MOCFA and SFMOMA

Monday was spent wrapping up the red painting with plastic and cleaning up the studio. I gesssoed a 4 ft X 5 ft canvas, and i propped up the 4 - 3 ft X 4 ft panels to create a 4 ft X 12 ft long panel.

This is the paper version of the red painting...

and these are the colors i used to create the red painting...

Today, was a museum day. First off, i went to the Museum of Craft and Folk Art (http://www.mocfa.org/) for the "Beyond Craft: Kamisuki, Paper as Process" show. Exquisite papers hung from the ceiling. The artist, Isao Nakamura works on Shikoku Island in Japan in the village of Haigyu. He says he doesn't just make paper but objects with a soul. The musuem also had photographs and detailed descriptions of the preparation of the raw plant material and the paper making process. I am glad this musuem exists to highlight the importance and beauty of craft and folk art. And admission is free on Tuesdays!

Then, it was off to see the Matisse as Sculptor show at SFMOMA. It is inspiring to know that Matisse worked both as a painter and a sculptor. "The Back" reliefs were big, beautiful, clunky and interesting in that each of the backs became much more abstracted. This was even more obvious with the Jeannette bust series where the bust became progressively more abstract. It is always a pleasure to see the paintings but i really enjoyed Matisse's drawings, some being very simple line drawings.

I saw the painting OT by Thomas Scheibitz http://www.culturevulture.net/ArtandArch/Scheibitz.htmfrom the distance and i couldn't take my eyes off of it. The forms are unformed, they seemed like cartoons but not really and it seemed like i should recognize what it was he was painting but i couldn't quite make it out. I thought his work was striking, beautiful, and interesting and i could gaze at it for a long time.

And everytime i see Yves Klein blue paintings, i am amazed by the brilliance. I felt it pulling light from everywhere like the power of a black hole.

Then, back to the studio, read ArtNews and cleaned up some more stuff.