Susan R. Kirshenbaum

art and life - both the cherries and the pits

Just. Fall.

Susan R. KirshenbaumComment

Here in the Bay Area of California life continues with very little change as the seasons shifted from summer to fall to early winter. If your life involves school there’s that big seasonal change. If not, things just keep moving and the quality of the light changes a bit, it gets dark too early, there’s an added crispness in the air, there’s often wildfire smoke in the air too, and this year, it meant that we were catapulting into the election. Whew. I am relieved and yet the work ahead is massive. Enough said.

My thrust on the state of humanity of late focuses on what I call “the invisibility factor”. There’s plenty to look at there! So this blog post features the first group show by The Invisibility Collective and invited artists in December. The piece below will be part of my installation – which you may write on if you come see the show in person!

Obliterated drawing of the inspiring model Kyla in an aerial dance pose with limbs wrapped in her silks. This 36” square print (Ed 1/1/) is on archival paper and will appear in the show hung on a wall that is contiguous with my new series of five 8’ long hanging sheer panels. There will be little pencils there too so you can write directly onto the print.

FALL FEATURES

The Invisible Collective Exhibition “SEEN X UNSEEN” Opens Sat, Dec 5, Noon-6pm, at the Radian Gallery (SF)

Virtual & In-person Open Studios

The Zoom Drawing Experience

Being Censored Becomes an Exhibition

Seen x Unseen – The Invisible Collective’s Inaugural Exhibition

WHO WE ARE

The Invisibility Collective is a collaborative group of nationally acclaimed artists, curators, and social activists exploring the deep experiences and complexity of the concept of Invisibility. Our varied backgrounds help bring our mission to life – to make change through artistic activism, and specifically, by making invisible people visible.

SHOW OPENING

We are having our first exhibition. I hope some of you will be able to visit Radian Gallery (SF) in-person. The first two Saturdays of December we’re are having several types of opening events (Covid may affect all this so check back) including art talks by Collective Member Artists Lonnie Graham, Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen, and more. Make an appointment now to see the show as occupancy will be extremely limited and timed. The rest of the month the show will be accessible by appointment and we will have an online version for those who can’t make it in-person.

“Dissolving” will be in the show with four other 8’ long panels on chiffon that you may walk through.

BACKGROUND

CURATORIAL STATEMENT

This exhibition looks at various ways that people express their feelings about being seen and not being seen and the intersection of the two worlds. We are exploring the many aspects of what it means to be invisible and presenting ways of becoming more aware of how this status affects us. Each of the collective’s members has asked questions about their experiences with invisibility.

Our inner community is expanding to include a slightly larger outer community circle. Together and individually we are exploring this intersection of being seen and unseen. The Invisibility Collective and invited guest artists are assembling an exhibition that is the culmination of months of virtual “Covid conversations” from the West Coast to the East Coast of the USA.

The ideas that form the foundation of the collective preceded Covid, but have not surprisingly grown to encompass elements and results of the prolonged pandemic. How often and in how many ways do these words come up in your own conversation? As we’ve probed these ideas sparks have flown and intangible becomes more tangible. We are peeling away layers to look beneath the obvious – to reveal – and to reflect through an art experience that peaks the senses. Questions are raised. Answers are discussed. It is experiential.

As The Invisibility Collective Founder, I’ll be showing a new digital original collage, “Appear/Disappear”, a 36” square print on archival paper to be positioned next to my floor-to-ceiling chiffon panels.

“Seen x Unseen” is the intersectionality of two ideas. “X” means so many things: It is an iconic symbol that is both the unknown and the intersection and it is a multiplier. Invisibility can be applied to the entire gambit of sociological, economic, political, and personal conditions and perceptions.

In this exhibit we have created new works, pulled from our personal archives, and invited artists from our broader communities to bring bold their statements into the public eye and to be seen, felt, and explored.

Invisibility Collective Members

Lonnie Graham

Susan R. Kirshenbaum

Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen

Samira Shaheen

Angela Tirrell

Invited Artists

Mary Graham

Sophia Green

Rell Rushin

Sawyer Rose

John Stone

Christopher M. Tandy (Courtesy of Glass Rice Gallery, SF)

Nancy Willis

Invited artist Nancy Willis’ Syria Dangling, a photopolymer 3-plate monoprint, 17”x16”, 2020.

Invited artist Nancy Willis’ Syria Dangling, a photopolymer 3-plate monoprint, 17”x16”, 2020.

Collective Member Samira Shaheen’s mixed media piece, Crossover, is in the show next month.

Image by Sawyer Rose as part of her installation, Force of Nature: Bety,

Invited artist Sawyer Rose’s installation, Force of Nature: Bety, will be in “Seen X Unseen”. (Both images above)It is from her series FOR NEITHER LOVE NOR MONEY-Women’s Invisible Labor/http://www.carrying-stones.com/

Invited artist, Rell S. Rushin’s, Onward, is an acrylic painting on canvas, 36”x24” in “Seen X Unseen”.

Invited Bay Area artist Sophia Green will be showing Isolation: Alone We Stand Alone We Fall, an oil painting on canvas, 31”x31”.

Sophia Green will also be showing Private: How Much Do You Reveal How Much Do I Hide, an oil painting on canvas, 37”x49”.

Christopher M. Tandy’s Into the Threshold, Into the Hum, installation is a sample image of his work. Courtesy Glass Rice Gallery

Christopher M. Tandy, assorted drawings - graphite on paper is a sample image – not the actual work in the show. Courtesy Glass Rice Gallery.

The Invisibility Collective Member Angela Tirrell at work in her Napa stdio.

Collective Member Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen’s, Of What You Cannot See From What You Cannot Look Away, 2020 (working title), a site-specific altar and sculptures. Dimensions variable (this installation approx. 6 x 6 x 6 feet). This is a sample image – not the actual work in the show.

The art process video of me drawing this Barcelona model was just removed from YouTube.

ARGH! I’M BEING CENSORED

It’s true. I’m shocked. But I really am being censored. Recently YouTube has changed/automated their algorithms so that they “capture” my videos and disallow them. Which means that they either remove my videos and/or make them unavailable to anyone who is not over 18 years old. Here’s a letter I recently sent to YouTube to try to get them to reinstate my art process videos, and in fact they did reinstate one video (of several):

“I am a figurative artist who works on an iPad Pro in Procreate. This app records me making art and helps me provide demonstrations for both art students and established artists. That's why they are called “art process videos". They are teaching / demonstration tools. There is nothing inappropriate about the subject matter. It is not sexual or explicit. These are works made working with professional art models – as is the standard in the art and teaching world. Museums and art galleries welcome the public at large – of all ages. Why censor my work? Why target me – an artist? My work is never violent or sexual.”

I find this topic terribly fascinating! It is a despicable situation. How can this happen in the USA in 2020? It is fascinating that the social media world is so restrictive about benign works of art.

