Open Studios at Hunters Point Shipyards

Last Saturday, I ventured out to the Hunters Point Shipyards artist studios, one of the largest artists' colony in the nation.  It is crucial that before tackling the huge number of open studios there, that one comes up with a list of artists from looking at the Open Studios 2013 Guide.  Winnow the list down to those 10-15 artists whose work appears interesting and deserve a visit.  Otherwise, it is visual overload.  It has been my experience that Hunters Point has the best and the worst art.  In fact, I would say that 90% of the work is either student work, tacky, and/or lacking in thought or investigation.  I studied my guide and came up with a list of 11 artists that looked interesting.  I look for art that not only captivates me but also anything that looks like the work I do.

walking towards Building 117

First stop, Building 101 - the building with the most artists studios.

overlooking Building 104

It was a beautiful afternoon, this November day.















First stop - Susan Spies whose work looked so much more enchanting in real life.

Susan Spies

Susan Spies

Susan Spies

I adore this green painting.  I would classify her painting as similar to mine but also very different.  It is a color field and I assume that like my approach, many layers of paint were added.  However, the texture is different from my color fields.  She has defined shapes which are intriguing and also this explosion of color.   I would love to own one of her paintings.

I mentioned in a previous post how much I enjoyed the paintings on rusted metal by Leslie Morgan.

 I visited her studio and didn't find the small pieces like the one that was exhibited at SOMArts, only the large ones which I wasn't as interested in.  She was also showing at Arc Gallery and those smaller pieces were at that location.

Torrent by James Groleau

Every once in a while, you see an image on the computer and you wonder, is the piece really that rich in terms of color and texture?  In the case of the work by James Groleau, his work is absolutely rich and exquisite.  I spent a while on his website not just because the images were lovely but because he had a lot of good information regarding technique.

from the Element series by James Groleau

I visited 3 other artist's work in Building 101 but after seeing them in person, I felt that the pieces weren't as exciting as I had hoped.  I want to mention something about Open Studios etiquette - Open Studios is not a good time to catch up with friends (unless there is no one there visiting the studio) and it is never good to monopolize a conversation talking about your own work to the artist, especially during their open studios. Artists (and I am guilty of this) like to visit other studios because we are nosy,  like to see the set up and possible ask about rents. However, it is important for the artist to focus on the visitors so keep conversation to a minimum.  Artist have to be able to talk to visitors, answer questions and  hopefully talk about their work.  I witnessed several occasions where the artist was engaged in chit chat  (I had questions but gave up) or was being distracted by another artist talking about their own  work.  As an exhibiting artist, we have to be almost ruthless in a tactful way to dissuade people from monopolizing our time.  One artist had a friend help by greeting the visitors and answering questions  if the artist was already speaking to someone.  I thought that was a great idea but who has a friend willing to hang out for 14 hours on the weekend?

Sirima Sataman was not on my list but I was glad to have discovered her work after  I stopped by to see someone else's work.  I was captivated by her linocut trees.

artist Sirima Sataman

artist Sirima Sataman

She is also a sculptor but I was mesmerized by her prints.

Next up -  the work of Linda Adreveno, another color field artist who paints over 50 layers of acrylic paint to create the amazing final piece.  I was amazed at the complexity of layers - I didn't think it was possible to do it with acrylic paint.

artist Linda Adreveno

artist Linda Adreveno

She was also chosen 3 times to create the special  Hearts of San Francisco sculptures benefiting SF General Hospital.  I love that she can make extraordinary color fields and do graphic work.

As I was leaving the building, I saw extraordinary work hanging  in front of the windows that caught my eye - I had to have a closer look at the work of Rebecca Haseltine.  She works with acrylic ink on translucent mylar to great effect.  

Inner Estuary series by Rebecca Haseltine

Inner Estuary series by Rebecca Haseltine

Inner Estuary series by Rebecca Haseltine

I started with 11 names on the list, fell in love with 4 of them and discovered 2 by chance.  I asked artists how  sales were going and by 4 pm on Saturday, things weren't looking good.  Many had sold only one painting even though there were many people coming through.  With so much to look at, I suspect people needed to see "everything" before deciding on the purchase.  I hope their Sunday was better.