J.B. Blunk Residency

You see... It is not goodbye: Photos taken at the open house by my husband David Harris

2011-12-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

I won't say goodbye. I will only say I love you.

2011-12-16T17:52:00.001-08:00

I had my last few days in Inverness at the J.B. Blunk residency. I worked so hard and completed four paintings and three drawings. I started a few others and made one total flop that will never see the light of day. That always happens... But, I am so very happy with all of the good work that I produced. Through the beauty, silence, fog, sun, rain and many new friends found up on the mountain, I gained some new insight into myself and my work. I started including human eyes in my composition where only animals were once allowed. I noticed abstract shapes in nature, where it had not been on my radar before. I learned to get a little loose with my mind and my application when I used both paint and pencil. I know that I'm totally nutty detailed, but I really did loosen up on some of those lines. A visitor pointed out to me that much like Gordon Onslow Ford (The painter), I was using line, dot and circle. Well, I looked really closely at my tree stump drawing and WHOA! They were right. It's all made up of those three symbols, beloved by Ford. I was influenced and I didn't even know it.

So, here are some photos of my last couple of days at the residency. My six year old son told me on the day I left to come up here: "Mom! I will NOT say goodbye. I will only say I LOVE YOU!" And that is just how I feel about all of the people of Inverness, Pt. Reyes Station and the Lucid Foundation. I won't forget you and I am so happy to have stayed for a little while.

Tara

Working hard and observing nature at it's best

2011-11-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

This is a perfect short story shown with photos of my fantastic days up here. Art, nature and coffee at the Blackbird Cafe in Inverness. Can it get any better than this?! I think not.

Midway into paradise

2011-11-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, you just gotta try and capture the essence of the place......

I have been very interested in all of the green shag carpeting that covers everything in the forest. It has been fun to just stand next to a random tree and peer into a small world filled with it's own ecosystem. All in a space the size of my head. It is wet and dry, soft and hard. Bright and dull. I want to try my best to draw some of this....

Last week I was lucky enough to be high up enough on the mountain to see the orange moon rise up over the trees. It was so huge and of course my camera couldn't capture it's size in a realistic way at all. But, you can use your mind-power and imagine it as a giant glowing orb moving slowly over the mountains across the water and trees.

Living over at JB's

2011-11-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

I am just loving the residency here at JB's house and studio. Everyday is different and exciting. Last Saturday my family came up from Berkeley to visit me for the day. We went out for a hike and some lunch before we came back here to watch it rain. Here are some photos that my husband David Harris took that day. There is my favorite shower in the whole world! Out door showering at it's best! Above that photo is one of my son Otto and I looking around the back deck. The views are amazing. The one "art" photo is one that I took the week before, of a painting I was working on. It was early in the morning and I brought it into the house because it was so cold in the studio. I wanted to see what the cat would look like with a bunch of spider balls all around and above it. So, I borrowed a few bowls from the kitchen and pushed them around the composition. I took photos of many options so I could "see" it better. The last photo is of the beautiful old kiln that is slowly making it's way back into the earth. Maybe it will come back to life someday? But, for now... it is like an art piece all by itself.

Friends and art at J.B.'s place

2011-10-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have posted here one of the medium sized paintings on linen that I have been working on in the first week and half of my residency. I was happily surprised by two new friends as well!

Just in a few days really, I have gotten to know some fantastic people here in Inverness and in Pt. Reyes Station. Everyone is so kind and has a moment to say hello. I was invited to a lovely lunch with the folks that run the Lucid Foundation yesterday. What a memorable event and we all seemed to have dressed to match the amazing beet and fennel soup that was served. I only wish I could cook like that.....

Artist in residence Tara Tucker/ Winter

2011-10-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's my first week here at the J.B. Blunk Residency and I've spent the last several days getting to know this amazing and wonderful home and studio. I'm from Berkeley, CA. so I know the area a little bit, but not too much. The people are nice in Inverness and Pt. Reyes Station. I draw a lot of animals and the locals pointed me in the direction of the main Ranger Station. A volunteer there told me all of the local wildlife gossip! People here are serious about their wildlife and land.

