Studio Visit

     As artists, we strive to find a deeper understanding of art through the experience of making. And as artists we continually search for how we can fit into the conversation of art that has continued for thousands of years. To better understand how we work, and how we can get closer to where we need to be can be a lifelong journey. A journey that has taken artist Jimi Gleason from Orange County to San Francisco, to New York, and back again. He certainly hasn’t been afraid to take it....

By Joel Woodard Jordan Christian just wrapped up his latest solo exhibition at the F+ Gallery in Santa Ana. F+ has been in business for 9 years at the Santiago Street Art Lofts (one of the few remaining art galleries there). Situated just down the street from the Santa Ana train station, the Lofts also sit just blocks away from Logan Creative, where Jordan Christian and F+ owner Micah Kersh first met. At that time...

Have you ever had a moment where you felt connected to an animal? Where you looked deep into its eyes and felt a sort of mutual understanding? Like, you exist with them and not just near them? Have you ever felt an internal pull toward a special crystal or rock formation? Has the color of a fire or a sunset reached into your soul and just stopped you dead in your tracks for a moment? Artist Cody Jimenez has the uncanny ability of catching those...

Imagine a bright and colorful world where light pippy jazz is always playing, an assortment of soothing scents casually linger in the air, the weather is never not pleasant, and the diverse and eclectic people all around you are upbeat and friendly… This world is at your fingertips, thanks to the immersive art and design of Priscilla Moreno.  A SoCal native, Moreno grew up in Los Angeles, but now calls Long Beach home. She is a full-time artist, and has shown her vibrant and fun artwork...

Last month, over thirty artists from the 2020 Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach opened their private art studios and gallery venues for visitors to take a no-cost, self-guided journey through the Orange County coast in an event called “Art Along the Coast.” For two consecutive weekends, artists from San Clemente to Santa Ana shared their new art as well as works in progress to locals looking to support and connect with the art scene in their community. This was a great opportunity for both...

Climbing the walls and growing on the floor like a mold in various colors or stages of propagation, pill bottle caps encased a gallery space, bringing awareness to the spread of addiction to pharmaceuticals and its similarity to the growth of bacteria. I stumbled on this installation in 2012 as a part of the Huntington Beach Art Center’s “Escape from the Landfill” exhibition and was immediately enamored and enthralled by the power of this Long Beach-based installation artist, Olga Lah. Lah’s installation art is more powerful...

Local painter and art instructor, Eric L. Jones has been a fixture in the Orange County art scene for more than decade. His work blends a new kind of Abstract Expressionism with spirituality, poetic reflection, and Deconstructivism. He has shown his work in galleries in Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Santa Ana, and actively shares his talents and passions with many different college populations in OC. Maribele, I am with you (after and before), Eric L. Jones, oil on canvas. Jones’ art practice reaches far and wide, touching...

Perhaps it is serendipity or simply good luck; but more likely, Elizabeth Turk’s presence working in an expansive artistic environment is the result of her irrepressible ambition, sense of adventure and impressive talent. In this time of Covid-19, Turk is busy and locked away creating sculptures and installation works at Logan Creative in Santa Ana. And while numerous artistic spaces are closed, this compound welcomes artists working in many different media. With large, airy studios, the space affords easy social distancing for participants to work comfortably, to dialogue...

Lindsay Buchman is an interdisciplinary artist working between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Her practice explores positions of instability and disintegration through works on paper, installation, artist books, and photo-based approaches. Captivated by shared experience, she investigates interpersonal relationships while pivoting between text and image. Buchman is primarily focused on the implication of memory, and the dissonance between language and communication. Recent projects include: the role of the archive, public memory, and private history. Buchman's new exhibition, Y(OURS), will be on view at the Irvine Fine Arts Center from February 13 – April 16, 2016. The opening reception will...

The First Friday art walk in Oakland, California — known as Oakland Art Murmur — is a chance for galleries throughout the city, from uptown to downtown to Jingletown, to throw open their doors for an art-loving public. Current shows of note include Kurt Fishback’s “51 Portraits of Women Artists” through July 18 at Transmission Gallery in West Oakland and Chicago-based painter and textile artist Samantha Bittman’s “Material Data” through July 4 at Johansson Projects. The Friday commute is a killer for Orange County residents though,...

The second wave feminists of the 1960s famously coined the phrase "the personal is political". This is true of a vast number of issues, yet often times the very personal impact of political policies gets lost in the furious debates about fiscal impacts of laws or the hypothetical scenarios debated on television talk shows. At a time when immigration issues are hotly debated topic in United States politics, art can be a powerful tool that helps us connect to the personal stories within this multifaceted...

As part of an ongoing series featuring contributors from all over Southern California, below international art dealer Delia Cabral gives an account of her recent visit to the studio of artist Tony Brown. An external view night view of Tony’s Down Town LA installation of X-rays One of the very best parts of being who I am and doing what I do is going on studio visits. I get to go into artist’s studios and see them in their natural habitat and their art fresh off, or still...