This is blog post is so late in coming. It is hard to finish anything. Now the end of summer is fast approaching so I will post and move on! In this blog post you can read about:

Tribute to Golden Gate Park
Collecting Anything
Two Exciting New Endeavors
California fires (on top of COVID)

ENDLESS DISCOVERY OF GOLDEN GATE PARK

So many of us have been getting to know Golden Gate Park better every day. Today I looked at the dew on trees (chilly, overcast), unfurling plants, still holding up and still delicious roses, and several mysterious statues!

Pioneer mother with exceptionally large hands and feet.

This plant shows leaves unfurling at their very best!

Set up shot of Red Bubble iphone case and matching rose.

I was writing this post last over the July 4th weekend. Think independently! But act for the overall good. Wear a mask. Spend time outdoors at a safe distance. In the summertime - no matter where you are - it feels good to be outside getting doses of natural Vitamin D. Well, so that was until the fires began and kept me indoors. There is soot everywhere, but today I heard that our chilly, foggy weather is helping to get control over the multiple fires.

Last summer I was living and traveling in Spain. That seems like 100 years ago! Being almost always cool in SF was certainly a factor in taking off….although we were there in the midst of an intense heat wave. But water was almost always nearby for a dip.

One good outcome of Covid is that it will be easier to stay abroad at length (whenever that will be again) since I can continue my regular activities that I miss so much when traveling (Pure Barre classes and life drawing sessions) because they’re now all on Zoom! …if only they’d let us bad Americans into the EU…

THINKING ABOUT COLLECTING

Do you collect? What do you collect? I have loads of little collections. Don’t you want something new in your environment to look at? Ugh, I’ve memorized the pattern on the living room rug from Zoom exercising there. Time to refresh!

Or maybe you collect things that are less tangible – like stories, poems, or words…but I like to look at things. My mother could recite poems and she collected turtles. My father could tell entertaining war stories (!) and he collected pipes, and as a kid, coins and stamps. When we were little my siblings and I collected stamps, rocks, and shells. My father also loved to rearrange the art and furniture in our house. As a child I thought this was odd behavior because I didn’t see my friends’ families changing much of anything in their homes for years on end.

A collection of heads in a Greek museum (Cyclades). Thinking about goddesses.

But many artists are like to shake things up – we like to see things differently, especially our collections of artwork and “objets”. I like to photograph my friends’ arrangements and collections too. In my home, I change things around a lot and admittedly I am distracted when I am on a Zoom session looking around at what I want to rearrange. Then there are the pros. Friends who are interior designers or antique dealers, or world travelers with simply great design sensibilities. I am in awe of their collections and their visions. Arranging is certainly a a key to the art of collecting.

A portion of my tiny spoon collection - so easy to transport and store.

My aqua pottery, a little collection built out with the help of a pottery collector friend and author, Marta Acosta. Under a painting by Ward Hunter*.

Vintage Asian food carriers and basket and an antique Japanese bronze turtle snuck in.

*Ward Hunter was a well-known Pittsburgh historical artist active in the '1940s-60s. An accomplished illustrator, painter, and sculptor he was a friend of my father’s and a co-founder of the Ivy School of Professional Art.

I inherited some of my mother’s extensive turtle collection.

Bits of my art collection: “Her Pinkness” is my Barbie photography (top left); the painting below is by Everett Sturgeon*, aka “Sturge” (bottom left); Lisa Lightman’s encaustic painting (right), and wax head sculpture by John Goodman.

An image of a plate-filled hallway at my friend’s home. I’d call her a true collector. Every year she buys these artist-painted plates at a ceramic studio’s fundraiser.

Clay figurines collected by Francisco Toledo are now in a museum in Oaxaco, Mexico where he lived. He collected objects that amused him and put them against colorful backdrops.

Image of Christina Blakeney’s kitchen wall.

*Everett Sturgeon, aka “Sturge”, Pittsburgh-based sculptor and painter, 19201993. He was another co-founder of the Ivy School of Professional Art.

“Night in the Forest” (above, top) is my digital collage work. Above, bottom is a painting by Joseph Abbati called “Sup”.

Here’s a portion of large silver-leafed painting by Kim Anno, is placed above a silver-leafed thrift store table with a cluster of old bronzes and a variety of ceramic art pieces.

DO WE ALL COLLECT SOMETHING?

