the show was a fantastic restoration of a 1933 Pierce-Arrow convertible with a rumble seat! There were many other Pierce-Arrow examples at the show.

Pierce-Arrows were easily identified by the revolutionary
headlight design, an integral part of the fender.

It was a hectic but fun schedule that included a virtual whirlwind of soirees including a Jaguar party Thursday night, a Gooding Company party Friday night (the official auctioneer for the Concours), a Mercedes-Benz party and a very exclusive event held at the Lodge for about 25 VIP'S..... Then of course, there was Mickey's party Saturday afternoon and finally a Saturday evening party hosted by Angela and Joe Cortone of Chicago for 40 guests at a wonderful Italian restaurant in Carmel called Niko.

Un-restored Pierce-Arrow

Sunday was the big day. Joyce organized a spot right in front of the "ramp" where the winners are announced and set up a picnic with two other couples. We feasted on sandwiches, salads, drinks and desserts in the front row seat as we watched the winners accept their awards. The best of show was a1933 Delage D8S De Villars Roadster (below) from the Patterson Collection in Louisville, KY, a very simple and yet elegant car. After the show still yet another party at the Pebble Beach Country Club exclusive to the judges and car owners... Whew!!! This show features some of the most world-renown cars on the planet and it was a sheer joy to be there.

Best of Show 1933 Delage Roadster

Perris, Je t'aime

It's a process.

First the panoramic photo of Perris, CA.

Then the sketches.

Have custom canvases made to size.

Then transfer sketch to canvas.

Paint.

Fini! Perris, Je t'aime #1

Autos As Art

The Concours d'Elegance was held on June 22 on Rodeo Dr. in Beverly Hills, CA. My 1961 Mercedes 300SL is pictured along with some show highlights.

Lanse Haslerig & his wife...Lanse did the body, paint & restoration.

We're parked at the foot of Via Rodeo where it meets Rodeo Dr. The yellow Ferrari Enzo is in the middle and on the right is a beautiful red '57 gull wing. The Enzo sells for $2 mil.

To the right, just behind my car was this drop head, drop dead '63Rolls going for $650,000.

Rear ends aplenty...my car has fitted luggage with the same leather as the upholstery.

A brief moment with no crowds.

A very rare '48 Tucker convertible. The headlight in the middle turns with the steering wheel.

A '49 Beetle with genuine ostrich upholstery.

Scott Melnick's '38 Ford pick-up truck...UNRESTORED!!! (Except for the hot rod Chevy engine.) It sat in a Texas field for 12 years where people used it for target practice, there are bullet holes in the windshield. It was a coal delivery truck in Colorado and delivered ice in the summer. It's my choice for car of the show.

The crowds got pretty thick by 12 noon. The 11 o'clock news said there were 10,000 people at the show.

Art & Cars

Some feel that cars can be works of art. My 1961 Mercedes 300SL Roadster will be featured in the Rodeo Concours d’Elegance this Sunday, June 20. Lots of festivities and celebs and it’s all free. Hope to see you there, we’ll be on Via Rodeo. To see a a video from last year’s Concours go to http://tinyurl.com/2g84lyx

Art Class

Started the Spring Semester at Beverly Hills High School in Portraiture. It's a terrific class with many talented people. We joke around about politics, sex, medical B.S. and of course, art. We kid about the class having 20 teachers and the poor (real ) teacher doesn't have a chance The class is very much like a TV sit-com...... Would probably make a great script....... We have live professional models every week.... This week we had a beautiful girl (6'4" plus high heels!!) in a very sexy polka dot dress.....We used to have occasional nude models (both male and female ) but that had to stop, especially during the day when the high school students always tried to peek in ... They still do have nudes but only in the evening classes and I think they keep the doors locked......

Perris, CA Project

Progress is slow on my year-long PERRIS, CA project. If you recall, I'm doing a series of nine paintings depicting the downtown area of Perris, CA (all 3 blocks of it ) with mostly empty stores....I was struck by the emptiness of the site. Empty stores that are decimated by nearby big box stores - literally putting small businessmen out of business......I'm sure a sight repeated all over America in small towns everywhere....The ninth painting will be a wonderful old movie house called "The Chief”. It's been closed for what appears to be many years and has one of those 3-story pylons pointing to the heavens and adding a little bit of show biz to the building. This will be a separate painting and probably the last in the series. The other 8 paintings will all be only nine inches high by various lengths from 18" to 52" running horizontally.

