OCTOBER 1 & 2 VAST ~ VALLEY ARTISTS STUDIO TOUR My studio will be on the tour! OCTOBER 1st & 2nd ~ 10-5 To get your ticket / map to 24 artists' studios, including mine, go to sfvartscouncil.com
AUGUST 8, 2011 AS FEATURED ON "COFFEY BUZZ" (Sleep Episode)
July 18, 2011 I had the privilege of teaching a children's plein air workshop at Kidspace Museum in Pasadena. It was a blast!
July 2 through July 31, 2011 My 6x6 piece, "Cove, Santa Cruz Island" is part of the California Art Club exhibition "Fresh Air: Landscapes of California," currently on view at Fremont Gallery, 812 Fremont Ave, South Pasadena. Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 1-7 pm. It's a great show! Preview it at: californiaartclub.org
May 21, 2011 "Point Mugu Illumination" ~ Currently on exhibit at Gallery 800 in North Hollywood, with the San Fernando Valley Art Club Group Show, thru June 11th. Reception: Saturday, May 21st from 5 - 8 pm. All are welcome! (5108 Lankershim Blvd, 1 block south of Magnolia.)
The plein air sketch for this piece will be on exhibit at Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa as a part of LPAPA, Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, group exhibit, "Less is More." Reception Saturday, May 21st, 5 pm.
April 16th, 2011 Very honored to announce that I have three pieces which were juried into Randy Higbee's 6 Inch Squared Exhibit of more than 500 paintings by artists from all over the country. It opened this past weekend, April 16-17, and will run through May 6th. If you're in the Costa Mesa, CA neighborhood, stop in to see this wonderful show! randyhigbeegallery.com Here I am below, at the reception, standing next to my piece "Arch Rock, Santa Cruz Island."
April 16th, 2011 ~ My, how time flies!!!
April 16th was the Easter Celebration at the Los Angeles Arboretum, and early that day,I joined a group of fellow painters who demonstrated plein air painting for the families in attendance at the event. Here, I'm shown painting a magnificent Yellow Trumpet Flower tree.
12-28-10 It is with great honor that I begin my official tenure as Vice President of the San Fernando Valley Art Club, a wonderful group which has been in existence since the 1940s. We welcome artists of all skill levels, and I can guarantee you that you'll better your talents as an artist by getting involved with this club. We meet the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the Encino Community Center, where we have a Guest Artist demonstrate.My main duty as V.P. is to arrange these monthly demonstrations. Here's a link to the club's website: www.sfvartclub.org
DECEMBER 4TH, 5-9pm: CALIFORNIA ART CLUB'S "Magnificent Miniatures" a one evening exhibition and sale event at the Historic Blinn House, 160 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA. I had "Moonrise from Santa Cruise Island" (6x6) juried into the show.
1-23-10 "Cliffs of Santa Cruz Island," one of my six pieces in L.A. EXPERIMENTAL ARTISTS' 2010 SHOW, "IMPROVIZATIONS" which runs November 24 through December 22, at VIVA Art Center, 13262 Moorpark St., Sherman Oaks, CA. Gallery Hours Wed. - Fri. 11-4, Sat. 12-4. Reception & LAEA Holiday Boutique this Sunday, Nov. 28, 4-7pm. 11-23-10 I'm quite honored to be the featured "Who's Who" artist this month in the San Fernando Valley Art Club newsletter "The Paint Rag." You can find the article by following this link and scolling down to the third page. www.sfvartclub.org/newsletter/Paint Rag1210.pdf Running through December 12th: San Fernando Valley Art Club's Fall Show at the Finegood Gallery, Bernard Milken Jewish Comunity Campus, West Hills, CA. I have two pieces in the show. 11-1-10 THE SEASON OF SHOWS: The Valley Artists Guild Fall show just closed on Saturday and I picked up two of my pieces. Last Monday, I helped to hang the San Fernando Art Club Fall Show, in which I have two pieces. It will be running through December 12th, at Finegood Gallery in West Hills. Now, I'm preparing for a group show with L.A. Experimental Artists later in November. This show won't include any of my more traditional pieces, so I'll be challenging myself to think outside the box, yet still have my work reflect the beauty I find in nature... I've been putting a great deal of thought into this project through the year.
