Flower Shops San Francisco CA

San Francisco CA Press

Carl Judson looks at why, not how, to paint

Make painting meaningful for you and not to someone else." Judson does not sell his work, although at one time he was successful in San Francisco galleries. He finds no fault for those that make their living as artists, but it is simply not the reason he paints. Judson has produced a series of books called "A Guerrilla Painter's Notebook." He covers examples of his work and what thought went into each piece. It is a personal diary of his travels, experiences, observations and fellow artists. He might illustrate how he handled a muddy road near his Livermore ranch or his presentation of a snow-covered landscape. In Notebook II, Judson included his 24-panel landscape of the Livermore area done from a hill above his ranch. Advertisement When he started, he had no idea of how many panels would be necessary. In a marathon, he sat at his easel day after day. When placed side-by-side the panels take up 26 feet and provide a 360-degree view of his surroundings. He has a description of each panel and the significance of the area plus the history it covers. In contrast, he gives examples of how he drills down into the minute details of flowers with hints on composition and color. He will also give examples of how he has handled a single subject under different lighting conditions, from various angles and during the change of seasons. In Notebook IV, he gives his readers a list of books on why to paint. Judson grew up on a farm south of Wellington. His dad later sold the farm and moved to Fort Collins. Judson, after being in the pottery business, got the money to purchase a ranch near Livermore where he has spent the last two decades. He was not interested in art as a child, but later in life he began to paint. In 1992, he sold a 4-inch by 7-inch image of a peach vendor in Bolivia, a country where he volunteered for a dozen years. Judson runs a multinational business out of LaPorte with a line of 160 products manufactured in eight locations. Carl Judson, plein air painter, grew up on a farm south of Wellington and now calls home a ranch near Livermore. Examples of his work are on disp... http://www.reporterherald.com/loveland-art/ci_29323989/carl-judson-looks-at-why-not-how-paint

Cannabis Insider: Oakland's Leviathan Building Becomes a Hub for Silicon ...

A local marijuana reporter’s field notes and gossip from the intersection of pot, money, and power in the epicentral San Francisco Bay Area. SCENE Gateway founders Carter Laren (left) and Ben Larson, at the company's VIP launch event at Oakland's Leviathan Building. (Photo: David Downs) The New Gateway Theory Silicon Valley elites are promising to super-charge the multibillion-dollar legal cannabis industry in 2016, starting in places like the Leviathan Building in Jack London Square. The towering, angular, nautical-themed structure roared on Dec. 4 with a VIP Swinging Speakeasy mixer to launch Gateway, a new marijuana business incubator. Set to a jazzy soundtrack, a wintery mix of banker vests, accountant sweaters, designer jeans, and shiny, thick-heeled shoes enjoyed free bottles of beer and cocktails. More than 120 of Oakland’s professional cannabis class was invited, including Oaksterdam University chancellor Dale Sky Jones and her husband, Jeff Jones, as well as leading attorney James Anthony. Also spotted was Rotten Tomatoes cofounder Patrick Lee. At the biggest tech companies, the word “marij... http://www.7x7.com/culture/cannabis-insider-oaklands-leviathan-building-becomes-hub-silicon-valley-cannabis-startups

50 Years of American Sparkling Wine: The Schramsberg Odyssey

Napa viticulture, benefited greatly from the coincidental completion of the transcontinental railroad in San Francisco. Large numbers of Chinese immigrants who had to be "imported" specifically to work on the railroad were fanning out from San Francisco looking for work. Many found it in the burgeoning vineyards of the Napa Valley, including the Schram farm, where they helped plant the vineyards and dig what would be Napa's first underground wine caves. By the time Stevenson visited in 1880, the winery had 50 acres of vines and was producing roughly 8000 cases of wine per year. When Schram passed away and his son took over the family business in 1905, the winery was producing more than 25,000 cases of wine. And then.... the first World War and Prohibition finished off what was left of the Napa wine industry after the Phylloxera epidemic just a few years earlier. The winery was sold to an investment firm, and Schramsberg wines were no longer sold. Over the next few decades, the winery changed hands several times. Some of the owners started producing wine again, and in 1951, the then current owner, Douglas Pringle revived the Schramsberg label, and began producing wines, including sparkling wine. In 1957, the property was designated a state Historical Monument, and in 1965, Jack and Jamie Davies -- he a successful executive, she an art gallery owner -- purchased the property with a grand dream: to make world class sparkling wine in California. And for more fifty years, the Davies' family pursued that odyssey with remarkable success. Schramsberg Vineyards became an icon not only of the Napa Valley, but of California and the nation. From the first use of Chardonnay for sparkling wine in the U.S., to one of the earliest uses of the traditional Methode Champenoise for making sparkling wine, Schramsberg was an early pioneer of American sparkling wine. Today, after the passing of both his parents, the Davies' son Hugh continues their legacy and presides over the production of some of the finest sparkling wine made in America. The winemaking for the estate's roughly 60,000 case production begins with grapes from the estate's original acreage, as well as many contract vineyard sources for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay around Sonoma and Napa counties. Whether owne... http://www.vinography.com/archives/2015/12/50_years_of_american_sparkling.html