During the month of September, 2024, I will be showing artwork at Fog City Java, 580 Crespi Drive, Pacifica, California. Fog City Java is one of my favorite cafes to exhibit my artwork and this show has become an annual event. This September, I am showing recent works depicting our local Surf Otter 841, a hybrid art collaboration with AI, and paintings from my surf archive.
Partially inspired by watching whales at the Golden Gate Bridge, this was the prompt to Gemini - write a haiku about a fisherman encountering a breaching whale. Here was Gemini's response:
"Ocean giant swims. Breaching water, startled man. Fear and awe collide."
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| Hybrid Art Collaboration, Whale and Fisherman, acrylic and pencil on paper, 8/2024 |
More explorations with AI. The prompt: write a haiku about whales at sunset.
Gemini's response:
"Ocean giants dance. Golden rays paint playful scene. Nature's ballet."
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| Humpbacks at sunset, acrylic and pencil on paper, 08/2024 |
CoWaBunGA
Sketch studies are very helpful for composition and color selection. Here is the final painting and sketch study for K-brace:
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| K-brace, acrylic on canvas, 5/95 |
CoWABunGA
To study the colors for a final Construction Series painting, sometimes I prepare thumbnail sketches to test out various combinations to find the right colors. Here is an example of the final painting and the initial test sketch:
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| "Shear Connector", acrylic on canvas, 3/1995 |
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| Thumbnail sketch of "Shear Connector" - yes, that's my thumb at the bottom. |
Who loves an epic dino battle between triceratops and tyrannosaurus rex? I know I did. It's a mythic struggle between an overwhelming aggressor and a heavily armored defender with just enough tricks to keep the attacker unbalanced. This scene was on recreated at the LA Museum of Natural History:
CoWaBunGA
As part of my engineering career, I often encountered structural details that the general public will never see but that I found very beautiful. They were so beautiful that I used to paint the details on canvas for exhibitions. Here is one that I sketched, but never got around to painting:
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| Roof truss connection, pencil on paper, 06/1996 |
The prompt: "write a haiku about whale watching by the Golden Gate Bridge."
Gemini's response: "Golden Gate's red arch, Ocean giants breach and dive, Nature's grand display."
The work inspired by Gemini's haiku:
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| Hybrid art exploration, whales by the Golden Gate, 8/2024 |
CoWaBunGA
Kara Walker's installation "Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)" at the SFMOMA is multi-layered in meaning, and worth multiple viewings. While I was sketching the little girl's dress, I couldn't tell what graphic pattern was printed on the dress. Upon further sketching, I realized the graphic was cotton bolls.
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| "Fortuna and the Immortality Garden" Kara Walker, SFMOMA, 8/2024 |
While searching for my stash of sketchbooks the other day, I noticed that I had a small collection of musical performers in my portfolio. These sketches are of bands that played at our local cafes and breweries. I'm not sure if they are still around, but here is "Big Sticky Mess" at the now closed Jingletown Jazz Room within Ale Industries in Oakland.
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| Big Sticky Mess at Jingletown Jazzroom, 2015 |
CoWaBunGA!
Whenever we go to LA, Bottega Louie is a must stop for breakfast or brunch. Whether we happen to be in downtown, or out by West Hollywood, we try our best to schedule a brunch and indulge in Bottega Louie's beautiful dining space, delicious meals, and scrumptious desserts.
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| Bottega Louie, West LA, 6/2024 |
CoWaBunGA!
When I moved to the Bay Area in the 80's, there were a few banquet restaurants in Oakland Chinatown that served dim sum during the day. Unfortunately, with the changes in Oakland Chinatown, the aging of the proprietors, and more recently the COVID pandemic, most of those banquet restaurants have closed, except for Peony Seafood Restaurant in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza.
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| Peony Seafood Restaurant, Oakland 08/2024 |
CoWaBunGA
My wife reminded me that I created paintings recently paired with poetry, and suggested that I continue that process for my next works. We discussed it further and thought what fun it would be to collaborate with the recent artificially intelligent software (AI) to generate poetry for inspiring the paintings. So, here's my first attempt:
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| Gemini haiku with Jeng painting, 8/2024 |
Catching up on some sketches that should have been completed in previous months, I present Lao Table in San Francisco. We were introduced to Lao Table by LA friends who paid us a visit but wanted to dine at an Asian restaurant in downtown SF that was able to accommodate large parties. They suggested Lao Table and we were pleasantly surprised.
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| Lao Table, SF, 06/2024 |
Lao Table is decorated in a modern colors and furnishings that totally complements the delicious modern interpretations of Laotian food. This restaurant is perfect for large parties or celebrations,
CoWaBunGA