Me, painting the petrified Caliche Forrest of San Miguel Island, in the company of the spectacular talents of Jennifer Moses and David Gallup.
10-1-2010 I just returned from Channel Islands National Park: an unbelievably scenic & spiritual trip with a wonderful group of fellow painters, aboard the dive boat Conception, out of Santa Barbara. This magical experience was organized by David Gallup, who has been painting the Channel Islands for the past five years for a museum exhibit which will ultimately tour the country. We painted from the deck of the boat, on the beach among elephant seals and hiked in to paint the petrified Caliche Forrest of San Miguel; we painted sunrises and moonrises, afternoons and nocturnes. Some of our more daring actually brought their easels out in kayaks. We all kayaked and snorkeled, through graceful swaying kelp forrests, and among playful, curious sea lions. We saw bright orange Garibaldi, and sea stars, and brilliant purple anenome, hundreds at a time! The certified divers among us got to experience the sea lions nose to nose. A school of playful Dolphins raced us right next to the bow of the boat. The patterns of the shear rock cliffs on Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa were of haunting beauty and infinite color. The water beneath these cliffs was spectacular emerald green! The white sand dunes and otherworldly flora of San Miguel were crazy beautiful. The Pelicans were everywhere! This National Park Island chain, in all its unspoiled splendor, is truly a painter's paradise! More paintings from the trip coming soon!!!
9-19-10 This coming Friday, I will be embarking upon an amazing painting adventure, out to sea on a 5 day expedition / workshop with artists David Gallup and Stephen Mirich. We're heading to Channel Islands National Park, where I'm expecting to paint some amazing sites. David Gallup has been painting the Channel Islands for five years, now, a museum project which will ultimately tour the country. My friend Marion Fortunati is also going, and we're looking forward to a fantastic experience! If you're wishing you could join us, there are still a couple of spots available. Check out the details: www.dgallup.com/cosby.htm. 9-18-10 I took a California Art Club Master Artist Workshop with Carl Dempwolf. We worked out on the bluffs at Leo Carrill State Beach, under quite overcast conditions. Carl showed us about adding atmosphere to our work, and he really emphasized defining / designing our shapes and our composition; how to make it all stronger. On my own piece, he showed me how to make a good color pallette really work. It's what I was hoping to gain from his workshop. My work from this class won't be posted here, because, ultimately, I can't take credit for enough of it. 9-9-10 I'm happy to announce that I have been juried in as an exhibiting member of Valley Artists Guild. I consider it an honor and a priviledge to be associated with this fine group!
9-1-10 The fog was hovering right offshore, its fingers poking inland, when we arrived at Leo Carrillo Beach in Malibu, for an afternoon paint-out with the California Art Club. In Woodland Hills, it had been 105 degrees, but as I descended the canyon road, the temperature dropped, reaching 65 degrees at the beach! The sun stayed out just long enough to capture these brilliant colors! 11x14 Oil on canvas panel.
8-16-10 I just spent a day of breathtaking beauty at Malibu Lagoon, with some of my friends from the San Fernando Valley Art Club. Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Heron were some of our company, along with surfers, tourists and a wonderful professional photographer, Lewis Jacobs, who took this shot of me with my work. See more of Lewis' work at www.photostills.com. He's very talented!
June 25, 2010 - Oils are starting to resonate with me: this is fun! Here's a photo of my new plein air set-up, the EasyL, which I mentioned in my prior post, below. This shot was taken after the light had changed drastically, and my umbrella was down. It was a very pleasant day in the yard, with a great compliment: while I was painting, a honey bee came by and hovered about an inch from the flower on my canvas for about 5 seconds, before he realized it didn't smell quite right! June 19th, I took a California Art Club plein air workshop with David Gallup, in Eaton Canyon, Pasadena. David gave us all kinds of wonderful insights about landscape painting, and the location was beautiful! As I was painting alongside the trail, a rattlesnake made a trail crossing about 15 feet in front of me: it was totally cool to watch him, and he didn't want anything to do with us! (My painting from the workshop will be posted after I do some final tweaking...)
