art and carbonara

 Yesterday I visited the Museum of Craft and Design to see the new exhibit and to have lunch with my friend, Ken. Designing Peace is the title of the installation ~ timely, no? My favorite peace piece is probably the teeter totter in the top photo. Two small communities at the US - Mexico border installed three colorful teeter totters and immediately kids hopped on and my, this life could be simpler, right? Lunch outside at Marcella's Lasagneria ~ Ken with Bianca lasagna and I had the Carbonara. A lovely day in Dogpatch for sure. 

Proxistant Vision

 This exhibit at the Museum of Craft and Design is the result of seven years of research and it is quite beautiful and way too technical for me. But I enjoyed lunch with my friend Ken before I joined the throng at the artist's talk as yesterday was opening day. Innovative and amazing ~ whoosh.

art, food and friendship

 Yesterday I went to the Museum of Craft and Design and Ken took me to lunch at the brand new Greek restaurant Soula right near his museum. There are two artists exhibiting currently ~ Robyn Horn (pictured) and Iris Eichenberg. I fell in love with Ms. Horn's work: Small Red Door, Really Leaning and Continuous Motion (top to bottom). Then Ken and I had good catch-up chatter over salads. A fine Wednesday.

lunch and art with an old friend

 Ken and I worked together about 30 years ago at Barnes and Noble. Now he works at the Craft and Design Museum and is pictured here with Ted Cohen who is the featured artist/collector at this delightful museum currently. We had a delicous lunch and latte at Piccino in the big yellow house and then I wandered with ooohs and ahhhhs through the exhibit. So good for my soul.

and another museum

I'm not a fan of quilting particularly, but my friend Terri is and she had to
go down to San Jose on an errand and she wanted to stop at the SJ Museum
of Quilts and Textiles and I enjoyed the visit a lot. The top two quilts are
about life in West Africa by artist Hollis Chatelain. Gorgeous. In the "tech"
quilt room we found the bottom two. Adam and Eve neglected to click on
the appropriate ACCEPT app box and are lost as a result. Then lunch at
Original Joe's in downtown San Jose, a rather bleak city despite the
growth we keep reading about. A colorful day.

The winds are strong this morning and I am filled with worry for all the
folks fleeing the fires. Terrible time.

oh, a party?

Way back in May it was decided that we would throw a museum
reunion party in November. Joe, Pamela and I would host. Lucy
will be here from Portland and Tanya from San Diego. A real
reunion. The catch? My too small house. Yikes. Now I am getting
nervous and worried. Starting on the lists, concentrating on the
imperfections of me as a hostess and blah, blah, blah. Entertaining
is not natural for me, but I need a challenge. Sunday, Nov. 10th,
noon to 4pm. So soon?

The Barnes

walking to the museum

the main gallery one of thirteen on the first floor

Carlini is in awe

Dr. Barnes collected Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh and this
might be the best impressionist collection in the world. There is almost
too much. Last time I was here we spent two days, on Saturday, Carlini
and I spent two hours, but it was a fine introduction for him and a joy
for me to be back. I so love this museum.

inspiration from a stranger

Wayne from Maine

Kimono inspired fashion

Yesterday I met Ginger at the Asian Art Museum so we could take in the
Kimono Exhibit which was different than I expected because the emphasis
was on how European and American designers were influenced by the
Japanese kimono fashion. Fabulous, really. While having coffee we were
joined by Wayne who is traveling across the country by train, stopping in
all the cities he hadn't visited before. His wife does not like to travel, so
he is doing this alone (for sixty days!) and having a great time. We are
now Facebook friends because he posts everyday and has 500 plus
followers ~ many of us are people he has met along the way. Wayne
was an HR director before he retired and he is a stained glass artist
and man, he really has a zest for life.

Last night I took pizza up to Neti's and we chatted about life and
death and she got through the nasty one year anniversary of Frank's
passing. She has helped me so much, friends are the BEST.

tea and bullets

I had admired Al Farrow's work at the de Young a few years ago and did
not realize that there was an exhibit over at the Craft Museum on 3rd Street
until Frances suggested we go see it which we did yesterday. Farrow uses
guns, bullets, cartridges, etc. to build churches, synagogues and mosques
and somehow this all makes sense and there is great beauty and emotion
in these pieces. Frances came for tea first and of course she had to admire
Annabelle while we caught up with important chit chat. A good day.

getting global

On Wednesday I visited the Asian Art Museum and was a bit underwhelmed
with their new Painting Is My Everything exhibit featuring 17 contemporary
artists from India's Mithila Region. Not as bold and colorful as I was hoping
for, but of course I'm glad that I did this. My pal Joe is having a glorious
time visiting India right this moment.

