my escondido studio

i love my studio - i will really miss it.
not to worry too much, i will find a new one after xmas.

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still working......

into the night. i have lots to do. i hope i don't grow too stooped shouldered! i can hear my mom telling me now -"you need to get better lighting, and stop hunching your shoulders, you will grow to be all stooped over when you get older..."
oh well. i miss my mom sometimes.
anyway.
please come saturday, december 8, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to my studio for your xmas gift.
541 east valley parkway, escondido
619 916-9040

paris dining room at apartment

paris is calling you

the apartment for the paris, france workshop has only 4 spaces left - well, actually 2 rooms with 1 double bed each at $1,100 for the week. BUUT, if you would like to do the workshop in paris, you may if you find your own place to sleep. it is only $300 for 2 full days workshops and some studio time. you may also join us for the an incredible tour of shops with great bargains!

who doesn't want to shop in eclectic french shops - and shop smART!!!

give yourself a nice xmas present - come join us!

www.lisabebiart@aol.com

studio house

i am in the market for a new studio. my beloved escondido studio has been bought out from joan by the city for the expansion of the hospital by way of eminent domain as only a government may and can do.
so, damn! now i will need a new studio space come january.
today i found a house for sale in my area (la mesa, just off the 94) that could easily offer studio workspace for 5 artist, but up to 8. there is a nice area for a show room and classroom space and a large front porch to show off work during the day (weekends). so your chances of selling your work increases dramatically. it was previously owned by a woodworker, so the interior is very artsy and cool.
sooo, i am wondering if any of you out there are serious about renting studio space from me. i have heard from you , but do you want to put your money where your mouth is? you may email me at lisabebiart@aol.com.
each space will rent for $400. a month or cheaper if the artist is willing to sign a year lease. if you are on the fence about getting an art studio for yourself. i can tell you this: a studio makes your more focused and you become more productive. sharing with other artists is very enriching--- beyond any classroom or art association experience.
my experience has been wonderful. during showtimes, we each find that it is easier to sell each others rather than our own work. we each grow together to make a mighty force. as far as i know, there is no real art community in the east county like this. i am thinking in terms of an art coop. there sure is a need.

working into the wee hours

seems there is never a time for rest. there are so many many reasons to work. today i finished a series of painting pieces and a project and wrote the accompanying articles for publication. I have some much work ahead, its not even funny.
my next focus is getting everything situated for the big slashed prices yearend sale at the studio. the plan is for it to coincide with the second saturday event in escondido. (5:30p.m. - 8:30p.m.) i plan to give my collectors each a gift (small painting) for xmas.

after that i will be getting my works for sale on etsy. i already have an account entitled pimpmyspleen.etsy.com. i meet with lovely assistant, shelly, tomorrow to decide exactly what will be on sale at that account. i am planning on selling pieces that have shown in the publications, for one thing. also i have created some kits for learning to do one of my methods of painting that i call "the paintover" technique with accompanying collage sheets.

next week i hope to start writing my book to be published by North Lights. That should keep me very busy for a month at least. then, i will be getting ready for the european workshops:
the paris workshop takes place march 2-11, 2008 in an apartment that houses about 10 people. The workshop is 2 days, one day with me and one day with renee richetts who does book making out of pounded tincans. the rest of the time is free studio work time, shopping with an interpreter to the best bargains and art and food places in paris. lunches are included, the package is $1,100. this does not include travel.


for the umbrian workshop and retreat (italy)...october 2008 (second week) i am going to extend the workshop stay to one week, lunches provided, lots of studio space to work, interesting teachers, interpreters and guided shopping provided. each room has its own kitchen, sleeps up to 4 people per room. swimming pool, tennis and beautiful quiet views, an olive garden. the package price for this is $1,700.
this does not include travel.

this is so exciting - but i better go to bed for now. i want to finish reading a novel called "a long way down" - hornby.

oh yeah, one more thing:
for those looking for other bargains, i (along with other great artists!) have good pieces at great prices for sale at san diego art institute's c-note sale. i believe the preview for that event is this friday. see www.sandiego-art.org for details.

