Local Social

Light and Shadow Paintings

Catherine — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:57:49 +0000

Wow. Every time I look at these pieces, I’m in wonder. It’s so cool to see the works of artists like Rashad Alakbarov or Kumi Yamashita. These artists have found beauty in light and shadow. They take found materials and transform them into human forms or a city by throwing light on them at just the right angle.

Kumi Yamashita

Akari 2009 || Tokyo Japan || wood, light and shadow

City View 2003 || Osaka Japan || aluminum, light and shadow

Rashad Alakbarov

transparent color plastic shapes

SF Beer Week…in Oakland!

Gretchen — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:25:56 +0000

This weekend marks the final stretch of SF Beer Week and lots of fun events are happening right here in Oaktown. Here are a few highlights (all free events and all within walking/biking distance of each other!):

Friday, Feb 17
An Evening with Firestone Walker Brewing Company at the TRAPPIST
Meet the Brewmaster Matt Brynildson and drink some of his special beer. From The Trappist kitchen there will be a special batch of Brisket braised with Walkers reserve.

Saturday, Feb 18
It’s an LA Invasion! at Beer Revolution
Countless Los Angeles area breweries will be present (2-11 pm)
*Click here for more events happening this Fri/Sat/Sun at Beer Revolution.

Fri, Sat & Sun, Feb 17/18/19
Winter Beer Festival at Pacific Brewing Company
Various winter brews will be tapped throughout the weekend.

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Compound Studios & Gallery

Catherine — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:37:44 +0000

The thing I’m loving about Oakland is the collaboration of artists that is emerging behind so many new galleries. We all long to be around like minded people that motivate and give us creative energy, right? The Compound Studios & Gallery is an artist run space, established in 2008, featuring work in a variety of media by some of the best Bay Area artists. In their beautifully lit space they offer workshops, interactive art shows, art movie nights, and gallery openings.

This week, a show I am quite partial to, opened up; The Art of Letterpress. I have a thing for textures and print as a graphic designer. I can’t help it, but I’m drawn to the world of hand-crafted objects as our world quickly becomes immersed in lit-up screens and perfectly constructed letterforms. The art of letterpress embodies the organic and natural sentiment that gets lost among our techy lives. The show will be up through March 25th.

You will certainly find me back at the Gallery on February 23 watching the film, Typeface. This movie is held in conjunction with The Art of Letterpress show and is a must see for anyone struggling with the love of both analog craft and the digital future.

Everyday Valentine

Catherine — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:31:07 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day. What perfect timing. Last week I went to the first art show for Everyday Valentine. Trina Spiller, a genuine lover, just plain cool girl, and the artist behind these poetic illustrative pieces of art, is just the type of person you want to be around. If you don’t know her, each one of her pieces takes a bit of her humor and lovely nature and swirls it up in a quirky one-of-a-kind piece that you can buy, if only to remember to smile every time you look at it. Trina was kind enough to engage in a quick Q&A. Read below for more.

Jump to the next page to read Trina’s interview!

How did you get started on your illustrations?
I wanted to make a friend a personal gift for her birthday- something that was both cool and from my heart. So I hand drew this line in my head, ” your love is cool”. I’m a graphic designer so I’m naturally drawn to type…I call them everyday valentines because love notes are cool ALL the time. I guess they’re my small way of generating more love in the world.

You have such great thoughts on all of your prints. Where do you come up with all of them?
They come from inside my heart(:)), from my funny boyfriend and my quirky friends. They come from a desire to say something funny and genuine and love-full but in a different way.

Do you have a favorite out of your valentines?
I’ve always loved “I love what you’ve done to your hair, can we have sex now?” and lately I love “be IN your self”

You are a fairly positive and genuine person, have you seen that that resonates with the people who buy your prints? Do you have any stories you’d like to share about that?
The bacon valentine is always the top seller- people love their bacon!! I’ve sold that drawing to men, women, vegetarians, once to the wife of a retired butcher. But people resonate with almost all of them either because the playful, kinda dirty vibe makes them burst out laughing or because the spiritual mantra-like vibe connects them to their heart. That makes me so happy.

Know What City Guide App is here!

Catherine — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:55:49 +0000

It’s finally here! Oakland’s Grit and Glamour iPhone app, composed by none other than moi, has arrived! LS was asked by Know What to contribute to a new iPhone app that gathers some of our country’s smartest, most creative people and websites together to share their favorite things and places. What makes this different that Yelp you ask? The app is a new type of hyper-curated city guide helping people like you and me get the most out of everyday life without all of the extraneous comments and poor matches. If you like a local blog, you might like their app! Know What is available today in the iPhone app store. Read more below.

Blog and Application Graphic Design // by Marty Kenney

The coverage Currently the app covers the greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas (the LS guide is the only one on Oakland, by the way), but will soon cover Seattle, Portland, New York City and Chicago as well.

The result? An app with well over 1,000 amazing places in these two cities alone – all from people audiences trust. Each places comes with a detailed review / insider tips, beautiful photos, addresses, phone numbers and turn-by-turn directions. See the complete list of contributors below.

THE APP WORKS LIKE THIS:

• Buy the app for $2.99 – less than your morning coffee —and get 400 built-in recommendations: The Know What Essentials. 200 in LA and 200 in SF.

