"Pain" - A Mail In Art Show

I'm pleased to be a part of the postcard mail art exhibit entitled "Pain," curated by artist Ted Meyer for the LRC Gallery at the David Geffen School of Medicine (UCLA). It will run from May 7th through August 30th, and it's also posted on the gallery's website. There are 129 postcards, and the online slideshow makes a powerful statement.

Ted was diagnosed with Gaucher's disease when he was a child -- it's caused by a hereditary deficiency of an enzyme that causes painful symptoms and, in his case, resulted in multiple surgeries for joint replacements. Because of his illness and his years of experience with the medical establishment, he approached UCLA with a program of a series art exhibits designed to enhance their core classes for medical students, and they agreed to implement it. The medical school has been exposing students to plays, movies and short stories for at least ten years as part of its doctoring curriculum, which focuses on cultural sensitivity, interviewing skills, and medical ethics. Ted's goal is to encourage medical students to see their patients compassionately, as fully human, not just bodies they do procedures on.

The gallery is in the new medical education building, the Learning Resource Center, so the exhibit will be seen by students and faculty, by members of the local public who arrange a tour, and worldwide by anyone who finds it online. My contribution to the show is entitled, "What Not to Say to a Person in Pain!"

The piece has provoked some discussion already, including a new "favorite" shared with me by another artist who's in the show: "I got one of those helpful comments recently: 'How does it serve you?'" Those blame-the-patient comments are the worst!

Great Art Walk!

"Angles" - photo by John Semper Jr., hand-colored by Cynthia Friedlob

The Spring Brewery Art Walk was a huge success! Lots of visitors, wonderful conversations about art, and, to my delight, multiple sales of paintings, drawings, and photographs. One example: the hand-colored photo above was sold to an appreciative collector. I explained to him that the subject was presented in such a dramatic way that I needed to do something special to enhance what was originally a flat, plain sky. So, I created a few storm clouds to make the sky worthy of the classic car in this excellent photograph taken by my partner, John Semper Jr.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the studio, and special thanks to those who made a purchase!

Spring Brewery Art Walk This Weekend

It's time once again for the semi-annual Brewery Art Walk, a truly enjoyable event at the world's largest art colony -- and the location of my studio (see the map below). The Brewery is just off the 5 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. Over 140 artists will be participating so you'll get to see a huge variety of artistic styles and meet the artists in person. Participating studios will be open from 11 to 6 both days. Admission is free and so is parking (but it's a good idea to come early). Stop by and say hi!

Thanks, as always, for your interest in my art.

 

Geometrix Series

I just discovered that I hadn't posted an example of my Geometrix series that I began working on last year. This is what got me started exploring shapes and color in digital artwork. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Geometrix drawings and the Colorbursts drawings look like in prints on paper and on canvas. I'll order samples for the upcoming Brewery Art Walk this spring.

Geometrix 146

Colorbursts Series

I've kicked off 2014 by continuing to explore the circle/triangle/square shapes, mixing it up between hand-drawn, delicate colored pencil pieces and brightly colored pattern work made on my computer. This one is from my Colorbursts series. Lots of fun to make and a completely different creative experience from hand-drawing!

"Summer Samba" Drawing

It's going to take more work to get a good photo of this drawing entitled, "Summer Samba." It's another fairly large piece done with colored pencils and the delicate colors are hard to capture. Making them dark enough to register also makes the paper look gray, which it isn't. And even with the grayish paper, all the colors don't show up. Ah, the challenges! -- But I like the cheerful feeling and musical composition.

"The Brewery: Where Art Lives"

I'm delighted to be a part of this terrific new video by Eric Minh Swenson about The Brewery and its eclectic artists! [See it full size here on YouTube.]