VALENCIA ST.....

transformation  is the keyword...

from 16th to the 20th st....

Friday nights will never be the same again...

and so are the other week nights and days...

beautiful developments for business and art ...
and the whole neighborhood

is shining with boutiques of all sorts...
and cafes and art galleries 

this is the taxidermy shop of african and asian

wild animals, insects, butterflies...

and south American pampobethus

otherwise known as tarantula...

some people think it would make an ideal gift for their ex's...

....good luck to that...

the transformation didn't happen overnight....

but was the result of slow flow of small

group of modest merchants over at least

7 years....that's when Jose Segura and I used to

hangout at the cafe on 21st and Valencia...

Now they have this barber shop reminiscent of 

those years when the barber also brought you the

news in the neighborhood as well as gossips

about the politicians and the big timers and their

women...note: it is in plural form....

The cafes/restaurants are also teeming with

local patrons...

....tonight Glenn Bachmann runs this art coop...

i met him last year when i was painting the 

conservatory of flowers with a cow grazing in the 

park...Glenn and the tourists had a kick watching

me do that particular lampoon art...

The photos on this wall are Glenn's ....

that's all there is for the moment folks!!

i'll keep them coming ...

catch you later...

jt

CHRISTMAS IS GETTING POSTPONED...

at least that's what i heard from one very 

impeachable source....

so i went over to Stonestown Galleria....

the signs are just contrarian to this turkey...

The mall christmas tree is up for picture taking 

background with Santa...

and the christmas carols are being

played ... 

have you ever heard of such absurdity...

as christmas getting postponed...

and if it

were..what do you suppose would be a good date for it?

...i bet you he just wanted to have a turkey talk...

but i'm not falling for it...yak ..yak...yak...

which reminds me Thanksgiving 

is actually around the corner...

and the pilgrims may have started this

joke and then invented thanksgiving as

a way to remember turkeys like this guy

who walks around with a twisted sense...

he 's gotta be one of those protozoans

trying to invade our planet ...

or it could just be the sign of the times...

anyway i think the best way to deal with this

is just... not to think about it and have fun...

Astar and Adam from Israel posing for this blog

or perhaps do your shopping early...

here is an ad that may help you...

make an artist happy this christmas...

that's all for now folks!

i'll be in touch so you be in touch

jt

S A D

.....this is a 3 letter word....

but a strong seismically energized 3 letter word

that can put the receiver off balanced emotionally...even just momentarily...

just received an email from Ksenia written 2 hours ago

expressing her

disappointment of not having made it to the

PEBS sketching session on Sunday...

yes....the email simply had these letters that can be read in 

fractional split of a millisecond but had a lingering

effect when one knows every sense of the word

is meant and felt...

it felt like being alone in the desert...abandoned

and marooned...

note: I just said something that might work

as a subject matter for painting...didn't I?...

We also missed your presence Ksenia

the night was just half the fun without you...

Penelope had been wondering ...of whatever 

happened to you.

Anyway...we'll all get together the first chance

we get

Thanks 

jt

DO ARTISTS HAVE DARK SIDES?...

...generally speaking i think...

all mankind is by nature good...

but that's just one side of the coin...for some reason 

humans also have the capability to be naughty... 

the so called dark side...

qualified this means...some with real

scary dark shades and some with light and easy tones...

Walter Sickert an English impressionist ...

born in Germany...

was implicated with Jack the Ripper crimes ...

Nobody knows the truth for sure...

He became interested in Jack the Ripper

and lived in the same room Jack occupied and

did paintings of that room

"Jack the Ripper's Room" and the

"CamdenTown Murders"

He was an assistant to James McNeil Whistler

then was taught by Degas. He was the founder of 

The Camden Town Group...

the ocean in the far horizon is hardly visible....

it's a little bit on the rainy side today, though lightly...

so i cooked clams and salmon for lunch...

so much for the dark side...

let's hit the cafes...get our fixes...do people watching

read the paper or whatever...

even candidly sketch beautiful ladies while 

they're off guard...