Today, I drove out to the furthest most area that I could and hiked a beautiful ocean cliff trail for a few miles. The Tule Elk were out in force and I got so close I could see the tick bumps on their hides! On the hike back, I thought and thought about the ravens and the other animals that I was noticing all around me. I also thought about the sculptures that Blunk made out of stone and wood. He left parts of the materials raw and in a natural state or recognizable. Other areas he honed to a shine or silky smooth surface. His work is abstracted further because of this push and pull with the materials. One of my favorite Artists: Leonard Baskin did a similar thing with his sculpture and drawings/ paintings. It made me think and wonder if that could be something to try? Something to experiment with? This last year I fell in love with raw linen and simply painting on it with fluid acrylic paint. I always finish them off just like my drawings... I think I might just try something new. Slightly more abstract.

Peter McLean Open Studio

2011-09-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Open studio happened last sunday, and we had quite a stream of interested people by to look at the work, and enjoy this wonderful location. Certainly kept my busy talking and doing demos all afternoon. Here are a few photos of my installation for the day. Thanks to everyone for coming along!

The Mountains Keep Secrets

2011-09-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

If I go walking in the afternoon, it is habitually across the rough foot-track towards the headwaters of the small creek that runs below the house, and then up to the saddle. From there a broader track continues up to Point Reyes Hill at 1336ft. Most of this path is through thick, close, regrowth forest, with more open areas of shrubs and grasses nearer the top. The views are extensive, but usually at least partially shrouded in one direction or another (or all at once) by fog. If I go walking in the morning, it is usually down the fire trail that reaches the top of Perth Way, winding down into town (to get some groceries from the store, or a coffee at Blackbirds), and then up the Highland Way. The track passes down through older mixed forest of moss covered Bay and Oak with scattered old pines, Red Alder in the creek lines. There's an enticingly narrow side track which spirals up a small hill halfway down, covered in a scrub of stunted and knarled pines and lots of red trunked Madrone and Manzaneta.

It was time to take a different route. Even before reaching new territory, I was treated to a close up view of a Turkey Vulture, settling down for the evening. I knew then this walk was going to be special.

From the map Max and Gemma left in the house at the end of their residency, I knew there was another track up the ridge, starting from the top of Perth Way and leading to Mt Vision. Somehow it hadn't attracted me before, I thought it would be much the same, and besides, Point Reyes Hill is higher than Mt. Vision and with a clearer view, so despite it's grand name, Mt Vision wasn't high on priorities. Yesterday I discovered it has has been keeping secrets from me. As I branched off the Perth track, and headed back up the steep hill, I soon realised this track had much to offer. There was much more of the stunted and lichen covered scrub that I thought was an anomaly on the other hill. The pines in this area all take on fantastical shapes, even as they get taller, higher up the hill. As I climbed further the Bishop Pines took on yet another forest structure that I hadn't seen before. The trees grew tall and close, with no other larger species of tree, creating and expansive open feel. For a species with restricted range, it is certainly very variable.

Just before the ridge, there is a sudden boundary between the tallest of the pines, and the line which must have been the edge of the vision fire. From there on the pines are young and close, but soon opens out entirely into coastal scrub. The views of distant mountains from the top was the best I've seen here yet, and made even more dramatic by hovering above the thick and luminous fog that filled the bay and valleys below. Just the night before Josh had told me the temperature inversions start to occur around this time of year, and this was obviously it. Despite being late in the day, the hill top was warm and sunny and calm. The fog was glorious from above, but town must have been gloomy and cold.

I was feeling energised and excited, like in the first days of exploring this new place. A quick chat with a local out walking, led to being shown the unofficial track leading to 'the ponds', a spring filled dam, perched here on the top of the range. How fortuitous to discover this place on a warm afternoon! My first swim in America, and it was glorious, swimming in the golden light above the fog.