ok goodnight before i pick up the paint brush again.

rosie's designer garbage bag dress

i think that girl has inherent designer genes!

party's over

its always a bit of a downer when your friends go home after a fun birthday party like today's. rosie had a wonderful, very entertaining houseful of girls over for fun and games to help her celebrate turning 13. the pool was heated to a toastie brew that left the girls bobbing around like dumplings. then, there were all sorts of traditional party games (pin the tail on the donkey), crafts (puppet making) and (penguin painting), and board games (last word)...then made up games like, lets see how many balloons we can sit on until they burst, lets draw a continuous sidewalk chalk line, 1 mile up the hill, and lets see who can design the best garbage bag dress---that was after the garabage bag race.
of course there was the gift showering, cake and ice cream eating.......loud CD music thorughout.
as for my husband and me - we took refuge in the upstairs room. we could hear them just fine.
so, now she sleeps and our bill for heating of the pool will soon enough come.

rosie bday party

her bday parties friends are coming over tomorrow for a heated pool swim!
god help me.

happy thanksgiving!

i hope everyone had a great comfy satisfying thanksgiving.
i have a few friends that will be sleeping outside target and such tonight. luckily i have almost everything target has to offer in my house and therefore can sleep comfortably tonight.

tomorrow, i will be staying home and clearing out stuff from many targets past.

bard hall last night

we had a great crowd for our show at Bard Hall last night - rich, handsome and single chuck macphearson was showing and telling with me.
er, showing and telling his artwork - silly.
the crowd seemed very excited - they drank like fish!

oh hold on, that was me!

chuck brought his family too! he said for protection --- i hope he didn't mean from me...................or who?..............

spleen update

(this is not a picture of me)

awhile back i had a cat scan of my spleen - as you know i say "pimp my spleen" to doctors---- especially those who cryptically tell me on a friday, before a long weekend,... "your spleen feels enlarged" (read with deep, but dull voice)just so i could worry myself sick all weekend. so i say, if you are looking to do something with my spleen, why not pimp it?!!!!! go on, make yourself useful.

anyway, i thought i would share the good news!!!!! the report came back--- not only did the report say that there was nothing wrong with my spleen - it emphasised it by saying "Lisa Bebi's spleen was found to be 'grossly unremarkable'."

do those two words even go together?
doctors are driving me crazy!!!!
well, except "Dr. Hot" - who blushes everytime i call him that. so cute, i wanna pinch his cheeks.
you know what i mean - you dirty minded thing.

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advanced issue

just got my advanced issue of Somerset Gallery magazine. I have an article in there about using copper leaf on real green leaves; allowing the moisture from the real leaf to chemically change the copper into patina. from that i make art!

bday presents

what did rosie want? well, clothes from hollister and hot topic of course! and some Uggs. and an album by her current favorite group, "paramore" and a haircut to match the girl singer in that group.
and a birthday party with her favorite girlfriends over on the weekend... food, cake and prizes, plus the pool heated so that they can swim....and a new swimsuit and a new ipod nano 8GMs - er, that's all.
and now the bank is broken.
dang, and xmas is around the corner.

can't wait to get the bill for heating the pool. we have to keep the heater on 2 full days in advance.
but, i think turning 13 is a big deal. so why not?

happy birthday daugther rosie...

if this pic doesn't say "happy birthday" i don't know what does.....

birthday

tomorrow is rosie's bday......wonder what she wants..................

dustin hoffman

whatever happened to that intense guy who played in The Graduate? Isn't he going to play an elf for santa in a movie coming up or some such pantywaste thing?. and didn't he play barbara streisand's husband in "meet the fockers"? a movie that made a joke of another intense raging bull of a guy, deniro?
what is happening to our iconic men?

we watched the end of larry david (curb your enthusiasum)again tonight! now there is a real man!
now i know some of my closer friends might be thinking...."is lisa related to larry david?"
hmmmmmm, maybe, yes, maybe i am. love his car.

