Donut and Plum.

Two paintings from a continuing series of square compositions that I've been creating over the years at my art studio. Even completely different subjects can play well together.

More Art on Walls.

This awesome painting hangs boldly on the wall at the top of the entry-way stairs. It's one from an ongoing series of sea urchins by local artist Charlie Callahan. The artwork becomes a vibrant abstraction of color up close and tightens up to become a vivid icon from the sea as you view it from a distance. It's such a cool painting as are all his urchin mandalas. A mural of the same subject can be seen on the exterior of the Outerlands restaurant in the Sunset District. Very cool stuff!

What art is hanging on your walls at home?

This is a question I sometimes like to ask people when we get to talking about art. The answers give me a little bit of insight into what people are into. There's always a story. So here's one of my answers to my own question. This colorful art piece hangs on one wall in my living room. It's a serigraph from the 1950s and I'm only semi-embarrassed not to know the name of the creator. I tried to authenticate it in the past but had no success. This kooky composition never fails to please me. It's easily my favorite image on my home walls but not the only one. Maybe it's nostalgia that grips me since it made it's way from Sioux City to San Francisco and was forever on the same wall in the house where I was raised. That's one. I'll post others later.

The Blank Page.

The above painting was commissioned by a writer. He had seen a painting of a baseball I had created for a friend of his last year. The painting above that painting is the baseball painting. The machine is a 1933 Burroughs Electric Carriage I borrowed from the writer's extensive typewriter collection. I chose this one to paint because of its blocky shape. Now, as I see them together, I think about the natural combination of these two vintage icons. How well they go together and not just because of the delightful geometric juxtaposition. One plays and the other tells the story. In 1933 the great sportswriter Ring Lardner died. He wrote his last baseball story that year titled Lose With a Smile. It's the story of a Brooklyn Dodgers rookie who writes letters to his girl. Did Ring type it on a Burroughs? I don't know but it's likely that some sportswriter wrote about Babe Ruth or Carl Hubbell on one of these things. It's this kind of wondering that creates a sense of longing in me for those good old days that I never even experienced. But I've imagined them. And like the blank page in the typewriter, the imagination is full of possibilities.

Belizian Bananas

I scrawled a dozen sketches of this bunch of bananas hanging from a pole in a bar on Maya Beach in Belize. They are the snack food of choice and I had to scribble this image before each banana was grabbed to be eaten or plunged into a rum drink. This painting is the result and reminds me that great things come from hanging out in bars.

Perhaps, that forbidden treat that Eve plucked may not have been an apple after all...

Tropical

Theses three paintings are from a series inspired by visits to Belize and Honduras. Each is an oil painting on linen stretched over birch panels. They are 48" x 60" of robust fruit from Central America and currently available. More variations on this theme are on the way.

Sketch Exhibit Encore: Saturday March 19th.

I've decided to encore my First Annual Sketch Exhibit. It's this Saturday March 19th from 11am to 5pm. Can there be too much of a good thing? Not when people get together to talk about art and share in the positive and uplifting discourse that creativity inspires. That's how it was last Saturday: a tremendous gathering of the big hearted and open-minded. So, why not leave the artwork up for one more week?

Come one, come all...

Jay Mercado Studio -- Saturday, March 19, 11a - 5p -- 4754 California Street @ 10th Ave.

Sketches!

Some Not-So Recent Sketches

I think a sketch doesn't have to beautiful. It just has to be drawn. The process is the beautiful part. It's grounding and centering and observing. How many things in life truly rivet our attention? Sketching keeps me in that moment. And those moments become fresh again when I look through old sketchbooks.

Some Recent Sketches

In my bag I carry a sketchbook, 4 X 5 cards and loose leaf arches and rives printmaker's paper. I keep watercolors available but have not used them as much as I used to. I mostly use a Uniball micro pen or Sakura Microns for my drawing. Recently I rediscovered an old Senator fountain pen which has a nice feel. The feel is what it's all about. Whatever feels good in my hand will give me the best opportunity to express myself fully in the moment.

Date Change for Studio Show: A Year in Sketches

On Saturday March 12th from 10am-5pm I'll be opening my studio as I do every Saturday. However on this date I'll be displaying a whole big bunch of sketches on my studio wall.

This group of ink scribblings is a sample from my ongoing morning sketch ritual. I invite you to see these magnificent doodles from 2010!

I like to sketch because it grounds me in the moment. It's a disciplined observation. It's a meditation. It's a visual journal. It's a time for the mind to go quiet. Sketching provides an inner oasis as I begin each creative day.

From 10am-11am i'll be holding an informal super-mini-sketching-semi-workshop/doodle session for anyone interested in becoming a sketcher. RSVP por favor for this session!

And then drop in and have a look around, eat a couple mallomars and let's make a sketch...!

Lands End Rocks

Some more under-painting and composing of the rocks near the labyrinth.

Lands End Rocks

This is the first lay-in of one of six paintings focusing on the rocks and water at Lands End. The northwest corner of San Francisco always inspires.

Waxing Gibbous

Studio Holiday Open House & New Still Life Painting Preview: 12/11 from 10am-6pm

Weave your way to 4754 California Street @ 10th avenue for homemade cookies, cider and art!

New Still Life Paintings

Minneola on the wall at Ocean Beach. Number seven in a series of twenty twelve by twelve inch paintings.

Joy

"He who binds himself to a joy does the winged life destroy.

But he who kisses joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise."

-william blake

Postcard art...

...must be postmarked to be finished.

New Still Life Paintings

Scrubbing paint within the confines of a square canvas challenges me to simplify and play and discover. As the mind goes quiet the paintings start to paint themselves.

Sketch at Philz on Berry Street

I felt drawn to the opposite side of town today. The hope of seeing the unexpected has me straying from the familiar more and more often than not.

old balls

More American icon painting. These three old baseballs I had scattered around my workspace have come together to model for this recent painting in the spirit of the Giants World Series victory.