Lola... a Spanish lady I sketched in Makati

Theresa Calpotura...classical guitar concert player...
i did the portrait hanging behind her
while she was busy doing her artwork with
the SF PEBS...

just don't walk in dark alleys...

catch you later folks!!

jt

.

SF PEBS Sunday session....

....the session today started around 5 p.m.

Ramon had to go to Trader Joe's for a piece of cake and bottles of cranberry juices...

Theresa running to the supermarket with Matt for the plates and cups...

i had to go to the bakeshop to get baguettes and brie and Martinelli's

apple/grapes cider while Penelope was baking a 16" pizza and waiting

for the others to arrive....

....this is tonight's still life set up...

and here's Ramon on the opposite side ...

and Jennifer  and Leo on the front side...

take note of our empty plates and cups...does it

tell you something?...

but before we went into the art session...this is 

what happened...

...as soon as i arrived with the freshly baked baguettes...

still oven hot and very inviting to eat with its sweet smell...

i knew i could not forgive myself to let this pass ....

so i hurriedly unwrapped the first one and started to invite

the rest to join me to eat...i guess they couldn't resist

the same temptation so everyone started grabbing plates 

...for salad, pizza, baguette and brie...and to water it down

...with nice cold slushy juices of grapes and apple cranberry...

...after the session we went for our guitars and started

playing....Theresa is trying  my guitar for the

 "Saan Ka man Naroroon" piece.. and 

Ramon is playing Theresa's Connor guitar...

while Theresa is playing with the cat and Penelope

and Matt are checking an art board...

i did this painting of Theresa while she was busy doing 

her sketching....gave it to her ...and in return

she played a mediterranean music...

with a different kind of enchantment and feel...

and gave me a copy of the manuscript ...

We finished the session at midnight ...and gone home

relaxed with the convincing belief ...we've done

a good job of ending the week with great art

and great music session...

Ksenia was too tied down with her work ...she 

was unable to come. Dina had an important

family affair and would be coming some 50 miles

from the south so ...was also unable to do the same...

Sarah...from San Francisco State must have

misplaced the address i gave her ...i really

...don't know i'm just guessing...

In the previous night...or the wee hours

of the morning

.Jem of Baguio PEBS

was burning the midnight oil to create a digital artwork

present ...for her kid sister who's 

birthday is on the following day....

A lot of times  artists work like ants....

unmindful of time and other

things...we are the resilient type...

and in the last hour had an accident of spilling

colors on her art project...this kind of thing

has happened to a lot of us ...i know the feeling..

and the only way to get your mind off of it

is to leave your studio and gallivant for an hour 

or so...then come back to refinish your

artwork... with a smile!!

that's all for now folks!

I'll catch you later...

p.s. Australia, South Korea and Netherlands are under the 

blog's radar with Germany, Russia, USA, Phils...

welcome...aboard!

jt

BAY BRIDGE

 ...the new bay bridge was opened 

in September and....

the loma prieta earthquake in 1989

triggered the

re-evaluation of the bridge's capability to withstand

a good size earth movement...and the result is this new one

pictured on the very top...

this is a view of the old bridge on California St 

going east...

take a last long hard look of the old

                                                          bridge before it's totally gone...

here is a cityscape in progress

i thought i'd document the old bridge

with a moody perspective on California St

...an artist always has a perspective only

artists can imagine...and i say that with emphasis...

i'll give you more artists stories later on

somewhere in Europe back in the WWII...

that's it for now folks!

i'll be in touch so you be in touch

p.s. the blog radar picked up an audience in 

China...a modest 3 musketeers...

jt

BOMBS ARE FALLING IN LONDON............

........73 YEARS AGO...december
the beginning of winter
and christmas....
anyway i'd like to give you folks an idea

of how artists and art culture went along 

during the war years ...hope it's something that will

interest you...a trip back in time.. 

Chapter I

these are excerpts from art magazines in those 

troubled times and life for the artist

is in no way any different from the

rest ...also troubled..