There is a crazy censorship issue involving female nipples – evidently not just in photos but in drawings too. Um, have you ever been to a European beach?

This drawing of Kyla encountered the female “Nipple Rule”. I might have key worded in “trans” and set off an alarm.

My art process video displayed below was removed. I disputed it (see my letter) and they put it back. Other art process videos…I was not able to get reinstated. Most of those that were questioned were re-assigned to an 18+ age requirement. I understand parents not wanting their kids to watch violence or porn, but this is neither. Take it up with me? Send me a note.

Remember when the NEA was in a panic over the performance artist Karen Finley? Amidst the dirty politics of the the current presidency I am having to fight for my freedom of expression to show how I draw a model. There is the ugliest, nastiest, most violent, utterly untrue noise around me, in Tweets, and on Fox News. And here I am, just drawing. Nothing vile. Nothing frightening. Nothing damaging. Not even creepy or disturbing…

YOUTUBE SAYS THIS:

Don’t post content on YouTube if it has any of the items below. Explicit content featuring the below policy violations could result in channel termination.

  • Depiction of genitals, breasts, or buttocks (clothed or unclothed) for the purpose of sexual gratification

  • Pornography depicting sexual acts, genitals, or fetishes for the purpose of sexual gratification

This story also makes me want to link to an interview I gave for a writer friend earlier this year, “Why I draw nudes”.

To be fair, this is not just about YouTube’s censorship. It is a general observation about a conservative shift that’s been going on for decades. Here’s a conversation that was relayed to me recently of an early modeling trauma from a model/teacher/artist friend: “Artist: Why are you showing us your stuff? Model: What do you mean? Artist: Please close your legs so I don’t have to see that or draw it!”

“Titania is Reflective” is a piece in the SFWA show about this theme.

I used my bathing suit-clad models for my VOTE series so they would be fully accessible on RedBubble and not behind a wall of for Adults Only.

I used my bathing suit-clad models for my VOTE series so they would be fully accessible on RedBubble and not behind a wall of for Adults Only.

WHAT AM I DOING ABOUT THIS?

From my new series of diptychs here is With/Without: Abby.

Every time I turn around my work is being censored. This experience is helping me form a new exhibition concept. I’ve begun work on a solo show “Women & Censorship: Imposed/Self-Imposed” (a working title). I’ll open in March of 2021 and I’ll also host several artist’s conversations on this topic. The exhibition will take place at The Misho Gallery – where I have my studio – in the Sobel Design Building. Opening day is Dec 5.

SF Open Studios – Virtual & In-Person

The annual Artspan Open Studios were so different this year! Well, they had to change or not have them at all. So Artspan re-organized the whole thing, and although I was sad that with an actual studio for the first time I was not able to have a regular open studio as people did pre-covid, I too worked around our limitations.

Participant artists had virtual Open Studios for several hours on assigned days. I chose to conduct my session in the Artist Salon at SFWA in front of a wall of art.

MY VENUES

At SFWA the Artspan Open Studios Live Virtual Event ended and an in-person Welcome event began.

Fellow artists visit SFWA’s Artist Salon Gallery at the in-person Welcome for “Abstract Thinking”.

At my in-person one-on-one Open Studio visit. This is the gallery portion of my studio (on loan from Misho Gallery) at the Sobel Design Center. I filled the whole space with my work. I hope to have a show here in Spring 2021.

My art friend and patron Kris visiting my studio during Open Studios. She’s wearing my art mask and leggings titled Woman on Fire!

At the home of my buyer after delivering The Situation, from my SFWA show, the “Word Series”.

ZOOM DRAWING SESSIONS

Starting in the Covid Spring of 2020 artists and models began organizing virtual drawing sessions to accommodate models’ lost wages and to maintain artists’ drawing routines. Like any exercise, we require frequency and continuity of our practice.

A model drawing from a live and a virtual session held in my old home, Barcelona.

A model drawing from a live and a virtual session held in my old home, Barcelona.

Some folks who never drew the figure and had lots of time on their hands while sheltering decided to take it up. Now it’s incredibly popular!

Janique M. Bailey is a Berlin-based American model (artist and dancer too) who is utterly thrilling to draw. Her look is inspired by Grace Jones. The drawing group that hired her for this session is based in London.

Titania is a fantastic Bay Area model who runs her own sessions. I have been totally inspired by her spirit and her impossibly athletic poses.

Alluris, aka “the alluring one” is a charismatic Bay Area model I was lucky to get to draw for many months of Covid sheltering. Loved her DJ music too.

There are many types of drawing groups around the world and they hire all sorts of models (or models organize themselves), and provide instructed or uninstructed sessions, plus they all make it easy for online payments, and when it’s safe in one country/city or another, they also open their doors again to scaled-back, masked in-person sessions.

An unintended advantage of the virtual session: Models are often wearing underwear or bathing suits - and this is because they feel unprotected by such easy access. This trend makes virtual drawing session art more appealing to a broader audience who might not buy a nude.

I created this multiple piece called “Embrace inspired by the graceful and expressive model and dancer Lael.

Art model Bibi is also Bay Area based. We have a wealth of talent right here!

Amanda is multi-talented and loves a good theatrical costume and/or theme. This was her dark angel.

Kyla, on the East Coast, is an aerial performer. Drawings of her dangling are the basis for my latest ceiling-to-floor panels for my Dec show, “Seen x Unseen”.

Yup, that’s her rifle over the fireplace in Victoria, BC.

Trying out drawing groups on Zoom, sometimes they describe and promote the model and sometimes not. I forgot to check who this group’s model was going to be. I admit to being less inspired by some models than others. That said, I like how this drawing turned out.

“Ruth” is a portrait I made in a virtual session billed as drawing an “older woman”. So many models are young and beautiful, yet it feels odd to know that the pitch is to have a chance to draw an older person. This idea ties directly back to my thinking about The Invisibility Collective and Grace of no Age.

PEOPLE I KNOW

My San Francisco drawing group, led by John Goodman, and who I’ve mentioned in reference to our ongoing heads and hands studies, has met for many years two nights a week. We’ve maintained our core group throughout Covid through Zoom sessions where we draw each other while chatting and sipping. My drawing group has multiple participants who are both artists and models. Modeling helps an artist understand poses by feeling them. It’s all great exercise for me – the challenge of capturing a likeness or gesture of someones’ hands.

“Alex & his New Recorder”, is an avid life drawing group artist as well as a model. I’ve never known anyone to draw as frequently in figure drawing sessions as he does.

“Barbara” is a drawing I kept working on after my Drawing Group session ended. Now it can be found at the SFWA gallery in the Nov show, “Reflective”.

“Dwight Leaning Back”

AMUSEMENTS

A friend who is not afraid to wear color (in the form of my art clothes) or display figurative art.

I keep adding more art to RedBubble shop so that you too can find what you like and apply it to clothes, notebooks, whatever and buy it directly. The way that it works is I choose the product and apply my art and scale it as I wish. I get a commission from your purchases. You get your order directly from the website.