Rocks? Shells? Coins? Postcards? Pitchers? First editions? Tea cups? Textiles? Depression glass? Toy cars? Old sketch books? Stories?

I am still collecting Barbie stories. Send me yours!

What do you collect? Send me a photo and description and I will select a handful to post in my next blog.

I am taking a stand against the massive clean up and toss out that seems to be part of Covid and sheltering in place. That said, I agree with what the masters of cleaning and organizing say, at least in part - what you keep must bring you joy.

RESOURCES

Here are three fantastic Asian antique dealers’ websites where you can feast your eyes:

Galen Lowe

www.lasieexotique.com

The Fairmans

And a couple of inspiring interior designer friends:

Vicki Simon

Christina Blakeney

THE INVISIBLE WORLD WE LIVE IN

I am excited to announce a new collaborative art venture and soft launch of our blog site. Officially launching on Sept 1, The Invisibility Collective is a small group of artists around the USA who have been gathering virtually over the past few months to consider what it means to be invisible. The conversations are wonderful. There’s so much to consider. Here’s a handful of recent drawings and collages that I’ve worked on in Zoom model sessions that feel related to this project idea. Lots of research still underway…and as part of that, we’ve been asking two test questions:

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
Do you feel invisible (or have you ever felt invisible)?

Feel free to email me your answers: srkirshenbaum@gmail.com

BIG FIRES FIRES EVERYWHERE

Just when we thought matters could not get worse, here we are, dealing with evacuations, panic, destruction, and the results of climate change in the midst of a pandemic. I am lucky in SF all we have is very bad air quality and soot everywhere. People have mentioned the plagues, because they just keep piling on. I am deeply concerned for all the people in the line of fire, so to speak, and their homes, businesses, animals, and the entire landscape. I feel terrible for the wineries. This is a critical time for them. We’ve not had fires so early in the season. It’s alarming. And where are our prisoner fire fighters? So they wouldn’t die of Covid they were released and so that’s 10,000 fewer fire fighters battling the multitudes of fires. This is a strange story, and now the world knows about it.

There’s the strong smell of smoke inside my house with all the windows closed. I have not left home for a walk in days. It is the end of August, and life is not improving.

On a recent trip to Greece I was asked to choose a goddess persona. I chose Diana (Roman), aka Artemis (Greek).

REGULAR PEOPLE

Recently I was invited to be a contributor, aka “goddess” to write articles for a new website launching on Sept 1 about living a long, healthy, creative life.

The company is based in Girona, Catalonia and it is called Grace of No Age.

Look forward to hearing from women contributing articles from around the world. My first article connects this new website about helping women transition into their older selves with my Invisibility Collective projects, which also launches on Sept 1 at The Invisibility Collective.

Portrait of an older female model I made at a Zoom drawing session recently.

PUBLICATIONS

NOW AVAILABLE! Barbie on the Cusp: Japan, Zine #3, This is a signed limited edition $25 all inclusive. See my photo setups of Barbie in Japan in this ongoing zine series. Email me to order: srkirshenbaum@gmail.com

COMING SOON! My first black and white photo book is at the printer now.

Invisible series: Upside down, all tucked in, and inside out

WHAT’S COMING NEXT?

> City Art Coop Gallery, Exhibiting in the gallery! Sept 2-27

> ArtspanSF Open Studios is Sept 16-Oct 14

> > Artspan’s Virtual Visit with the Artist, Teal Event at SFWA: Sat., Oct 3, 10am-2pm

> SFWA In-Person Opening Welcome! October Shows: Artist’s Salon: Sat, Oct 10, noon-5:30pm | Sept 27-Oct 31

> Open Studios in person @ my new Art Studio | Visit my Open Studio by Appointment | Sept 16-Oct 14 | Appointments are available for one-on-one distanced meetings: Oct 1, 2, 5, and 6-14 Location: 830 8th St, Suite 230 (btw Brannon & Townsend, Sobel Design Center).

PLUS

> SFWA Member's Online Show: All Together Now, August

> Extended! ArtspanSF's Fundraiser, Art Lives Within Us online gallery

> LST Primary Colors, July

> MDAC Top 100 Winners for 2020

> Corona Self-Portrait Project Online Exhibition

PRODUCT LAUNCHES

I now have my art on Face Masks on both Red Bubble and Spoonflower! I just received my RB mask samples and they are quite wonderful - a soft jersey material that feels nice on the face. All of the products are lovely and well-made. I keep adding new art!