Holiday Mail for Heroes

Today is Veteran's Day and it is not too early to think about sending holiday cards to the men and women who are serving and have served in the armed forces.
Over 1.4 million men and women serve in the U.S. armed forces and over 24 million veterans have served in the past. The holiday season is the perfect time to honor and extend a warm holiday greeting to those who’ve served and continue to do so.
The Holiday for Heroes Program is sponsored by the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes, Inc. They have established an extensive process to ensure all cards sent to our service members are safe and arrive in time for the holidays. Holiday cards will be collected through a unique P.O. Box address from Monday, November 2 through Monday, December 7*.

First, cards from across the nation must be sent to this address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and distributed to participating Red Cross chapters nationwide. Once the cards arrive at the Red Cross chapters, they are sorted and reviewed by volunteers who then distribute them to service members, their families and veterans in communities across the country.
For more info and to find out the dos and donts, please visit their site. May i suggest, since this is an art related blog, an original handmade holiday card?

The Lab Call for Submissions

The Lab, San Francisco, general call for submissions
In addition to their annual Postcard show, there are other opportunities...

General Call for Submissions,International
Proposals: The Lab accepts proposals on an on-going basis. In particular, The Lab seeks proposals of new work that fully utilizes our space or engages with the space in a nontraditional manner. The Lab accepts submissions from emerging and experimental curators for group visual art exhibitions or performance series. A curator's own artwork should not be included in the project proposal. If accepted, The Lab encourages curators to post an open call for entries on The Lab's website, although this is not required. The LAB also reviews proposals from visual artists for the main gallery space or solo shows in the front gallery. The Lab accepts proposals from performers for 2-4 week residencies in our main gallery space. We strongly prefer to present new work that has not been shown elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area; exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis.

Curators, solo artists, and collaborators are encouraged to apply to one of our three spaces:
*Main Gallery: Available for curated group shows, solo or two-person exhibitions or residencies for visual artists and/or performers. The gallery is 2,100 square feet. Chairs, risers, stages, and moveable walls are available. The maximum seated capacity is 100.

*Front Gallery: Primarily for solo visual artists. 123 sq feet. Four walls approx 8' wide x 10' tall.

*Ticket Booth: For single-channel new media works. Small (4x4) ticket-booth closet adjoining entry hall to the LAB. Currently we only have the ability to exhibit DVD works in this space.

SFAI Holiday Sale

For San Francisco Art Institute Alumni
I participated in the sale when i was a student and i sold ceramic skulls - they sold really well and i made good money!

On behalf of SFAI’s undergraduate Student Union and the Legion of Graduate Students (LOGS), I am pleased to invite you to participate in SFAI’s 9th Annual Winter Art and Gift Fair. Traditionally the Art Fair has been a venue for students-only to sell their work. This year, however, the student body would like to make it a community-wide event and are opening it up to faculty, staff, and alumni participants.

All participants will be provided with table and wall space to display their work. You can sell anything that you make, including fine art, jewelry, knitting, and cupcakes!

The Winter Art and Gift Fair will take place on Saturday, December 5 from 12-3 on the Chestnut Street campus and will include a live radio broadcast by the tower 102.5, as well as face-painting and free art-making for kids. We are advertising the Fair on event websites and will be inviting over 90 local galleries to attend. It should be a fun, festive event!
If you have any questions, or would like to participate, please contact me at (415) 749-4536 or at hhunt@sfai.edu by Tuesday, November 10th.

Sandy Walker at Meridian Gallery

Concerning the Forest: The Work of Sandy Walker
Curated by Theres Rohan
Meridian Gallery
535 PowellStreet
This was one of the best shows i've seen this year. First of all, the Meridian Gallery is located in a beautiful building and staffed by wonderfully friendly people. The show was inspiring and it helps me to see how landscapes can be done. The show ends Nov 7th. For those of you who can't make the show, there is a catalog available. 415.398.7229 for more info.

GRO Juried Show - extended deadline

The deadline to the GRO Juried Show has been extended to Nov 13th. I sent in these 3 images today.

Unsolicited Submissions

A very informative blog from Joanne Mattera about sending unsolicited submissions to galleries. Not to be missed....

Shortlist of Artadia finalists

The Short-List of fifteen Finalists for the Artadia Awards 2009 San Francisco are: Kim Anno, Amy Balkin, James Gobel, Pablo Guardiola, Todd Hido, Gregory Ito, Ian McDonald, Moses Nornberg, Joey Piziali, Lucy Puls, Brion Nuda Rosch, Leslie Shows, Allison Smith, Weston Teruya, and Richard T. Walker.
So, you didn't see my name there - the organizers sent a very nicely written rejection letter. I certainly recognize many of the names listed...all worthy of the award.

Halloween decoration?

Saw this amazingly decorated house while walking Daisy - i assume it was for Halloween although it isn't the usual holiday decoration.

Happy Halloween!

Amazing Halloween pumpkin carvings here.

And a Happy Halloween from Daisy!

I decided to track the visits to my blog for this month and amazingly, i've had about 1000 hits for October. I wonder who besides my husband is visiting Life at Francisco Studios!?

Ahhh, organized and clean

The studio is now organized and clean - i haven't mopped it in ages and it feels good to start out fresh. I prepared two canvases, one 4 ft X 5 ft (i think that is my favorite size) and the other at 2 ft X 5 ft which seems to be a popular size for the home. I am going to explore red again for a couple of reasons...first, i need to face my distaste for the color and secondly, these paintings seem to be a crowd pleaser.

Red - Call for Artists

Call for Entries
Berkeley Art Center Artist Members Showcase
An annual tradition, Berkeley Art Center’s members showcase includes work in all media from its artist-level members, presented salon-style. Featuring myriad points of view and levels of accomplishment, this exhibition celebrates the diversity and vibrancy of our cultural community. This year’s theme, “RED”, is inspired in part by a recent comment from artist Tom Marioni during a presentation at Berkeley Art Center. Be creative with your interpretation of this theme, in the spirit in which it was intended!
All participating artists must be artist-level members ($55/year) of Berkeley Art Center in order to enter one work of art (subject to specifications, outlined below) in the annual members showcase. All memberships must be active through January 31, 2010. Members also receive other benefits such as the opportunity to submit work to BAC’s
annual juried exhibition, free admission to lectures and all exhibition mailings.
More info here.
I've been thinking of joining the BAC for a while and with the theme of red for this show, it is now the time to do it.

Pumpkin House

A house decorated with pumpkins in southern England.

Art in Storefront artists

An article about the artists chosen for the "Art in Storefront" program here. It looks like an interesting mix of artists, some i knew back at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Open Studios report

A wonderful open studios! It was great to see friends and it was good to get Daisy (my dog) used to having people coming and going.
Three paintings went to good, loving homes and i made more on Saturday than the last 3 open studios combined! Sunday was very quiet - we might have been screwed by the good weather. I only sold small pieces but every little bit helps!

Open Studios - Ready!

All the cleaning and organizing are done. Just a few more things to straighten up tomorrow morning and i am open for business.