Pebbles: Ocean Beach, San Francisco

front and back of a pebble- image made with scanner.

The pebble

is a perfect creature

equal to itself

mindful of its limits

filled exactly

with a pebbly meaning

with a scent that does not remind one of anything

does not frighten 

anything away 

does not arouse desire

its ardour and coldness

are just and full of dignity

I feel a heavy remorse 

when I hold it in my hand

and its noble body is permeated by false warmth 

Pebbles cannot be tamed 

To the end they will look 
at us with a calm and very clear eye. 
by Zbigniew Herbert

Balthus

I come to Paris to be reminded that art and love are one and the same. Both are driven by a desire for wholeness, creativity, truth, surprise. At the Centre Pompidou, I saw a Balthus that was just donated to the museum. I haven't seen a reproduction of it anywhere and, standing there, I felt that coming all the way to Paris was worth it just to see this one painting. A new Balthus at the Pompidou, Paris Art, like love, sometimes involves transgression. Balthus said, " I want to proclaim in broad daylight, with sincerity and feeling, all the throbbing tragedy of a drama of the flesh, proclaim vociferously, the deep-rooted laws of instinct." I learned to love Balthus as a student in Wayne Thiebaud's painting class in college. From the perspective of the painter looking at a Balthus, one quickly sees past the erotic elements and is struck by his masterful technique, a method based on years spent on one painting, using paints hand mixed each morning by his wife,...

George Washington High School and Art Education

“If an offense come out of the truth , better is it that the offense come than that the truth be concealed .” Thomas Hardy George Washington High School in San Francisco is unique amongst other institutions bearing Washington's name. It is a treasure trove of New Deal WPA art that includes architecture, bas-reliefs, "buon fresco" murals and freestanding sculptures. These extend from the football field to the library. The school features an "Olympics" frieze by African American sculptor Sargent Johnson, and its architect was the pre-eminent Timothy L. Pflueger. This school, its name and even the site correlate conceptually. It was designed to showcase outstanding art and provoke reflection. The Sargent Johnson frieze In thousands of American high schools, AP Art History students learn about George Washington by studying a sculpture by Houdon. It is described in most textbooks with only a paragraph. On the back of this sculpture is a ...

Homage to Man Ray

In 2013, the Basque director Oskar Alegria introduced his film " The Search for Emak Bakia" at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival. An exceptional experimental film, it weaves documentary, storytelling, and history while revealing aspects of Man Ray's time in the Basque Country that are difficult to appreciate otherwise. Emak Bakia means "leave me in peace" in Basque and it was also the name of the house that Man Ray lived in. In this movie there are scenes of women sleeping whose eyes are captured just at the moment of awakening. These reminded me of some of my favorite Man Ray photos, such as the one of Kiki de Montparnasse. http://emakbakiafilms.com/fotos/?pid=1 Kiki and the African Mask, by Man Ray 1926

Think, Look, Make

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