I Love LA(CMA)

There’s a joke: What is the difference between Los Angeles and Yogurt? Yogurt has culture.

This vast sprawling city has its faults (poor public transportation), but one thing we are not lacking in is culture. We have amazing talent oozing from every corner of our extremely diverse population. I am convinced that you can find ANYTHING in Los Angeles if you try. Our problem is not that we’re vapid and culture-less drones obsessed with fame and glory. Our problem is that we are too unwieldy to navigate.

There is one institution in particular that I would like to highlight as consistently showing that they are committed to providing Los Angeles with premier Art and Cultural experiences: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Over the years I have watched this institution grow its campus and art collection aggressively and thoughtfully; expanding on contemporary and non-western arts to appeal to its young and diverse community. With its expanding campus and art acquisitions, people around the globe have taken notice. Earlier this year Los Angeles was given the prestigious honor of acquiring the highly coveted Robert Mapplethorpe archive as a joint ownership with The Getty (another secret weapon in the L.A. arts & culture arsenal).

Aside from the expansions, LACMA has remained committed to providing art experiences for the people of Los Angeles by providing many opportunities for free admission. That’s right, I said FREE! Here’s a rundown:

Free Admission with Membership

Members receive unlimited free general admission to the permanent galleries and non-ticketed exhibitions for two adults and for their children under 18.

**Pay attention Parents!** The NexGen program is set up so that all children who sign up are given a free membership to LACMA that lasts until they turn 18. NexGen members receive unlimited free general admission to the permanent galleries and non-ticketed exhibitions PLUS one adult guest. (This is great for families of four. Everyone gets in for free!)

Free Admission Second Tuesdays

On the second Tuesday of each month, general admission to the permanent galleries and non-ticketed exhibitions is free to all.

Free Admission for LA County Residents After 5

After 5 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (the museum is closed Wednesdays) general admission to the permanent galleries and non-ticketed exhibitions is free to Los Angeles County residents with proof of residency.

Free Holiday Mondays (sponsored by Target)

Target sponsors several free-admission days throughout the year at LACMA. They feature special programming and free general admission to the permanent galleries and non-ticketed exhibitions.

Whew! And if that weren’t enough, LACMA has tons of free events (music, family days, films, etc.) throughout the year. It’s always a great idea to look at the calendar and see what’s happening. They are very good about communicating via social networking and maintaining a consistent blog rich with the inner-workings of the establishment. Making the whole museum much more accessible, even if you are reading about what’s happening from my home a 30 minute freeway ride away.

I love (almost) every major art museum in L.A., but I hold a special place in my heart for this particular museum. So, thank you LACMA bringing more culture to Los Angeles than any cup of yogurt I’ve ever eaten.

Street Painting in Rancho Cucamonga & Burbank

April 16th I will be painting at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art in Rancho Cucamonga for Family Day at the WIG: An Earth Day Celebration!

This event is open to ALL AGES and is meant to introduce families to arts and sciences and features hands-on art activities, live musical and dance performances, public art, face painting, informational booths, free giveaways and much, much more!

April 17th you can find me at the Downtown Burbank for the Downtown Burbank Fine Arts Festival. This year marks the City of Burbank's Centennial. Expect to see some familiar faces and icons from Burbank's 100 year history.

Both events are free and open to the public. Swing on by!

xx
t

The Figure: Finding a Balance

Figure drawing. Finding the nuances of the human form and documenting them faithfully or using it as an excuse to express creatively?

I've been battling with this for the past several weeks. As an art student I am required to draw the figure, and frankly I enjoy drawing from life, but lately I have been really struggling. My inconsistency as an artist is really starting to chip away at my confidence. Some days my polychromos pencil will act as if it has been blessed by the nine muses. Other days, not so much.

Part of the issue is that I am trying so hard to document the figure faithfully while finding new and interesting ways to adjust the form on my paper to create a more dynamic and well composed work of art. I am stuck between practice of technique and being creative... and most likely compromising too much on both ends.

As I obsessively work out the form and try to make it as true as can be, all my technical shortcomings are exposed and the drawings are not expressive enough to show anything about me as an artist. Yet I can't seem to get out of my headspace. Herein lies the bigger problem.

In my head I...

• Draw too tight
• Obsess over minor details
• Ignore the "big picture"
• Draw what my left brain "knows" rather than what I actually see

Once it is time to step back from the artwork, I am left disappointed in myself. If these are things that I know are inhibiting my ability to be creative, why do I continue to do them? Answer: I am afraid of myself, plain and simple. If I ever tapped into a real place it could be amazing, or it could be terrible. But one thing is for certain, the thick layer of shellac I have been layering myself in would crack wide open. Not to mention it would put the real me on the wall for others to judge. Which is something I am far too fragile to endure at this point. The one time that I had done that I left with great feedback and a bruised soul.

If I am being honest, since then, it has been difficult for me to entertain the idea of taking risks artistically. I've been second guessing everything and retreating further into my head. How do I break out of here?!

Here are some things I am going to try...

• Stream of conscious art making
• Take risks
• Take breaks
• Just draw / paint / whatever / do something!

Hopefully by doing so will enable me to approach the figure more creatively and less documentary. Van Gogh struggled with the figure as well, but knew that drawing the human form would only further his abilities with drawing organic shapes in nature. In letters to his brother, Theo, he expresses both a love for and frustration with figure drawing. But rather than obsessing over how true to life, he used the expressive lines of the human body to inform non human elements in his other works. I only hope that I too can find balance within creativity and technique.

Here's to reaching for the Star(ry Night)s. Wish me luck!

Want more on Van Gogh? check out  www.artsy.net/artist/vincent-van-gogh

Adventures in Art: The Getty Drawing Hour - February

Sunday I waited in a 35 min. line of cars into a parking structure. $10 to park to visit The Getty Center. The iconic museum on the hillside. The most wealthy art establishment in the world, and the collection of the estate of oil barron, J. Paul Getty. Not only are the views of Los Angeles breathtaking. But the architecture and artifacts are some of the worlds greatest treasures.

I have been taking advantage of a structured monthly drawing lesson they offer for free entitled The Getty Drawing Hour. So far it has been a fun refresher course for me. Since I will be not attending school until Fall, I thought it best if I did something in the meantime to keep my drawing "chops" up.

The Getty Drawing Hour theme for the month of February has been Gesture Drawing. Gesture is generally used as a warm up or a way to get the overall action or expression of a piece down in a short amount of time. Or it can be extended and layered upon to create a more in depth study. For this particular session none of our drawing extended beyond a 15 minute study. Instead of using models and/or live studies as is the standard for most art classes, we got to draw from the Getty's exquisite European Renaissance gallery.

The one piece I kept coming back to was the lovely sculpture Female Figure by Giambologna, Florence, Italy 1571 - 1573. Although it was easy to be seduced by the lucious colors of Titian, or the melancholy angles of El Greco, it was the subtle light and shadow that played upon the lovingly carved marble that caught my fancy. I plopped down on the floor and spent a few precious minutes beneath her. Gesture drawing and building up layers. An exercise in structured freedom.

It was so nice to be in class again.