Peter McLean - At home in the hills

2011-09-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

I spent a few days away this week visiting the city and the mountains, and at the end of it was so glad to come home to JB's house in the Bishop Pine Preserve. It really does feel like home - like a perfect dream home. It's great to be working here nestled into the surrounding forests, nice and quite, but also with a feeling of being welcomed into a friendly community of people who are never far away. Many of my favourite things are here - trees, hills, fog, wood. I'm always interested in observing landforms and vegetation and other aspects of nature, and there is plenty of all of that here to incorporate into my work. What has been a little surprising is how more human things are having a strong influence on current work. Things like the way the house is built and the artwork here at the house, especially JB's. Simple things like the light switches and the firewood pile. Not that you'll see light switches in my work, but trust me, they are there.

Peter McLean arrives

2011-08-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

Peter McLeans blog....

Jay Nelson

2011-05-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

story about AIR 2010, Jay Nelson...

Oliver Halsman Rosenberg (week 8)

2011-03-31T22:48:00.001-07:00

Well, it's my last night here at the residncy...I finished my last painting just before the sun went down (see below), went through the art library one last time, scrubbed the floor, and finished packing up. The sun is out and glorious again! Bird calls fill the air and ipod/itunes remains in hibernation.

The lizards have started coming out, as well as some butterflys, and delicate mini blue flowers all over the property...I think if it was this nice out the whole time I was here I wouldn't have gotten much art "done." No matter how many ladybugs I free from the house and studio it always seems like there are more when I come back in...

I've enjoyed the isolation...as you can tell, the animal spirits have kept me company (and internet spirits also). Well, I leave you with some of images from the last series I did. The full set is on my personal blog, and if you feel like checking in on what I'm up to in the future feel free to visit me here:

http://www.oliverhalsmanrosenberg.blogspot.com/

Blessings,
Oliver Halsman Rosenberg

Oliver Halsman Rosenberg (week 7.5)

2011-03-28T08:46:00.001-07:00

Last video I will make up here at the residency...
Calligraphic process...

more images on my blog:
www.oliverhalsmanrosenberg.blogspot.com

Oliver Halsman Rosenberg (week 7)

2011-03-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

One of my collaborators Alexander Kori Girard came up for a few days to work on some paintings together... We have a few nice little pieces on view now at the Berkeley Art Museum in the ABSTRACT NOW show curated by Larry Rinder that we made together in India...the pieces we made just now have a similar energy, and it was a joy for both of us to watch them spring forth...A lot of the time we work together is just filled with Dada nonsense and laughter, so as long as I was learning Final Cut Pro, I decided to share a taste of what that energy is like with this video below...Only one week left here, and I'm using every moment to give thanks and create before I'm swept off into the next nomadic adventure....

Oliver Halsman Rosenberg (week 6.5)

2011-03-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

Dear reader,

I sit here in J.B.'s old bed room, at an amazing wooden desk, listening to the wood pop and crack from the down stair's fireplace. Open studios was this past Saturday...the night of the "Supermoon", earthquake scares, and the day before spring. It was a rainy and windy day, but grateful for the folks that came out to see the paintings, drawings, sculptures, and video I have been working on these past 6 weeks.

I have been a complete work horse up till now. I have been traveling nomadically (mostly in India) for the past two years, so this residency was the first opportunity I have had to unpack, ground, feel settled down, and have some meditative silence/creative space. Usually when I travel I work on paper with gouache, as it's the lightest weight and easiest to travel with medium I have found. I also like to take photos, but traveling light is the key.

Since I now had a studio at my disposal I decided to explore oil paints, since this is a medium difficult to travel with. In the Fall I saw an exhibit at the Atlanta High Museum on Dali's late work. There was some thing so sensual about his surfaces...he made me want to lick the virgin Marys and sea urchin shells...in the gift shop I found Dali's 50 secrets to magical craftsmanship, where he shares his alchemical recipes, inspirations, and steps for painting. It is true that I was nursed on Dali's nipple growing up, but I am not Dali. I prefer to operate creatively from an abstract "no mind" state, where as he was more into planning and organizing. Nevertheless, I started out my oil paintings very tightly, as I tried to understand the medium (Last time I pained with oils was in college), its drying time, and layering effects very different than that of gouache.