slip and fall

just when i was celebrating being done with my big project....i did a big slip on the kitchen floor - i was taking in the dinner plates....i was barefoot, i twisted my toes underneath me and i ended up flat on my back with one crouton resting safely on my chest. i'm sure it was a funny sight. at least i laughed. my family ran to my side and looked down on me with a troubled expression asking if i was OK. i didn't know how i suddenly ended up with my family viewing me instead of the beloved TV. it was just so quick. I told them i was OK but my toes hurt. Rosie didn't say anything, but got some ice and a towel, insisted i sit with her as she cooled my foot. Gastone just looked shell shocked, but then he went back to watching TV.
i was still laughing, but somehow, i think that worried them more.

FREEDOM

nothing like running through paris with fish overhead, pulling through the air like a kite or tag - a newly completed project that you have worked on for over a week straight.
if what i just wrote makes sense to you, then i think we might be soulmates!

max gets second place!!!

tonight was awards night for the east county art
association's
membership show. my painting of my dad, entitled "Max's Straw Hat" received 2nd place.
the show is at rancho san diego public library and will show until the end of the month.

other news: this month, i have a show on now at Bard Hall, at the First Universalist Unitarian Church in Hillcrest. you are all invited to show up at 6:30 p.m. ,Tuesday, November 20 and partake in my expensive wine and cheese and other fun foods. i will be showing with chuck of macstudios and he will have even more expensive wine than me to share (because he is rich!...and single)! after all that drinking, i will then expect you to all REALLY enjoy viewing our art. a price list is/will be discreetly placed in a folder near my art.

for you cheapwads...i will be selling my art cheap at san diego art institute's c-note sale along with other great artists from the community. my work will be sold at 1/2 MY price and then as a fundraiser institute receives 50% of the sale price. the artists then only get 1/4 of the price of their work....but, you know, thats just one way we give back to the community. that and scoring up a few chestnuts for xmas on the prado. check out www.sandiego-art.org for details, i think the sale begins next week.

AND, for you cheapwads who like my newer work. i will be having a studio art sale the second saturday in december from 5:30pm- 8:30 p.m. along with joan irving's glass and renee richetts bookart. we are having the sale in light of the holidays, for our best collectors...... and also the fact that we are moving studio shortly (2 weeks) after that and don't want to take it all with us!
the studio is in escondido
541 e.valley parkway
(619) 916-9040 is my cell number if you would like me to hold on to your favorite piece before the sale!

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personal hell

i enjoy art making i really do, but sometimes things just don't come together in the time frame i need them to.
like today. and all week.
and last week, actually, i have been working on a project for publication. it is several chapters of a book. the deadline is.... what is today? oh yeah, the middle of this month.
anyway, i FINALLY came up with the concept on friday. i dug up materials and visited michaels a few times, unnecessarily, but still managed to get "stuff".

the "stuff" is a big mistake because during an emergency predicament like this, i don't have time to put "stuff" away or organize it. what happens is my pile of "workable materials" and my workspace begin to grow a union and then a little family spouts into more of out-of-control "stuff". it overtakes everything..... until i have lost my project pieces that i have already created. now what? i create them again with a few "damn it"s to boot. they are added to the mix and i lose them again. before i know it i have multiples of creations and have lost my place, which ones were the right ones - where was i in this project anyway? jesus, i need a break....hmmmm, i think i will go to michaels...
see my problem?

usually the deadline wall slaps me out of it and makes me frail into action. i begin to clear away the unimportant stuff like beer and wine bottles, half eaten sandwiches and coffee mugs from 6 different mornings. and oh, that's where the loaf of bread has been hiding. damn, it has green stuff growing on it. i hope i remember to throw that out.

sometimes my workspace gets so overcrowded, i can't find my painting tin which is a gallon size water bucket!!!! it is a mess.
what i need and can't find are things like the scissors, double stick tape, water soluble crayons, the 36" "t" square or my bird-shaped punch. oh hold on - i don't have a bird-shaped punch - i need to get one!