As the pandemic deepens we are staying home and not going into stores. I see this as an excellent time to amuse ourselves with a bit of arty shopping.

If you haven’t joined a book club yet, now’s the time. I’m reading Milkman for my book group. And I just read my friend Marta Acosta’s newly completed manuscript for Mad Dog Down the Road. This is the second book in the series. What a thrill! I can’t get over the fact that I have a friend who writes books that I love to read!

I took two ferris wheel rides last week! What a fantastic view. Somehow it felt like Paris overlooking two museums, a bandshell, and fountains. The sky was gorgeous both days. Check it out here.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

It’s so hard to keep social distance all the time, and wear a mask in public, all the time. I really miss having friends in my house for dinner. We are all tired of the lack of friends and family in person. Of dinners and parties. Of travel, dining, art events, and shopping. As the weather cools and the rains come on, we know we have to moderate ourselves.

Let’s all be thankful for what we’ve got. Please stay well and safe. And stay in touch.

I am always looking for: Your Barbie Stories; Photos of your Collections; and now your experiences with being CENSORED, especially as an artist.

Amanda the singer/model poses in thematic costumes out of LA as we draw her on live zoom sessions during Covid sheltering

A Summer Like No Other Summer

Susan R. KirshenbaumComment

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!

I did not set this shot up!

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

Once, again, found perfection.

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.

Old Japanese tool collection

Hunter’s book plate

Hunter’s sketch book

*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.

My tray with various collections

*Everett Sturgeon, aka “Sturge”, Pittsburgh-based sculptor and painter, 1920–1993. 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.

buttonart_blog.jpg

CherryPits.Net/Blog

SUMMERTIME

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

Invisible series: Camo

Invisible series: Dogwood Blooming #2

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:

  1. How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

  2. Do you feel invisible (or have you ever felt invisible)?

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

Invisible series: Ghost

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.

logo_grace_claim_web.jpg

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!

Need a school notebook? You can order this one with my art on it (or hard cover journal) from Red Bubble.

Wear some art! Match your outfit…

Buy direct! My art on textiles, wallpaper, & merchandise:

@ SPOONFLOWER  and @ REDBUBBLE

Want to encourage people to vote?

Newly added art with my VOTE message shown here on a magnet from Red Bubble.

On Spoonflower you can see an example of one of my most popular textile designs in a wide range of products.

EMPTY STREETS, LOTS OF PARKING, AND 6' TAKES ON NEW MEANING

Susan R. KirshenbaumComment

I sent out my last blog post (and first of the year) on March 12. The next day, Friday the 13th, an easy date to remember, my world shifted. That was also the last day I went to my studio, gave a friend a hug, bought groceries and flowers just for the weekend in a grocery store, and took a walk in Golden Gate Park - a mere foot away from my friend. Later we all ordered Chinese food in.

I haven’t had any restaurant food since. I haven’t been around anyone but my husband Jack and our two cats nor have either of us gone to a store or run an errand beyond a mail box. Everything can be delivered and so it is for us. Mind you, I married a guy who loves to cook and bake, so during sheltering in place he’s feeding us very well. This is a challenge he’s embraced.

So far I’ve been sheltering in place over 40 days. I know we are all in this together and share our alarm about having no clear end in sight or vision for the future. And since I’ve been writing this blog for weeks off and on my point of view has continued to evolve. As the situation and my mood shifts, it is harder than usual for me to finalize a piece of writing and send it out into the world.

First photo in the next phase of my Barbie on the Cusp series, She Has Everything She Needs. I have to admit it seemed kinda funny at first. I mean the hoarding. Not any more. I think the next Barbie series will be domestic (USA), which reflects my lack of travel plans for 2020 and maybe 2021.

FRIDAY THE 13TH

During the evening of Friday the 13th I started cancelling all of our plans. Until then we were still making arrangements and scheduling activities which we meant to keep. But our friends understood. They too were cancelling. In the Bay Area, we were on the precipice of the shut down, and that following Monday, alone in my car, I heard the mayor’s announcement ordering everyone to “shelter in place”. I felt glad and sad simultaneously - proud to live in a place that is attentive to its people and our health and well-being, but sad that I wouldn’t be able to do so many things or go back to my new art studio. And worried about people I know and don’t know getting sick and dying. In the early stages I felt deep concern for family and friends in other parts of the USA where there were no strict orders yet, and other parts of the world that were already in an extreme state of the pandemic crisis. My sisters on the East Coast live in areas slower to respond. And I worriedly reached out to friends in Italy, France, Spain, and England - and luckily they’re all safe (though many have lost friends and family).

A scene from the early days of SIP seen venturing out for a short drive into Golden Gate Park to see the spring tulips. Later many of these roads and parking areas were closed because there were too many people gathering.

Back to that fateful Friday the 13th when I said that we’d never lived through anything like this before and my friend corrected me by saying that the AIDS epidemic was very much like this - so many losses, and no ideal treatment nor vaccine. He’s right. He lost his partner. Our city of San Francisco was devastated. And AIDS-related deaths have continued for years. So many friends were lost - it really hit home for me.

But this pandemic is even more extensive and has spread so easily (even to cats?) and reached just about every corner of the world. Now I think we all agree it’s the worst health crisis in our lifetime (okay now please stop telling me about the number of losses due to the Spanish Flu of 1918). I can’t get enough Covid news and statistics yet I continue to read my novels and art articles. And I just read a novel that is historical fiction and takes place during the Bubonic Plague, The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish.

WHAT WILL THIS LEAD TO?

I want to understand this. I want to use this experience to come out (and ideally pop out at the other end) as a better person to live in a better world. There’s some good news here. We’ve all had to slow way down and tightly restrict our activities. This means - among other things - that we’ve been able to return to many of our most basic creature comforts. I’m enjoying quite a few of these (but not all) – naps, staying up later, and sleeping in; reading the many books and periodicals that are all over my house; gardening; playing and listening to music; dancing around; organizing and rearranging cupboards, closets, and drawers (somehow so comforting, mindless, and satisfying); taking on cooking projects; enjoying long baths and long walks; eating regular meals plus snacks, wine, and cocktails; deep cleaning; cycling; snuggling and playing with our animals and kids; talking on the phone/ Zoom/Facetime/WhatsApp and hanging out on other social media; chilling with the mate; staying home; not commuting; and getting to know our immediate neighborhoods and our neighbors better.

A favorite corner in the hood. Spring blossoms!

The best view nearby is at Tank Hill. Wildflowers!

VINTAGE PHOTOS

While reconnecting with family and old friends, I’ve been pulling out boxes of photos and then with my iPhone sending them out and posting. I have loads of very good black and white images my father shot and printed in our home darkroom. I used a favorite one (below) to make a collage for a SFWA Mother’s Day show online. That’s mom in the middle, surrounded by her girls - I’m in the saddle shoes - with my two big sisters Lyn and Ava (before our brother Adam was born).

