Illustration Friday, April 23

Today's Topic on illustration Friday is ahead. This one is called "My Bike is Faster than Yours". Lots of crazy bicyclists here in Nor-Cal trying to stay ahead of one another!
http://www.illustrationfriday.com/

Mark your Calendar: Two New Shows this Spring!

What better excuse to blow off dishes and laundry and especially cleaning the bathroom than to make art! I have 2 shows coming up in May and June and have been in the studio everyday working my little (ok big, I have man hands) fingers to the bone making art.

The first show is called "Delicious" at Studio Gallery in San Francisco. If you haven't been to this great little gallery, you're missing out! The directors Jennifer and Rab are amazing and have a great eye for some awesome Bay Area artists. I've bought a few pieces in there, I just can't help myself. Two of my favorites are Bill Dunlap and Richard Benbrook. Anyways "Delicious" is a show all about art inspired by food and drink, I've done 4 pieces for this show, including this one, which is kind of a self portrait entitled "If You're not Careful".


Delicious at Studio Gallery
www.studiogallerysf.com
1815 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 931-3130
Opening Reception: Sunday, May 9, 2-6pm
The show runs through June 6th

The other show is a SOLO Show! Yes you heard it here first! Well, there's actually 2 solo shows going on simultaneously at Kaleid Gallery in June, I just happen to be one of them. I'm going all out on this one. In addition to a selection of new small paintings, I've been working on slab clay and mosaic pieces, art dolls, canvasses and some clay sculpture. I'm still trying to think of a title for the show. I have a long list of possibilities but nothing's jumped out at me yet, I'll keep you posted. The show opens on June 4th, which is First Friday in Downtown San Jose & there's an artwalk so all the galleries will have openings. There will be tasty vittles and live music and I'll probably do some serious baking, which is actually something I'm quite good at. If you're local please try and come! In any case my studio looks like a bomb went off but I'm making lots of progress with my clay work...I can't wait to fire and glaze these puppies. The pieces below will be assembled with broken tiles and the like, I'm really excited about these!

Kaleid Gallery

www.kaleidgallery.com

88 South 4th Street
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 947-1785
Opening Reception; Friday June 4th 7-9pm
The show runs through June 26th

Illustration Friday

Today's Illustration Friday prompt was "Detective". This piece is called "Still Searching". She's definitely a detective, searching for love, the meaning of life, or maybe just her keys.

Murphy Adams: A Brief History of Me in 20 Pictures (based on a true story)

A few weeks back I did a little presentation as part of Kaleid Gallery's $2. Tuesday Quirky Lecture Series. I knew I just couldn't go up there and talk about my work so I decided to use this old overhead projector that my husband hauled home and do some drawings on transparencies. Although I was quite nervous, I thought for sure I would pee my pants, but it went over pretty well. Anyways a few people have asked that I put it up on my blog...so here goes! Hope you like it....its very informative. Please let me know what you think!

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be an artist

or the fastest runner in the world. Sometimes I would run as far and as fast as I could. I got lost alot.

I went to Catholic School when there were still nuns. The Sisters of Mercy (dun,dun, dun)

My real name is Mary, but my father thought it too plain for a girl like me so he called me Murphy

At school there were 2 other Mary's in my class, so using my middle name the nuns called me Mary-Lea.

The refused to call me Murphy. They said it was a drunk Irishman's name (I think they were referring to Father Murphy.

The nuns used to hit me in the fingers with a ruler if they caught me drawing in class.

I once drew a picture of my teacher who we called Muffin (she was old and puffy) and our principal who we called Beaver (she had buck teeth) and I got a spanking on my bare butt bootie in the cloak room.

After they let me out of Catholic school I went to public school. My art teacher there thought I was pretty special. But then I found out he had married a couple of his former students once they graduated Ewwww.

I went to art school in the 80's. Art then was about light and space and nothing interesting. I didn't get it or fit in. It made me feel insecure about my work.

