Bitter Fruit

My husband is curing olives. Lord, help us.

18 years ago, we bought a house in Pasadena with 20 olive trees. I tried curing olives several times but only succeeded in making expensive inedible drek. After two experiments two years in a row, I realized it was much cheaper to just purchase the damned things. And they tasted so much better!

We sold the Pasadena house and move to Palm Springs. There’s an olive tree in the courtyard which is primarily for show and shade. It provides an abundant crop of olives every two years. In Pasadena, the ripening olives presented a real hazard on the walkways and drive. In Palm Springs, the olives fall off the tree and immediately dry out. They turn into black gravel within a day.

Two years ago, my husband decided to try his hand at curing olives. My husband is a physician, after all. That does NOT mean he can cure olives… His cured olives were dreadful! His patient died. Those pitiful olives showed up on the hors d’ oeuvres tray for weeks! No one touched them other than My Doctor.

I took to tossing out a tablespoon of olives every couple of days to give the appearance of their being eaten. That worked although I still had to endure the grimaces of unsuspecting friends biting into those dreadful olives until I’d disposed of the last to them.

This year, our olive tree has totally disregarded the economy and produced an incredible abundance of olives. My Doctor again decided to attempt a cure.

The instructions said to use a glass, ceramic or porcelain container. He used plastic water bottles. The instructions said to use rock salt. He used table salt. The instructions said to soak the olives for three weeks. He’s going on week five.

The first “batch” of olives is not too bitter. They leave a bad after taste but the garlic and lemon overpower it. There are four more batches to follow. They are improving with practice.

I do hope My Doctor gets it right. I love olives and it would be great to have home-cured olives to munch on during happy hour.

If you are within a 15 mile radius of us, beware! Hanukkah is upon us!

Our olives may have an aftertaste, but my artwork does not! This is an awkward way to ask you to take a look at my artwork which has nothing to do with Olives! Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com

Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157.

You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Tortuga's Bunker

For the past few weeks I’ve been talking about the Fiesta Arts Gallery in Indio and my current show there. I can hear you groaning, “Not another blog about that damned show!” This week, I will talk about one of the animals in my life that brings me joy.

No! I am not talking about my husband, although he is sometimes an animal and he does bring me joy…

About three years ago, we adopted an African Sulcata Tortoise. We didn’t go looking for a tortoise to adopt. I would have chosen a California Desert Tortoise. However, we were asked to adopt Tortuga from a dear friend who could no longer care for him.

The African Sulcata is native to the African Sahara Grasslands. They were introduced here as novelty pets by unscrupulous breeders and pet stores owners. They are cute when they are a few weeks old and about the size of a quarter. And then they grow.

These guys grow to be 36 inches long and weigh up to 225 pounds. Once they begin to grow and can no longer be kept in a 5 gal aquarium, most people can no longer care for them. This is how Tortuga came to us. He is a rescued tortoise. Tortuga is now 16 years old, weighs 70 pounds and is about 24 inches long. He’s a gentle giant with a small brain.

Our tortoise is even tempered and seems to be happy. He’s not aggressive, is very inquisitive and engaged with us and his environment. I believe that is because he’s not confined to a small pen and has a free rein of three sides of the property. He chases the Roadrunners from the yard, terrorizes the cats and absolutely loves dogs. Tortuga loves anything red. The neighbor’s children wear their Ruby Red Slippers when visiting to Tortuga’s delight.

For a reptile, this tortoise has a personality. He knows who we are and actually comes when called! He loves to be with us and I’m constantly escorting him out of the house. His toilet habits are primitive. You don’t want him in the house: he poops like a horse.

The weather is changing. Night time temperatures are dropping into the 60’s in Palm Springs. Tortuga must be kept in temperatures of 70F or above. Several days ago, I realized it was time to prepare Tortuga’s bunker for the winter. He has an underground home sunk 3 feet into the ground which is insulated and heated. He has internet, wide screen HD TV and I'm sure he watches Tortoise Porn.

Tortuga watched me muck out the bunker. He watched me test the heaters. He watched me replace the “door” which keeps the heat in. Winter has officially started in Palm Springs and Tortuga is now a show bird… The minute I finished preparing his bunker, he marched in and pooped.

Animal life is not always pleasant. My artwork, however, is! Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

After Glow

2010.09.25 Opening Day

My show opened at the Fiesta Arts Gallery in Indio on Saturday the 25^th. I have more than 30 weavings exhibited. I had a ball! In a four hour period on Saturday, more than 25 friends came to see my work, schmooze and drink wine. On Sunday another 20 friends stopped by.

These visitors were in addition to those coming to see my work after reading about it in the newspaper or hearing it on the radio. The Coachella Valley Arts Alliance (CVAA) also did a wonderful job getting the word out. And you know I e-mailed every person I could think of on 5 continents. Sorry, South America, I don’t know anyone in South America. Or Antarctica: not even a penguin.