I've painted the sky on all eight wanting to get consistent color between the paintings. I masked off the buildings upper profile so as not to get the sky color overlapping the structures. I'm using acrylic paint on the sky, but I might decide to use oil paint for the buildings.

Back From Scottsdale Art Fest.

Just got back from Scottsdale, AZ attending the OPA (Oil Painters of America) show /conference / convention in what turned out to be a full-blown 4 day convention of 200 artists plus artists' freinds and relatives. I submitted 2 paintings for the show at the Legacy Gallery (April 30th to May 31st ) but I had no idea how extensive and intense this event would be.....It kicked off with a reception and cocktail party Thursday nite at The Scottsdale School of Art, a fully-accredited school devoted strictly to the arts with a full calender of classes.

Friday started off with a painting demo by Nancy S. Crookston, a famous "Plen- Air painter. It was followed by a panel of gallery owners explaining how they decide on which artists they would represent and how an artist should approach a gallery. Three very articulate local gallery owners contributed quite a bit of useful information......

Then, of course, came the main event. The show was from 5 pm to 9 pm and was held on the second floor of the Legacy Gallery which is 9,500 sq. feet of magnificent paintings and great lighting. It was then I found out that there was a total of 2800 submissions from Canada, U.S. and Mexico and fewer than 200 were chosen (check them out by clicking here)... So even if I didn't win any prizes, I feel honored that I was accepted .......There were about 500 -600 people attending with some very serious collectors in the room. About 15 to 20 Paintings were sold the first night.....No..... mine hasn't sold yet, but we still have all of May. The winner was "Model On Break" by Mary Qian.

Saturday included several panel discussions on framing, finance and several painting demonstrations including one at the Legacy Gallery.....The framing panel was interesting ...... The framers were from Utah and their prices were about one-third the prices found in L.A. Frames were mostly standard sizes, ready made......There was a wonderful interview with Harley Brown, a distinguished artist who was highly motivational and animated in his message of "Believe in yourself " stuff ...Really enjoyed him......Saturday night was the closing dinner outdoors at the Tortilla Factory, sponsored by The American Collector Magazine... Pretty good food too..... Everyone was very social and I met some nice people from Portland, OR and one young lady who just up and left her husband the previous day and was literally hopping the next plane to Kosovo!!!! There was a bicycle race thru the downtown streets of Scottsdale on Sunday ..... Pretty Cool......Some very serious bikers....... Colorful outfits .... Going very fast and I'm outa here.....

Off to Arizona

Next week I'm off to Scottsdale, AZ for 4 days for the Oil Painters of America annual show at the Legacy Gallery there. I'm discovering that it's quite a prestigious event... They had 2650

submissions and less than two hundred were chosen (one of mine). The dates are April 30th to May 31

The OPA also holds a convention/ conference covering all topics related to the fine art world like how to frame your work , how to approach prospective galleries, and painting demonstrations by successful artists..... For those of you formally of the Record Industry, it sounds very much like a NARM convention and I'm definitely up for that...... There's also some cash prizes in the show ...1st prize being $22000!!!

My take on the restaurant "Bouchon"

Ruth and I quietly celebrated our 47th Anniversary last week at the very hot and trendy Bouchon Restaurant in Beverly Hills just across from the Montage hotel (separated by a "Pocket Park" ).

The resaurant is owned by Thomas Keller who also owns the French Laundry in Napa Valley purported to be the best restaurant in the U.S.. He also has a Bouchon in Vegas and Napa.

Well, for all the hype it turned out to be a near disaster! First of all, the place is lovely but noisy and crowded....... They serve their bread with "home made" butter ....I asked for Olive Oil ....... Never got it .... We ordered Trout and Salmon ....pretty good... Ruth asked for a refill on her coke for which they charge!!!! I asked the waiter to take it off the check ... He wouldn't .. Told him to go to the manager .. He came back and said the manager would not remove it....... Asked for coffee .. Came stone cold ... Ordered dessert description sounded good .... It was 3 pieces if chocolate cake shaped like a wine bottle cork topped with a small dip of vanilla ice cream and 3 thin slices of banana!!! All for 12 bucks!!! I told the waiter to remember my face "cause I'm never coming back Should I be this fussy? Yes!!!! You should expect more from a restaurant of this stature

My 2010 Project & Canvases

Just started the preliminary details of the Parris, CA project and I thought I would give you some background and details on how it's progressing.