During the day I would be in the studio, and at night I would work in the house on video editing a film project I had shot on Hawaii, and here on the Blunk property. Video editing was another skill I hadn't used since around the same time as I was last oil painting. It is interesting to consider the 13 year cycle that both skills took to remanifest. Well armed with a Final Cut Pro tutorial book, I sat down and learned the program, and spent several weeks overcomming many frustrating technical problems dealing with converting files from one format to another. At first both oil painting and video editing proved to be difficult, but I am up for the challenge and stuck to it. With time I began to understand the basic premises, and after a few weeks felt like I could take off the training wheels and cruise on my own.

I also had a vision of taking my cosmic calligraphic script and working on large photo back drop scrolls. This calligraphy is such pure expression for me that is was a nice project to fall back on when the fumes or the computer monitor were getting to me. This is typical Oliver...to be working on several projects simultaneously that have nothing to do with another. I really can't help it. I like to explore, and learn new mediums, and ways to express myself. There were also a whole other series of drawings I worked on too (but I already blogged about those here: http://oliverhalsmanrosenberg.blogspot.com/2011/03/virtual-open-studio-1-left-handright.html)

So bellow you will find an assortment of images from works in progress/studio shots/completed works/etc. as well as the final 25 minute short film I shot and edited called THE PIXEL SUTRA. It's all about rebirth, and it was strange to be working on it while in the news Tunisia, Egypt, and Lybia all were going through revolutions, and Japan was shaken by the tsunami and quakes.

Ben

2010-12-20T14:50:00.000-08:00

Leslie William's most recent Residency portrait.

Benjamin Britton

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Mariah, artist at the residency

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Giustin è passato a trovarmi

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In the marvelous solitude of this place, that like a mother embrace you and welcomes creativity, I found a friend.

Anonymous Lecture Series

2010-09-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

Jenna and Oliver hosted an Anonymous Lecture Series. The event followed the open studio and included dinner and ten PowerPoint presentations.

here is Oliver's invitation..

it's a pot luck, so everyone please bring a favorite dish
it's a lecture series, so everyone will present a lecture

but that would not be exciting would it? so the anonymous part works like this:

to rsvp to the party you must submit a slide show, up to 12 images, meant to form a 5 minute slide show. The images can be anything, your doctoral dissertation on spear fishing technologies of prehistory, or your photo essay on clouds. Be aware, you are not presenting your slide show at the party. Also when you RSVP give us a sense of what dish you would bring to a potluck party of 12 people.

When you are selected to attend the event you will be presenting someone else's slide show at random. You will have about five days to come up with a narrative of your own. The slide show might have titles on the slides, or perhaps the titles of the images will say what they are intended to be. You can however create whatever meaning you want for these words and simply think of it as an invitation to explore your own interest in the content for the enjoyment of the group.

This new format for sharing ideas is in direct response to the standard mundane ubiquity of the power point presentation that we are all called upon now and then to assemble and present. We would like to experiment with you to see if, like good art, a good presentation is open to interpretation.

better tools = better results

2010-08-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

--and much finer stone dust coverage for viewing spiderwebs!

Jenna and Oliver

2010-08-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

Jenna and Oliver photographed by Leslie

visits

2010-08-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

breakfast with a botanist

ido's fresh planks

things found in the forest

2010-07-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

We live in the future

2010-07-20T20:04:00.001-07:00

Greater depth

2010-07-18T22:10:00.001-07:00

Rediscovering now what it is to sculpt. The stone is there, you can mimic its contours, or you can use its form and fragility as a raw material for creating your own contours. So simple a concept, but when you start to actually exert your will, and see the stone yield, then you begin to understand the depths in which the Masters swam.

Day 10!