Initially, I was disappointed with the turn out. Seemed there were few people in the gallery. I mentioned this to my paint-date buddy. “There are so few people here!” I said. Ok, I whined. Steven looked at me askew. It was actually the first time I’d seen an askew look…”Jerry,” he said, “this space is 40 feet wide and 60 feet deep. Lighten up, Dude!” He actually said that: “Dude...”

I then realized there were more than 20 people in the gallery. Most of them I didn’t’ know. The gallery was filled with my work. The gallery looked three quarters empty. It takes a lot of bodies to fill a 2,400 square foot room.

They came to see me and my work. I was overwhelmed when I realize that. Thank you, Steven, for smacking me upside the head with reality.

The gallery looked great, too! For the first time I was able to step back from a piece and see it from 40 feet away. Wow! Those 3 ½ X 7 foot pieces look much different from afar! Loved it!

Friends came from Huntington Beach. They purchased a piece. Jim & Carole came and brought their friends. Friends came from Palmdale. My neighbors came even though they’ve seen most of my work.

Friends came who I never expected to come. I love them for that.

I lightened up. Then I had a glass of wine and introduced myself to everyone I didn’t know.

And I had a good time!

Oh, and all these works are for sale. Please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to purchase one or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I’ll be in the gallery between the hours of 11 AM 1 PM Pacific time.

Thank you for listening.

Jerry L. Hanson

Weave & Show

My exhibit of woven works opened this past weekend in Indio. I had a wonderful two day event and am still in the process of “processing” the weekend. I thought I would use my Artist’s Statement as my blog for this week to give you a feel for where I draw inspiration from recycled newspaper. Perhaps this will be a window into my creative process.

I am drawn to materials that become trash as soon as they are used. A newspaper is read; it becomes trash. In my early works, I used the newspaper strictly as material, choosing it for the quality of the newsprint rather than the printed news. The Wall Street Journal was a favorite simply because of the weight and size of the paper. I didn’t select the paper based on content; the paper became the content of my art pieces. In my later work, I begin to pay attention to the content of the newspaper as it relates to my art.

Newspapers have personalities. On many levels, the Los Angeles Times is not the Wall Street Journal. The look and feel of a newspaper is specific to each Newspaper. The layout of each has its own personality, its own style. Personalities in newspaper are what I look for in my art.

Newspaper is language. It is a dialogue between the writer and the reader. It is no accident that the opinion section of a newspaper is serious, the obituaries somber, and the comics bright. The want ads are busy, the movie ads brash and colorful while the stock market report is controlled and tight.

I weave these languages and personalities into a dialogue with the viewer. It is my palette. Personalities and languages are deconstructed and reassembled. Ubiquitous newspaper is reorganized into a different way of seeing language and dialogue.

Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind; I’m hanging out at the gallery with nothing to do. That’s totally untrue. I’m weaving while minding the store.

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson

CVAA & Arts at Context - Guest Blog

Arts at Context Future Home

This week, I have a guest speaker: William Schinsky, Executive Director of the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance. I invited Will to tell you a bit about the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance and the Arts at Context project. He is far more articulate about the CVAA than I!

jlh

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As Executive Director of the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance/Arts at Context, one of my jobs is to find interesting and accomplished work that has not had wide public viewing.

The Arts at Context is an outgrowth of the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance. The mission of the CVAA is to enhance the creative vitality of the Coachella Valley.” Context is the beginning of a solution to meet the needs of the Coachella Valley’s creative community; studios, meeting space, exhibit space. The Arts at Context will be headquartered in a 22,000 square foot structure that has been a part of Indio’s downtown for nearly 8 decades.

During renovations of the building, CVAA has been fortunate to be given four empty store spaces at the Fiesta Mall in Indio. Context at Fiesta Arts is up and happening.

Now back to the fun part of my job: finding, visiting and talking with artists.

I received an email from a friend in San Diego who recently visited Palm Springs. He urged me to find an artist by the name of Jerry L. Hanson. He evidentially liked Jerry’s work. I’d not heard of him so I searched for him on Google. Have you any idea how common is the name Jerry L. Hanson? Eventually, I found him in Palm Springs.

After days of e-mail tag, we set a date for me to visit Jerry’s studio & I found my way to his home/studio. We spent several hours looking at his current body of work, talking about his inspiration and how he developed his unique style & technique. Who in their right mind weaves newspaper?

I invited Jerry to visit the Fiesta Art Gallery and the future home of Arts at Context. And I then invited Jerry to hang his work in the gallery. I think he was excited. Yeah. He was.