• 1,000s more places can be added to the map through in-app purchases of our contributors’ collections. Purchases range from $.99 to $3.99 depending on the size and subject.

Contributors:

Los Angeles:
• Aileen Holmes, local artist: OC: Sooo Not the Land of Bland
• Caroline on Crack, carolineoncrack.com: Drink Here: LA’s Best Craft Beer and Cocktail Bars
• Eddie Lin, deependdining.com: Deep End Dining
• Esotouric, tour company: Charles Bukowski’s LA and On the Trail of the Black Dahlia
• Francesca Lia Block, author: LA’s Dangerous Angels
• Gustavo Arellano, columnist, editor, OC Weekly: The Best OC Restaurants!
• Jessica Ritz, tastertots.com: Discerning Dining for Accompanied Adults
• Joshua Lurie, foodgps.com: Global Eats: Southern California; Prized Pig, LA’s Best Pork Dishes
• LA Bizarro, bestselling guidebook: 50 Ways to Lose Your Mind
• LA Freewalls, street art collective: The Biggest Street Art Gallery in the World
• Los Angeles Conservancy: Top 50 of 60s Architecture
• Mark Frauenfelder, co-founder boingboing.net: Unicorns, Carnivorous Plants and Other Angelenos I’ve Known and Loved
• Modern Hiker, modernhiker.com: LA’s Best Hikes
• Raina Lee, author: Karaoke Domination
• Rebecca Woolf, girlsgonechild.net: Fashion & Fun (for You & Your Fam)

San Francisco:
• Burrito Eater, burritoeater.com: San Francisco’s Top 30 Taquerias
• Camper English, Alcademics.com: The City’s Best Cocktail Spots
• Carolyn Jung, foodgal.com: Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining
• Catherine Weis, Local Social: Oakland’s Creative Renaissance
• Gary Singh, San Jose Metro columnist: Things in San Jose that Don’t Suck
• Joshua Lurie, foodgps.com: Global Eats: The Bay Area
• San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association: SF’s Secret Parks and Hidden Oases
• SF Hertiage: Essential SF: The City’s Architectural Icons; The Building Blocks of Auto Row and Pacific Heights: The Epicenter of Old San Francisco
• Thinkwalks, ThinkWalks.org: Everything Explained and Local Nerd!
• Vegansaurus.com: The Best Food in the Bay Area as Picked by Genius Experts
• Victoria Smith, sfgirlbybay.com: Sfgirlbybay’s Bohemian Modern San Francisco
• White Walls: San Francisco Street Art

Paper Wall Art

Gretchen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:23:53 +0000

I was drawn to this paper stencil cutting at Cosecha Cafe the other day. The intricate poster, by Tahiti Pehrson who does gorgeous work, is a subtle addition that works nicely in the bright and modern open space. It’s also another reason to go for lunch (in addition to their delicious butternut squash quesadilla!).

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Textures and Design from Minakani

Catherine — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:24:58 +0000

I’m in love with this Paris studio’s wallpapers. Minakani launched their walldecor line 2 years ago and offer custom size and exclusive motifs printed onto high quality non-woven paper. The beautiful and simple overlays of color and delicate yet whimsical style are are refreshing take on room design. I can’t wait to buy some for my bedroom! These designs can inspire any event theme from kids parties to a glamorous cocktail night.

Roast Post!

Gretchen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:20:15 +0000

Come join in the festivities tonight at Creative Growth and get your fill of art, delicious food (bbq!) & live music. You can purchase last minute tickets here – all proceeds go to supporting Creative Growth.

For $20 you’ll get:
Slow Roasted Pig
Iron Skillet Corn Bread w/brown sugar-jalapeno butter
Slow baked beans
Winter Slaw
Bourbon Pecan Pie

Live music by:
Blue Country–featuring Sandra Poindexter and Friends

Served from 6pm to 8pm with casual seating in the Creative Growth studio

Gallery open from 5:30 – 9pm showing current exhibition: Out of the Blue

Hope to see you there!

Couldn’t Resist Valentine’s

Catherine — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:33:50 +0000

Ok. So, I know Valentine’s Day is cheesy. It’s a holiday mainly dedicated to the sale of candy, pink teddy bears, and expensive roses. We don’t celebrate it in our house as a couple, but I love the idea of throwing a party or celebrating it with friend’s. I found these so cute V-day cards from the girls over at Hello Lucky and I instantly was taken back 20++ years. I have fond memories of hand crafting my own little mailbox in homeroom and anticipating the moment when I could distribute all those Valentine day notes that I, oh-so-carefully choose for my close friends. And of course we can’t forget the one or two special ones for those cute boys hoping they’d clue in to the message on the front, “I cho cho choose you”? (they never did clue in, did they?)

Gold is the New White

Catherine — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:46:18 +0000

It used to be that I could paint anything white and it would fit my décor. My sister used to make fun of me for my tiny obsession. For any of you who watch the show Portlandlia, my obsession reminds me of the hilarious skit, “We put birds on things”. I’d find an old picture frame that didn’t quite fit in my room, so I’d paint it white; a cool vintage statue of an owl, I’d paint it white!

Now I’m obsessed with gold. I love the level of sophistication it can add to any setting, but paired with the right color, and only using a hint of it, it can still be playful and fun. So, this goes out to you, Susie (my sis). You’ll no longer here me talk about white! You can also see this post on Brooklyn Bride where I guest blog from time to time.