Resin Art - Red/Blue/White

Resin Art - Pink/Red/White/Yellow

Resin Art: 8"x10"   May 2010

Farmers' Market

Temescal Farmers' Market, May 23, 2010

Oakland, CA

Q white

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

AMAZING - Sold in 2008 in Florida

Made in 2007 Sold in 2008 in Florida

ULTIMATE FUNK --- resin sculpture

 

I always feel uncomfortable when I have to show funky junky that I made. I usually try not to show it to people for a while, but when I eventually show it, I would first put it in a corner so people wouldn't notice it. I just feel more comfortable showing and selling my “neat” works. 

My experience with selling my art, however, differs from my feeling towards my funky art. No matter how much I want to hide the funky stuff, I’ve sold quite a few of them. If you think funky people like the funky stuff, you're  wrong. All the buyers of the funky stuff were all “neat” looking people with non-funky outfits. I've sold the weirdest looking things in the past years to those people. 

I don’t even photograph many of them before they are sold because I don’t expect anyone would buy the funky stuff. But today,  I've decided to overcome this reluctant feeling toward my funky stuff. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean no one else likes it. I really don’t understand the mentality of those who “pay” to get funky stuff, but I am beginning to think that I might be good at funky stuff. Actually, it’s not that I don’t like it; I just have a hard time calling it “fine art.” But now, when I think of it, these funkies might be the fine art and my other “neat” stuffs are “commercial” art .

Oh, well. I don’t care which is what. Whatever the reason may be, I made what I made and I can’t throw them away, so this is the new funk. In any event, I admit it’s a lot more fun to make the funky stuff than the “neat” stuff.

8 inches in diameter, and about 6 inches in height at the highest point. Approximately 5 pounds in weight. Produced in 2009 and finished up in 2010. 

ASCEND - 34.5x18 Acrylic Painting

 

"Ascend" is an acrylic painting on a wood panel 34.5" x 18" in size and about 2" deep and was made in 2008. The calligraphy at the lower part means "Ascend."

It is actually not formal calligraphy. I designed it from the Chinese character that means, "ascend" or "rise." The Japanese and Chinese written languages share hundreds of characters, in case you didn't know. Admittedly, my calligraphy skill is limited to the one I leaned at Japanese elementally school, and I do not want to think how long ago that was. 

I placed the title in the portrait because I wanted to express the mystery of life, especially the transiency of life. The upper portion of the splashy line is a movement that was there but yet isn't there any more. It is a "trace" of existence, so to speak.

The entire painting has a sheer, but generally speaking it is a "dark" painting.  Close up photos are posted at my Flickr account set if interested. 

 $300 + Shipping within the US $33

Kanpai Sushi Web Site

Japanese Cuisine Make-Over Continues @ Kanpai Sushi in Palo Alto, CA
Before (no web site)	After (KanpaiPaloAlto.com)
Artistically speaking, not much was created in the past month except for a simple web site I designed for the Japanese restaurant (www.KanpaiPaloAlto.com) and a little make-over at the same restaurant. I design and maintain my own web sites ( LineScaping.com / MomokoSudo.com / SubjectiveArt.com / ResinJob.com ), and I occasionally take freelance orders like this. If you or someone you know need a simple and good looking, affordable web site, I can help! Please note that my design has absolutely no flash, with just a little of Java script. The simplicity of the codes makes the site very stable. I have at least 12 years of experience in messing with web design and administration on my own. I can also do some search engine optimization (SEO), domain name consultation/purchase, web hosting, and other things I am already doing in my sites. And of course I can write in the Japanese language if the site requires doing so. More information about web site related work is available upon request.
Before Photo	After Photo

Woody's Cafe: Oakland, California

Woody's Cafe: Oakland, California

I find showing at Woody's Cafe rewarding, not so much in a financial sense, but in the sense of serving the community. Diverse pool of people get to see my art instead of limiting viewers to the econo-socially privileged groups who can afford "fine art." I am proud to entertain the working class as well as being able to make some of my works affordable to them. This is all thanks to the Cafe's devotion to the community.

The show has been going well even before it started. While installing my work a few days before the show started, I made a sale. The piece didn't even make it to the wall. Since so many people liked it, I made another one, and it is available to see (and buy) at the Cafe.

