Many people express great surprise when they learn that someone my age (I’m 81) has taken to digital photography and cutting-edge digital art so rapidly and enthusiastically. After all, you might expect a guy who got his first camera at age 11 by earning Brownie Points for selling magazines to be a die-hard film camera holdout. By the same token, how does this guy, without any academic art background, become a successful digital artist at such an advanced age?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Artists Should Not Be Old Dogs Unwilling to Learn New Tricks
Sketchpad Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 1 / Spring, 2008
Welcome to the first issue of our new Topanga Canyon Gallery (TCG) newsletter, Sketchpad.
It is something new we started to improve communications with our valued patrons. We
want you all to know how much we appreciate your past support and hope it will continue in
the future. This first issue is coming to you via U.S. Postal Service, as have our show announcement postcards in the past. Henceforth, however, our postcards and newsletters
will be sent out via e-mail - for several reasons. With postage & our mailing list both rising,
cost of mailings strains our limited budget. Also, it fits into our plan to become even more environmentally conscious by reducing the the paper & other consumables we
use to an absolute minimum.
Do we have your e-mail address? If not, please send an e-mail to (insert address of
member responsible for e-mail list). Just insert “Subscribe TCG e-mail” in the subject line.
Be assured that this will not flood your Inbox with spam! We will send out e-cards
announcing new exhibits no more than once per month, probably as part of the newsletter.
Studio Tour on the horizon. It’s not too early to make plans for the 2008 version our TCG annual art safari through the Canyon and surrounding mountains. This is the Big Kahuna
of the local art year, and it draws an increasing number of art aficionados every year -
from within and outside Topanga. Dates are Sat., June 7, 10-6. Sun., June 8, 11 to 5;
Gala Reception, Sat., 5 to 8. Advance tickets = $15, at door, $20.
Some 40 TCG members & guest artists — including some new to the Tour - are
putting in long hours creating new work for this special event. Mark your calendars
now so you don’t miss it. This is a true community event, bringing together the cream
of local artists, who can exhibit a more extensive display of their work than gallery
space allows, and members of the community who appreciate and support the arts.
We will notify you when tickets are ready.
Brewery Spring ArtWalk a smash hit! Crowds were huge. Our venue was gorgeous.
Sales were excellent. (Note: we can fill in # & amt later). Our greeters at the door, who
handed out Studio Tour cards, report they got many compliments about the TCG display.
Carol Spence reports: “Repeated comments to me at the front door on Sunday were
about how people thought ours was the best venue, that we had the best art and prices, and
that people felt welcome.” Couldn’t ask for a better reaction. And as a first-timer at the
event, your editor echoes those sentiments.
We owe the Carlson’s big-time. Our success at the Brewery would not have happened
without the generous support of Steve & Leslie Carlson, who own Pine Tree Circle and
our gallery space therein. We couldn’t ask for finer landlords. They provided the spacious
area in a prime location in which we set up our Art-Walk display at the Brewery, the world’s largest live/work art colony, which is also owned & operated by the Carlson family.
Steve & Leslie, we salute you, and thank you in advance for allowing us to use the same
space in October for the Brewery’s Fall ArtWalk. (So, readers, if you missed the Spring event, you get another chance in October. Don’t pass it up.
Curremt & Upcoming: Alisa Gabrielle’s Sirens, Maidens & Nymphs exhibit that celebrate
the female form runs through May 4 followed by Silent Witness, May 6– June 1. For more
on both shows, visit Events at our website: www.topangacanyongallery.com. Our annual
Invitational Show will showcase photography. Ace photographer John Smith is honcho
for that one. Stay tuned for more details.
Farewell to Mimma. We lost one our most active & beloved TCG members to pancreatic
cancer in March. Mimma Salinas handled part of TCG’s publicity chores and was an accomplished sculptor. “My work is a collection of intangible dreams and fantasies made
into a hard and durable material – bronze.” she said of her truly imaginative creations.
She will be sorely missed by her family and friends, which includes all of the fellow
gallery artists who knew her.