Left to right: Susan, Lyn, Joy, Ava

“On the Rocks” is my piece in the SFWA Mother’s Day gallery/shop online here.

SHOPPING, COOKING, BAKING, & DRINKING

I realize that many of us are spending a lot of time ordering online these days on overloaded systems - liquor, food, pet supplies, hair products, and other goods we need to replenish. San Franciscans were ready for an earthquake with extra supplies which we could raid but sometimes you just run out. I don’t understand the urge to hoard anything - toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or masks - especially to the detriment of others. I’m grateful we had yeast around and could buy flour so Jack could practice his bread baking. There are so many strange shortages - in addition to paper products, yeast and flour, eggs, favorite brands, fresh produce like lemons and limes, and now health and supply chain issues around meat shortages.

Many of our friends and family are venturing out regularly for groceries. I don’t think it’s necessary but I do understand the tradeoffs and don’t want to tell others what to do or vice versa. At least for the first few weeks of lockdown online ordering worked well but eventually the demand increased and couldn’t be easily met. Strikes about risk and safety arose. Eventually I’m sure I’ll see the inside of a store or be outside with lots of people at a farmer’s market. I miss all that a lot. But in the meantime the concern about workers health and safety couldn’t be more legitimate - shoppers, delivery people, the whole group of folks “lucky” enough to have jobs. I hope we all are helping the helpers. I appreciate our friends who are shopping for others and all the rest of the volunteers out there helping anyone in need!

Top: Roasted whole cauliflower with cumin; fresh pear tart Bottom: Iron skillet crusty white bread; Spanish seafood noodle paella

We often have a variation on the kid’s lunch -with a cute sandwich and veggie like this.

REALLY STAYING HOME

Call me risk-averse, but I don’t feel like it’s worth taking the chance to get take out from restaurants, go to farmers markets, or walk into food stores. I read that 50% of the restaurants out there may not make it through and re-open. But I don’t think I’ll be able to save my local restaurant by ordering take-out. In any case now I am considered “old” - perhaps this is my first realization that this is the case - so now as a person over 60 I’m supposed to stay inside. And wear masks and gloves out. I think everyone should wear masks out. They did it in Hong Kong and other major metropolitan areas to great affect.

On a lighter note, masks are no doubt on their way to being the latest fashion trend. I’m working on getting my art masks made asap! They’ll be available along with a variety of merchandise already on Red Bubble. I’m also selling my textiles directly on Spoonflower now.

LAST WEEK - This attractive reversible cotton mask is made by Liz Brooking. Available by direct order from her on Facebook. Or make your own with my art fabric from Spoonflower.

This fabric and many more on Spoonflower now!

A WEEK LATER - More covered. I dug out my California wildfire mask (from Rainbow Grocery) so I am rotating masks.

Sample of my patterns and typical color palette. Find more at Spoonflower now.

CONTINUOUS CHANGES

We are all coming to terms with the on-going changes resulting from the pandemic. And many of us are realizing that we (those of us who live in the USA) might have been safer sooner, like people in Greece. And so much for the younger folks not being affected since 18-49 year olds have been getting sick too. There’s a very clear and concise article about face mask wearing in The Atlantic (which I believe we’re encouraged to share).

Sad to say that I habitually scan the obits and they are dense in the latest Sunday NYT. I read their causes of death and their ages. There are so many Covid cases. I am concerned about family in care facilities. We were in Seattle the weekend of that first nursing home outbreak and it is terrifying. Needless to say I am terribly sad for friends and family who have lost people due to the pandemic - or for other causes during this time since no one can just hop on a plane and attend a funeral. It must have been hard not to be with people you care about during the April holidays – Passover and Easter – and during the times of loss.

Found all the ingredients for the seder plate right in our fridge (except a bone).

One nice idea that emerged was to hold family and friend get togethers long distance through Zoom. I joined in to my sister’s virtual seder in Philadelphia. For my seder - a Passover ceremonial service and meal - I initiated the special ceramic plate I made years ago and had never used before. The symbolic foods are already glazed onto the plate.

MY LITTLE WORLD

As always I take photos of what’s right here when I am at home - just little things around me and views out the window. Now my physical world has gotten so much smaller. It would be absurd to try to make travel plans. Luckily I have a huge number of photos from trips over the last few years and could spend all my time virtually traveling again through them. And real long distance travel…it’s hard to imagine that we will fly around with the same carefree attitudes of the past. I am sorry for the younger generation who will not travel with the ease we got used to.

Home vignette (with beautiful books by Kiff Slemens)

Barcelona courtyard

OLD FRIENDS CHECKING IN

I am sentimental and nostalgic. With a father who photographed our daily lives in black and white, I have a record of our lives more than most people. One of my lifelong friendships is with Michelle, who lives in a village in the English countryside. We took ballet together in the third grade. I learned to drink milky tea from her British actress mom. As an army brat she moved often - so that was our only year together, but we wrote letters and stayed in touch. Michelle always calls me in a crisis - usually your Bay Area variety such as earthquakes and fires. So again, she called me right away, but this time the disaster is worldwide so we are both affected. I am also wonderfully connected to friends in other far away places and it’s good know they are safe and well and it’s all so easy to get in touch now. Sadly there’s very little letter writing anymore for keeping a lasting record. We will lose people and people we know will be traumatized by illness and losses. This is all part of what we try to imagine the world will be like when we are through with this phase.

Third grade

Me, Michelle, my sisters

Visit from Michelle in the 80s

LUCKY!

I know I’m lucky. I am not really struggling with more than feeling discomfort at being trapped at home. This is such a stressful time for folks who have lost jobs, are trying to manage kids and jobs from home, and to all those whose businesses or employers will not make it through the financial downturn. For retired folks in my age group, their 401K accounts tanked so low that we really have to live a long time for them to rebound...or just die sooner.

So now I am letting my hair go somewhat gray and it has started to get pretty shaggy. I know this is the new normal. So I pre-paid my hair salon to help them out, but in the meantime I’ve been trimming my curly mop my self. Uh oh, it could get shorter than planned because it’s fun to snip away.

She is lucky to have a friend to shelter in place with and she’s a Russian doll!

I am lucky with this view including a big tree with an owl who hoots nightly.

ZOOM CALLS

Who doesn’t wear only super comfy casual clothes – with slippers? That said I dress up with earrings and lipstick for my visual phone and video calls. I get out of PJs and into exercise clothes for daily Pure Barre Zoom classes while my husband does his live Zoom Tai Chi. We attended a Zoom birthday party. I’ve revived one of my groups, the Curly Girls and I look forward to my Zoom book group session next week. I attend my life drawing group 2x/week and we really look at each other, because we’re drawing each other. So, yes, I dress up a bit, generally just my top half. I even meet new artists in my live model Zoom sessions so I care a little about my physical presentation. These virtual experiences are not so bad if it’s all you’ve got.