2010-07-15T21:38:00.001-07:00

Its the first clear night since we arrived at the Blunk Residency - excited to see the stars! The nights and days are so deafeningly quiet the ringing in our ears keeps us awake. Slowly we are getting used to the idea that we finally have time and space to explore - to push out beyond the perimeter that defined our creative commitments for the past several years and see what can be (re)discovered here on the "Island". J.B. Blunk and G.O. Ford are urging us on towards a "growth of consciousness, beyond the confining shell of self-awareness"(Gordon Onslow Ford).

First session of chiseling - Jenna tries her hand at stone carving using Ned Kahn's carbide-tipped tools (thanks Ned!).

Getting more serious in session two...

2010-07-02T16:26:00.001-07:00

jesse reding fleming

my friend Jesse took these photos at the Residency the day J.B.'s work was returned from Blum&Poe in Los Angeles. Jay helped us unload the sculptures and Jesse also documented. The meyer lemon from the Residency garden was such a nice touch in the water, thank you Rachel.

Leslie Williamson portraits

2010-07-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

The Lovely Leslie Williamson photographed artists in residence Jay Nelson and Rachel Kaye this week. Visit her blog for more incredible photos....lesliewilliamsonphoto.blogspot.com

Open Studio, Jay and Rachel

2010-06-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, June 26th, the Residency hosted an open studio with Jay Nelson and Rachel Kaye. Jay and Rachel displayed their paintings and drawings all over the house and studio, inside and outside, and discussed the work they have made over the past two months.
Thank you to Michael Cran for hosting an incredible Bay Side dinner at his lovely home in Marshall. Good times with Dina, Joyce, Bryson and Tia, Jesse and Katie, Cory, Joshua and Rachel and Jay....

Jay Nelson and Rachel Kaye

2010-06-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

photos of Jay and Rachel by Leslie Williamson....

check out this Revolver interview with Jay Nelson ... read this

the importance of the woods

2010-06-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

Thoreau said, I went into the woods to see what life had to teach, not come to die and realize I hadn’t lived.

raku firing

2010-05-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

While Max and Gemma were visiting from London we fired some pots in the raku kiln Max had built last year....the pots survived!

Julia Goodman hosts Creativity Explored

2010-05-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

Julia gave a group of art enthusiasts from Creativity Explored a tour of the J.B. Blunk Residency group show

opening night...

2010-04-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

READ "Urban gallery, rural program a perfect match"- The San Francisco Examiner

READ Residency opening in ArtBusiness.com

Aimee and Julia in front of Alicia Escott's piece, 'We Are Not Certain, We Are Never Certain'

J.B. Blunk Residency Group Show at Triple Base

2010-03-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

April 2-May 2, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, April 2, 7-10pm

Triple Base is pleased to announce a group show of new work created by artists in the 2009 J.B. Blunk Residency program. On display will be paintings by Lynne Riding, a large site-specific drawing by Alicia Escott, paper cast pieces by Julia Goodman, furniture, ceramics and a video installation by Max Lamb and ceramics and a publication by Gemma Holt.

This show is the first annual exhibition that Triple Base Gallery will host as part of their unique partnership with the J.B. Blunk Residency. Proceeds from sales of work in the exhibition will benefit the J.B. Blunk Residency program.

www.basebasebase.com

ladybugs

2010-02-28T17:02:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of ladybugs in J.B.'s house....they gather in the cozy corners of sunny windows. I looked up 'ladybug behavior' to better understand why, this is what I found:

"Ladybugs are attracted to older homes and they are attracted to heat that the homes reflect. Once ladybugs have penetrated the home though, they are hard to get rid of.
Ladybugs release pheromones, it is sort of like "perfume" to attract other ladybugs. They use pheromones as a means of communication during mating and hibernation. Insect pheromones are very powerful. They can be detected by others up to a 1/4 mile away. This helps ladybugs find each other and it lets future generations know of a good place to "camp out" for the winter."

THANK YOUs.....

2010-02-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

Above, J.B. Blunk and friends in 1962 building the outdoor kiln at the house in Inverness.

thank you...

Andrew Paynter, for all of your suggestions, connections and inspiring style!

Bruce Mitchell, for your incredible carpentry skills, leak management, hot beverages and dinners. And your advice.

