Hidden in the Hills Art Show Returns

This weekend is the annual Hidden in the Hills art show and sale. Here are some of the artists we’ve met and work we’ve seen in past years.

1. There’s something captivating about the vibrant acrylic work of Ravay Snow – it just draws you in.

2. Ken Ryan continues to craft weathered wood into rustic furniture and sculpture.

3. Bela Fidel works in encaustics (a wax technique) and mixed media. Some is abstract, and some incorporates sacred texts and imagery.

4. Robin Ray’s studio is always a hub of activity with demonstrations and work in progress, so you can learn about how her beautiful pieces come together.

5. Peter Skidd, who we found through Instagram, creates steel sculptures with rich, layered colors in his home studio. (Phillip enjoyed chilling on the patio there.)

6. Craig Frankowski likes to experiment with the traditional canvas format.

7. Natalie Keller does western oil paintings and even dressed to match!

Check out the current Hidden in the Hills site to see which artists are participating this year!

November 13, 2016March 29, 2022

When Reason Sleeps

I am writing this the morning after the U.S. presidential election. Confused, sad, grasping for words, and tired already of news outlets’ attempts at explanations and of social media finger pointing.

I keep thinking of Francisco Goya’s work, El sueño de la razón produce monstruos, “The sleep of reason produces monsters”.

I think I first saw the etching in Madrid the same day I stood dwarfed in front of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, which depicts townspeople suffering the horrors of war unleashed by Nationalists. That also seems like a fitting work to contemplate just now.

Today I feel as if reason has been sleeping, and we don’t know what monsters we have unleashed.

Images 1 (public domain) + 2 (fair use) via Wikimedia.

September 15, 2016December 9, 2025

Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena

Norton Simon - sculpture garden

Before Norton Simon the art museum, there was Norton Simon the entrepreneur and art collector.

Norton Simon museum

He started with works from European Old Masters, Impressionists, and Post-Impressionists and then began collecting works from Asia after a trip to India. He eventually added his collections to what was then the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, which he was director of until his passing in 1993.

Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California

Museum

Now known as Norton Simon, the museum in Pasadena houses collections of 14th century to contemporary European art, Asian art spanning two millennia, and a sculpture garden.
Continue reading “Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena”

March 21, 2016January 11, 2017

February Photo: Paints

I almost forgot about My Photo of the Month. I guess I’m still getting into the habit.

Anyway, here’s my pick for February.

I already shared about my watercolor painting (and you guys floored me with your encouraging comments!) Last month is when I started doing it more frequently, and something about the colors just fit.

Did your February feel colorful?
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March 7, 2016February 26, 2016

Watercolor Therapy

I started doing watercolor paintings with the Sakura Koi watercolor set after I saw it at Craft Camp.

Since it’s so portable, I’ve started painting in unusual places – on my patio, at coffee shops, in the car, at the Arboretum, in church.

I might paint what’s in front of me or I might do something abstract. Unless I’m doing a painting for someone else, I don’t really care if people like what I paint.

There is something magical about the strokes of color on the paper and therapeutic about playing with shading and palettes and accepting the outcome, even if it’s not what I’d envisioned.

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