There’s a lot of drinking going on. And I love to make and invent cocktails - but why can’t I find sweet vermouth - is everyone really drinking Manhattans and Negronis? We have enjoyed virtual cocktail hours with friends – although it could be coffee for me while it’s drinks in London. It’s interesting to compare notes about how our different governments, friends, and families are handling the pandemic.

Studying my 1920s cocktail recipe book. I’ve been drinking Vespers in vintage glassware.

Sipping while watching the sun set out the window while the view is reflected inside the house.

PANDEMIC ART & ARTISTS

One of four pieces of my art on Red Bubble.

Already near the bottom of this post and finally I’m writing about art! As an artist, I always have too much to do. I am used to spending many hours working alone on projects - great practice in life and lock downs. I have time for re-working older pieces, sorting out the drawers-full of pre-digital drawings on paper (well, I haven’t started this project yet but I hope to by the time I send this out), archiving art and photo files, editing, updating my website, studying hashtags and posting on social media, drawing my husband, my drawing group in our virtual meetings, and most recently online life drawing sessions - yay! I’m also meeting virtually with my art coach, submitting to online juried shows, looking for future shows and opportunities, applying for grants, posting my work for sale on Red Bubble and on Spoonflower, making short video tours of the art in my house, writing my blog, assembling new art books, adding work to my Patreon account, uploading art process videos to my YouTube channel, studying other artists’ videos, and much more.

“Glowing” is on Red Bubble products now. Model: Alida

“Redhead on Pink” is on Red Bubble merchandise now.

The pandemic theme has taken hold as artists grapple with the new world order, issues of isolation and their inability to work in their studios, show and sell art in person, and express their feelings about living in a pandemic. It’s still a busy time for me but I am giving myself a break too as I am not always feeling super-motivated or focused during SIP. That said, I’ve entered and been accepted into a few online shows as many opportunities online that suit my work. Of course I had a bunch of event and exhibition plans cancelled and work toward art residencies is all for naught. I’m booked for a show at City Art Coop Gallery in June. Will this happen? Your guess is as good as mine.

My “Magenta Hair” is now online in SFWA’s Artist’s Choice exhibition.

SAN FRANCISCO WOMEN ARTISTS GALLERY

As the exhibition director and serving on the Board of San Francisco Women Artists Gallery (SFWA), a historic Bay Area women’s art gallery, I’m well aware of the tumult and financial stress the pandemic is causing and the art world is being hit very hard. I hope that SFWA can survive and thrive. I have a new piece in the SFWA’s Artist’s Choice show and before everything closed SFWA had our last in-person exhibition themed Hidden Figures. My piece, “Asleep in the Moss” was juried in. We built out an online gallery and shop to maintain our exposure to try to work around this prolonged gallery closure. I spent a lot of time planning and writing show themes and inviting jurors for SFWA this year, but who knows when we can re-open? I’ll keep you posted.

“Asleep in the Moss” is a digital original collage composed of a life drawing and a photo of a Japanese moss landscape.

VIRTUAL FUNDRAISING EVENTS

SFWA was to have our very first gala - at the top of the Sales Tower - on July 1, but that’s on hold. The latest news is that instead we’re having an Benefit Fundraiser with member art - all online for 2 weeks in May! I’ll be submitting work to the juried art auction. Matt McKinley is our juror. Stay tuned for details.

ArtspanSF was having an annual fundraiser in March and my piece (below) was juried into this auction. Now online, it is still available for sale to benefit ArtspanSF along with many other exciting member works of art.

Word Series: Burmese Heat, a large metal print still available to benefit the ArtspanSF annual auction (#artliveswithinus)

Word Series: Burmese Heat, a large metal print still available to benefit the ArtspanSF annual auction (#artliveswithinus)

INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Now more than ever I exchange deadly serious, informative articles as well as silly, funny, or inspiring stories, photos, and videos. Meantime, at our house we’re watching a lot of news (both the good and the bad stations), mixing it up with once a week live theatre (virtually), reading the Sunday NYT all week, and catching up on lots of films and tv series. This is what people are talking most about besides the virus and the politics around it.

ALONE?

For people living alone this is a hard time, even for the loners. I understand that people are choosing a tiny group of people to be with during this time. I would do that too, if I didn’t have Jack with me for the last 35+ years! For people who don’t get along or have one too many roommates or live in a tiny space – it could be a disaster. Call me!

JOURNAL ENTRY, APRIL 21

We are getting used to living in a pandemic state of quarantine. By the time I post this none of it will be a novelty anymore. I see “for rent”, “for lease”, and “for sale” signs which now abound in SF. I sneak in a short drive around town. It does not seem dangerous. There are glimmers of hope. Around the world people have different ways of tackling this thing, such as in Sweden. Feeling lucky to not be in the midst of the hell that others are in. This week was the anniversary of my sister-in-law passing. She was in a nursing home. How would it have been for her and for us? I am deeply sad (we are allowed to be), hopeful (we know we should be), and frustrated (how can we not be?)! What is responsible behavior? When will we get vaccines? When will we be tested? Is anything accurate? How will this affect what we can and cannot do? Sooo slow. The movement is far too slow for a worldwide problem. I’ve talked to lots of friends. Not all. But I am not a phone person. Zoom is in some ways is better. Much better than nothing if you want to draw a figure. I had my first full drawing session today and it felt good.

WHAT’S NEXT

My May blog will be a continuation of the theme I began in my March blog about collecting and why it is such an important time to have beautiful, provocative art and objects in your environment! I invite you to think about it and I’ll be asking questions to get your input and feedback on this topic! This will be my anti-Kondo feature. Especially for those of us sheltering in place yet another month I’ll make an effort to send it out to you sooner than later.

EVENTS

> SFWA BENEFIT FUNDRAISER - First Annual/First Online: May 23-June 6

SHOWS

> Lightspace and Time May Juried Online Botanical Show, FMay 3-31

> Fusion Art  April Juried Online Show, "4th Annual Black & White" Exhibition (two photos)

> Lightspace and Time April Juried Online Figurative Show, Winner of Special Merit & Special Recognition Awards

> SFWA Artist’s Choice Show Online

> SFWA Mother's Day Show Online

> Fusion Art March Juried Online Show, "4th Annual Colors" Exhibition

> ArtspanSF Benefit Art Auction | Featured Artist

> SFWA Gallery March Juried Show, "Hidden Figures" now online!

MAYBE

Maybe… an in person live show at City Art Coop in June 2020

Maybe… a studio opening in June 2020

STAY IN TOUCH

Send me your comments and questions. Like and share my blogs. If you missed my earlier blog posts, they’re all here if you scroll through.

SOCIAL

I post images regularly! Follow me: instagram.com/srkirshenbaum  facebook.com/cherrypitsart 

UPDATES

I’m always refreshing my website so take a browse through and see what’s new.

