—Bonnie Gangelhoff

—Bonnie Gangelhoff

It's October and that time of year when an onslaught of pink ribbons pop up here, there, and everywhere, from candy bars to shiny new cars. Now a San Francisco gallery, ArtHaus, has teamed up with Breast Cancer Action (BCA), a national watchdog organization, to present a show that invites viewers to ask critical questions about pink ribbon promotions.  

Think Before You Pink (also the name of a BCA campaign) features 14 artists, including at least one breast cancer survivor, Torrie Groening. "I was fed up and saddened by the fact that I couldn't even buy my family groceries without being bombarded with reminders of cancer in the shape of pink ribbons," Groening says. Her photograph, This Elixir, It Won't Fix Her (right), features a volcano of consumer good erupting out of a tin can—teddy bears, lemon squeezers, and sunglasses. "When researching for this piece I only had to Google 'pink ribbon store' to discover this was a huge industry. Hundreds of online stores sell thousands of manufactured and pink ribbon objects—enough to fill many landfills." Groening says she is sick of pink and she's participating in the show, in part, because BCA holds companies accountable, including ones that manufacture carcinogenic products and then urge the public to buy its products to support cancer research.

Among other things, BCA also encourages consumers to read the fine print—how much of the money really goes toward breast cancer? According to BCA, for example, Lean Cuisine once displayed pink ribbons on its boxes, but the purchase of the frozen delights did not result in any money going toward breast cancer research. Instead, the consumer was directed to a website to buy a pink Lean Cuisine lunch tote.

Groening says everyone copes differently, but she prefers not to concentrate on cancer and keep a sense of humor and focus on her family and artwork. Think Before You Pink runs at ArtHaus through Oct. 31.

—Bonnie Gangelhoff

Two Fires #2 (oil, 18x18) by Carol Pierce

A blanket of haze settled over Boulder, CO, for a few days last week. The drifting smoke is a constant reminder for us in the Rocky Mountains that there's a massive blaze raging hundreds of miles away in Los Angeles.

By all accounts, there haven't been any gallery or museum shows dedicated specifically to imagery of California wildfires, but more and more the state’s artists are offering us portrayals of the red hot flames licking the sky.

Northern California painter Carole Pierce (above) has been painting the sky and land all her life, she says. For the past few years, fire imagery has emerged in her abstract, Turneresque landscapes in part because she is intrigued by fire's paradoxical quality. "Fire is both dangerous and amazingly beautiful," she says. "It can devastate an area in seconds. But in many cultures fire is also about transformation, rebirth, regeneration, and spiritual awakening." Pierce's paintings are on view at Sue Greenwood Fine Art in Laguna Beach in November.

Los Angeles-based painter Marina Moevs is inspired by fire and other natural disasters that she reads about. (Her painting Fire IV [oil, 78x48] is above right.) She often creates imagined scenarios which, however, are all too real for Angelenos—buildings going up in flames and rooms engulfed in smoke.

Another Los Angeles artist, Alex Schaefer (who I mentioned in my last dispatch), says his recent depiction of a suburban house with a backyard consumed by fire is a mash-up of Edward Hopper, a photo from Dwell magazine, a Google map street view of a house in Santa Clarita and fire photos. (Fire 2 [oil, 40x30] is at right.) "It's also a bit my feeling of the state of the things in the world," he says.

But for Pierce, her fire works are more concerned with the question, "What is it like to live with fire?"

The headline on a recent story on CNN.com read: Old–school Portraits See Resurgence Online. The article spotlighted Matt Held, a New York City artist who paints peoples' Facebook photos and gives them to his subjects. The story noted the art of portraiture, once reserved for the rich and the royal, has found a new mass appeal online.

The report started me thinking about how many artists today create their own inspired Facebook images—mini self-portraits that not only establish their identity online but at the same time provide a sampling of their artistic talents and imaginations. Some offer up sophisticated and painterly oil self-portraits like Coloradan Daniel Sprick (below right).

Others like Alex Schaefer, from the Los Angeles area, have some fun with their postage-stamp-size digitals. Schaefer, an instructor at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, took his first grade photo and added a beard in Photoshop (above right). "People think it's funny, which is entirely my intention," he says. "It still looks like me but also expresses a little about how I feel inside. I think in any artist there is a certain refusal to grow up."

How does your Facebook/MySpace/Twitter image represent you as an artist?

Previously: See a trailer for the movie in the post Art Collecting for the People

Alley Color by Jill Carver (oil, 12x16)

Once an 1800's mining town and now a popular ski resort, Telluride, CO, is fast gaining a reputation among landscape artists and collectors as home to a superb plein-air show. Earlier this month, the sixth annual Telluride Plein Air festival unfolded in this charming mountain town—one dotted with pastel-colored Victorian homes and gardens brimming with flowers. Set against the majestic San Juan Mountains, the outdoor exhibit features a select group of about 30 artists every year.

This year three of the top winners were painters who've been featured as an Artist to Watch in Southwest Art. Texas painter Jill Carver took home first prize (her Alley Color is above), and Northern California artist Lana Rak won the quick draw contest. Douglas Morgan, also from Northern California, received the Southwest Art award of excellence for his body of work, including The Fourth (at right). Doug reports that he sold 16 paintings at the show! Is the economy starting to slowly turn around? New home sales jumped 11 percent in June... and new homes need art.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver. Sure, there are great museums in big cities west of the Mississippi. But if you take a road trip this summer, don't overlook these little gems of art museums:

• Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY: Located is in a historic building downtown, the museum features exhibitions of works by top regional and national artists, ranging from traditional to edgy. Locals refer to it as "The Nic." Paintings by California-based artist Jorge Santos (whose painting Flight Instructor is at right) are on view through August 22.
  
  
• National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY: This scenic mountain town attracts skiers in winter and hikers in summer. But the western-flavored retreat is also home to a museum that displays a treasure trove of fine wildlife art by masters such as Bob Kuhn and Robert Bateman.
  
  
• Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA: Perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the museum offers superb presentations spotlighting Golden State artists. Exhibitions range from excellent early and contemporary plein-air painting to pop culture phenomena like surf art.
  
  
• Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA: Located equal distances from San Diego and Los Angeles, this desert art oasis has a sophisticated, international flavor with works by Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois, Georgia O'Keeffe and Ed Ruscha. Check out the eye-popping Dale Chihuly chandelier.
  
  
• Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenberg, AZ: Tucked away in a small town between Phoenix and Sedona, Desert Caballeros is dedicated to preserving the West. On my visit, the museum was showcasing an incredible cache of Navajo rugs. The museum also hosts Cowgirl Up!, an annual show billed as the place to see "the best western women artists all in one place at one time."