Ben Eastman, for your generosity and labor.

Rick Yoshimoto, for being here and making it your own.

And to all the artists of 2008 and 2009....you make this program work and succeed! Thank you for spreading the word and sharing your stories with others.

Julia Goodman at Stellina

2010-01-25T23:43:00.000-08:00

Work of Julia Goodman's made during her residency in the summer of 2009 will be on display at Stellina,www.osteriastellina.com, in Point Reyes Station from January 18th - March 21st. The pieces included in the show are stunning examples of Julia's work and are the result of extensive research and fine craftsmanship.

artists in residence 2010

2009-12-21T14:44:00.000-08:00

The J.B. Blunk Residency is pleased to announce the Residency artists of 2010....

Jay Nelson and Rachel Kaye, New York

May and June 2010, www.basebasebase.com

Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess of M&A, Los Angeles

July and August 2010, www.emanate.org

Beatrice Pediconi, Rome, Italy

September and October, 2010, www.beatricepediconi.com

Benjamin Britton, Los Angeles

November and December, 2010, www.benjaminbritton.com

winter at the residency

2009-12-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Alicia Escott Open Studio

2009-11-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

Nicole Buffett

Raphael Noz and Brandon Olsen

Brandon Olsen

Kamil Dawson

I am making a drawing that can only be seen from the ridge across the Bishop Pine Preserve where there are no trails to get to it.

2009-11-17T23:54:00.000-08:00

(window covered in plastic)

I am making a drawing that can only be seen from the ridge across the Bishop Pine Preserve where there are no trails.
:
All summer long I looked at houses.

The ones that are under construction. Construction. The ones wrapped in plastic, like the houses were for sale. In a store packaged up. And usually, in a way, they are when they are under construction like that. To be fixed up and then sold.

I do not know yet why, but all summer long I looked at houses, houses wrapped up in plastic and I wanted to draw on a house.

In the bedroom of the residency there is a long window looking out over Bishop Pine Preserve, Black Mountain and the bay. The sun rises over the mountain and shines on your face in the morning. A window is a violent luxury and this window is luxurious indeed.

In October a few weeks into the residency there was a storm. The house started leaking, folks came over, got on the ledge outside and covered this window with plastic.

In a very odd turn. My view from the bedroom, the gorgeouse view of Bishop Pine Preserve was just covered in sheets of plastic... Thick opaque sheets of plastic.

It stayed that way for weeks and was serendipitous, oppressive.

I’m thinking about the violence of windows. The violence of architecture. And following up on my project at Intrim Infills I have decided to make a drawing that will attempt to make the architecture of the house disappear. I am drawing what we would see from across the way if the house were not there.

It is a drawing that can only be seen from the ridge across the Bishop Pine Preserve where there are no trails to get to.

(view of the house from the other side of the ridge)

Thank you Grayson and Mariah for help bush-waking over the way to get a peek of the house from the other side, it was epic. Thanks Aimee for listening to me fret through ideas.

The drawing is going ….. well its going. This is one of those projects that will probably fail. Perhaps that is what I like about it.

(mock up for final drawing)

thoughts on the residency

2009-10-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I would be alone here. But I am never alone. There is so much life everywhere. Birds and bees ravaging the garden, the animals who leave their story's behind in the compost pile (which acts more like the community soup kitchen than a compost pile.) My buddy the bat who sometimes takes over the studio, the multiplicity if hummingbirds who sound like cats purring when they wizz past me (that sound which might be the kindest sound I ever heard.) The giant wood rat nests piled carefully in the forest near the trails. The mice I am compelled to slaughter one by one by nine, despite the fact that I find them adorable. The lizard who lives in the step that goes down to the storage side of the studio. Everyday he freezes when I come near and every day I tell him not to have a freaking heart attack I'm not going to kill him, but please could he not stop directly in the center of the step so I can get past.

It is nice to have this quiet around me to have the chance to hear the madness inside, both the wonderful madness and the strait up crazy. This sort of space is so rare sometimes. This chance to listen.