I finished college and became a gallery director and curator. I only did art in secret.

I got married...to a bad man

Then I replaced him with a good man (he's not really Canadian)

We live a simple happy life filled with art & nature & pets & laughter. We had 2 babies who grew up to be artists in their own right.

Along the way I tried many jobs to keep our little boat afloat including waitressing, teaching comedy traffic school, even a phone sex operator. But what I really needed was to find my way back to art.

I started teaching art to kids. They were fearless, uncompromising and uncritical. They were inspiring.

I got a bit older and brought my art out in the open, I liked what I saw, others did too. I felt comfortable in my old skin as an artist.

My work is about what I see out of the corner of my eye.
Its about the things we think about but never talk about.
Its about raw emotion, those indescribable feelings that can't be put into words.

I make art everyday. I create painting and sculpture an do large public artworks. I have traveled full circle and returned to the artist that I always was.

Sketchbook Show at Kaleid Gallery

People often ask me, "Murphy, where do you get your ideas?". Basically, I'm a snoop, someone who justs quietly walks through the world making observations on the human condition. I've got many ways of collecting these observations. One, I'm pretty stealth with the camera phone, I often times take pictures of that unsuspecting person doing something ridiculous, or ridiculously cute. Like the time I saw this guy cramming a giant corndog in his mouth. Still one of my fav photos, I later did a much more complimentary rendition of a hot dog eater. Two, sometimes when I see something visually alluring I sketch these quick, almost stick figure renditions of my idea, sometimes on the backs of receipts or old envelopes I find in my purse. One day in a communal dressing room I caught this lady staring at herself in her giant granny panties with this horrified look on her face. I've been there lady, I know, no sexy panties for me anymore, those days are over. From this I created "Driving the Bus," a term my husband uses whenever I wear those oh so unflattering underwear.



Another way I gather information is by being a good eavesdropper; listening in on people's conversations is great fodder for subject matter. Whether its mothers talking about the horrible play-date they had to endure with their angelic child or hearing kids in carpool talk about their badly behaved parents, like "Oh no its Thursday night and mom's going to "Drunko" tonight, hope she's up in time to make my lunch tomorrow". Seriously priceless, I couldn't make half this stuff up.




You'll be able to see lots of my ideas which led to painting in the Sketchbook Show at Kaleid Gallery opening March 5th at 88 South 4th street between San Fernando and Santa Clara in downtown San Jose. I'll be at the reception on Friday from 7-9 if you'd like to stop by!

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 7pm
Saturday, Noon - 5pm

KALEID Gallery
88 South Fourth Street
Downtown San Jose
http://www.KALEIDgallery.com
408-947-1785

Murphymae I: Sketchbook Show at Kaleid Gallery

http://us.mc838.mail.yahoo.com/mc/welcome?.partner=sbc&.gx=1&.tm=1267629743&.rand=c53r5phv5rsgn#_pg=showMessage;_ylc=X3oDMTBubmxpZHRvBF9TAzM5ODMwMzAyNwRhYwNkZWxNc2dz&mid=1_704014_AENVk0UAAMxWS44zTAxOeUhBDtI&fid=Inbox&sort=date&order=down&startMid=0&filterBy=&.rand=1143441015&hash=a27fed65cb07f31579854049ad28a28e&.jsrand=3030365

Away we go!

"I'll Show You Mine," currently at Psycho Donuts.

Just got back from a great turnout at Psycho Donuts...big thanks to Christine Benjamin for all of her hard work putting this fantastic show together. Tons of really great pieces and things seemed to be flying off the walls during the opening!

I'll be gone this week on a whale watching trip in San Ignacio, Mexico...but bringing a sketchbook! Hopefully I'll come up with some great new ideas for paintings involving complicated relationships with whales or scientific research types (of which I am married)or who knows what.

Don't forget the Sketchbook show at Kaleid is coming up Friday March 5th in downtown San Jose, curated by the incredible Lacey Bryant.

Oh and Happy Valentine's Day!