On the Racetrack I
pen and ink on drawing paper
11 3/8″ x 8 3/8″
July 4th, 2007
Finished “Russian Ridge View”

This is the first work in a series of small landscapes that I plan to do. All places in the series will be from California parks and preserves.
Midsummer Art Celebration at Triton Museum
We went to this event with FALC. Setting up at 8:30 am was not as bad as I anticipated, even though both me and Slava had very little sleep before that. Raja who organized it all for us was energetic and cheerful although he was e-mailing Slava at 3 a.m. last night. He said he felt ok because he was an astronomer, but even astronomers have to sleep sometimes and Raja was at the show the whole day!
By 10 a.m., when we were almost done with the setup, quickly visited our friends at Campbell Artists’ Guild and some others, it started to get hot. Slava and I went home until our shift in the booth at 4 p.m. and escaped the worst of the heat. When we returned, there still weren’t many visitors and the place felt like an oven even in the shade. There was some wind, and we were told that even a few drops of rain fell while we were away, but none of that brought any relief. It’s a miracle anyone at all preferred a trip to Triton to staying inside or soaking in a swimming pool. A pretty good jazz band was playing, but they had no crowd to support them. Poor guys.
Other than the heat, the show was great. It was nice to see Joe Decker, Jaya King, Cathy Zander again and to see artworks by many others whom we didn’t get to meet.
The most wonderful discovery for me was Deborah Matlack. Since she doesn’t have a Web site, I turned to Google for more information about her and found a lengthy article where she says she is impatient and doesn’t do many preliminary sketches because of that. Looking at her portraits, I would never guess that. “I work all over the painting,” she says. “I can start on a figure, a face, or the background. It really depends on my mood. The beginning of a painting is quite conscious. I know what I want to achieve, but not necessarily how I want to achieve it.” Clearly, her focus is on the character of the subject first and truthful rendering of details second, but I would imagine it still takes a good deal of patience to get them right. Deborah also gave me some valuable advice on working with pastels for which I was very grateful. So now I plan to stop further experiments with Strathmore paper and switch to Canson and will try Lascaux fixative too. I can’t quite stop pastel from falling off the paper with what I am using now, and Deborah’s artworks were in the perfect shape despite the wind that occasionally made them flap against the panels.
We did have some most wonderful visitors who appreciated the art and were great to talk to. The show was also a great opportunity for artists to get to know each other better and share their experience. We posed for a final photo, took everything down, and went home totally exhausted. Happy Summer Solstice to us.
Donation Sale and Exhibition for the Sichuan Earthquake victims
On June 7 and 8, 2008, the Silicon Valley Asian Art Center hosted an art auction to benefit Sichuan Earthquake victims. The auction was organized by Professor Arthur Kao and raised $6990.00. A print of Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park was a tiny part of that result. The whole amount will be sent to Tzu Chi Foundation and American Red Cross.
Midsummer Art Celebration at Triton Museum of Art, 6/21/2008
On June 21, 2008, Triton Museum of Art held a Midsummer Art Celebration show in their beautiful Sculpture Garden, and the Fine Arts League of Cupertino of which I am a member was invited to participate.
Running Free – finally done!

This one was in the works since 2000. I vaguely remember being excited when I just started with it, but then life got in the way with moving and traveling to Russia, and when I’ve picked the pencils again I hit a creative block. No matter what approach I tried, no matter what part of the drawing I chose to work on – nothing felt right. So I would walk away and work on something else, come back, felt that the creative block was still there, and put the stubborn artwork away again. I am not sure what’s changed recently, but “Running Free” was completed with just a few short sessions. Maybe it happened because last time I’ve left it alone for the longest period ever.
Fine Arts League of Cupertino show “From the Heart”
“Bonding” will be a part of the FALC show “From the Heart” at Main Street Cafe in Los Altos, February 1-29.
There will be an artists’ reception on Thurs. Feb. 7, from 5.30 p.m. till 7 p.m. Snacks and beverages will be served and ribbons for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place by popular vote will be awarded.
People’s Choice Award at Corinthian House Art Show
At Corinthian House Art Show, Summer Day in Santa Cruz Mountains received People’s Choice Award as the Most Peaceful.
Sponsor Award at 2007 Cupertino Fall Fest Art Show
With Bob Harrison from the Rotary and the Fine Arts Commission
2007 Cupertino Fall Fest Art Show
Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park as well as some prints and greeting cards will be on display at the 2007 Cupertino Fall Fest Art Show in Community Hall, September 15 – 16. The Community Hall is located at 10350 Torre Ave., Cupertino. The show will be open from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. Reception is on September 14, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Finished another big piece in colored pencil


Plum Blossoms in Los Gatos Creek Park – 16″ x 20″, colored pencil on Bristol paper
I still consider 16″ x 20″ to be pretty big. Reference photos for this piece were taken more than seven years ago when my kids were much younger and often went to that park. The path along the creek is beautiful at all seasons.
Illustration for my brother’s book

5 5/8″ x 8″, colored pencil and pastel pencil on drawing paper
Finished the cover illustration for my brother’s book of poetry, “I Want to Talk to You…”