i buy this stuff so that i don't have this happen to me. i want everything at hand, so that all i need to do is reach over and get it not disturbing my train of thought. i don't get why i can't accomplish this. i dream about it enough.

i can't tell you how many, many times i have rinsed out my paintbrush in my drink. or i drank from the water bucket. OK, maybe i catch myself in time for that one...er, i think. i hope.
i have not gone out once this week without paint on my face or pants that fit. (not sure where my workspace gets me confused about my pants, though) anyway, i don't have time to look in he mirror.

today was a school vacation, rosie wanted to spend some quality time with me. she and i work side by side most of the time doing art projects of one kind or another...but today she had attended an early morning swim practice and was tired and felt like watching tv most of the day. that's OK. i am in the same room quietly going through my personal hell, so still we are together. BUT what she wanted me to do was sit and watch the new TV spongebob squarepants movie with her. OK, ok, i can do that...but, no, she wanted me to sit next to her and watch spongebob.....pfffft, i give up. so i sit on the sofa and watched the spongebob movie (called "atlantis, squarepantis". i liked the name). she cuddles up, shares her blanket, throws her legs over mine, gives me a sweet kiss on the cheek, all with a very broad smile. she was as happy as can be.

heavy sigh. i'm so glad i broke away from my hell and did that.
she will be 13 next week...i don't know how many more spongebob movies we will watch together.....and you know what, the movie/daughter break was what i needed...not a "michaels break". and, after she went to bed, i finsihed the project!
more or less.
and now i have entered a post on the blog...i think i might even have a good night's sleep.


BTW, i can't reveal what the project is until it comes out at barnes and noble in six months. sorry.

i put up my geranium painting to remind me that the plants need watering.
nighty-night.

rosie's eyes

a friend pointed out to me that if you click on rosie's green eyes below (first picture of her) her eyes change color!!!!! i didn't know that!

kinda cool.

rosie

whoa, she might be trying to look a bit ghoulish, BUT she got straight "a"s and straight "o"s in all honors classes. so, she is allowed to look however she wants... (within reason).

the beefcakes

these kind of guys are starting to hang around looking at my young daughter.....thank goodness she thinks they are geeky.

rosie

so, if my daughter takes a picture of herself, edits it and then puts it on MY computer - does that make it OK for me to then put that picture on my blog?

uhm, her eyes are green but not like this.......

umbrian farmhouse swimming pool

yes, of course there is swimming!

the chapel, umbria

open studio

tomorrow night, saturday night, nov. 10 from 5:30p.m. - 8:00 p.m at my studio, wine and sweets will be served.

i am at
Joan Irving Studios
451 E. Valley Parkway
Escondido, California 92025

Phone: 760.735.8890 Please come!

umbrian farmhouse workroom

this photo is the outside of part of the farmhouse - there is another wing and a chapel. it will hold up to 65 students.

umbria, italy farmhouse for workshop

this is the lovely farmhouse i have for the umbrian workshop in october 2008. (second week of october) each room has its own kitchen, tv, heat all the stuff you would find at a 4 star hotel.

the classes to be taught so far, apart from my own collage and paintover techniques, are once in a lifetime classes...these other professional artists have agreed to teach just this once....
a plein air class (outdoor painting and sketching)taught by a local (Gubbio) artist who has had his own successful gallery for over 10 years.
AND a local (gubbio) artisan who will teach you Etruscan and umbrian ceramics. he also has had his own successful gallery and studio for over 30 years!
and, a local shop owner who will teach local contemporary craft. all classes have an interpreter. beginners welcome. most supplies are provided.
i am working out the cost now - but promise to be reasonable.

blank mind

i have been under the pressure of publishing deadlines for some time now. usually the assignments aren't too taxing, BUT this time i have a couple, maybe, 3 chapters in a book due by next week. right now i have one done. normally ideas pop into my head like popcorn. ideas wake me up in the night....ideas dominate my wakefulness...my family complains frequently that while they are talking to me, i get a faraway(or vacant)look in my eyes...i get caught not listening....finally i hear ..."momma, momma, momma, momma...", etc (and thats my 30 year old!).
i do this probably because something they had said skyrocketed my mind into a very wonderful, treasured new world. someplace that is very hard for me to let go of.