MEN & PORTRAITS

It’s hard for me not to have a live model at my disposal to work from weekly in my various drawing groups, but fortunately Jack will pose for me sometimes and he’s quite fun to draw and he stays very still. I am concerned about our art models and many art workers out there with no safety nets. My life drawing group - the one I’ve been in for decades has gone virtual 2x/week, and it’s a great group for interesting conversation. Surprisingly this group has several art-model-teacher members, so when we take turns posing it’s done well.

MEN IN UNDERSHIRTS

I have a recent re-appreciation for the so called “wife-beater” or common men’s undershirt shown in these two drawings.

HAND STUDIES

Hands are always hard to draw and paint so I thought they should be a challenge for the drawing group. Even if you get better with them you can get rusty. It’s like any exercise.

LIVE VIDEO DRAWING

Several models I know - plus a handful that I don’t know from all around the world - have started their own Zoom drawing sessions. There’s even one on The Big Island that asks only that you donate a cup of coffee. Our local models are a bit more regulated but offer sliding fee scales and go through Eventbrite for tickets. As usual I’m drawing all these on my iPad Pro with my Apple Pencil in Procreate.

Titania’s last pose of the session

Titania holds the most difficult poses

Titania holds the most difficult poses

Bibi LaVie in repose

Line drawing of Bibi

My Picasso-ish Bibi

Bibi looking down

EXHIBITING PHOTOGRAPHY

Thank goodness for online galleries! I got two of my photographs into the April Fusion online show and competition featuring black and white images. I have just begun entering my travel AND Barbie photographs into shows.

“Peluqueria”, taken in Catalonia, juried into the Fusion Art Black & White online exhibition

“Delivery Bicycle”, shot in Barcelona, summer 2019

“Barbie and Bottle”, Spain 2019, juried into the Fusion Art April Online Black & White Exhibition

I began exhibiting my photos in gallery settings with my “Barbie on the Cusp” series. The third book in this ongoing series is available now! Let me know how many and to whom they’re going so I can inscribe them. As always I produced a very limited edition.

Email me @ srkirshenbaum@gmail.com OR order from my website shop: Barbie: Japan ($25 signed & all inclusive)

Q1: What's in Store for 2020?

Susan R. KirshenbaumComment

FEBRUARY: DRY & FAST

February = the beginning of Spring in SF! There was the insipid Valentines Day (just cards this year = ok with me!), it is such a Hallmark greeting card day afterall, but more exciting - my niece’s 21st birthday. Now she feels old. Actually that’s what she said when she turned 20!

I can’t believe the Bay Area weather. So warm. Well there’s global warming of course. Even though I’ve lived in SF longer than my home town of Pittsburgh, PA, I still think February should be the dead of winter. But maybe that’s why it’s a time for new beginnings here and I get itchy to get going.

January was a wash - our recovery from the year-end TRIP TO JAPAN and getting over the shock of entering a new decade. Jammed with shows and openings. Feeling - hopeful. The garage art studio project got well underway. There were several hot prospects for getting a studio in an artist’s building. And poof! February ended so quickly with that Leap Year and all…

MARCH: NEW STUDIO & ELECTIONS

Good news, Bad news

Happy Women’s History Month! How are you celebrating? Since I started writing this blog last month I went to Seattle (had no clue about the Coronavirus yet), had a few more shows, openings, and made some future bookings. But the biggest news of all is that I rented a studio! It’s a good-sized square room inside a gallery. I’ve got 350 square feet with windows. Now I’m getting set up…I’ll have a reception/open house soon. When people can safely gather again. I’m excited about being able to make some big, non-digital pieces and also to be able to hire models.

My new studio address is: 680 8th St (btw Brannan & Townsend) in the Sobel Design Center. Yes, that’s in the SF Design District! Call or text if you’re in the hood and want to stop by.

But now with the Corona Virus in full stride we are all in a tizzy. Worried, taking precautions, checking in with each other. So far it is simply becoming ever more disruptive to our daily lives and outings as we continue to learn more about it and it continues to spread and plans keep changing while there are increased cancellations, and panic. SF is in the midst of a shut down restriction for two weeks – no events of over 50 people. Stay away from crowds please.

And in the midst of this is another unavoidable and ever so important series of election primaries. I am so proud to be a Californian! This is such a tricky year. I hope everyone out there is voting! I heard a funny thing…it’s impossible for Americans to learn to do two things at once - to vote and to wash their hands.

It finally rained a bit in SF, but it appears as if we are in another drought. There was no rain in February and that was the longest stretch without rainfall in a February in around 157 years.

En-route to Seattle: Saw this fab art show about hair at the SF Airport. These are hand-painted African and Caribbean signs combined with a photo I took at a friend’s house. This is my favorite flower color.

En-route to Seattle: Saw this fab art show about hair at the SF Airport. These are hand-painted African and Caribbean signs combined with a photo I took at a friend’s house. This is my favorite flower color.

The sign out front.

ACQUISITIVENESS?

I’m thinking about some topics that I’ve been wanting to write about but I am feeling the pressure and panic of dealing with this pandemic which has taken the spotlight. Still, I attempt to write about other matters in the world. People say that we live in times when people, especially those younger than me, don’t want “things” anymore. They just want “experiences”. Yet as artists and makers (I hate that term) we continue to create…and we need people to see and buy what we produce. We want people to spend time with our art in the places they live and work. We need and want the world to see what we are doing. We add fresh perspective. I love to see what others collect and arrange - it is often done so well that it’s an art form!

Featured artist Ralph Ziman showed “The Casspir Project” at the Tribal & Textile Show in Feb. He used traditional beadwork by local artisans to create an outrageous series of contemporary works of art.

A sampling from the Tribal & Textile Show at Fort Mason, SF

A sliver of Galen Lowe’s booth at the Tribal & Textile show (he was also our guide in Japan).

COLLECTING?

So I’ve been thinking about the notion of “acquisitiveness” and “collecting”. Recently I attended a favorite annual event at Fort Mason - The Textile and Tribal Art Show. Now as the next round of art auctions and events are coming up this month (such as Artspan’s annual art fundraiser on March 21 at Somarts - JUST CANCELLED) I find myself thinking about recent conversations with those who collect, those who sell to collectors, and to those who don’t understand the notion of collecting. Recently I learned that acquisitiveness can have a negative meaning and connotation. Here are some of its synonyms: greediness, covetousness, cupidity, possessiveness, avarice, avidity, rapaciousness, rapacity, materialism. It is “an excessive interest in acquiring money or material things”: a culture of acquisitiveness permeated his administration.

So perhaps this word is too strong and too negative to ascribe to collectors who buy art and antiques. Artists and dealers need these folks! I am one of them! But in the meantime, so many friends are focusing on elimination, simplification, and minimalism. They’re getting rid of storage facilities, organizing their homes and garages, generally getting rid of excess things, but also stockpiling “necessities”. We, on the other hand, just rented a storage unit to make space to work, build stuff, and move things around.

THOUGHTS?

