Three Things at the de Young

Several months back I was at the de Young Museum to see some other things, when I stumbled upon a new favorite, an old favorite, and a picture that deeply intrigued me.

The new favorite was the above pink and blue sculpture by Barbara Hepworth. It is, as my personal eye balls judge it, simply a perfect thing.

The old favorite was, not surprisingly since I've talked about it before, this astonishing glowing painting by Richard Mayhew.

And the one that caught my eye and stopped me in my tracks as I was headed elsewhere is this painting of horses by Purvis Young. I find it arresting as hell.

Color Poem #80

I cannot get over
how much I love
red and pink
together



image source is here

Children's Publishing Workshop

We hosted our very first workshop at Open Studio last weekend. Children's publishing executive Kelli Chipponeri broke down kids' fiction and nonfiction publishing for her students -- helping folks who've been dreaming of writing a children's book get going on their way. A great group came out for it, and many told me how valuable they found it and how much they had learned. It was immensely gratifying to see this third and final chunk of the vision for the space come to fruition!

The Wing

I got to visit the Wing the other morning, and man oh man was it cute. The women's club and co-working space opened it's San Francisco outpost last year. It's furnished in an adorable style I see cropping up around and about these days that I haven't yet heard adequately described but that I think of, to myself, as "curviliunear pastel." As a person running a co-working space of my own, I found the experience of visiting intensely inspiring -- both for the aspects I found aspirational and for those I did not. It's all valuable food for thought.

Colorful Notepads

One of my favorite drawings from the long summer trip we took to Martha's Vineyard when I was on sabbatical almost three years ago. We were walking past a stationery store in one of the cute little towns there, when we spotted this display of colored notepads through the window. I dashed in and bought four, but now wish I'd bought forty. Quite possibly the best notepads ever.

Masako Miki at BAMPFA

Artist Masako Miki's show of felt sculptures "Matrix 273" at the Berkeley Art Museum is extremely good fun. From the moment you step into the space you're reminded that color and form can be vehicles of joy -- and that that fact does not at all diminish (in fact, imho, it enhances) the significance of the art. It's up till the end of April. If you're in the Bay Area it's well worth going for a look see.

Color Poem #79

if you’ve got a yellow table and
a pink chair to put your books
on and then you have even
more books so you need a
new chair you go with
one in a blue that
hovers between
navy and
purple

HOW Design Live

I'm speaking at HOW Design Live in Chicago in May! It's quite a thrill to see oneself among the vast and illustrious roster of speakers (just a tiny slice of which is captured below). I'm talking about publishing for creatives and how designers become authors (more info about my session can be seen here). And if by chance you're interested in attending, you can register here and use the discount code WatsonPayne to get 10% off your ticket. Keen!

A Sixth Year of Pies

And here we are at the dozen amazing pies Bill made in the year of 2018. Are you excited? I am. Previous years of pies can be found here. Let's dive in!

(above) January: Coconut Cream Pie (for my birthday)

February: Julia Turshen's Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

March: Balsamic Strawberry Pie

April: Four and Twenty Blackbirds Farmer Cheese and Thyme Pie

May: Orange Chess Pie

June: Grapefruit Chess Pie

July: Summer Fruit Pie

August: Nothing In the House Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

September: Apple Pie with Butterscotch Sauce

October: Plum Gallettes

November: Pecan Pumpkin Layer Pie

December: New York Times Two-Tone Ginger Custard Pie

Blue Suede Shoes

I love drawing shoes. Here are some from a few years back.

How Was Your Day? Art Show

Last week I hung an art show at Open Studio of the 50 original drawings from my new guided journal How Was Your Day? Then, last night, we had an opening party for the show, that was also a book launch party for the journal and my other new book The Secret Art of Being a Parent, thrown in association with SF First Thursday. I documented the show hanging process very well -- last night's party much less so. You know how it is when you're hosting something. You run all around and at the end of the night realize you've only snapped like two photos. But, hey. It was an absolutely lovely evening surrounded by great people, and we even sold some books and drawings. Anyhow, here's how the show went up, and a peek of what happened next.