Several weeks ago I was part of CHLA’s booth at the Beverly Hills Affair in the Garden art show, In my previous blog, i talked about the amazing job that HARK does on behalf of the art and music department at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. After my enlightening conversation with the folks at Lincoln, who had a booth and a car displayed as art there, I started walking around and take in the art which took a while because believe me, art is not lacking at this event, there are 4 full blocks dedicated to this event and each block filled to the brim with art.

Gabe Leonard and I

 The first artist that i went to see was an old favorite of mine, Gabe Leonard. The first painting i ever saw of his was a portrait of the LA River seen from the bottom looking up at the expanse of one of the bridges that crosses over it. Growing up in Silverlake, I had spent lots of afternoons in the Atwater potion of the river looking at all the graffiti on the bridges, the dense forest of trees and bamboo that grows out of the river at only 2 parts, this area and up by the Sepulveda dam Where they filmed a sequence for “Drive”. Gabe has an amazing way of portraying expression with color and brush stroke, his subjects jump off the canvas weather it be a portrait of a star of the silver screen or a 1930’s mobster or a classic rock legend. Two of his newest series of paintings that I really loved are the Wild West and Pirates! I had a pirate weekend at the 2011 Buccaneer days on Catalina Island about a month ago and ever since pirates have been on my radar (I may even be one for Halloween)

Gabe Leonard – “Live by the Sword”

 His pirate paintings spoke to me, as  lover of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, it was like an extension of that world, his figures frozen in the most dynamic of poses, each painting telling it’s own rich, multi-layed epic story. His Wild West series came in a close second, ranging from portraits of infamous outlaws and legendary lawmen to scenes of bar fights and shootouts, the closest depiction i can imagine of what that time may had been like.

Antonio Pelayo and I

    The next artist that i headed over to see, i had been wanting to meet for a while now, i had friended Antonio Pelayo a few months back on Facebook and admired his work, then recently i got to see his work up close. At the top of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale CA there is an art gallery and museum shop, the current show is entitled “Adelante! Mexican American artists: 1960’s and beyond” and Antonio is one of the artists in this show.

Antonio Pelayo – “Historia sin tiempo”

I was very impressed with his level of detail and craftsmanship so when i saw his name on the program of the Art fair that morning, i knew i’d have to go meet him. Antonio’s work has a classic beauty to it but it’s when you look at them up close that you see the exquisite pencil work, his portraits of Frida Khalo, and El Santo among others are awe inspiring, the range of light and dark that he gets with pencil is amazing. I had the privilege to show along side him a few weeks later at the Hollywood Forever, Dia De Los Muertos festival (blog coming up).

YaYa Chou – “Beluga’s Journey”

   On my way through the art fair, I stopped in my tracks, there were Beluga whales hanging from a tree, I was intrigued at once,  i asked around who the artist was, and i was directed to a petite asian lady sitting in a lawn chair.

YaYa and I

 YaYa Chou is a graduate from CalArts and a breath of fresh air. Her beluga whale installation is called Beluga’s journey. This whimsical sight had many admirers, she also makes sculptures with gummi bears! how awesome is that!!

Harold Pickern and I

  After YaYa, I met Harold Pickern. What struck me about his work was the mix of ultra realism mixed with subtle abstraction, his subjects center around beautifully rendered dilapidated autos against the back drop of the American heartland. The painting of his that we took a photo in front of was his newest, it was an R.V. with Occupy LA phrases spray painted all over it, pretty cool…

Anja and I

   I next saw the work of Anja Van Herle, her  paintings of close up faces of women reminded me of my series “Painted Rituals” they are beautifully stylized against a white backdrop and very reminiscent of  the 80’s and her prints are unique as she adds some actual paint into them by way of brush strokes into the hair of each.

Artist Cindy Jackson next to her piece “Big Yo Yo Man”

    A sculpture of a man curled up and split in half and in the middle, a rope making him look like a giant human Yoyo, caught my eye next. This is the art of Cindy Jackson, an amazing sculpture artist,  her sculptures are strongly rooted in classical human figures it’s like a classical painting come to life!

Kristal and Brooke and a little one

I settled in to listen to my awesome firends Brooke (Music Therapist) and Crystal (music Therapy Intern)who are from CHLA, play tunes with some kids,  behind them was the second HARK booth where Lori was busy painting with some little visitors.

Lori getting down with the paint!

It was a great day I was so glad to meet all of these artists that weekend and have been inspired since then. I’m looking forward to seeing more of their art! Now,  going out to buy some gummi bears…