Do you collect? How do you select your art? Do you love art and beautiful, intriguing objects? Do you go by the rule “one in, one out”? Do you travel and bring home souvenirs? What objects have special meaning in your life now? What would you rescue in a fire? What will happen to your art when you’re no longer around to enjoy it? Or are you in a shedding stage of your life? Are you downsizing or expanding into a large space? Have you read any of the books like “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”? Do you consider yourself a minimalist or a maximalist?

A SHORT VISIT TO SEATTLE

A seasonal display at our host’s home in Seattle.

We traveled to Seattle for our first Japan Trip reunion. I love this city! It’s so fun getting to know a place that you’ve never lived in and probably never will. I love our friends there and that makes it like a another home.

SEATTLE ASIAN MUSEUM RE-OPENS

At the beautiful Seattle Asian Art Museum which just re-opened!

This sign at the museum seemed to be about the same idea of objects and their meanings and why we keep things.

This Pilgrim’s tunic tells a whole story. I love the idea of writing beautifully and meaningfully on clothing.

AROUND TOWN

Still wintery - this photo feels cold to me

Classic view of Seattle with daffodils in full bloom

Classic view of Seattle with daffodils in full bloom

The trees were all blossoming. I loved the pink and yellow combo of this nice gallery in my fav neighborhood, Georgetown. The sky is often dramatic and hints at more rain coming.

This ceramic sculptor does powerful vignettes from his early life in Japan.

BARBIE IN SEATTLE

BARBIE IN SEATTLE

Choosing which sake to bring to a party is no easy task with so many options.

Her halo might or might not be a coaster…

Then there were the distractions at the liquor store. Absinthe anyone?

She loves her dessert!

She loves her dessert!

She makes friends easily.

MORE BARBIE UPDATES

I’m working on my third iteration and zine featuring Barbie on the Cusp. I am working toward a one-person show that features a full-scale Barbie installation. If I can land an art residency, this would be a great time and place to work on this project.

NEW ZINE

Order my newest zine here/now: email srkirshenbaum@gmail.com for your “Barbie on the Cusp: Japan”. Limited edition of 10, signed, and are at the printer right now!

$25 with tax & shipping included.

TELL YOUR STORY

Reminder that I am looking for more Barbie stories. Send yours: SRKirshenbaum@gmail.com Subject Line: Barbie Story | Max length = 2pages.

NEW WORK

“B. Feeling Sad” is a collage with a painting plus a photo of the view of SF from my window.

“A. in a Child’s Chair” was drawn in SF and collaged with images of moss from my Japan trip.

They were happy to entertain her!

2020 UNFOLDS

As springtime approaches I cannot help but feel hopeful about the future despite so VERY much bad news. I’m looking forward to making some non-digital art in my new space! I'll be able to have people in to see my work here soon. I hope to snag an art residency and some new gallery showings.

Fusion Art accepted this piece in their March Juried Online Show.

WHAT’S NEXT?

> Fusion Art March Juried Online Show, “4th Annual Colors"

> ArtspanSF Benefit Art Auction | Saturday, March 21, 6:30 - 9:30pm - JUST CANCELLED!

> SFWA Gallery | March - EXTENDED THROUGH APRIL | "Hidden Figures" | Juried Group Show 

> Rite Spot Cafe | Sept-Mar (?) | Closing Happy Hour: Wednesday 3/18, 6-8pm | (SF)

> Ameriprise | Through Apr (?)| SFWA Offsite Show - By appointment (San Jose)


“Asleep in the Moss” is my current work at SFWA’s juried March show “Hidden Figures”

SAVE THESE DATES - BUT check back FIRST as everything shifts daily due to the Corona virus pandemic

> City Art Coop Gallery | June Group Show | Reception: Fri, June 5, 7-10pm (SF)

BEING RESCHEDULED: SFWA Gallery Gala Fundraiser | Wed, July 1 | Top of the Sales Force Building! (SF)

> SFWA Artist's Salon Gallery | Sept | 8 Women (a new art group I’m in)





YEAR-END IN JAPAN

Susan R. Kirshenbaum1 Comment

LIFE BJ (BEFORE JAPAN) & AJ (AFTER JAPAN)

THE LEAD UP

Before we took off there was far too much to do to get ready and to take time to think about what had transpired over the last year and what to expect in this much anticipated Japan trip.

And then, after that, what’s next in 2020 - I mean, who could think of such things?

I feel the sense of ending and beginning more strongly than usual. This has something to do with moving out of the teens and into a new decade. It feels important. It feels like time is passing (too) quickly and only yesterday it was 2010. Or even 2000. Time slowed down a bit in Japan. I’ll get to that.

ON BECOMING AWARE OF JAPAN

Back in the early 70’s my art school director father and my college-aged sister went to Japan on a design trip and of course I was terribly jealous. And knowing how places change so much and so fast - how could I see what they saw? In 1979 I attended the IDCA Conference themed “Japan in Aspen”, and learned about some of they saw - and I even met with one of those famous Japanese designers speaking at IDCA (he’d befriended my father and sister) and now in 2019 I finally saw Japan, with all it’s perfectly designed and considered spaces, papers, textiles, grounds, and foods…

I know that my lack of awareness about life in Japan was ignorant - but in my defense - growing up in Pittsburgh, Pa is my excuse. And my dad served in WWII, in Europe, not in the Pacific. So yes, I was slow to learn about Asia - in so many ways.

THE TRIP

My November and December 2019 were filled with the magic of Japan! Yup - this was the most amazing travel experience I’ve ever had (and I have traveled plenty). I am so thankful, and just simply blown away by Japan and how I had the chance to partake in such a unique way. We saw so much and traveled far and wide, by train, bus, car, taxi, ferry, boat, and Bullet. Some of what we saw was quite obscure, as this was a specially curated trip for people to experience Japan’s most stunning art, antiques, temples, gardens, textiles, ceramics, fashion, design, paper, architecture, and food.

I traveled with 13 arty people including my husband Jack and - yes - I brought Barbie along. In this iteration she’s an African-American yoga Barbie, which somehow seemed right for this trip. I like her chartreuse and hot pink workout outfit and her ability to move in such a human way.

Once again this is a photo-heavy post and most of these images I shot on my iPhone. There are probably a few exceptions mixed in - either someone took them of me or I am confused about whose are whose because we shared images during the trip. Credit goes to all the very artistic folks I had the opportunity to travel with and especially to our friends who put the group together.

Before We Departed

Just days before our departure we took a field trip to Filoli, a beautifully preserved mansion and grounds located on the Peninsula. We saw a splash of fall color at this delightful estate and grounds (photo below). It was a good ramp up to the Japan trip…

A glistening fall day in the Bay Area’s beloved Filoli Gardens (BJ)

LIGHT, SHADOW, REFLECTION

It is the tradition in Japan to take everything around you into consideration. Nothing is random. How things sound, look, and feel, are all important components of your experience. As a result it’s a magnified experience. Water and reflections play a key role. I am keenly interested in reflections, mirrors, and multiple images so I especially enjoyed these less obvious sightings. It rains a lot in Japan so the ground is often shiny wet and the green plants are glistening. As in photography, light and shadow play are important factors in their architecture and landscape design.

