David Molesky @ Rae Douglass

Artist David Molesky had an opening at the Rae Douglass Galley located in Berkeley, CA.

"Rae Douglass Gallery announces Turbulent Mirror, a solo exhibition of paintings by San Francisco-based painter David Molesky. The exhibition dates are December 11 – January 8, 2010, and the artist reception will be held on Saturday, December 11, from 6 to 9 pm. 15 percent of all sales will be donated to Ocean Voyages Institute/Project Kaisei and their effort to rid the Worlds oceans of plastic debris.

In this series of oil paintings Molesky has moved out of the context of naturalism by depicting waves with a darkly saturated palette that heightens their emotive force. His use of modern synthetic colors not only suggests the oil and plastic present in today!s oceans, but also represents a deep emotional reaction to the environment." - Rae Douglass Gallery

The gallery is located here and if you are in the area you should see the strokes in person:
Rae Douglass Gallery

2911 Claremont Ave.

Berkeley, CA

 

Here are some images from opening night. It was great fun with lots of laughing. Molesky always puts on a great show! David just published his first book which can be purchased here.

David and Charles Cunningham of epressbooks.

Nicholas Coley and David.

It is always wonderful to meet up with my painting peers and get some fresh air.
 

Madera Dedication

About a week ago was the dedication for the Madera Police Station, for "Currents". I came in on this project when it was almost complete, I got to paint what John and I call the haiku trees. This mural has the most people any mural John has painted thus far. The Madera mural, "Currents" is a diptych and discusses about the history of police as well as opening up the discussion of the choices we make as children and teenagers and the impact our choices have on our future.

I wrote about the installation here :: http://studiomargo.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-true-love.html

Here are some images from the dedication. The mural is located at The Madera Police Department Headquarters 330 South C Street, Madera, Ca 93638.

The trees, inside the trees!

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Mural

After much preparation, this week is the start of a new mural project for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This is the very first mural that John and I have created together from the beginning. So here are some images of where we are currently at with the project. We have set the installation for the second week in May, so if you want to check us out while we install, follow the blog around May.

Here are the two sketches of the design.

 

Above prepping the wall. Below are two rolls of the material prepped and ready to be stretched.

Laying out the material upside down and seaming it together.

Setting up the scaffolding. Laying out the grid. Mapping out the mural.

I am excited to start painting after a few months of office and paper work.

Margo-a-go-go

It is Sunday morning. I'm sitting at a coffee shop in Los Gatos, CA. The energy is flourishing and the beans smell heavenly.

The past week I have been hopping around from Truckee to Sacramento to Monterey to San Fransisco. I have officially moved out of the forest and living a nomadic lifestyle.  The artistic lifestyle is so uncertain. I am continuously working on balance in my lifestyle, which seems almost impossible to me at times. So I am almost set up with yoga and medatation places to practice at as I travel from city to city. My schedule is changing every hour and maintaining peace amidst all the chaos is a challenge.

 

It is time to go to the Santa Cruz Mountain studio. Today is the start of the lay out of the SC Beach Boardwalk mural. I am looking forward to the start of a new mural for the Santa Cruz community and blocking in some color after we set the perspective.

Transitioning and Preparing

I have been back in California for 26 days now. The new mural work is taking me around the world, meeting new communities and artists and swimming in problem solving on an hourly basis.

So, out of the forest I go, from living a life of isolation in the studio to painting side by side with another artist in multiple studios in Northern California. There are 8 murals lined up for painting for the next 10 to 12 months. Lompoc, Truckee,  Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Sacramento, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Pacific Palisades, and Barbados. The two studios are naked and ready for the new stories to unfold. Currently we are in an organizing and preparing mode. We are prepping the non woven media with coats of acrylic that will be seamed together and then taped up onto the wall and ready for painting. I was able to go to Skyline College and get the final shots of the completed mural, the first mural I worked on from cartoon to final mural.

 

John and artist Don Small from Barbados setting up new roll from QST.

John and I are working on a mural for a Catholic Church in Truckee. They are building a new parish hall and church. The mural we will be creating will have to be removable as the parish hall will be used for the church until the new church is built. This project will be completed in April 2010, right before Easter. Below are images of the progress of the parish hall.

Here is where the wall will be built and the space we are working with. The mural will depict the Blessed Virgin Mary ascending into heaven by the sweet cherubs.

Back to my lists and looking for artists interested in apprenticeships. I will be traveling from Truckee to Santa Cruz, almost weekly at this stage as we start to fill the studio spaces with the new murals. Stay warm!