Basquiat's 'King Pleasure' Exhibit in Los Angeles, CA

I had a recent opportunity to see the sisters' selected works of Jean-Michel Basquiat in an exhibit at The Grand in L.A.

The exhibit was well-presented with a range of Jean-Michel's works, a re-creation of his studio and early family home environment, informative videos with interviews of some of the people who knew him -- all contributing some context about the artist's short life.

It didn't, however, speak to Jean-Michel's first foray into mark-making with a school friend doing graffiti works signed as Samo, the club-drug scene and how it influenced his life/work choices, the importance of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring to his intention of making it big in the art world (there were 4 Warhols in the exhibit), or even how or when he died. I knew little more about Basquiat when I left than when I entered the exhibit. That seemed a missed opportunity. However, www.basquiat.com has a very good timeline about the artist's life that I recommend perusing before going to the exhibit, if you're planning to. It is a resource I didn't check out beforehand.

A few pieces I liked from the show included Cabeza completed in 1982 (yellow piece below), the bass player drawing, and the Bird painting (Bird was the nickname of Basquiat's friend, Charlie Parker, the musician).

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Visiting The Hague and Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Paris!

Since late March, I've been planning an international solo trip that included meeting up with friends. The planning is what makes a trip an adventure, and it was definitely fabulous -- now that it is in the rearview mirror -- so to speak. During my two weeks abroad, the sights visited included the: Mauritshuis, a lovely art museum (The Hague, Netherlands) Binnenhof (The Hague, Netherlands) Delft (Netherlands) Kasteel de Haar, a castle (Haarzuilens, Netherlands) Museum Speelklok (Utrecht, Netherlands) Walking Tour of Amsterdam (Netherlands) Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Dutch Resistance Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) De Oude and Nieuwe Kerks aka old and new churches (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Sainte Chapelle/Conciergerie (Paris, France) Giverny - Monet's residence at one time (outside Paris) Versailles (outside Paris) Musee d'Orsay/VR Event titled 1874 Impressionists First Exhibition

New Project in Progress

I'm working on a new project with multiple layers and shapes of different colored organzas. It is an interpretation of lighting on an ice rink...from a show I recently saw. There is a lot more stitching to do, but I like how its coming along. I'm learning organzas are not easy to work with especially when you layer them and have overlaid edges. The fabric also tends to ravel easily. This post also linked to http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com .

Concertina Dazzle Days

If you don't know what a Concertina Sketchbook is, it is folded paper (back and forth) that looks like the bellows of an accordion when done. Concertinas can be home-made or purchased, and they are fun to work in. The photos above are of three continuous two-page spreads from my own Concertina (the one on the right - the latest). The mark-making was done with Sharpie markers, Posca pens, Micron pens and Sakura PenTouch markers. All the shapes and color choices in the images above were spontaneous as well as the details. There was no plan. What I like about these is that each two-page spread collaborates with the next one and so on (as the designs spill over from one spread to the next). As new ones are created, they add to the wonderful visual feast. One of the things I love doing with these also -- is to crop sections and digitally mirror them to form symmetrical designs. The results are occasionally delightful. In fact, this one was made from such a process and has a n

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