Christina Waters

Q: Max, your color woodblock “Untitled,” (Bike) is a knockout – how did you achieve the amazing effects?

A: Untitled, 9×12, was a seven run print, five separate woodblocks with two reduced states one on the second and one on the fourth in the print sequence; edition of 15. The final number of colors in the piece I roughly estimate to be around 40, maybe more. This was achieved by applying CMYK color separation technology to a photographic source and then separating each channel into a duotone of that color except for the key layer. This information was then hand copied and carved out of Japanese shina wood and printed in hand-mixed oil-based inks in sequence.

Q: Where did you develop your skill with multiple woodblocks?

A: I developed my skill with multiple woodblocks primarily under the guidance and motivational support of UCSC Lecturer Paul Rangell. Richard Wohlfeiler, another UCSC teacher also played a large role in opening my mind to the possibilities of the medium, and gave me the technical support needed to realize the completion of the seemingly impossible projects I had imagined.

I spent a great deal of time in mainland China More…

A suite of vibrant paintings in various media by Kit Eastman, is on display through August at the intimate (i.e. tiny) Eduardo Carrillo Gallery. Eastman, a UCSC alumna, works in expressive layers of impasto loaded with gesture, color and the invisible presence of Bay Area figurative masters such as Nathan Oliviera and Elmer Bischoff.

Strolling (shown here) is one of a pair of tiny oils which join a dozen larger-scale figurative studies of nudes embedded with cyanotype x-rays. The series plays with the idea of “stripping bare” the figure in which the interior skeletal anatomy both reveals, and conceals, a voluptuous bodily surface.

The Carrillo Gallery is located within the Baskin Arts Complex, just above the new Digital Arts Research Center, on the UCSC Campus. The gallery is open Mon-Fri, 9-5 all summer long.

Last week my great girlfriend Laurel and I headed over to Bandar Persian Restaurant in the bustling Friday night heart of old San Diego for a terrific and authentic meal of middle eastern flavors.

Our starter, an eggplant appetizer slow roasted with fresh garlic and onion topped with homemade yogurt, was blatantly addictive. We sprinkled plenty of dried sumac on top and enjoyed every single bite, along with soft lavosh. I adore sumac, that lemony, sour condiment that somehow jumpstarts every dish in the Persian repertoire.

A stew of spring baby lamb shank – buttery and delicious, slow-cooked with red beans, lime and herbs – was intensely rich and pungent. As was the mountain of saffron rice that accompanied my dish.

Ditto my companion’s order of ground filet mignon More…

The Certosa di Galuzzo is an enormous cloister dating from the 1300s located about three miles up into the hills above Florence. In other words, it is situated on one of those stereotypically picturesque Tuscan hillsides dotted with tall black Lombardy cypresses and lots of villas with red tile roofs. Mustard and bougainvilla was in bloom everywhere, quinces falling from the trees and the vineyards were a minute away from harvest.

We took a cab up to the huge stately compound, and the bus back into town a few hours later. In between we joined a tour, along with seven other people, through the opulent chapel, private cells of the Cistercians who still live and work there, and saw the magnificent, faded frescoes made by Pontormo during the plague years in the 16th century. They were astonishingly original - so utterly unlike any of the work done during the same time by Pontormo’s colleagues that they appeared as modern as they were idiosyncratic. Back out into the sunlight, we stopped at the certosa’s distillary shop to purchase some of the liqueurs made by the brothers - including an herb-laced fernet I can’t wait to try.

Wandering over toward the Palazzo Strozzi after our return, we decided to try a new wine bar that served us one of the best pizzas of our lives. It’s called Bussola, and they served us a pizza topped with pecorino, cherry tomatoes and wild boar sausage along with a huge glass of Chianti Classico from the surrounding hills, vintage 2006. The pizza had that very thin, crisp crust — no tomato sauce, no gooey mozzarella — that distinguishes northern Italian pizza. Absolutely outrageous - and perfect for a light lunch for two.

Yes, the opera by Donizetti — sung by skilled young stars of the UCSC Opera program. I saw the dress rehearsal last night and was blown away by the gorgeous voices, polished stage direction (thanks to Brian Staufenbiel) and sheer charm of this Italian meringue of an opera.

And only two hours long. This is not Wagner, it’s Donizetti. And the tale of snake oil (the elixir of the title) and the gullible lovers who consume it, never gets old.

Easily the most delightful time More…

A visit to Carmel is always a good idea. Make sure you drive down by June 13, so you can catch the gorgeous exhibit of new large-scale multimedia work by Miriam Hitchcock at the Carl Cherry Center. Her new show, wittily entitled Suburban Tempest, shows Hitchcock stretching even further in her visual inquiry of restless loss and personal metaphysics.

The new works are the most ambitious of Hitchcock’s recent creations, loaded with visual surprise, mastery of unexpected materials and perfumed by a sophisticated meloncholy. Don’t miss a stop to the beautiful arts and crafts landmark, the perfect setting for Hitchcock’s work. Through June 13.

Dirty Dozen: Amy Boewer, one of the twelve Irwin Scholars for 2010, puts the finishing touches on her military industrial altar site in time for the exhibition opening and reception, this Thursday May 27 at 5pm.

Filling the gallery’s three studios with innovative (don’t miss Carrie Ferguson’s high-tech hygiene installation) and haunting (Cahill Wessel’s anime-meets-graffiti illustrations) artworks, the show includes pieces by Rosie Chesney, Calen Barca Hall, Nathan Dickersin-Prokopp, Leonel Diaz, JJ Campanaro, Kenny Srivijittakar, Bridget Ho, Laurel Maha and Martha Rodriguez.
Come see what the new wave looks like; reception and awards ceremony, May 27. The show runs through June 12 at the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, Porter College, UCSC.

Destined to be THE major event of the outdoor food, wine and music season, this Sunday, May 16 2:30-5:30pm, the gala New Music Works Garden tour and musicale unfurls at the gorgeous garden estate of Sam and Terry Wright.

You will savor flowers and music, while tasting wines and finger food from Salamandre, Windy Oaks, Alfaro, Silver Mountain, Storrs, Avanti, Gabriella, Ma Maison and cooking queen Mimi Snowden.

You’re wondering about the frog. More…

Join music lovers and amphibiophiles Sunday afternoon, May 16, from 2:30 to 5:30
at the17-acre Mt. Madonna estate  of Sam and Terry Wright for a gala New Music Works al fresco concert. Among the highlights will be NMW founder Philip Collins’
Frog Requiem, a piece for 11 instruments, soprano and narrator, dedicated to
those frog species which have succumbed to extinction in recent years. 

 The benefit concert—performed in a bona fide frog pond—will be preceded by a tasting of wines and hors d’oeuvres from top restaurants and winemakers , combined with a tour of the Wrights’ English garden. A donation of $100 per person is requested, 100% of which will go to support the  New Music Works non-profit founded by Collins 31 years ago.  Tickets may be reserved by calling Barbara Burkhart at 335-1429.

 Composer Collins was moved to write More…

The Nikolaihoff Grüner Veltliner now on the chalkboard at Avanti is one of those stunning Austrian varietals that gives white wine a good name.

Light and loaded with flint and chalk, this light alcohol beauty also packs tones of jasmine and nectarine into to its ultra-dry mix.

While sampling this goes-with-anything varietal I learned that Katy Cater has a new show of atmospheric black and white photographs at Riva on the wharf. Another reason to hit the waves.