June 8th 2010 - After many attempts to paint outdoors in acrylic, I've come to the conclusion that the slower drying medium of oil paint is the way to go, when painting "en plein air." So, after a long break from oils, I've begun to reacquaint myself with the medium, and am thoroughly enjoying it! I also replaced my whole plein air set-up (which was way too cumbersome) with an ingenious set-up called the EasyL. A lot of Plein Air artists are catching on to the beauty of this equipment, which was designed by clever actual working artists. Check out the website:www.artworkessentials.com
5/22/10 - Two of my recent paintings, "Poppy Field, Antelope Valley, and "Mt. Lukens, After the Rain" are currently showing at VIVA Gallery in the juried San Fernando Valley Art Club Spring Exhibit, "VIEWS AND VISIONS" which runs through June 5th. Be sure to catch the show: we have some wonderful talent in the SFV Art Club. VIVA ART CENTER - 13261 Moorpark St., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 SFVAC "VIEWS & VISIONS" May 19th - June 5, 2010 Reception Sunday, May 23, 2-4pm Open Wed. thru Sat. 11-4, Sat. 12-4
5/1/10 - Eleven of my recent landscape paintings are showing at LULU'S BEEHIVE, in Studio City, CA, now through May 22nd, 2010. If you're in the neighborhood, I hope you'll stop in for some good coffee or delicious food, and have a look. Their sandwiches, salads and chili are wonderful! LULU'S BEEHIVE
13203 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604 (Between Woodman and Coldwater, NW corner of Mary Ellen & Ventura. Open daily 8:30-6; Sundays 9:30 - 6.)
12/9/09 - Yesterday, I ventured out to paint, in the 46 degee weather following Monday's storm. I found that a few layers of fleece and a thermos of tea kept me plenty warm. Set my easel up in the sun, by the creek in Bee Canyon Park, a lovely local spot. The experience was exhilirating, and I was rewarded by an idyllic scene with Eucalyptus, autumn foliage, long afternoon shadows on the grass, plus a soggy creek bottom. It actually flows during a rain!
11/23/09 - It's been a while... In September, I joined the San Fernando Valley Art Club, and our semi-annual group exhibit starts Wednesday, November 25th. It's the first "juried" show I've ever entered. One of my paintings made it into the show, and received Honorable Mention, a fact which thrilled and encouraged me. That piece was "Storm Rising," which is below. The experience of helping to hang the show was also a first for me, and great fun!
Here's a copy of the show's postcard invitation:
7/16/09 - Finally finished the Kauaii piece: it's entitled "Mt. Makana from Tunnels," using its proper name. "Bali Hai" was a name given to the same mountain in the film, "South Pacific." (It's probably not the only mountain in the world to have a stage name...)
I've also been working on two other pieces: a small abstract, and a backyard "plein aire" piece, 24"x24". It's been a dry-run for my portable studio, and I've loved the experience!! Soon, I hope to pack up and take it out to some of the beautiful scenes around my area.
5/26/09 - Started working on a 20x30 canvas of the iconic view of "Bali Hai" from Tunnels Beach, in Kauai'i.
5/26/09 - I finished an abstract piece today, the first abstract I've done in many years. I call it "From the Un," because it makes me think of a swirling primordal sea, perhaps where life began, but the name of the piece also references my un-conscious mind, from where this idea sprang, while I was sleeping. I dreamed that I found a painting I'd done, lying forgotten in the corner. In real life, I tried to recreate the painting exactly from my dream, and came pretty close. Always obey your inspiration, when possible. - D
5/12/09 - My painting, "Mission Peak in Mustard" is finished, and is based on the photos I took and posted below my 5/7/09 entry. I believe I'll do a larger version of this subject, too.
5/7/09 - I flew my writer's flag this month. It started with a hike in the local mountains where last year's fires burned, to photograph the brilliant wildflowers. Thought I would write an e-mail to my friends about it, but submitted it to the Daily News instead, and was published! (My first time) If you'd like to read my piece, here's the link to the article entitled: "Last Year's Fires Yield Spring Glory." www.dailynews.com/search/ci_12312262 and since they didn't print any of my photos, here are a couple for your pleasure.
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