The attendance was rather on the low side for the opening reception as the bad weather was indecisively bad in the Northern California standard. For someone from South Florida, it was not that bad at all. I find people in the Bay Area quite spoiled in terms of weather. The definition of "storm" here is very different from that of South Florida. In spite of the bad weather, I had a great time making new friends that day. I sold a few more on that night. (this and this and a few prints)

One sale is currently pending. Well, not exactly "pending." If no one buys this particular piece by the end of the show, the Cafe owner will buy it. He is generously letting others (and you) have a chance to buy it. You have until February 20 to buy this one. The Cafe doesn't do the transaction, so contact me if you think you deserve to have it and want to take care of it.

YEAR 2009 DROVE ME CRAZY

As the crazy old year of 2009 was going away I was feeling extremely exhausted.

When I look back it is not surprising I was feeling so tired. There were too many changes (and too much driving) in my life last year.

Last year stared with a totally new thing (like an old dog learning a new trick) - selling art on the streets. Only outside vendors would know how strenuous selling merchandise outdoors can be. And that was when the recession hit us real hard.

I started out at local farmers' markets to practice, then shifted to the actual art events. I burned out after three consecutive weeks of three art fairs.

Then I moved from Miami to Northern California which was very, very stressful. I had accumulated 'stuff' over the years, and I went into a shock to see how much stuff that I never used or needed, I accumulated. In the end I was crying out of the stress of dealing with so much stuff I didn't know what to do with.

I managed to leave Miami and come to the Bay Area. It's not that I don't like it here, but it has everything to do with settling in a new and strange place.

The Bay Area is sort of like a hundred clans stuck together with invisible borders. One need go only a few mile (or sometimes only a few blocks) in any direction, and the people, culture, attitude and even climate (and even gas prices) are totally different.

That was too much for me to digest. If that was micro-culture, there is micro-climate as well. In summer it would be hot and cold and hot and cold and hot. Climate changes by the minute and by the spot. It can be chilly in the shade yet when I step out of the shade, it could be sweaty hot. I was supposed to wear thin layers of clothing and carry a jacket with me to adjust to sudden warmness or coldness by putting on or taking a jacket off constantly but of course I didn't have the skill nor habit to do so when I first arrived. So I was always in a wrong outfit. When I lived in Miami I never wore socks and I was there almost a decade. So I had to get used to the existence of socks in the laundry.

In the summer I did the Seattle exhibition. Going to Seattle may seem to be a distance shorter than the length of a cigarette on the map, but it is very far, far away if you load the van with artworks and drive alone. I did that twice, for the opening reception and then the closing reception. I think the show was a great success, but it was a heavy load.

People in Seattle not only loved but also bought my work.

At around that time I got on the TV for the first time. I can best describe it as "sleep talking" because I was so nervous that I didn't know what I was saying during the taping. I don't feel that I was even awake during the show.

I now work in the amazing studio space in West Oakland. It's so big that I don't feel like calling it a "space." We shall call it a "field" instead.

In October I entered a financial pit and had to find a job. Considering how difficult the job market seemed to be in this recession, I was ready to apply for at least 100 jobs. I made a list of jobs to apply for and started applying, but after applying at only the first job opening , I was hired right there and then . So that was the end of my job hunting story which could be the most boring job hunting story in human history. How many people in this country apply for one job and get the job? That's a 100 percent success rate. As I read and hear about many people applying for numerous jobs over a long period of time and still have no work, I am happy I have work. And it's in Palo Alto!

One of the brilliant things about Palo Alto is its innovative parking regulations in downtown. This downtown parking system differs from any other city I have been to. Basically , as long as I comprehend the rules and follow them, I can park my car free of charge in the middle of downtown thanks to this system. All public parking is FREE after 5 pm so that all the restaurant goers can take all the time they need to eat, chat, and stroll. I think being able to park downtown with relative ease helps the downtown businesses a great deal. A bad parking system discourages patrons to visit ; killing businesses.

I found a job in Palo Alto because I wanted to be there often. I like Palo Alto. Palo Alto is made contemporary and classy. Of course it may have a lot to do with Palo Alto's financial wellbeing, as one of the "Silicon Valley" cities, but I think it also relates to the type of people who live or work there.

The cheesy country-girl type of deco is almost non-existent, which is why I enjoy being there. And most importantly, that's the type of place I want to target to sell my art.