Sam Perry
“I’m a surfer,” he said. Somehow this piece of information resonated perfectly with the intuition I had about this artist. Paddling out into the breaking waves at land’s edge and riding them is one of the most poetic of activities imaginable. I can’t help but feel there are many artists among surfers. The beauty of it, and the constant creativity needed each moment, belong in the realm of art.
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Joan Di Stefano: The Action of Light
Joan Di Stefano has a remarkable story. Here are some of the pieces: Thomas Merton, Harley Davidson motorcycles, North Beach topless joints, Gethsemani Abbey, the San Francisco Art Institute... there's lots more. We interviewed her for issue #24.
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A Conversation with Taya Doro Mitchell
“Follow me.” Taya led me up a stairway to a door. It opened into quite a different world. Every wall and ceiling in each room of was covered with an astonishing variety of items: objects, figures, tableaux, cutouts, dioramas, discards and parts and pieces of things carefully painted, trimmed, sanded, fit and fiddled, sections of ornate frames sliced up, fanned out, arranged in circles, diamonds, grids and zig-zags—all by the thousands upon thousands. Even by our current standard of visual assault, this was a bump up.
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A Conversation with Jane Wodening: A Door of Perception
Anne Veh told me about Jane Wodening. She told me Jane was an astonishing writer, that she wrote about animals, creatures, about the intimate life of nature around her. That her writing was like no one else she knew of. And then she thought of Barry Lopez. Well, it was okay to bring him into the conversation. Anne was putting together an exhibit at the Di Rosa in Napa, California--“Entering the Wild.” It would feature a hand-illustrated book of Lopez's along with several of Jane’s books of stories...
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A Conversation with Clayton Bailey: Dr. Gladstone
Approaching Clayton Bailey’s place, among other exotic sights, an aluminum rocket comes into view and several demon dogs standing guard on a high fence that surrounds an outdoor collection of his work spanning decades of inspired fancy. It had been almost twenty years since I’d first had the pleasure of visiting the artist. Clayton let me in through a gate and as I looked around, it seemed like the years between visits evaporated. It seemed like the same wild wonderland as before except it had grown.
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Richard Shaw: Magic Tricks
I met Richard Shaw at his home and studio in Fairfax on a sunny morning. An exuberant collection of wildly miscellaneous items decorate the premises, indoor as well as outdoors. Anyone familiar with the artist's work, knows his skill at trompe l'oeil is uncanny. I often had to tap pieces with my fingernail to convince myself I wasn't looking at a piece of wood, a can of turpentine, a tube of paint or a piece of chalk pastel.
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John Mason: The Necessary Depth
Two or three years had passed since my last visit to Los Angeles, and as I neared the LA basin, I felt the stirring of memories. There was even a faint echo of John Mason in there. Sometime in 1964, thanks to a girlfriend at Scripps, I had my first experience of putting hands to clay. Claremont was full of potters in those days. I wasn't an art student, though I found myself in the thick of the local art scene. Somewhere I'd heard Mason was teaching at Pomona College. I knew next to nothing about him, but I remember the aura of reverence around his name. My friend John Toki had recently visited Mason. "You should interview him," he told me. "But I have to warn you, he doesn't talk...
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A collection of in-depth interviews with artists from all walks of life.
FEATURED INTERVIEWS
Melanie DeMore—Sound Awareness
I like to talk with the kids about really engaging with their whole selves in music. This is a direct thing in any indigenous or ancient culture. There is no separation between music and body and art and life and death. It’s all just life. If you embody music you realize how much a part of it is
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Wanxin Zhang—Across Cultures
At one point Wanxin asked me, “Do you think of me as a Chinese artist?” I knew what he was asking. It’s impossible not to be aware that Wanxin is Chinese. And it’s also clear that his warrior figures are deeply rooted as works of art in, and draw meaning from, cultural references that are
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Combat Papermakers Drew Cameron and Drew Matott: An Interview in
Papermaking is an art of transformation. In a radical new version of “swords into ploughshares,” papermakers Drew Cameron, an Iraq veteran, and Drew Matott, an activist artist, have taught 100s of war veterans to slice up their combat uniforms and to transform them into paper. Cameron and Matott
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Barbara Ganzkow: 747 Flying Tiger
She was friendly and new to our family gatherings. We were chatting. Somehow planes came up. Taking a long shot, I asked, "Are you a pilot?" Used to be. Barbara is petite. “So what did you fly, single engine planes?” Yes, she'd done that. “Other kinds, too?” She nodded. I was surprised.
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Art of Engagement
Monday, Sep 12, 2011Why are the arts so often considered frills when it comes to what is needed in schools, in politics, in so many parts of life? The capacity for creative response is needed in all walks of life. In this issue we explore art as a tool for social engagement. Read More
Sharing the Wealth
Friday, June 27, 2011It's been my good fortune to have more than my share of remarkable friends, and several of them appear in this issue of the newsletter. One of the joys of having a venue like this newsletter is that its a vehicle for expanding my own circle. Read More
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