Public Art - Painted Piano, Lots of Cats!

I was chosen to be one of 12 artists to participate in Pianos on State, an interactive musical experience that takes place in Santa Barbara during Arts and Humanities Month in October. Pianos are painted by local artists and are then displayed at various locations on State Street for impromptu playing as well as scheduled performances.

The eighth annual installment runs from October 2nd - 16th, 2017. My piano is located in front of The Red Piano at 519 State Street. Let me know if you see it! The design was inspired by my love of both cats and music, which includes musical terms and notations attributed to the various cats. You can watch me talking about it in this YouTube video. The title of my piano is Giocoso, which means fun and joyful, the theme of the piano and my life!



The "f" symbol is forte and means loud. Therefore "ffff" is very, very, very loud! The symbol next to his claws means "double sharp." 

 

 

Stentato is a musical direction to play loud or boisterous. The symbols underneath are crescendos, to gradually get louder.

 

Dolce means sweet, 'cause just look at them!

 

The musical phrase is from the song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat."

Scherzando means joking, lighthearted or playful.

I wrote "Coda" on its tail which literally means tail.

Calando is on the left of the resting cat and means a gradual decrease in tempo and volume. The symbols around it are a whole rest, a quarter rest and an eighth rest.

On the right of the resting cat is a series of p's, or pianissississimo...very, very, very soft. And the mark at the end is decrescendo, to get softer.

The "p" stands for piano and means soft. 

Misterioso is mysterous. The symbol next to the cat's tail is a Coda, which literally means tail! 

The pattern below the keys is made up of little sideways "s" symbols which are musical "turns" and glissando which surrounds the center segno.

I put fermatas on either end of the keys.

Giocoso is the title of my piano and it means fun and joyful. At the end of Giocoso is a symbol telling you to go back to the beginning and repeat over and over again, so basically have a fun and joyful life.  


 













 

On the Radio!

Elizabeth Stewart

This morning I was a guest on local radio station KZSB 1290AM with fellow mosaic artists Betsy Gallery and Wendy Brewer, and Miles Carroll from Menelli Trading Company. We were interviewed by Elizabeth Stewart on her show, Art and Antiques, and talked about our recent Pop Up Gallery, as well as a little bit about ourselves and our artwork.


Me

I had never done anything like this and it was so interesting to see the workings of a radio station!  Elizabeth was so friendly and easy going, I was able to rid myself of early nerves and relax into the conversation and just have fun. You can listen to the replay here. Thanks so much, KZSB, for having us!


Wendy

Miles and Betsy

Richard

A heartwarming way to share my book

A couple of nights ago I read my book to a group of children living at Transition House, a shelter and resources for the homeless.  The entrance has beautiful stained glass doors, immediately welcoming and familiar!

The questions and comments during story time were priceless. My favorite comment, however, came from a boy who, after I told them my family was in the book, looked at the page where my husband gets a new guitar and said excitedly, “Your husband met SANTA?!” After I read the story, I met each one and put their name in a book for them to keep. The 25 books were donated by a very generous coworker of my husband’s.  Thank you Andrew!!

What I love to now imagine is them going to bed with their books and believing in the magic of Santa.  I hope all of you have a magical Christmas, too!!

Transition House is dedicated to the solution of family homelessness in the Santa Barbara community.  Capable and motivated families with children are offered respectful, non-sectarian residential services and the life skills needed to alleviate their poverty, and to restore self-sufficiency and dignity.

Mosaic Exhibition and Book Signing at Granada Books

Thank you everyone who came to see my art and book at Granada Books last week!  I enjoyed seeing many friends and family as well as meeting new people enthusiastic about my art.  I read the book to a group of children (and adults!) and it was really fun to see their reaction to the story.  My mosaics will be on exhibit for the rest of December, so please stop by to see them.  Granada Books is located at 1224 State Street in Santa Barbara, CA.  Thanks, Granada Books, for hosting me! 

Local Newspaper Doing Feature Story!

I was just interviewed and had my picture taken at Granada Books with my art for an upcoming Santa Barbara News Press article. I will see about posting it here when it comes out, or at least a link.  For all you locals, check out this Sunday's paper in the Life section.  It's gonna be big!

Mosaic Art Exhibit for Book Illustrations This Week!

Three and a half hours later, two exhausted and hungry art-hanger-uppers have finished hanging my fifteen mosaics for my art exhibit, book signing, and book reading, this coming Thursday. Can't wait! Thanks Sharon!!