Joe Day on 3rd Street

Wool: Nature's Technology

exotic wood and string elephants

First we had brunch at Serpentine (great!) and then we hit the Museum of
Craft and Design to view Felt Decoded (thought about you, Anna) which
explains, with detailed photos, how felt is made. Then Wendy Maruyama
and the wildLIFE Project ~ we must preserve these magnificent animals
who are slaughtered for their ivory tusks. Such beauty.

museum people

Carlo, Ruby and Monkey

Have you met Carlo? He is the most talented display manager at the
deYoung and Legion of Honor. Carlo met Tanya, Scott, Ruby and me
downtown and we gently hit the SFMoma after lunch. It was a
delightful visit and the sun came out (!) just as we gathered after a
heavy morning rainstorm. Very telling, I thought.

on BART to Berkeley

Joan Brown's RAT

Arneson's TYPEWRITER (note fingernail keys)

Ginger is a member of the new Berkeley Museum so we met yesterday to
explore and have a couple of important coffee chats along the way. Yes, it's
worth seeing this Museum and I will return, but I'd like more of the local artists
(Diebenkorn, Thiebaud, Bischoff) than they currently have on display. The
entire downstairs floor is Chinese art ~ I don't know if it is permanent or not,
but I've seen better at the Asian Art Museum here in SF. But you know I'm a
snob and despite this hint of criticism, I will be back. Berkeley is something ELSE.

the end of an era

chocolate cake with banana from Dianda's

Patrice with Marsha and her two dogs

Patrice and Lani

Yesterday was Patrice's last day and I will miss her a lot. She taught me
the ropes when I started and she has a wicked sense of humor which is
greatly needed when working retail. We have gone through a lot together
including a stressful management change - none of us has handled that
very well, if truth be told. Yes, you may read between the lines...

when west met east

French inkstand

Linda's friend Lucille was there!

Beginning around 1850 artists (and others) started visiting Japan and this
terrific exhibit at the Asian Art Museum reflects the incredible influence
that east had upon the west, and vice versa. Three rooms filled with
treasures including Monet, Van Gogh, Vuillard and some impressive
Japanese artists too. This museum was packed and we then had a
lovely lunch in the cafe, featuring TJ's chicken noodle soup. We had
a delightful day and you MUST check out the Asian. Soon. Go!

SOMarts on Brannan Street

the entrance - go through the black curtain

Monique's piece - beautiful (I work with her)

I also loved this one

I have long admired Day of the Dead traditions and had heard about

this little museum at the city cultural center behind Trader Joe's.

So after household tasks and chores I hopped on a bus and went

to take a look - it's open all day, not crowded and free. Many colorful

memories and well worth an hour of your time. Truly.

45 minutes south

Rodin's Gates of Hell

It's been awhile since we had "done" the Stanford Art Museum, so yesterday
off we went - Husbando, Ginger and me. First the Robert Frank photography
exhibit, then lunch (outside!) and upstairs to see a few wonderful California
artists like Joan Brown, de Forest and a special show of Arneson sculptures.
This museum is free, I am happy to report, and there were about three rooms
full of Rodin pieces, including yet another Thinker. We had a fine day and
then rushed home to get ready for the game last night.

Wildcard results - Giants 8, Pirates 0. On to Washington, D.C. Do these
baseball planners not realize that I have a TON of stuff to do before Dancing
Jen and I head to Paris next week? Flu shot, mani/pedi, bank, gym, pack,
etc. I mean - come on! Oh, but it was a GREAT game last night, almost fun...

museum humor

the first emperor's afterlife

We had a fine time at the Asian Art Museum yesterday ~ the Terracotta
Warriors (and horses) guarded the First Emperor until 1974 when they
were unearthed to the amazement of China and the world. There are 10
life-size figures (out of thousands), all different and exquisitely detailed.
The emperor spent three decades working on his tomb and afterlife,
seems sort of silly, but hey, that was before the internet. The exhibit is
here until May 27th and well worth seeing, that's for sure.

Sacramento ~ finally!

Crocker Art Museum

River walk ~ a bit bleak this time of year

Lunch in Old Town

Norman Rockwell exhibit

See our State Capitol down there at the end of the street?

We made it. The Rockwell Exhibit is ending this weekend, so we put this off
waaaaaay too long and it was a ZOO. Actually it was an AARP ZOO and
maybe they weren't letting anyone under 60 inside the museum? So it was
fine, but the best part was the rest of the Crocker Museum which has an
impressive selection of my favorite California artists: Arneson, Joan Brown,
Thiebaud, Dibenkorn, etc. And those rooms were entirely empty, so we
both had a fine time poking around and admiring the art work and the
architecture. Rockwell was excellent ~ you know he was active in the Civil
Rights Movement, but Saturday Evening Post refused to let him paint
minorities in anything but positions of servitude, so he moved on to other
magazines and did an impressive piece for Look.

Lunch was adequate. The drive was fine and we came home pleased with
ourselves for making this trek. Ken had a good time too.