Jerry’s sophisticated woven paper works will be on exhibit opening 25 September as part of the Smithsonian Museum Day celebrations. Jerry will share the Context Gallery with Israeli artist, Hanoc Piven, a portrait artist working with recycled materials.

The Arts at Context and Fiesta Arts project are challenging experiments. They do, however, offer opportunities for Art and artists to once again prove that creative individuals can bring new life to struggling locations such as old downtown Indio and a struggling retail urban mall. . Jerry’s enthusiasm and commitment in working with me contributes to fulfilling CVAA’s mission. His participation is personally gratifying.

Achieving the goal to establish the Arts at Context does not seem as daunting when working with professional artists such as Jerry.

Join us Saturday, September 25^th in celebration of Smithsonian Museum Day and opening reception for Jerry’s artwork.

William Schinsky

Executive Director,

Coachella Valley Arts Alliance

Peat. Repeat

Work in progress - 32" X 33 "

Several weeks ago, in my blog titled “Strip Search” I talked about my experience in poor planning when I ran out of materials to complete a woven image. I had to prepare an additional 90 sheets of newspaper so that I could cut just one one inch strip from each to complete the piece.

I completed the piece and it come out spectacular! So I made a second one. This one too is spectacular. I had cut one inch strips to correspond to those unused from the first batch. The rest of the newspaper, I cut into ½ inch strips. I began a third piece using half inch strips cut from the second batch of paper. I wanted to make smaller scale weavings.

I began my piece. I reasoned that since I would be using ½ inch strips of paper instead of one inches strips, the finished piece would be smaller. True. It is half the size. What I totally forgot is that even though it’s half the size, it still takes the same number of strips of paper to complete the weaving. Damn!

I made the same stupid mistake I made on the first weaving! So now I have a half completed weaving that is looking fantastic! And I ran out of materials.

Strip search all over again….. I still have a couple of hundred copies of that newspaper ad. I am NOT going to prep another 100 copies of that ad just to complete this one weaving! What to do?

Working with one inch wide strips of paper, the images on the strip are important. It is less forgiving than working with half inch strips of paper. I found the half inch strip of newspaper immediately adjacent to the one I used and I believe I can continue and not have the “shift” in image be too dramatic.

The image above is where this piece is now. I will continue the work using a different strip of paper and I promise to show you the result. I hope it is not noticeable! I will notice. I hope YOU will not.

I am obsessing about my new show opening September 25^th in conjunction with Smithsonian Museum Day..If you are in the Coachella Valley, please come see my show at the Fashion Mall in Indio. I will let you know more details in my next blog.

Should I blame my stupidity on my obsession with this show? Na…… I’m just not thinking! Measure twice, cut once. Peat. Repeat. At some point, I’ll get it.

Please take time to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind. I got nothing to do.

Breathe!

Work in progress: 35 by 38 inches

Today is September 7^th (Only if YOU read this on the 7^th). I have an opening tentatively scheduled for September 25^th, less than three weeks away. I have a meeting with Will Schinsky, Executive Director of the Coachella Valley Arts Alliance, on the 10^th to finalize “things” for the show. That will leave two weeks until the opening. I’m beginning to get a bit nervous. I’m beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed.

I’m excited about this show. I’ve had my artwork in galleries before but this is my first opportunity to curate my own work. It’s beginning to feel daunting. In prior shows, the gallery owner chose the pieces for the show, decided what would hang and where and took care of the opening. All I had to do was show up, schmooze and smile.

I’m on my own this time! What is the focus of the show? What pieces to I include or exclude? Do I show only my woven work or include the color field paintings? Do I have time to make MORE work before the opening? In two weeks? I don’t think so!

And then, there is the matter of the opening. By necessity, it will be on a Saturday afternoon due to limitations imposed by the mall in which the gallery is located. That’s ONE decision I do not have to make, thankfully. What do I serve? Do I need crowd control? How many people do I invite and as this is in a mall, will it be invitation only? More crowd control? Oye! My mind reels! And is there a bathroom for guests?

What do I need to provide for the opening? Is there water available close by? Is there something to use for a bar? Where does one find a bar, for crying out loud? Short of renting one, I mean? Do I have nice canapés or Cheese Wiz on Ritz? Is there a bathroom for guests?

Friday the 10^th cannot come soon enough. So many questions. I’ve been asking my artist friends for some of their experiences. Great ideas, too! No two openings were similar. Each was unique. Each was wrought with worry and angst. They all had several months to prepare. Months!?! I have weeks! I’m screwed! Take a deep breath; count to 10. I’m OK.

In the mean time, please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com Take a look at my artwork. Contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website or you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you (include your contact info!). You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com or you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157. You can call me. I won’t mind. I got nothing to do…

Thank you for listening!

Jerry L. Hanson