Opening Reception:
When: Thurs, Dec. 5, 2013, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Where: Granada Books, 1224 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Who: Me!!

If you can't make it to the reception, the mosaics will be on exhibit for the month of December so come on by and check them out!!

It's so much fun to see my book in stores!

Here it is at Kernohan's Toys in Goleta, CA.  For all of you locals, it is also available at Granada Books, Chaucer's Bookstore, Curious Cup Bookstore, The Book Den, and Santa Barbara Museum of Art's gift shop, Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito, Bennett's, Santa Barbara Stained Glass, and Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art, and Paradise Found.  Whew!

Excellent Book Signing!

Had a great time at my book signing at Chaucer's Bookstore in Santa Barbara last weekend.  Many friends came out to see me (thanks!!) and I met lots of really nice people!  Here's me with my first customer.  :)

Book Signing Chaucer's Bookstore

Book signing coming up this weekend at Chaucer's Bookstore in Santa Barbara, CA, Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.  I will have this mosaic with me to see (and touch!) in person!  The address is 3321 State Street.  Come on by!!

Finished 11th mosaic for children's book!

I was hoping to finish this one by the end of the year and I just glued the last piece today!  I'm on track to finish the book by summer, so continue to watch my blog for updates.  I plan on having an exhibition of my book mosaics next fall or winter, so the early part of next year will be in finding a location to show them, most likely downtown Santa Barbara.

Happy New Year - may you have a wonderful 2012!

Mosaic #11 for Book in progress

I'm really excited about how this one is turning out!!  I might add elastic line for strings after it is grouted, if it doesn't look too busy.  I hope to finish this mosaic by the end of this year.  Next year I will be in the home stretch!!!

Mosaic #10 for book is done!

Yippee!  One step closer to finishing my book.  It looks like I have four more large mosaics to go (15x24" each), plus one half the size for the last page.  I will also do a couple mini mosaics for the front and back pages.  I should be finished with them by next summer and then send them to print!  Can't wait.  Off to design #11.  :)

Another Santa Barbara Mosaic Artist

Since I started making mosaics in 2005, I have been looking for other mosaic artists in my area. I know maybe four in town, in the five years I've been looking! This is an area that is in serious need of a mosaic community! I didn't even have a place to go to learn how to make mosaics when I was first starting out. The closest classes were 90 miles away.

Just last year I found Tami Macala, who lives only a few miles from me! We visited each other's studios and have quickly become friends. Today an article came out about her in our local online paper, the Noozhawk. Yay Tami! A year ago she opened the Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art so now there is actually a place in town to learn mosaics! So if you are living in or near Santa Barbara, CA, (or want to visit!) and wish to learn the beautiful and incredibly addicting art form of mosaics, sign up with Tami. And contact me, too! I'd love to meet more mosaic artists!

Second cat done

Finished just in time for the group show I am participating in at the end of this month. This mosaic, entitled Please, Can I Come In? is 8x8" and made with stained glass and millefiori. I was originally going to do the background in blue, which would've been gorgeous against the brownish orange of the cat, but I thought the cat would rather want to come in from a snowy, cold outside than a beautiful sunny day! I worried about that choice, thinking it would be too white or too stark, but now it makes the composition interesting to me. Plus the different shades of white, the mille, and the andamento keep it from being a boring background. I like it!

This mosaic and the other mosaic cat will be at the Cabrillo Arts Pavilion in Santa Barbara, CA from July 27 to August 29. If you are a local or are in the area, stop by! I will have three or four of my older pieces there as well.

Awakened One in Buddha Abides Exhibition

A little mosaic, Awakened One, is 5x5" and made with Mexican smalti and millefiori. It was created for a group show, Buddha Abides, which will open Saturday, May 1, 2010, 5-7 pm, at The Frameworks Gallery, 813 Anacapa St. in Santa Barbara, CA and run until May 29. If you're a local, come on by!

New Work

My first post! My blog has been sitting empty until I had created a new mosaic. This mosaic, entitled Summertime, was created for a poster/t-shirt competition for our local Summer Solstice celebration here in Santa Barbara, CA.  I only had a week's notice to make it, so it isn't as detailed as I normally do, but sometimes less is more! Especially for printing purposes. But if it doesn't win, I didn't invest too much time so I won't be (too) disappointed. Next year I will get a jump start on it!