First of all, lets start with the canvases:

The canvases are custom made. There are 8 custom canvases on aluminum stretchers instead of wood. The advantages are that the aluminum doesn't warp, and more cost effective than the wood.

They were made by Lucian Hudson, a well renowned custom canvas fabricator to well known artists. The surface of the canvas has the usual grain of cotton fabric and I prefer a very smooth surface. So it is required to paint the canvas with a very thick white paint called Gesso. You apply five coats and wet sand in between each coat until you get a very smooth glass like surface. The purpose of the smooth surface, you can paint more detail without having the texture interfere with the detail.

The next step is positioning the photographs which are 5 inches high to the canvas which is 9 inches high. So with fine tracing paper and shaping the paper to the size of the canvases you draw the outlines of the subject (in this case the buildings). Then you draw on the backside of the tracing paper with a charcoal pencil. At which point you press that side of the drawing onto the canvas and it gives you the outline of the objects. Details are not necessary at this stage.

Custom made canvases

some of many tracings

another trace done

This will be the longest painting

More to come on the next blog!

Bless You, Macey

LA Philharmonic & Music

Sunday we went to Disney Hall and the L.A.Phil with Christof Echinbach conducting.

Dvorak (Pronounced D'VOR-JACQUE ) Carnival Overture and the New World Symphony which is one of my favorites even though it's considered a "War Horse" by elite classical music snobs It has many recognizable melodies running thru it.

Going to the Symphony on Sunday afternoon encompasses practically the whole day they have a Cafe in the hall Run by Patina (also within the walls of Disney Hall ) So we have lunch then at 1pm, they present what they call L.A.LIVE where an expert on the program gives you background and anecdotes about the composers and musicians and then at 2pm is the concert ...

It's usually a full day and after spending 35 Professional years in the Rock N Roll world there's something very special about classical music that cleanses the brain and the soul I doubt if I could ever again go to a Rock concert at the peak of my former ( career ) life, I was out 3-4 nights a week listening to bands good and bad ( Mostly bad ) or visiting ours Clients at their venues......

The Piece D'Resistance!

Now the Piece D' resistance!

My daughter who lives in Portland, came home for Thanksgiving, and since she is an avid skydiver headed down to a popular "Drop Zone " near the town of PERRIS,CA We followed her down and on the way drove thru the downtown section of Perris (all 3 blocks ) for some artistic reason it had great appeal to me. There were many empty stores and there were many stores with a strong"Mexican" Influence in the color of their signs and the type of lettering etc and there was Xmas decorations hung across the street there was also a once charming closed movie theatre called THE CHIEF with one of those tall Art Nouveauicons overhead.

Anyway, I went back to Perris on Xmas Day and photographed the 3 blocks (97 pictures) I printed the digital photographs,pasted them together and came up with pictures measuring from 52" long to 18" long. All 9 will be 10" in height. This will be my project for the entire year and I hope to have a show in either November/ December

There's definitely something magical about this very small agricultural town decimated by big malls but still holding on and supported by a strong Mexican (Not Hispanic or Latino but MEXICAN ) culture During the course of the year I'll post my progress on this inspiring project

Below are some of the pictures I took:

The Final Painting of Florescent Foreplay

nice day! This is the final painting with the main focus now hitting you as opposed to the ground being the main attention grabber.

Mace

Flourescent Foreplay

Some of you may have followed the progress of my recent painting "FLORESCENT FOREPLAY " which I completed in October 2009 Well sometimes a picture is never really finished. It just kept staring at me saying "Come on now, get to work and finish this thing !") And so I did I made significant changes in the color and texture of the foreground where as before a reddish blue dominated the foreground and the picture , I altered it to a light grey to almost but not quite Black and I find it more pleasing and the foreground doesn't fight the main focus ( THe Wall)I'll take a new photo let me know what you think I will have to change the date on the painting from 10-09 to 1-10. The paintings show above is the progressing from start to finish not including the most recent which I am going to put up later today.