art theft

All of a sudden art theft seems rampant in our region.  Two well known galleries in Sacramento were burglarized last week.  The prior week, an artist we represent, Ning Hou, had his home in Stockton broken into and 140 of his paintings were stolen.  I feel that I have been on high alert, wondering if the Knowlton Gallery would be hit next.

A few days ago, in walks three gangster-looking guys who seemed to be casing the gallery.  After taking their time looking around they started up a conversation about selling us a painting by a "Chinese guy."  Luckily they didn't have the painting with them.  We arranged for them to return with it the next morning.  After they left we contacted the police and the artist, the next day they waited with us for the group to return; waited and waited ... and waited.  The police and the artist left, and, wouldn't you know, the gangsters returned after lunch, four of them.  I pulled my silent alarm and my assistant and I kept up a steady chit chat with the group to keep them in the gallery. 

A policeman arrived, casually strolling in, completely unprepared to take any action.  It was fortunate the bad guys didn't have a weapon because the cop would have been shot on the spot.  As it was, two of the four walked out of the gallery and got away.  I told the policeman, "detain these guys, they have stolen property!" but it wasn't until a second policeman showed up that a move was made to get their IDs and handcuffed them.  Both men had parole violations (of course).  It was some 40 minutes before the artist was able to return and identified the painting as one of the ones stolen from his house.

Only 139 more paintings to recover...

a very smart rancher

My husband was sent this photograph from a friend.  Apparently a rancher in Idaho was denied a permit to build a shade shelter for his horses.  Instead, he built them furniture. Clever.

kathy was more than a statistic

We held a memorial dinner this week for our friend and avid art collector, Kathy Arata. 

Kathy was murdered by a disgruntled ex-brother-in-law in a shocking triple murder-suicide in Stockton California.  The newspapers covered everything there was to know about the murderer but the victims remained largely anonymous numbers, victims 57, 58 and 59.  Was it simply more efficient for reporters to concentrate their coverage on the criminal?

But Kathy was more than a statistic.  She was a warm, kind, woman with a wicked sense of humor and a generous heart.  Her best friend Barbara read us the eulogy she gave at Kathy's memorial.  Small details brought Kathy to life.

"Many of you may have only known Kathy as your quiet neighbor with the beautiful spring garden... I will think of her as I plant my bulbs this coming month and as they bloom in the spring, wondering what Kathy would have thought of my color combinations.  In January, when I am pruning my roses, I will think of her and how thoughtful she was.  When our dear neighbor Jeanne had to go into a nursing home, Kathy was there to make sure Jeanne's beloved roses were pruned and the leaves raked." 

Artists and fellow collectors had the chance to shed tears, laugh, break bread together, and toast Kathy with wonderful wines, that, she too, would have thoroughly enjoyed.

Kathy loved art and she loved the hunt of finding the best painting... before anyone else did!  She would faithfully show up when new work was delivered or when we were hanging our shows.  In the four years she collected through the Knowlton Gallery Kathy put together an extremely fine collection of contemporary representational art, including works by Clark Mitchell, Kim Lordier, Ray Roberts, Dennis Ziemienski, Carolyn Lord, Kathleen Dunphy, Randall Sexton, Joseph Paquet, and so many others. We've already started speculating about the Gallery's next show and WWKHP --What Would Kathy Have Purchased. 

"Kathy always believed that one should buy something every now and again from the local merchants since we enjoyed their shops so much and would not want them to disappear."

"She was the kindest person I know.  I will miss that quiet smile and soft voice.  I will just plain miss her and there will never be another person like her."

The Peace of Wild Things

By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

 

 

representational art

I just returned from TRAC 2012 The Representational Art Conference, held in Ventura, California.  Hosted by the Art Department of California Lutheran University, this ambitious undertaking brought together artists and academicians from around the globe.  Attendees were able to select from scholarly talks, art demonstrations, and museum tours in a jam-packed 3-day schedule.



A three-hour portrait demonstration by Tony Pro

"We believe that there has been a neglect of critical appreciation of reresentational art well out of proportion to its quality and significance; it is that neglect that the conference seeks to address.... What is the role of representational art in the 21st century?  What are its sources and directions?  How might it shape the art world?"

Choosing between lectures ranging from "The Possibilities of Post-postmodernism" by Ruth Weisberg, to "Representing by Hand: Painting in the Digital Age" by John Nava, or lingering over lunch at a table with artists and professors from Turkey, South Africa, England, Indiana and Florida, made for lively discussions and comraderie.


Chinese brush painting by Nan Liu

If you would like more information on this conference or a possible future conference: fb.com/CLUArt  or callutheran.edu/art

vacation

Oh!  The luxury of a week off!  My idea of a vacation is either a go-go trip, visiting Rome or New York, or a do-nothing trip that involves lots of down time to read and work on jigsaw puzzles, nap, ride bicycles, and drink!  There were a lot of trashy murder mysteries consumed during this vacation, and a few gems, particularly "a land more kind than home," by Wiley Cash.  It broke my heart.

For you fellow jigsaw puzzle fans, I can't say enough good things about Liberty Puzzles.  They are the old fashioned all wood puzzles and their pieces are cut into unusual and amusing shapes that match the theme of each puzzle. http://www.libertypuzzles.com/

Here's an early morning photo taken along the Truckee River, just south of Lake Tahoe.... a far cry from my messy desk in the gallery!

email

Look what I got in my inbox today...

 East Shore Waters, by Charles Muench, oil 18" x 24"

It's EXCITING when a new show is on the horizon.  Images begin arriving through my email.  I get to view the artists works for the first time.  The thrill of seeing new paintings never wears off.

Today was a bonus day, I not only received images from Charles Muench, for the Gallery's September show, California Gems: Yosemite & Tahoe, but Kathleen Dunphy has started teasing me with a few images for her upcoming solo show, Ebb and Flow: Painting Nature's Rhythms, opening in October.

 Trail's End, by Kathleen Dunphy, oil 40" x 30"

Beautiful!

bing madness

It's cherry time in Lodi! 

Cherries have a short season and they don't hold so you have to eat them, cook with them, or freeze them, immediately.  We were given a large box of cherries by the Costas, whose bings are shipped worldwide, from Japan to the White House.

Even using a cherry pitter, pits manage to sneak through so we not only use the pitter but we cut each cherry open to make sure it's clean.... a lot of work.


The results are worth it.