BARBIE TAKES ON JAPAN

I noticed a general amusement when people saw my with Barbie. I’ve been calling her “black yoga Barbie” but officially she’s “Barbie Made to Move”. It was fun to put her into complex action poses, especially on Naoshima, “the art island” of Japan, where we spent several days. People like to participate. At one point in one of my favorite sites, the moss garden that sports 125 types of moss - we came across a little party of stuffed animals on a photo expedition. So, of course we joined in!

I’M STILL COLLECTING YOUR BARBIE STORIES SO PLEASE SEND THEM ALONG TO ME @ SRKIRSHENBAUM@GMAIL.COM

WHAT WE ATE (&DRANK)

This is some seriously beautiful food, so even if you don’t enjoy all of the flavors, you can fully appreciate the display and preparation. Also, the seasonality is very noticeable. We ate lots of autumn foods - served with well-chosen leaves, including dishes with chestnuts, apples, squashes, potatoes, and fish in season. The plates, cups, and bowls were always unique, often tiny, and bountiful. So many dishes and cookers and servers were used for each meal even including very fine glassware and original ceramics. We enjoyed cool sake, wonderful whiskeys, delicate shoju, crisp cold beer, and tasty fruit drinks. We drank many many cups of tea a day. Had loads of little sweets and snacks. So many are green tea flavored! We ate our pretty bento box lunches on train rides (the trains and train stations are a whole other story). And there’s real coffee - it’s popular and often quite good.

Breakfasts were an intense experience for me as I don’t like to eat in the morning but when you travel you need to get off to a good start and our Japanese breakfasts were huge and exotic. Western breakfasts - if I’m giving advice - I’d stay away from them. Although the eggs are tremendous and have bright orange yolks.

Kobe beef is everything people say it is. Delicious and fun to cook yourself. The handmade noodles, especially the thick, square kind, are divine. The freshly ground wasabi is like nothing I’ve had in the USA. Fish and shellfish are always excellent. Pickles - which I love in that Eastern European way - were sometimes too strange for my taste buds, but always colorful. There’s a sense of humor that comes out in the food too, like these mochi desserts with strawberries (photo below) that look like tongues sticking out. And all the wonderful plastic food and drink displays, which are quite helpful in selecting a restaurant.

Chopsticks could be an entire study. You must handle them correctly and place them correctly, use the right ones (big serving and cooking chopsticks vs. little personal eating chopsticks). I bought my own pair with a case, a point protector, and my name etched into them. I like using chopsticks and appreciate how eating with them helps you slow down. I miss them.

ESPECIALLY CATS

We observed animal love and importance at temples, cafes, in the art, product design, and on the streets and shops. If I get to return I’ll seek out even more. From a distance we witnessed an owl spreading its wings in an owl cafe. I’m not keen on the idea of animal cafes. They even have hedgehog cafes, but the closest I came to hedgehogs was a plush toy hedgehog Christmas tree! Foxes, too, are important animals (see my temple shots). I have a special place in my heart for foxes. It’s my mother’s maiden name and during the trip I wondered how to incorporate it into my name. And there were frogs at the temples, too, giant and grand. And dogs were also present in temple statuary. But most noticeable of all is that the Japanese adore cats, take care of them, and so do I.

VERDANT

So many gardens, so much foliage, moss, and giant trees - with all kinds of props binding and holding them up. Water was always running everywhere. Sometime torrentially (why there are umbrellas available everywhere). In Northern California we yearn for rushing streams and and green instead of brown. All of the religious institutions, residences, and art sites we visited were set in lovely gardens. Everywhere we looked the grounds were being beautifully maintained with special tools for gardening and raking. There are clever, special tools for every task.

HOLY PLACES

These are so many holy places to meander through or sit and meditate. Both Buddhist and Shinto, shrines and temples, these were generally quite old and we had the chance to wander through so many - often surrounded by a pack of international tourists or uniformed school kids.

ART, ARCHITECTURE, & DESIGN (& PRETTY PICTURES)

We also visited famous artists’ homes which have been converted into museums, foundations, art sites, and museums of every type. In three weeks you can see quite a bit if you are on the move as we were. In addition to staying in places that were beautiful, traditional ryokans, we had the chance to get spoiled by the onsen experience. These are public or private baths built on hot springs. In addition to the breathtakingly lovely mineral baths you share with others of your gender (no tattoos allowed), there were also deep soaking tubs in our private accommodations (no soap in the soaking tubs, but fresh fruit to scent your bath). There is nothing like sitting in steaming hot mineral water (so good for the skin and hair) and staring up into a starry night sky with a crisp autumn chill in the air. Late one night I sat in a huge bath by myself on the hotel’s rooftop onsen and looked up though a giant square hole - maybe 100 feet over my head. Cool rain was coming down hard and I sat still and got splattered. What a sensation!

PEOPLE WATCHING

We saw both interesting fashions (mostly young women), uniforms, and business attire that looked like uniforms - men wearing dark suits, light shirts, ties, and black shoes. The colors were most often navy, black, grey, and beige. That is, except in fashionable areas and Kyoto, land of temples and geisha, where people rent kimono and parade around taking pictures and selfies.

ART-MAKING ALONG THE WAY

I shoot a lot of photos on both my iPhone and my mirrorless Sony camera - especially when I travel. And although most of my photos can stand alone, I also incorporate many of them into collages, combining them with my life drawings. I make them into all-photo collages too and continue to work on my Barbie series as I head into Phase 3: Barbie in Japan. Walls, water, textures, patterns, plants, trees, lettering, and gates/doors/windows are some of the common fodder I repurpose and layer into my digital collage art.

Hope you had happy holidays, a great year-end, & are ready for some exciting NEW beginnings!

2020 GROUP SHOWS & RECEPTIONS

City Art Coop Gallery (SF), Group Show with my “Life Squared Series” - Fri, Jan 3, 7-10PM

SFWA (SF), Juried Group Show, “2020 - Leap” - Thurs, Jan 7, 5:30-8PM

Berkeley Area Art Center (BAC, Berkeley), Juried Group Member Show - Sat, Jan 11, 6-8PM

Arc Gallery (SF), Snap! Juried Group Show & Sale (All art $199) - Fri, Jan 17, 7-9PM

The Mosser Hotel (SF), Artspan Member Show, includes my “Word Series” - Thurs, Jan 23, 5-7PM

SFWA Offsite at Ameriprise (San Jose), Invitational Show, “Art on the Alameda”, Fri, Jan 24, 6-9PM

CLOSING

Sat, Jan 11: The Rite Spot Cafe (SF), Artspan Member Show, includes my “Poster Series”