Chicago

This past week I went to Chicago to visit my Hawaiian hommie, Britt.

 University of Chicago is a picturesque campus.

 Trash squirrel.

Britt is currently working on an indescribable experiment aimed at proving that all of reality is a hologram, and here I am laughing in the stairwell at this poster.  There is no way they could have put this up without know the intended joke...right?

 Chicago was pretty cold and windy when I first got there.  Not the happiest camper, but it made for some cool shots.

Here's the lion in front of the Art Institute of Chicago, which has an unbelievable collection.  Here's a few key pieces that I've been dying to see and was surprise to stumble upon.

 Picasso's Old Guitarist.

 Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

 I loved this giant sculpture in the middle of the walkway.

 The bean!  This sculpture is amazing.  I wonder how often they need to polish it.

 Sundown in downtown.

After a few days in Chicago, Britt, a couple of her friends and I drove up to Indiana to the pumpkin patch.  It seems like a tradition over there, but something very foreign to us islanders.

 You just pick it out and weigh it later.

 It was a pretty well organized affair, with tractor rides to take you to the pumpkin patch and apple groves.

 I'm not even sure what this is suppose to mean, but it sure makes me a bit uncomfortable.

 Group Photo!

After the pumpkin patch, we took a long drive up to Michigan.  It was probably one of the best road trips!

 Fall is so beautiful.  I had to edit this photo a bit, and even after that, it's still not as pretty as the real thing.

While finding our way to the lake house, where we were meeting more friends, we stumbled upon this tank.  Vyom, the fellow on the left, is from India and needed to get a picture of this spectacle.

 This is a small section of Lake Michigan.  It was a sight!
 

 The house we stayed at was right on the beach at the lake, and this is what was behind the house.  There's nothing like early morning in the woods.

 I can't believe how big this lake is.  It seriously looks like an ocean.

JUMP!

F3 at the Cotton Mill

I recently found out that my work was accepted to an art exhibition in Oakland.   F3 at the Cotton Mill is a one evening art show including a fashion bazaar, food and beverage, a while building of open studios and presentations, vendor displays, music, and of course, the 4th Floor Main Gallery filled with the work of over 15 artists, designers, craftspeople, and makers of all kinds who reside at the Cotton Mill and guest artists (that's ME!) from around the bay area.


I will be showing a few older paintings and the newest one I just posted about.  They wrote a little blurb about me that you can read here.  If you're in the area, please come out and check it out.  Feel free to tell your friends too!  Here's a few details:


Friday, October 21, 6 - 10 PM
1091 Calcot Place, Suite 103
Oakland, CA
There is no parking around the warehouse.  If you go to the Fruitvale BART station, there will be shuttles to and from the venue.  

Art Nouveau

UPDATE: I titled it, "Hele Mai Hele Aku"

After returning from our trip, I've finally started working on some concepts and sorting out how to use all the inspiration I felt during my travels.  One art movement that I have always been a fan of and that I feel always shows itself in one way or another in my work is Art Nouveau.  Having its origins in France, I got to see its presence a lot while we were traveling.  I was also very taken with all the beauty of Hawaii.  

It's funny how you don't realize how good something is until you're not there anymore.  That's how growing up in Hawaii is for me.  Every time I go back I realize how beautiful the culture, land and life is.  I wanted to do a painting that represented, more or less, the convergence of all of it.  This painting is somewhat of a representation of now and a mix of France, Hawaii and San Francisco.  I don't have a name for it yet and will post it once I figure it out.