Introducing San Diego Artist Services

This project started coming to life at The Frame Maker, where I've been seeking new ways to develop sustainable work and cash flow, a concern central to many small business these days.

As an artist, I have always sought to find service providers who understood my business as well as I did, but rarely have I ever been able to find more than a couple of people at a time to create a cohesive working unit.

Now in San Diego I am blessed with four savvy business partners in the art services field to create an expert service network for professional artists, called San Diego Artist Services.

The first collaborative fruit of us working together is the new show at The Frame Maker and the cool booth spaces we've created this weekend for southern California's largest outdoor art gallery, Mission Federal ArtWalk.

I've posted a few development details on The Frame Maker blogs, but here is the first look of my overview of the San Diego Artist Services project as a private sector economic stimulus action that dovetails nicely with our green objectives by acting locally to serve the community we love in a stressful time.

This is actually a detail of one of the print graphics I prepared for The Frame Maker booth this weekend that's been printed beautifully by Peter Moebius, Mike Miller and the team at Moebius Color, one of our collaborators on the project:

San Diego Finishing School Returns!

Just today I've published the new site for my San Diego Finishing School project, teaching professional skills to faux finish artists, muralists and painters and teaching new media marketing to art professionals.

I have a new space I'm sharing with my friend Jen Guerin in Banker's Hill, a short walk from our house and two steps to Balboa Park and downtown.

Check it out at www.sandiegofinishingschool.com, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Business of Art Scholarship Studio Visit

I love this picture of Jessica in the studio over at SDSU. We had a solid meeting about the body of work she is developing and how best to select and present in the 10' x10' booth space provided by ArtWalk.

I'm actually going to continue writing about the Business of Art Scholarship project-- created with Sandi Cottrell of ArtWalk, The Frame Maker, Arthur Ollman of the SDSU School of Art, and of course scholarship winner artist Jessica Siemens-- on another blog I just started with an address some of you might recognize, sandiegofinishingschool.com.

Yes, the SanDIego Finishing School returns at long last, relocated with a redefined mission here in Banker's Hill. Stay tuned for more.

Trompe l'oeil painting pictures as promised

stonetrompeloeil2
Originally uploaded by John Hiemstra

I have had a few requests to show more pix from the children's room circus mural project I painted last summer in an absolutely stunning historic home here in San Diego.


The circus room is only one of the treatments I designed and produced in this home, so along with rest of circus pictures, I uploaded the best pix of the trompe l'oeil/faux stone treatment I created for the majestic entrance and central gathering room of this unique home to my photostream on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhiemstra/.

They're not sorted or tagged yet, but they're there.

Face's Home

Face's Home
Originally uploaded by siemens.jessica

Anyone who follows my work knows how much I love a contextual photo, and so, why I'm so proud of Jessica for taking initiative to get this photo up on her Flickr page.

If you haven't read about this yet, I am very pleased to be mentoring Jessica in a new "Business of Art" program I helped create with Sandi Cottrell of Mission Federal ArtWalk.

Check out Jessica's lovely work on Flickr (for now) and keep in mind she's been painting for just two years--

If you consider I've been painting for more than 20 years, you'll get why I'm so impressed with her work so far and also why I'm honored to work with her on her business as an artist, because she clearly has the potential to create truly spectacular work when she hits full stride.

Venetian Plaster Ceiling

On the theme of finishing up old business (see last post), I came across pictures of some past projects I've been meaning to publish, but haven't yet for variety of reasons.

So here's a room I'm really pleased with for its light touch but authoritative impact.



The yellow panels behind the piano are a simple acrylic faux finish that corresponds with the walls in the main room that includes the piano room (where this picture is taken from), I have pictures of that room somewhere, too now that I think about it.

The plaster ceiling is designed to correspond to that color but offer the depth and richness of the piano finish with dramatic reflectance and glow of highly polished wax finish over burnished venetian plaster.

Little Italy Chalk/Paint Trompe L'oeil: The (almost) Final Chapter

If anyone reading this recalls my first series of blog posts ever back in 2006, they're probably going to think "WTF? That isn't done yet?" when they see these pictures.



Yes, its finally done and I can prove it with pictures of the Little Italy crew carrying my three panels of Michelangelo out to the their truck two and a half years after I started them.



Rather than tell the whole long story right now, I'm just going to post afew detail pictures of the final product that no one will be able to see when its finally installed in Little Italy; its supposed to hang outdoors, four stories over India Street at Beech, so when I can get those pictures up, I''l finish the tale.

For now its a beautiful day in San Diego and this project is complete!

Dot connection

I love it when this kind of thing happens:

One friend of mine, photographer Mike Brown, calls me up to say that he saw some of photographer Maire Scharpegge's work at the new sushi place by our house here in Banker's Hill, San Diego.

Having been in touch with Maire fairly regularly since opening her show "Echoes" at The Frame Maker with glass artist Lea de Wit, I was a little surprised, and had to think about the connection, since I had nothing to do with these pieces being in this restaurant!

Since I was walking that way later, I decided to check it out for myself, thinking that I had only been there once since they opened, when I recalled that I had run into my associate Eric Gilliat (of Level One Art Installation) there with family. Eric had explained to me that he had known the proprietor for years at his previous establishment, and that his new place we were in Azuki Sushi was the best sushi in town.

Since Eric had been kind enough to assist us with the installation of Echoes back in January, where he met Maire for the first time, it became clear that Eric was the hookup between Maire and the restaurant. Now that's a creative community working together, especially because Maire's abstract photography, printed on stainless steel by local print masters Moebius Color, are PERFECT in the Azuki space:



Remember that we are so pleased with the original show at The Frame Maker that we extended it through April, when (I just found out) Maire and Lea will then take "Echoes" to a booth at ArtWalk the weekend of April 25-26 in Little Italy. If you live in San Diego, you've got another month come down and see this terrific show!