they also complain, i drive them crazy when we go places because i take too long looking at things....i know i "see" more than they do or want to see because i see what's there, plus what is not there. and from all of this i get my ideas stoked.

until now. i have some sort of mental idea block. i have tried to undo it by going to the museum, looking at books, magazines, looking at old projects, asking my family to tell me lengthy stories. nothing is working. (i hope my editor isn't reading this).
SO, as a last ditch effort, tomorrow, i plan to go downstairs and paint without thinking. paint nonsense. push completely out of my mind i have things due.
right now, i feel like this painting i did of my mom descending into undeciphered words....her figure is a blank, without details. (called "Ruby's Descent")

tomorrow meredith will come over to work with me - i will not give my deadline any thought. i will "play" and see what happens.

wanna see a fire in the backyard?

the harris fire was just over the hill from my house. no wonder i'm still coughing. i didn't know, i slept through this!!! by morning al that could be seen was smoke.
(for those who live here, the photo was taken from the south side of mt. helix - i believe the road you see is hywy 125 right after the 94 junction., my home is not too far off the right where the hywy make a "v" shape. see where the word "still" is from my sentence above...."no wonder i'm still coughing"...we live about where the second "l" is on that word.

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work

lately i have been very busy creating pieces and writing for publications. i have been writing more and more. i didn't expect that when i started out. well, hell, i didn't expect any of this when i started out. i only had a dream. (This piece is entitled "romancing the writer").
i don't write in the studio, only at home. BUT, when i am home working like today, i find i am always doing double duty. i suppose anyone who works at home has the same problem and its a killer.
this is my day: i wake up, drink my coffee as i read over my emails. i have a little chat with my husband about the news (he reads to me from the newspaper sometimes) and daughter - if i catch her in time before she dashes out to school.
then, i shower, put on my work clothes - something that i can get paint on. i go downstairs and begin working. usually i am working on some continuation of a project in progress, or not. many of these creations from home are for articles which i then write about.
this is the killer, i look up from my work and SEE the dirty kitchen, dirty laundry and just "stuff" that is all over the house that needs picking up. as my paint dries, i will wash, pick, fold or vacuum. but it is never enough. never. my house overwhelms me. its my personal hell. i try not to do too much, but it makes me uncomfortable all the time.
a friend and collegue of mine (let's call her "shelly")who also works at home says that she puts on a timer for 10 minutes. she has 10 minutes to do chores, then she goes back to work. that way, she doesn't get overwhelmed by the housework and stays on task for work.
i'm going to try that. BUT 10 minutes, jeez, i don't think i will get much done. "shelly" swears by it - she says she gets more done than she thought. hmmmm.

luckily my family understands, or just stays quiet because they know they would get ration from me. but often friends don't understand that i am in here working my ass off. maybe they think i am just sitting inside my house, watching tv (which i don't ever turn on) and eating bonbons all day long. do i look like i eat bonbons? don't answer that.

aw well, it is midnight, this day is over and i am writing in my blog thinking i ought to put on the final coat of paint on my latest project so that i don't have to do it in the morning. i will take the dog out for his potty, rinse some dishes, clear up the breakfast side of the table (the other side has my projects)and finally relax with a book in bed. i really ought to vacuum, but that might get my family pissed at me.
i have to say this for having a studio - it is much easier to work. that way, you only have to focus on one thing - your art.

view from the workshop

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as soon as i can get rosie to upload the rest of our pix from italy i will share the beautiful converted farmhouse in umbria, italy i have chosen for workshop 2008.

but for now here are some views of the area. the farmhouse has no other houses within view, but it is only 2 miles from the city (shops, groceries, hosiptals, etc.) - its just up the hill from gubbio, literally. umbria lies next to tuscany, it is lovelier to me as it is all green, rich farmland and rolling hills. and my favorite feature is that the air is soooo fresh - california brushfire free!

gubbio home

this is just outside my in-law's house (city house) - actually we are standing just outside the front door! see, no room for cars here. nice, safe and very clean. AND big plus, NO brushfires!!!!!

swim break

rosie is wearing a black cap, facing the wall, holding her head. she wears a ton of bracelets. funny, the person wearing the american flag cap is an italian. one of the boys in the other lane is bored so he started bobbing. i think he may have been trying to check out rosie - they were fascinated with the american girl as were the two little girls sitting at the opposite end of the pool in the "butterfly" picture. hey, swim team friends: check out the coach, he had 2 stopwatches going all the time. (you have to click on the pic)

swimming, italian style

rosie's swim team in gubbio, italy. she is swimming butterfly here.

2 italians

i met these two italians in florence --- oh hold, on it is rosie and gastone. they were on the terrace near the uffitze gallery in florence. i don't know what the diamond shaped hand pose thing means that rosie is signaling -- but i'm sure it means something that parents aren't to understand. probably means...."help, i'm trapped with geeky parents in a foreign country, please help me."


actually, come to think of it, she didn't need to signal that --- she made it clear by saying so --- and often.

ponte vecchio

this is the ponte (bridge) where my husband's lover (see previous post entitled, "my husband's lover") refused to take us (by car or gps) that day in florence. this pic was taken by rosamaria, my daughter, age 12 (as were most photo's) while we were walking along the ponte vecchio which is a bridge full of gems and jewels, it is eyewonderful. this was taken about 7 p.m.

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outside uffitzi gallery

i paused beside this small fountain in firenze (florence) just outside the uffitzi gallery, thinking up ways to get a great workshop together.
the weather was lovely in october.

i also was standing there wondering if it was a possible way for me to look less fat.
i didn't think so until i saw other pix of me without the fountain.

for those who wanted to know. i am getting my vision back (slowly) and thanks for asking. (see previous post entitled "my eyes") i'm not too worried about it right now.

yesterday i had a nice treat. i was able to walk with ed wordell, (www.edwordell.com) longtime fine artist and yesterday's juror, as he picked the new east county art association's membership show -- (the show is hanging now at the library in rancho san diego for a month - go see it). i loved it. Ed is not a young guy anymore, but what a rare threat to be with such a dignified man. he is tall and thin, reminded me of my dad. he talked slowly but accurately, full of wisdom. he took his time picking the pieces he thought worthy, finally settling in on 6 for awards. he actually sat across from them and analysed each piece for its own weight and merit.
i wouldn't have minded hanging out with him for the rest of the day or two just to hear what he has to say....but as always, there wasn't enough time, i had to run off to another appoinment.
also, i would like to mention my friend, artist and president toni torgersen, did a first class, bang-up job in getting the show together almost entirely single-handedly.
toni, i'm going to take you out for a drink next week - wanna take ed with us?

productive day

the best feeling in the world to me is a day like today where I get a lot of stuff accomplished. First i was able to write and send out 2 articles to the publishers. then, I produced about 10 new pieces of art, very small ones. i made a ton of office type phone calls, prepared about 12 paintings to hang tonight. then hung my show at bard hall (lots of new work, come see) with the help of kathy, stephanie and bryan,....then mollie and chuck were there too. (i think kathy's husband is going to ban her from seeing me soon as i work her too hard.) i'm sorry kathy.

after that, i introduced the demonstrating artist, kate mccavitt (excellent artist - demo-ed a type of sumi painting) at foothills art association, came home in time for the ending of the "office", then watched "scrubs" with rosie. had a bite to eat and now i will tuck myself in bed with my new favorite book by bill bryson called....er....called.....hey! wait a minute, i can't find it.....looks like brooke might have come by here and nabbed it. she does that sometimes. its OK i am reading several other books right now too.
why did i get so much done today? because i have the fear of god in me that i might be getting sick. i can't leave all this stuff undone.

thinking over the day.....hmmmm, it was nice
loved the sumi drawing demo.